BIAC or Electric Brewery? Help!

[JB_Brewing2]

I've read Kal's book and have reviewed the material available for the Electric Brewery and Brewha's BIAC. There are only a few posts on the BIAC and glowing they are, much like those enamored with Kal's system. As I return to brewing (3 vessel AG brewer 13 yrs. ago) and prepare to build an all-electric system, I'm on the fence in which to invest. Space and infrastructure are not issues.

Is it possible (or blasphemous?) to get some constructive criticism of the two systems? I'm going to invest in one or the other soon. What do you not like about either system? (Except cost.)

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

I purchased a Brewha medium BIAC (including two hop baskets and colander lifting cables) for $3907 plus $373 for shipping and am quite pleased with it from a cost, support, and quality standpoint. Sunday morning Nathan emailed me to ensure I had read all the cautionary informational links he had emailed me when I purchased the BIAC about the operation of it. To date, my experience with Nathan and the BIAC has been very positive.

 

[JKoravos]

I purchased a Brewha medium BIAC (including two hop baskets and colander lifting cables) for $3907 plus $373 for shipping and am quite pleased with it from a cost, support, and quality standpoint. Sunday morning Nathan emailed me to ensure I had read all the cautionary informational links he had emailed me when I purchased the BIAC about the operation of it. To date, my experience with Nathan and the BIAC has been very positive.

Timely post...

 

[geoffey]

I built a Kal inspired clone and have since changed it to an electric Breweasy clone. I like the simplicity of no sparge and brew days are 4 hours. A fly sparging full on Kal clone will result in a longer brew day. Perhaps not an issue for you. But consider that with a BIAC you'll need to wait for one batch to finish in primary before you can brew another. That may not be an issue for you but some people like to primary and condition their beers in one vessel. So I think which direction you go depends on whether shorter brew days appeal to you and how often you want to brew.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

geoffy,

Thanks for the input and it sounds like you have a really nice system that provides you with a condensed brew day. As you suggest, my plan is to eventually get a separate conical to avoid tying up my BIAC. BTW, the BIAC is in my possession already. It was a difficult decision choosing between Kal's and Nathan's.

Happy brewing!

 

[geoffey]

geoffy,



Thanks for the input and it sounds like you have a really nice system that provides you with a condensed brew day. As you suggest, my plan is to eventually get a separate conical to avoid tying up my BIAC. BTW, the BIAC is in my possession already. It was a difficult decision choosing between Kal's and Nathan's.



Happy brewing!

Ha, that's pretty funny when you don't get a response to your original post for two months and then suddenly everyone is responding to it! Didn't notice the original post date.

 

[limulus]

I have the medium BIAC also with all the options that were available at the time. I got tired of building stuff and wanted something that was turnkey/plug-n-play. I looked at everything and was originally going to buy a Speidel Braumeister. Then, I switched over to the Blichmann BrewEasy as my choice. The BIAC turned me off at first because as a previous responder already mentioned, you can't brew on it again until you are finished with fermentation. But, I don't brew every single week and I still have a couple of SS Brewtech fermenters that I can use to condition in. I also have quite a few 5-gal and 2.5 gal kegs that can be used as well. So for me, the BIAC is perfect and it can literally sit in a corner unlike my old brewing equipment which takes up a lot of room in my garage. I was able to eliminate a lot of brew equipment clutter in my garage with the BIAC which was top priority. The thing that I hated most about my brew days was the clean-up and also the time it all took. The BIAC literally cuts hours off your brew day.

But...of course there is a but: Be aware that a customer just recently had a collapsed 3-in-1 vessel most likely caused by a vacuum. As long as you are careful and make sure you don't seal the system while you are chillng from boiling temp, you won't have that problem. If you leave a top valve open or just don't put the lid on, you won't have that problem. You can use a plate chiller or a counterflow chiller or an immersion chiller if you like. I kept my plate chiller and then finish off by recirculating through the jacket. Best thing to do is buy a pressure regulator for the water inlet on the jacket and make sure you don't seal the lid during the boil cool down. I have a glycol chiller which cost another $1k so it is not an inexpensive system.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

I was just about to say that you should be pretty careful with your BIAC. After reading the last thread regarding a vaccum collapsed BIAC, I think its not going to be in my purchase future. I have a Kal clone system (albeit smaller and a bit more ghetto) and I love it.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

I was just about to say that you should be pretty careful with your BIAC. After reading the last thread regarding a vaccum collapsed BIAC, I think its not going to be in my purchase future. I have a Kal clone system (albeit smaller and a bit more ghetto) and I love it.

I was really on the fence about which system but ultimately went with Brewha. I'm not worried, I read all the cautionary info. It seems it would be pretty careless to not consider temperature/pressure differentials in a closed system. The overall quality of this unit is amazing and I've never received better customer support.

 

[limulus]

I was really on the fence about which system but ultimately went with Brewha. I'm not worried, I read all the cautionary info. It seems it would be pretty careless to not consider temperature/pressure differentials in a closed system. The overall quality of this unit is amazing and I've never received better customer support.

I agree. You'll be impressed. The wooden crates alone will impress you. It reminds me of the movie "A Christmas Story". There should be a large sticker on the crate that says Fra-gee-lee. The stainless inside is every bit as sexy as that leg lamp too.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Im not trying to deter others from buying the product, or to be negative towards a product that I have never tired. I still am a bit alarmed regarding the other thread concerning the failure. Part of the reason I don't think I would purchase a BIAC, is that if one component fails you have pretty much thrown away a ton of money.

Having an independent vessel system like Kal's has the ability to have parts replaced, upgraded or even down graded (go to a Brew in a Bag setup)

 

[-CHRIS-]

I just built a electric brewery clone out of keggles and I am very pleased.

It works very well and gives me a ton of flexibility to trying different things.

Chris

 

[JB_Brewing2]

Chris and Bowtie - Thanks for your suggestions. I did buy the BIAC a couple months ago and am quite pleased with it.

 

[martiniw2olives]

I agree. You'll be impressed. The wooden crates alone will impress you. It reminds me of the movie "A Christmas Story". There should be a large sticker on the crate that says Fra-gee-lee. The stainless inside is every bit as sexy as that leg lamp too.

I just placed my order for the medium BIAC system and can't wait until my "major award" arrives.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

I just placed my order for the medium BIAC system and can't wait until my "major award" arrives.

I've had my medium BIAC for over a year now and have brewed just about every two-three weeks since. You'll love its consistency in brews and time savings in labor. End results are outstanding; better than my three vessel system I had at the turn of the century which turned out some nice brews.

 

[martiniw2olives]

I've had my medium BIAC for over a year now and have brewed just about every two-three weeks since. You'll love its consistency in brews and time savings in labor. End results are outstanding; better than my three vessel system I had at the turn of the century which turned out some nice brews.

Nice to hear that you enjoy you new system JB, makes me feel better for this leap. My former system consisted of a 10 gallon homemade Home Depot cooler mash tun, a giant aluminum tortilla pot I got in a Mexican market for for the boil, a turkey fryer pot for hot liqueur, an inexpensive coil wort chiller, 6.5 gallon glass carboy, and miscellaneous other stuff. I make very good beer with this stuff, but my big issue was the safety factor handling the hot wort from the stove to the sink for chilling, a disaster waiting to happen when brewing alone. Also, picking up and moving the full glass carboy to a different part of the house. I am getting tired of the physical work that is involved, not to mention the time it takes.

Happy brewing!