BCS 2 Vessel No Sparge Garage Brewery Build

[poptarts]

I love it when a plan comes together! Great job. How is first batch coming along??

TD

First batch stopped around 1020 so I added a lb of sugar to help dry it out. Just racked to dry hop keg over the weekend but didn't take a reading, I hope its like 1016 or so but we will have to wait and see. Tomorrow I will probably transfer to a keg and carb and get some pics and numbers for everyone, if its drinkable I will be happy.

 

[BrunDog]

Ah, I see it now. You'll love this one just as much if not more. In FL, one pass cooling isn't a practical reality for most. I recirculate with my chiller during whirlpool, and seems to work quite well on the one and only batch I've dont with my new setup.

TD

Sure it is... just need 2 chiller! Primary (groundwater) and secondary (ice water) cooling gets it done fast and one pass. Pre-chillers don't work (cooling down the groundwater) as its way too much volume.

 

[BrunDog]

I would have recommended against the insulation tape as that sh!t will be tough to remove if you ever need to (which you probably wont anyway, so I should STFU).

Looks like the temp is more stable. Question: Is your BCS ground tied to all other grounds? AC ground, and each power supply ground should be tied in a star configuration (one common ground point).

 

[poptarts]

I would have recommended against the insulation tape as that sh!t will be tough to remove if you ever need to (which you probably wont anyway, so I should STFU).

Looks like the temp is more stable. Question: Is your BCS ground tied to all other grounds? AC ground, and each power supply ground should be tied in a star configuration (one common ground point).

Yea DC and AC ground bar are linked... or should be I will have to double check now but pretty sure that's what I did.

 

[poptarts]

The rest of my ghetto vent system has arrived, pretty stoked to try this one out next brew day.

 

[TrickyDick]

Sure it is... just need 2 chiller! Primary (groundwater) and secondary (ice water) cooling gets it done fast and one pass. Pre-chillers don't work (cooling down the groundwater) as its way too much volume.

Ultimate goal is to just rack to fermenter at 75-80 degrees and turn on the glycol chiller. But... I have to make some modification to my fermentation setup before that can work reliably.

So you're saying chill with ground water as far as it'll go then chill with pre chiller in an ice bath?

 

[BrunDog]

Ya. Chill through CFC or PC as normal and pass wort though pre chiller (aka IC) which is in ice water bucket. Keep the ice water moving by stirring up frequently. Go as slow as you need and you can get to lager temp and not even burn a crappoad of ice. 20 lbs is what I usually use and have plenty left over.

You have to deal with sterilizing, so either run star San through it, which is tricky, or run boiling wort through it like the CFC/PC without chilling.

 

[poptarts]

Finishing ventilation system tomorrow then brewing sunday, third time should be the charm I hope. IPA turned out pretty good, have not checked FG yet but its definitely a little too sweet but still drinkable. So not all is lost.

 

[poptarts]

My new mash process now allows for up to 4 steps plus a mashout, all able to import from beersmith. My tool can now push desired chill to temp as well. Getting pretty happy with this stuff getting ironed all out.

 

[WScottCross]

Ya. Chill through CFC or PC as normal and pass wort though pre chiller (aka IC) which is in ice water bucket. Keep the ice water moving by stirring up frequently. Go as slow as you need and you can get to lager temp and not even burn a crappoad of ice. 20 lbs is what I usually use and have plenty left over.

You have to deal with sterilizing, so either run star San through it, which is tricky, or run boiling wort through it like the CFC/PC without chilling.

I would do it the other way. If you run through the CFC or PC first and then through the IC in an ice bath, you can go much faster. let the tap water do the bulk of the cooling and the ice water will finish it off. You should be able to go nearly full speed that way.

 

[BrunDog]

I would do it the other way. If you run through the CFC or PC first and then through the IC in an ice bath, you can go much faster. let the tap water do the bulk of the cooling and the ice water will finish it off. You should be able to go nearly full speed that way.

I don't think you read my post correctly. "Chill through CFC or PC as normal" means connected to ground water. I used the term pre-chiller to be consistent with Tricky Dick's terminology. Look at my first post on the topic a few posts up.

 

[poptarts]

Brew day went stellar. Did a multi step mash for the helles recipe. Temps ramped fast and stayed stable at desired points. @Yuri_Rage inspired ventilation system worked so damn good. Boil off looks like it was at 1.6 gph today. I was able to make up for extra boil off by mitigating losses elsewhere in the process so hit target volume and gravity dead on. So so happy with how the system is starting to work and that I'm getting the hang of how to deal with it in the winter.

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[BrunDog]

Good sh!t!

 

[poptarts]

And this was a 90 min mash 90 min boil and I was cleaned up and done in 4 hrs 10 mins. Pretty sure a brew day under 3 hrs is possible on this thing.

 

[texwake]

Is the inside of the vent pipe smooth or corrugated like the outside? I'm just wondering if your going to build up water inside it?

 

[poptarts]

corrugated, its just semi rigid aluminum dryer duct. I would assume some goes back in but I boiled off over 2 gallons total yesterday so a large portion makes it out at least. This helles should be a pretty clean beer so it should be able to show us if there is going to be a DMS problem or not. @Yuri_Rage uses a very similar setup on his system and he doesn't have issues so i'm not too concerned. Until I try the beer I will hold my opinion of this is 10 times cheaper and better then a vent hood.

 

[BrunDog]

No doubt the motive force of hot steam will push up and out. I might be concerned about aluminum corrosion dripping back into the kettle but you can keep an eye on it. Aluminum can impart funny flavors if not oxidized.

Also, have you been no-sparging like planned?

 

[poptarts]

No doubt the motive force of hot steam will push up and out. I might be concerned about aluminum corrosion dripping back into the kettle but you can keep an eye on it. Aluminum can impart funny flavors if not oxidized.

Also, have you been no-sparging like planned?

yea indeed, ill keep an eye on it, pretty sure it soaking in beer steam for a couple hours should oxidize it pretty quick. And yep no sparge for all 3 batches so far. Efficiency has ranged from 70-72% so pretty consistent. I was stable around 75% for these size beers on my old system so pretty stoked I only took a 3-5% efficiency loss from my batch sparging. Might tighten up the mill and see if I cant get it back to 75+ though.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Which size booster fan did you use? I was thinking about going this route but was worried that it might not pack enough punch to get the job done.

 

[poptarts]

4" like 100cfm, super cheapo for like 19$ on ebay. I figured there is no more than 2cf of headspace in my kettle so if it cycles the air close to once a second that should be more than adequate. Plus the steam wants to go up and out and should do a majority of the moving on its own.

 

[BeardedBrews]

4" like 100cfm, super cheapo for like 19$ on ebay. I figured there is no more than 2cf of headspace in my kettle so if it cycles the air close to once a second that should be more than adequate. Plus the steam wants to go up and out and should do a majority of the moving on its own.

Oh man, that's awesome. I was looking at that same style and worried it might not be enough. My plan was to use an old rubber made tub as a makeshift hood instead of a lid, but the same general setup as yours.

I guess I have a project for the weekend.

 

[poptarts]

yea idk if you use the hood, that cfm might not be enough unless the hood is super close to the pot.

 

[JonW]

And this was a 90 min mash 90 min boil and I was cleaned up and done in 4 hrs 10 mins. Pretty sure a brew day under 3 hrs is possible on this thing.

Awesome! That's one of the biggest benefits that I've got out of the BCS and automation. Once you have your processes/states laid out, the BCS makes it easy to keep things moving in a timely manner and keep you on track. Because the BCS is controlling the timing of each step, I've changed to doing double batch brew days.

 

[poptarts]

Awesome! That's one of the biggest benefits that I've got out of the BCS and automation. Once you have your processes/states laid out, the BCS makes it easy to keep things moving in a timely manner and keep you on track. Because the BCS is controlling the timing of each step, I've changed to doing double batch brew days.

Yea i was noticing that without a doubt yesterday. Sitting around BSing with my friends then my system decided it was time to lauter and boil etc, didn't have to pay super close attention to a clock.

 

[WScottCross]

I don't think you read my post correctly. "Chill through CFC or PC as normal" means connected to ground water. I used the term pre-chiller to be consistent with Tricky Dick's terminology. Look at my first post on the topic a few posts up.

OK, I just read "pre-chiller" and assumed that meant it was going through that first (pre = before). If it's actually a "post-chiller" it makes more sense.

 

[iijakii]

Oh yeah just realized youre the $50 HERMs guy. Did that system not perform well enough or did you just get the call to the bling side?

 

[poptarts]

it worked great, seriously no issues at all. but decided to ditch propane. Then it went out kinda crazy from there. The programmer in me saw an awesome way to mix code and brewing so I jumped on it.

 

[TrickyDick]

Propane has given me so many hassles over the years. It was better than kitchen stove, but it ended there.

I think your no sparge plan to save time is awesome. I'm going to try too. What kind of efficiency can I expect? I was getting around 79% before, but that was entirely different setup.

 

[poptarts]

All 3 batches have been 70-72%. I plan on tightening my mill a bit more once everything else is stable and working as planned.

 

[TrickyDick]

All 3 batches have been 70-72%. I plan on tightening my mill a bit more once everything else is stable and working as planned.

When I started brewing there was basically only one real mill you could get. The "malt mill". Mine is mechanized now and I have no intention of replacing it unless it breaks. Non adjustable. After that several other homebrew mills became available, but I digress.

I plugged in 65% to beersmith to convert from fly sparge to a no sparge (using the biab profile- irks me that the mashing part of the program is hard to tweak. Very finicky), and then used the adjust gravity to bump it back to where I wanted it. Maybe I'll adjust up to 70% and take it from there.

TD