Any Advice on Piecemealing a BIAB Setup?

[mongoose33]

Thanks again everyone! I have a feeling this is never going to end. But trying to piece all of this together and going relatively inexpensive but not cheap, this is what I’ve decided on. With all of the stove top mini mash/small batch experiments I’ve done, I wound up with about 20 gallons of bottled beer, so I’m giving myself until mid August to go through some of it while I watch for deals.

Ss BrewTech 15 gal kettle with 3 ports, ball valve, and threaded barb

Hellfire Blichmann Burner

Copperhead 50ft x 3/8 wort chiller

Wilser Bag and Pulley combo

I had budgeted $500 for a RoboBrew and this puts me about $100 above that, but gives me an extra 6 gallons capacity and I believe will heat and cool significantly faster. And plenty of room for enhancements later.

Other items I see here that I may want to consider:

Grain mill
Insulation
Thermometer
Stir plate and flask
Recirculation pump
Crisper/strainer
Mash paddle
Heat stick

Can’t wait to get this set up and start working on my fall beers!

One more thing you might consider if you haven't already done so is fermentation temperature control. A lot of brewers here will tell you that being able to control fermentation temps resulted in a leap forward in their beer quality.

 

[LittleRiver]

...Recirculation pump, Crisper/strainer...Heat stick...

Unless you plan to do lots of step mashing, I advise against a mash recirculation system. It's only going to cause you extra expense, headaches, and cleaning. If you're planning on using the pump for recirculating chilling water, then full speed ahead, in that scenario the pros far outweigh the cons.

If the crisper/strainer is to be used for helping drain or squeeze the bag, you should not need it if you are using an overhead hoist point for your bag. Just let gravity fully drain the bag into the kettle during the entire boil.

With a propane burner you will not need a heat stick.

 

[z-bob]

I'd probably start with something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Steamer-Vaporera-Premium-Aluminum-Tamalera/dp/B00WW8Q6DI (might be available cheaper at a local restaurant supply store), a Wilser bag, and a good electronic thermometer. A little over $100. Figure out what else you need as you go.

I started out with a 22 quart pressure canner that I already had and a hardware store paint strainer bag. Later I bought a decent 8 gallon kettle from someone in my homebrew club that was stepping up, then bought a Wilser bag to fit it. Then bought a heat stick because my stove couldn't quite boil it.

 

[Bill Hopper]

Unless you plan to do lots of step mashing, I advise against a mash recirculation system. It's only going to cause you extra expense, headaches, and cleaning. If you're planning on using the pump for recirculating chilling water, then full speed ahead, in that scenario the pros far outweigh the cons.

If the crisper/strainer is to be used for helping drain or squeeze the bag, you should not need it if you are using an overhead hoist point for your bag. Just let gravity fully drain the bag into the kettle during the entire boil.

With a propane burner you will not need a heat stick.

Yeah, that's a list of items I gleaned from all the comments. Some of the stuff I already have from doing extract and partial mashes. I do have a transfer pump that works well for recirculating chilling water, though I'm not sure it's going to be able to push through 50ft of 3/8 copper coil. We shall see. I do want to go ahead and get the extra port in case I want to experiment later, but I do want to know more first. I'm a bit squeamish about moving the wort in and out of the kettle through a pump, which is why I chose to go with the immersion chiller rather than some of the other alternatives.

 

[LittleRiver]

...I do want to go ahead and get the extra port in case I want to experiment later... I'm a bit squeamish about moving the wort in and out of the kettle through a pump, which is why I chose to go with the immersion chiller ...

Those are good decisions.

 

[Mic Carp]

Seems i may be late to the party, but my 2 cents anyhow.
First, I was an extract brewer for about 10 years before I took the leap to BIAB about 2 months ago. I have done 5 batches now and am stoked on the process.
I bought a 15 gallon aluminum kettle. I know, I know. but all the research I did says aluminum has noill affects on beer or health.
it was about $75
I bought a 50' immersion chiller for about the same price. it is overkill for my 5 gallon batches as the top 1/3 is out of the wert, but that's ok.
my advice is to get a burner with the highest BTU value you can afford. this will cut down on your brew day time considerably. I got on on Amazon for about $85, it is a double burner with 75,000 btu per side. It gets 7.5 gallons from the hose to strike temp (160f) in about 15 mins, then to boil in another 15.

i also made a hoist from scrap wood and it is a life saver.

enjoy!

 

[Samudell]

If you want to save money, you could buy a digiboil for about $160. I have both, havent got to use the 220v yet, I have to change the plug on it. The 110v works great takes about 50 min to get to mash temps. Turn unit off and drop bag in and stir in your grains. Lift bag and then turn back on. It will give u extra to spend on other stuff.

 

[deeve007]

I found this blog post/article and found it great for putting together a setup for my first BIAB: https://homebrewanswers.com/minimum-equipment-all-grain-brew/

This was my equipment list I put together (ignore my local supplier links obviously): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IP9pNCSy_v27c6CeOaA9FqPe5YffdUm-0CMfAsUsrs8/

I will likely make a couple of additions after my first brew is finished (brewed yesterday, in fermenter now), but they'll only be minor.

 

[Bill Hopper]

If you want to save money, you could buy a digiboil for about $160. I have both, havent got to use the 220v yet, I have to change the plug on it. The 110v works great takes about 50 min to get to mash temps. Turn unit off and drop bag in and stir in your grains. Lift bag and then turn back on. It will give u extra to spend on other stuff.

I started this thread because someone changed my mind about buying a robobrew and instead using a kettle, burner, and bag. For a really good setup, the price is about the same and it looks like if you go with a good brand of kettle, you can do lots of modifications later. I had not considered the digiboil because I had assumed it was designed for extract brewing and I'm pretty comfortable doing five gallon extracts on the stove. However, with BIAB, I can see how it may work, and to your point, is cheap enough I could use it in addition to the burner kettle. I may actually consider this as a later addition. Thanks!

 

[homebrewfinds]

I've used generic BIAB bags and they work okay. If you have some extra money a purpose built model is a good investment. Here is my review of the Brew Bag and a 10% off code if you decide to go that direction.

 

[Samudell]

I've used generic BIAB bags and they work okay. If you have some extra money a purpose built model is a good investment. Here is my review of the Brew Bag and a 10% off code if you decide to go that direction.

If you or someone you know can sew, it is easy to sew one up.

 

[Bill Hopper]

After a summer of deal hunting, I wound up with the 15 gal SsBrewTech Kettle, the Hellfire Blichman burner, a 50 ft copper wort chiller, a wilsner bag, and a few small gadgets all for under $400. My first brew day was not a success though because I couldn't get the burner to stay lit. Need to research that and try again. Since I had a yeast starter on the stir plate and a bag of crushed grains, I went ahead and did a 3 gal mash - 2 gal sparge - 4 gal boil on the stove top using the wilsner bag. I got to say, I do love that bag. It's much better than anything I've used before and even though it fits perfectly in the 15 gal kettle, it adapted well to the 5 gal kettle in a pinch. I can't wait to get this set up going so that I can really put it to the test.

 

[Bill Hopper]

After a summer of deal hunting, I wound up with the 15 gal SsBrewTech Kettle, the Hellfire Blichman burner, a 50 ft copper wort chiller, a wilsner bag, and a few small gadgets all for under $400. My first brew day was not a success though because I couldn't get the burner to stay lit. Need to research that and try again. Since I had a yeast starter on the stir plate and a bag of crushed grains, I went ahead and did a 3 gal mash - 2 gal sparge - 4 gal boil on the stove top using the wilsner bag. I got to say, I do love that bag. It's much better than anything I've used before and even though it fits perfectly in the 15 gal kettle, it adapted well to the 5 gal kettle in a pinch. I can't wait to get this set up going so that I can really put it to the test.