Electric Brewery setup question

[mattnday]

I think I am going to purchase a spike brewing 10 gallon pot for BIAB with 2 horizontal 1/2" fpt and a custom upgrade to a 1" fpt for the element install

My questions are as follows:

1)Will I regret not spending the additional $40 to go to 15 gallon pot even though I will be doing 5 gallon or smaller brews 99% of the time. Only exception might be the rare 5 gallon high gravity brew that would be a tight squeeze in the 10 gallon. I was also considering Grain space in the pot knowing I will have element, pick up tube and thermometer all taking up space in the bottom of the pot.


2) Basic plan is to use the 2 - 1/2" connections for the valve false bottom assembly and for a thermometer initially but long term for a temperature prope. Brew controller type, style, size is yet TBD. However, I see most of the probes need either a thermowell or work off of a weldless connection. I am a little clueless here. Will this cause me an issue down the road?

3)How much higher, if at all should the heater be than the false bottom and temperature probe for pot functionality. (1/2" connectios are 1.5" from bottom of the pot)

4)Although originally i was thinking of a steamer basket or steamer tray can I get by with just a very good strong bag like http://biabbags.webs.com/ appropriately placed in the kettle so as not to touch the element

 

[jeffmeh]

I just posted this under another thread. A 15 gal kettle will allow you to do full-volume, no-sparge, BIAB for virtually any grain bill. A 10 gal kettle will not allow this for something very high gravity.

If you are going to recirculate during the mash, you can put the temp probe in a tee coming out of your valve.

For BIAB, you don't really need a false bottom. Something to keep the bag off the element is a good idea, although there are some who don't bother. In either case, a ULWD element is less likely to cause any issues than higher density ones.

 

[2Kegger]

This is the system I have: https://www.highgravitybrew.com/store/pc/BIAB-Electric-Brewing-System-269p3987.htm

I have the 44 qt pot. It works fine for me, though there have been a few times I wish I had a bigger one because of the grain bill. On the other hand, when I have those issues, I just get some water up to a mash out temp and put about 2 gallons in a cooler, then use the balance of the water for the mash. When the mash is done, I dunk sparge the grains in the 2 gallons in the cooler, and dump that back in to the kettle. Then I'm at full volume for the boil. I've also found this has improved my efficiency a bit. I don't do it every time, but it works with the larger bills.

By the way, I love my system. It works really well and I'm glad I spent the money on it. Brewing the basement in the middle of winter is really nice! Good luck!

 

[Roadie]

I don't have BIAB experience but for $40 would definitely recommend going with the larger kettle. We have 20 gallon kettles and can do batches from 5 - 15 gallons, though we usually only brew 5 gallons at a time. More flexibility is a good thing.

 

[processhead]

The 15 gallon kettle will also give you added head space to avoid messy boil-overs.

 

[mattnday]

Ordered kettle from Spike with tri clover pre installed for element.

Heating element - camco 5500 watt procured and brewers hardware elements install kit for tri clover ordered also.

Now if I can just get my wife to let me brew in the laundryroom

 

[ruralbrew]

Just tell her you are planning on brewing in the kitchen. That will make the laundry room look like a better option.