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brausupply said:
Hmm..
I agree. DC motor speed controllers are correct for the application if you did feel the need. Again, I just use the ball valve and it hasn't cavitated even once. You could just install another ball valve on the outflow of the pump to satisfy?

I have another question for you all. Any excess foaming during the mash? And if you have experienced foaming, do any of you have any theories on this?
Click to expand...

I suspect the foaming is due to the pump cavitating without a valve on the output....
 
I haven't spent much time around here (yet) - is it OK to post brew session pictures in this thread/area? ...

CHEERS!

:mug:
 
ok, 5/30 ...

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working on my 4th-ever batch, an open-fermented saison using 3x BBS Jalapeno Saison kits, substituting orange zest for the jalapeno, and WLP565 for the dry yeast ...

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i didn't want to tackle plate chilling on my first outing ...

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hadn't read instructions for liquid yeast, didn't allow to acclimate to wort-similar temp ...

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open-ferment ...

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but the yeast didn't like the thirty degree temp disparity, and i think i might have neglected to aerate the wort beyond straining it into the keg ...

so, i shook it up well, pitched a well-adjusted batch of ecy-08, and threwa fermwrap on it ...

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i let it go a week, and it ran nice and toasty ...

beer finished at 1.001 w/ a little bit of clove, orange, and twang ...

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first pull was def yeasty, lol ...

but by the 3rd, it was pretty clear, carbonated better, and tasty!

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CHEERS!
 
I have brewed about 5 batches on this system and continue to struggle with foaming during mash. It seems that my larger grain bills have been the most difficult. When doing a begin triple yesterday I continuously had to turn the pump on and off during the mash, in addition to a dealing with a mess from the overflowing foam. I have tried to throttle the pump with the ball valve and this seems to help but hasn't eliminated the problem. Has anyone else figured out how to manage the foaming during mash recirculation on this system?
 
TXCHASER said:
I have brewed about 5 batches on this system and continue to struggle with foaming during mash. It seems that my larger grain bills have been the most difficult. When doing a begin triple yesterday I continuously had to turn the pump on and off during the mash, in addition to a dealing with a mess from the overflowing foam. I have tried to throttle the pump with the ball valve and this seems to help but hasn't eliminated the problem. Has anyone else figured out how to manage the foaming during mash recirculation on this system?
Click to expand...

I've heard several people talk about foaming, but I don't get any. Never have.

Where is your recirculation return in relation to the water level? What I'm getting at is if the water from the return is falling and splashing onto the water in the kettle then that's the likely culprit. The following is kind of weird/graphic, but think about when you're taking a piss and all those bubbles form in the toilet. Same concept, except you've got substances in the wort that prevent the bubbles from dissipating as quickly as the piss bubbles do.

If you haven't already, try making sure your return hose is slightly submerged under the surface of the water in the kettle. Maybe that'll help.

Or maybe research what would happen if you put some Fermcap S in during the mash.
 
Thanks for the response.

I would say the return is usually submerged. I generally start with 4 gallons of water, so once I add the grain there is generally just a few inches between the water level and the lid.

I don't recall having any issues on the first batch when I had forgot to use the bazooka screen. I wonder if that could be causing the problem?
 
I think you've got to be getting air in there somewhere. Foam formation like this requires the introduction of a vapor. I wonder if any of your fittings might be a little loose and acting like an eductor to pull air into your pumped circuit.

Not sure about the bazooka screen. To me it doesn't seem like a likely candidate, but it might be worth a shot.
 
What about the connection of hose to barb? Are the hoses simply pressed on, or do you use some sort of clamp? The pump should be pretty quiet when operating; if it is not, then what you hear is the sound of air being pumped along with the wort. Similarly, if you can see the wort moving through the tubing, then what you are seeing is almost certainly air bubbles. I had some troubles on this score during my initial setup.
 
IMHO I do not think a bit of splashing would cause all that foam.

I think air is getting into the pump/lines. I would make sure the lines/fittings are all tight (especially on the suction side of the pump). If that does not solve it, I would change out the pump.
 
I agree there is air getting in somewhere or possibly a problem with the pump. I have recently started using hose clamps without any noticeable change and changed out the gaskets in the quick connects. The clamps and gaskets solved some leaking issues I had. There have been bubbles/foam in the lines when running the pump. Before my next brew I think I will disassemble and make sure all it tightly back together. It will be a couple of weeks before I have a chance to brew again. Thanks for the input!
 
What does the pump sound like when it is in use? It should simply hum. If there is a chugging sound, then air is getting into the line. If you hear chugging, then try pushing the quick connect on more tightly. If doing so reduces the sound level, then you have found at least one place where the air is getting in.
 
This is a really sweet rig ya'll are discussing. I'm not an engineer but I work with alot of them, I'm an old school operator at a chemical plant. A couple years ago I built a rig just like this but it's all manual and propane fired. I only recirculate during the mash and I remove the pump before the boil. I use quick connects on all the connections. I built my system with a 44qt. Bayou Classic which gives me enough room for a 5gal. batch. I use a spray head under the lid to return the mash into the pot which helps to keep the foaming knocked down and acts as a restriction on the pump discharge. If the bag is to restrictive or the crush to small or the pump is allowed to pump to much there is a chance that the pot will run over. I've had this happen only once but never figured out the root cause. I feel like I'm brewing more consistently since I've started recirculating.
 
Hey gang. How's everyone liking their respective brausupply set ups? Mine is still making solid beer and I'm still really enjoying it. Entered a couple of beers in a competition and scored 38 and 39. No medals but I was happy. Already contemplating next year's comp schedule, thinking of entering more next year and possibly doing the Lonestar Circuit.

Have any of y'all done uogrades? I'm going to install a sight glass, but I'm a little concerned the top eye bolt might interfere with the insertion and removal of the steamer basket.

Also, has anyone else had issues with overflowing the kettle during recirculation? This happened to me on a couple of batches. That's one reason I want to install the sight glass. If the level in the glass drops I know I'm pumping the space below the basket dry. Also, to help with the flow through the bag and basket I used my greenlee punch to knock some larger holes in the basket. Pictures below.

Another thing I'm going to do is take 4 very short pieces of silicon hose, maybe 1/2 inch, slit them open length wise, and slip them onto the rim of the basket, equidistant. When I put the basket in the kettle this will force a gap between the basket rim and the kettle ridge that it rests on. This gap should help prevent overflowing because it creates a path for the wort to flow back down the sides of the kettle.

Only other thing I'm doing is installing a discharge valve for throttling. After that, we'll see. I like to tinker.

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I am mystified by the overflow. Do you think it is connected with pumping the bottom dry? I've never had the first problem and doubt I've had the second.

Will the hoses stay in place when you take the strainer out? I like the idea of always having the lid a little bit open, but not if those bits are constantly falling off.
 
whovous said:
I am mystified by the overflow. Do you think it is connected with pumping the bottom dry? I've never had the first problem and doubt I've had the second.

Will the hoses stay in place when you take the strainer out? I like the idea of always having the lid a little bit open, but not if those bits are constantly falling off.
Click to expand...

Without a doubt, it's connected to pumping the bottom dry. I'm pumping the contents on the pump suction side of the bag to the pump discharge side of the bag. When the flow across the bag to below the basket is slower than the rate at which I'm pumping, the level on the discharge side goes up. If there's enough initial volume in the kettle it will overflow.

Keep in mind, I would be oblivious to this happening if I made smaller batches or had a larger kettle. The level would go up and there would be no overflow. But the bottom would still be dry and the likelihood of scorching would increase.

Also, when I say dry I don't mean bone dry. Just relatively empty.
 
I add all my water at the start.

And forgive the endless dumb questions, but aren't you describing cavitation herehere? If you are, shouldn't the pump sound different, noisier, when that happens?

Finally, did you ever put your E C Krause clamp to work on the output side of the pump? I just got mine to experiment with slowing the flow rate as a means of increasing efficiency.
 
No prob on the questions. Yes, the pump is cavitating when this happens. But cavitation is a symptom and not the problem. The problem is I'm emptying the area below the basket faster than it's refilling.

Pump cavitation explained...

http://blog.craneengineering.net/what-is-pump-cavitation

And I never got a chance to try the clamp, however I've been throttling the suction when recirculating. I just bought another valve so I can throttle the discharge properly next brew day.
 
I read somewhere that reducing the flow on the valve side of the pump can be bad for the pump. Have you yet tried the clamp on the tubing on the discharge side of the pump? That should slow down the flow rate, if I understand any of this. Whether I do or not remains an open question.
 
Bigger holes may help, just be careful stirring. I get little areas of my bag sort of scraped up from stirring to aggressively by the holes in the basket. I've tried to smooth the holes with a stone but my bag is still getting scraped up. Time for a new one soon.
 
I'm curious, could you recommend this system if I wanted to just boil my wort in this and mash using a regular cooler setup? While the BIAB and mash circulation seems nice, I think I would prefer to just use this for heating strike water and boiling indoors.
 
LemonJelly said:
I'm curious, could you recommend this system if I wanted to just boil my wort in this and mash using a regular cooler setup? While the BIAB and mash circulation seems nice, I think I would prefer to just use this for heating strike water and boiling indoors.
Click to expand...

Well, if all you want to do is boil and heat some water in it, you definitely don't need the controller and pump. I would instead DIY. Just by a cheap kettle and install some heating elements in it. Another option is one or two Hot Rods from brewhardware.com.

Not sure how much Steven would sell the stand alone kettle for. Might be worth asking.
 
What do you guys think about splurging for the Pro version as opposed to the 120v 5 Gallon system. I doubt I will use it as a ferm. chamber because I'm going to want to keep strict temp control and I also will not be able to keep a water source hooked up to it for 2 weeks (not to mention i might want to brew again on it asap). But it looks amazing. Steven said he may be releasing a 41.5L version next month.

Or, since I probably won't use it to ferment, should I just go with the 120v 5 gallon system and save a ton of money?

Tough decision!
 
As a current 2.5 gal batch biab brewer, the mini looks like an amazing apartment brewing rig. Some questions though for brausupply though...

1) Can you give me the dimensions of the different sized kettles with the T connector included for height? I'm personally interested in the 6, 9, and 11 gallon sizes. I just need to know if it'll fit on my stove and under my microwave.. which leads to my next question:

2) Can I use my electric stovetop to boil the kettle without hurting the product? What I'm really after the mini for is the steady mash temps, which I would use the mini's electric heater element for, but for boiling I'd rather just turn it all off and do a stove boil like I normally do. Would that void the warranty or anything? I'm thinking of getting the 9 gal version, and I'm assuming that although the one 1500w element might get a 5gal batch to boil, it probably would take more time than a simple stove boil.

3) If I go for the 11 gallon version with two elements, what's the smallest batch size I can get out of it?

4) Do we know the max limit on grain that will fit in a 6 gal mini? What about 9 and 11 gal?

Thanks!
 
BrauSupply is not a HomeBrew Talk sponsor, and this is not a sponsored page. I suggest you email Steven directly. He has always been very good at providing complete and honest responses.

I have the Mini myself, and no knowledge of the others. Still, I doubt a single element would bring 9 gallons to a boil. But again, ask Steven.

I've using six pounds of grain in my Mini and targeting 2.5 gallons of brew. I am sure I could use quite a bit more if I wanted to make a higher ABV beer. Mine have been sixes and seven percent.
 
Still, I doubt a single element would bring 9 gallons to a boil.
Click to expand...


I hope this is not the case....having just ordered one...LOL. The 9 gallon pot is an upgrade to the mini system that is suppose to help brew higher Abv beers. If a single element doesn't bring it to a boil with a higher grain bill it would completely defeat the purpose of the upgrade.
 
Ninkas1 said:
I hope this is not the case....having just ordered one...LOL. The 9 gallon pot is an upgrade to the mini system that is suppose to help brew higher Abv beers. If a single element doesn't bring it to a boil with a higher grain bill it would completely defeat the purpose of the upgrade.
Click to expand...

I hope you're not going to try to boil 9 gallons of wort in a 9 gallon kettle :)
 
Tried to post a blog link before but it didn't seem to work... but anyways:

I think the flow problem Texas is talking about has to do with the basket. If you google 'stainless brewer' you'll find his blogspot blog and he had the same problem on a very similar system he designed. He solved it by replacing the regular basket and bag with a mesh basket. You can see it here, where he sold it (and I wish I was around to buy it... ha) https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=554044

Would love to see baskets like this become part of the actual Brau product...

Also.. do any of your brau systems have volume etchings on the kettle? I'm so sick of using a 'measuring stick'.
 
With a 9 gallon kettle, I would suggest the 20 amp controller w a 2000w element. 1500w would be very slow and a very weak boil for day 5-6 gallons.

2000w would be a bare minimum IME for a 9 gal kettle.
 
I had my first experiences with cavitation and foaming yesterday. I am pretty sure it was a byproduct of going to a much finer grind than I have ever used before. That made it a lot easier for the grain to settle and compact. I had to stop and stir vigorously on two or three occasions to deal with it. It remains to be seen what the effect of all this extra aeration will be.

On the bright side, all this grinding combined with a 90 minute mash gave me what appears to be 88% efficiency. This is way higher than I' e ever managed before.
 
wilserbrewer said:
With a 9 gallon kettle, I would suggest the 20 amp controller w a 2000w element. 1500w would be very slow and a very weak boil for day 5-6 gallons.

2000w would be a bare minimum IME for a 9 gal kettle.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming that this would still be a 120v system? I love the idea of not having to mess with 240v but I'd also like the extra capacity to be able to do higher gravity stuff.
 

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