Clawhammer Supply BIAB Review

[Seafoxskipper]

Got shipping confirmation that my unit is on the way as of yesterday. Hopefully have it in hand early next week for setup and a water-run test. Then every free weekend day I get for a couple weeks will involve brewing hopefully.

Great news!!! Make sure you run through the auto tune process as well

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Oh yeah I'll make sure she is all set to rip before I start. Hopefully I'll have everything else in my life squared away so next weekend I can tinker around make sure the setup is dialed in and source grain etc. No more extract brewing for me.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

So this weekend I finally had time to assemble the system. First time using a lot of this stuff pumps,teflon tape, wiring an element etc. I was super excited to get all the components pieced together and it came time for the auto tuning/water test. Filled the kettle with 8 gallons of water and started the heater and pump. While visually inspecting the connections for leaks I found a pinhole in the TC element port that was leaking. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed.

I will be emailing them today to get the info on sending the kettle back so they can fix the one I got or give me a new one.

TLDR they didn't water test my kettle.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

I found this which I think solves my issue with using the plate chiller in the cold months.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GP9G860/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

1) Unscrew sprayer head from sprayer hose.
2) Screw that adaptor in to hose.
3) Screw garden hose into adatpro for water in connection.
4) I will run another short hose for the water out.

 

[bleme]

First time using a lot of this stuff pumps,melon tape, wiring an element etc.

I assume this is an autocorrect but I can't figure out what words it is supposed to be.

 

[Griffin495]

I assume this is an autocorrect but I can't figure out what words it is supposed to be.

Teflon tape?

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

I assume this is an autocorrect but I can't figure out what words it is supposed to be.

Haha yeah just terrible proofing. Teflon tape I meant.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

On my lunch I emailed Clawhammer about the kettle. They are already sending out a new one with a return label for the leaky one. Beautiful.

 

[Seafoxskipper]

@Andrew Hodgson Man am I glad you brought this up! I hadn't even given it a thought until I saw your post. I just so happens that I am in the market for a new kitchen faucet. I need to see if one of the new models still have the screw on aeration fitting to I can adapt a hose fitting when needed.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

@Andrew Hodgson Man am I glad you brought this up! I hadn't even given it a thought until I saw your post. I just so happens that I am in the market for a new kitchen faucet. I need to see if one of the new models still have the screw on aeration fitting to I can adapt a hose fitting when needed.

Yeah its good to think about ahead of time. MY sink faucet is awful I can't connect anything to it it has a kind of flared nozzle. And I can't mess around underneath the garbage disposal blocks everything so I am going to have to run hose sprayer > chiller > out in the winter. For now I will just hook up the water in from the outside hose but it is something I hadntt considered until a little while ago.

 

[Gherb]

@smbdyshero or anyone else, what size is the element (tc) port? Is it 1.5" or 2"?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

@smbdyshero or anyone else, what size is the element (tc) port? Is it 1.5" or 2"?

Thanks in advance.

Sorry didn't see this. I am pretty sure it is 1 and a half inch but I will measure on my pot this weekend and confirm.

 

[brewohio]

Everyone still happy with the system and it's performace and quality? Thinking about doing an a la carte with the kettle, pid controller and element. I have a hydra chiller. I'll probably just start out like my propane setup and adjust strike temp for grain temp through beersmith and insulate the kettle and let it go. I'll add a pump down the road. Just want to brew indoors during the winter.

 

[Seafoxskipper]

Well after two years I have zero complaints. I have made a lot of beer and to date they have all come out as predicted. You will need to ensure you have a good grain crush so you hit your numbers.

 

[brewohio]

Awesome thanks for letting me know! Sounds like I just need to pull the trigger already!

 

[Seafoxskipper]

@smbdyshero or anyone else, what size is the element (tc) port? Is it 1.5" or 2"?

Thanks in advance.

1.5 for sure. If you want to get to a boil quick I recommend adding the hot stick at brewhardware. For those days when you are in a big hurry. I got one and over the last two years I have used it twice. It does come in handy when you need it for sure.

 

[brewohio]

Did you calibrate yours? Seems my thermapen is reading a couple degrees lower during mash. I know there is an offset adjustment but didn’t mess with it. Controller seemed to read lower then when water was heating up. Now seems to read higher during actual mash. Just using PID setting. With my set point at 152. Also the heat led going on and off is indicating the element is being turned on and off correct to maintain temp?

 

[boltqb15]

Did you calibrate yours? Seems my thermapen is reading a couple degrees lower during mash. I know there is an offset adjustment but didn’t mess with it. Controller seemed to read lower then when water was heating up. Now seems to read higher during actual mash. Just using PID setting. With my set point at 152. Also the heat led going on and off is indicating the element is being turned on and off correct to maintain temp?

Having the same issue with my system I got less than a week ago, ruined a batch today when I mashed in, the temp spiked to 165 (was supposed to be 150) took the whole mash to get it down. cant seem to figure out the settings, I tried the Auto tune and still the temps aren't right, Fluctuating from 1 to 10 degrees. Have you figured it out?

 

[brewohio]

Not yet. I adjusted the offset at room temp with my Thermapen. It wasn’t off much. I think the problem is with the auto tune and how fast the probe reads. The sides, bottom and lid of my kettle is insulated. While heating the Thermapen reads higher. So I tried setting controller to manual 100% and wait til it got to around 140 then killing the element. To get the reading to level out before setting it back to auto temp set point of 152 then starting auto tune all while recirculating.

While the controller seems to hold steady for the most part my Thermapen reading is different during an actual mash. I’ve been babysitting the mash manually stirring and adjusting set point on the controller which really doesn’t help the PID.

 

[BoB Lever]

Can anyone comment on recirculating rates? Have any difficulties with balancing the flow rates?

 

[Man_the_Dan28]

So I just built my clawhammer anyone notice the threading is weird I add the tape but the levers done sit at the top as shown in the videos when I tighten it down it ended up on the bottom is that normal?

 

[Bobby_M]

NPT threads tighten when they feel like it. The only way to control the indexing is to use trial and error with varying levels of teflon tape wrapping. The thicker the telfon tape, the more control you have.