Basket Sizing Help - 15 Gallon Spike Kettle

[Toadies]

I am in the process of ordering a customer basket from Arbor Fabs and need assistant on basket size. I am also building a COFI tube to use for recirculation. Originally I was going to go as wide as possible, but the worry of a thin grain bed would render the COFI tube useless and a vacuum would be created because not enough room around the basket.

Basket dimensions I am requesting is 14.5" OD Wide X 13" High. The feet will be 3.5" to clear the heating element, which is at 3". I am also adding u-hooks, which will result the final OD to be 15.5".

I have already purchased my Spike 15 Gallon Kettle and Controller. This is the last piece of the puzzle!

So for my research I'm trying to find the following answers:

• Is there a full of thumb on basket sizing with your kettle?
• Is there a webpage to help estimate how high your grain bed would be in a basket?
• Given the ID of the kettle is a little over 15.5", should I make the basket smaller to allow it to fit in better

 

[Nmnbrewer]

The basket that I had made for my 20 gallon spike has a 3/8 spacing all the way around. I’m not sure about a website for a mash height. I had to do the calculations myself based on the volume underneath the basket, the volume around the sides, and the volume inside the basket with and without a certain amount of grain. Just as an example however, with a typical 10 pound grain bill, i need around 8 gallons total water. This along with the grain brings my volume up to about 9 gallons total. I think 10 pounds per gallons displacement is about right. Anyone please correct me if I’m wrong. This gives me a fairly thin mash consistency. Only when I get into the 1080 range does my consistency get more oatmeal like. I’m not sure I understand the concern about the vacuum? You’re goin to get good drainage whether your side clearance is 1 inch or 1/8 inch.View attachment 568266View attachment 568268

 

[Nmnbrewer]

I will say this. 10 gallon batches are going to be tough in that 15 gallon kettle.

 

[Morrey]

I have two custom Arbor Fab mesh baskets with one being for a 10G Blichmann and the other for a 20G Blichmann both being propane fired G2 kettles. Mine AF baskets are D shaped to allow for therm probe, drain tube and whirlpool jet. I talked this over with Chad and Kari at AF, and Kari helped me size the basket. I don't use U-hooks since I hoist my basket with a chain system, then use a D shaped press plate to force out all the wort I can with BIAB.

Kari suggested the basket go (close to) wall to wall and top to bottom so there is little dead space around the basket minus the D shape I have relieved. I can easily fit 13# of grain in the 10G kettle with 8 gallons of water...or double that for 20 gallon kettle. If I go bigger than that, which I almost never do any HG beers, you can lower your strike water volume for mashing, then do a "pour over" sparge to rinse the grains and get your full pre-boil volume needed. Expect a bit lower efficiency doing this but its not a total travesty.

I suggest you call AF and speak with Chad who will advise you well. He and I have talked multiple times and he has suggested ideas to me that I didn't think of at the time. Very hands on guy and well worth your time to research this project as you are doing. Good luck.

 

[Morrey]

I will say this. 10 gallon batches are going to be tough in that 15 gallon kettle.

I will say this...Right you are! Many will argue this point, but you won't hear that from me!!

However, with this said, I may select a 15G kettle (not 10G as I selected) to do 5.5G batches if I had to do it all over again. So not all is lost.

 

[Toadies]

Thanks for the information everyone. I will be doing 5.5 gallon batches in the kettle. I also have no probes, bulk head fittings obstructing the inside of the kettle above 3”. I originally was going to do a pulley and no hooks, but I’m not entirely sure where to mount a pulley, so the hooks gives me more flexibility.

I’m having arbor fab weld in a coupler the bottom of the basket to screw in a pipe for recirculating wort. My worry is, if the basket is to wide the grain bed depth would not be thick enough to get benefits of the wort recirculating through the pipe.

I generally like brewing 5.5-6% beers or more, so maybe this won’t be an issue.

 

[Morrey]

You are on a good path! AF is very solid for sure.

 

[Nmnbrewer]

Thanks for the information everyone. I will be doing 5.5 gallon batches in the kettle. I also have no probes, bulk head fittings obstructing the inside of the kettle above 3”. I originally was going to do a pulley and no hooks, but I’m not entirely sure where to mount a pulley, so the hooks gives me more flexibility.

I’m having arbor fab weld in a coupler the bottom of the basket to screw in a pipe for recirculating wort. My worry is, if the basket is to wide the grain bed depth would not be thick enough to get benefits of the wort recirculating through the pipe.

I generally like brewing 5.5-6% beers or more, so maybe this won’t be an issue.

Do you have a diagram showing what you mean by a coupler in the “bottom” of the basket for recirculation. I’m just curious is all. If your sticking to 5.5 gallons into the fermenter you’re good to go for sure. I decided to go simple with the recirculation tube laying on the mash bed but I’ve considered rigging up a cofi like tube and trying that as well. My mash and brew house efficiency has been so predictable though that I haven’t seen the need to change.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Thanks for the information everyone. I will be doing 5.5 gallon batches in the kettle. I also have no probes, bulk head fittings obstructing the inside of the kettle above 3”. I originally was going to do a pulley and no hooks, but I’m not entirely sure where to mount a pulley, so the hooks gives me more flexibility.

I’m having arbor fab weld in a coupler the bottom of the basket to screw in a pipe for recirculating wort. My worry is, if the basket is to wide the grain bed depth would not be thick enough to get benefits of the wort recirculating through the pipe.

I generally like brewing 5.5-6% beers or more, so maybe this won’t be an issue.

I'm a bit confused on why you think a thinner grain bed won't benefit from the recirculation with a pipe. Is it because most of the wort will come out above the grain bed?

I ask because I've been doing a lot of thinking about building a rig almost identical to yours (Spike 15G eBIAB kettle, controller, recirculation with a COFI like setup). One of the things I've worried about was too much of the recirculating wort coming out of the COFI tube above the level of the grain. I've thought about two possible solutions:

1) A solid sided basket so that all recirculating wort has to go through the grain bed. This also facilitates a pour over sparge for large grain bills. The downside is increased risk of wort accumulation above the basket leading to spillover and/or the heating element dry firing.

2) A system for selectively covering some of the holes in the COFI tube so that the liquid only comes out below the level of the grain bed. One solution was a set of silicone hoses of varying lengths that have the same ID as OD of the COFI tube. Select one based on the amount of grain.

The other thing I've been working on is the best method for getting wort to the COFI tube. The pre-configured eBIAB kettle that Spike sent me plans for has a recirculating port at the top side of the kettle. They also have a 5/8" dip tube system that just slides in to a fitting on the 1/2" threaded port. A similar approach could be taken to connect the COFI to the port. Or a silicone hose like Brew Boss uses could be implemented.

Lots to think about. I'm probably a year away at this point. It would be nice to have something for next winter, but there are a lot of issues stacking up against that: budget, ventilation, wiring, etc.

 

[Toadies]

I'm a bit confused on why you think a thinner grain bed won't benefit from the recirculation with a pipe. Is it because most of the wort will come out above the grain bed?

I ask because I've been doing a lot of thinking about building a rig almost identical to yours (Spike 15G eBIAB kettle, controller, recirculation with a COFI like setup). One of the things I've worried about was too much of the recirculating wort coming out of the COFI tube above the level of the grain. I've thought about two possible solutions:

1) A solid sided basket so that all recirculating wort has to go through the grain bed. This also facilitates a pour over sparge for large grain bills. The downside is increased risk of wort accumulation above the basket leading to spillover and/or the heating element dry firing.

2) A system for selectively covering some of the holes in the COFI tube so that the liquid only comes out below the level of the grain bed. One solution was a set of silicone hoses of varying lengths that have the same ID as OD of the COFI tube. Select one based on the amount of grain.

The other thing I've been working on is the best method for getting wort to the COFI tube. The pre-configured eBIAB kettle that Spike sent me plans for has a recirculating port at the top side of the kettle. They also have a 5/8" dip tube system that just slides in to a fitting on the 1/2" threaded port. A similar approach could be taken to connect the COFI to the port. Or a silicone hose like Brew Boss uses could be implemented.

Lots to think about. I'm probably a year away at this point. It would be nice to have something for next winter, but there are a lot of issues stacking up against that: budget, ventilation, wiring, etc.

Cool idea with the silicon tubing blocking unused holes. I’ll see if I can get that to work.

 

[Toadies]

I measured my heating element at 3”, and was going to get 3.5”legs. Is that to high? What is everyone else selecting?

 

[swimIan]

Mine is 3” on spike kettle. I did file a bit off in one section to make it fit like a glove

 

[Toadies]

I’ve attached a picture of the measurment. I decided to stay with 3.5”legs.

I’m a little disappointed how high it is. Hopefully I’m not wasting to much wort below the legs and have enough water to submerge the grains!

 

[swimIan]

Depends on gravity and batch size but you should be [emoji108]

 

[Toadies]

my typical batch is 12 to 16lbs.

 

[swimIan]

You’ll be ok with that.

 

[Toadies]

Is the concern with smaller gravity or larger?

 

[swimIan]

High gravity. You want the grain submerged.