BIAB Coffee Urn?

[ToddPEI]

I've been toying with the idea of brewing in a coffee urn for a while now. It seems to me that it would be very similar in idea to the Braumeister electric system.

I was wondering if it would be feasible or practical? I figured the best way to do this would be to have a 100-cup urn, figure out a way to control the temperature (remove safety so you could get it to a boil when boiling, and a temp controller for ramping up temp for a protein rest/mash/sparge).

I live in a small apartment, and have a student budget, and i'll be moving to a new place without access to a backyard (so no propane heating anymore). I figured the size of the system and the non toxic nature of the electric system would be ideal.

Has anyone tried this before? any pointers?

This is the system I was thinking of getting, would it be able to get up to a boil?

Thanks for your impute and suggestions

 

[jeremybrown9]

I would think that it would be easier to do a 3 gallon BIAB on your stove and then top up with the rest of the water in your fermenter.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I believe the brits and aussies use coffee urns similiar to this...big difference is they are on 240v and are able to put more watts to use. Be cheaper and easier to get a 10 gallon inexpensive kettle and do BIAB. You could also put an element in the pot and go electric...or heat stick???

A 40 qt alum pot and a 2000w element could be done for about half that $$.

Also, I believe a 100 cup coffemaker is not 100, 8 ounce cups, but rather 4 or 6 oz...the thing is likely only 3-4 gallons. Auto temp control is great, but comes at a price as well...get out your check book and DIY skillset.

I would try an electric turke fryer before a coffee urn if you can find one cheap...they work OK...not great IMO for small batches...YMMV

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAJUN-INJEC...I_Commercial_Ovens_Ranges&hash=item27c55ba70d

 

[FRS]

I do BIAB in a 5 gallon pot on my stovetop. Granted, I can only mash ~9 lb of grain, and I'll always be using top up water, but it is cheap and reduces the amount of equipment I have to store in my apartment. If I need some extra gravity it's easy to dump some DME in at the end of the boil

Honestly, when I have the room to store a dedicated mash tun and a 10g pot and a propane burner I'm not even sure I'll switch. This set up is simple, and makes great beer. The extra 5%(?) taste improvement to going all grain may not even be worth it.

If you're set on not using your stove, head over to the electric brewing forum...

 

[stux]

That is only a 1500W unit. And I would recommend a 40 quart minimum urn.

I think you would need at least 2000W.

Pretty much, if you want to go this way, get yourself a large pot (40qt+) and a 2400W+ element and a laundry plug.

Alternatively, go gas

...

edit: someone on biabrewer got a cajun cooker/injector for biab, short story, it wasn't good enough and he ended up using it a range with the injector as a boost.

http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=503#p15849