Grounded Brewing Technologies - 240V eBIAB System

[groundedbrewtech]

@groundedbrewtech
Are units still on target to ship in the next few weeks?

There was a delay in the mesh roll for the baskets, so there is a bit of a delay.

 

[Quadrider]

GBT Sent out the first round of shipments last week and I received mine yesterday... Including the Panel, Element, Pump, Fittings, Barbs, Clamps, Cords, and Gaskets. Everything was packaged very well and shipping only took about 2-3 business days to Michigan. All components looks to be very high quality. The only issue I saw was a minor surface ding in one of the TC flat sides on the T-Fitting, but not really a big deal to me. The panel is well put together and I'm very impressed with the overall quality of the casing, wiring, and electrical components. Plugged it in to test and it powered right up perfectly. According to Rex, The Kettle/Basket/Chiller is scheduled to ship late this week / early next. Very excited to start using this!

 

[hezagenius]

Looks nice. Eagerly waiting on mine.

 

[emr25]

Mine arrived today as well. Haven’t unpacked everything yet and I still need the electrician to come terminate my 30A circuit, but hopefully I’ll be up and brewing by the end of this month!

 

[crankyx]

@Quadrider I agree the panel quality looks excellent and I am very excited to get this all setup. . I did have a minor heat sink bend from shipping damage but fedex in my area is less than delicate. I tweaked it back and it'll be fine, adds character.

****Edited to remove incorrect TC clamp observation

Carry on!

 

[groundedbrewtech]

@Quadrider I agree the panel quality looks excellent and I am very excited to get this all setup. . I did have a minor heat sink bend from shipping damage but fedex in my area is less than delicate. I tweaked it back and it'll be fine, adds character.

I do have one concern however. The TC Clamps themselves seem very small. I have 2 SSBrew Tech conicals with the same theoretical size TC clamps and the SSBT ones are larger with longer threads. I tested the GBT ones with some TC fittings on a conical and they are extremely small and not easy to use.

Grounded on top
SSBT on bottom

Hey! Those clamps are sized appropriately for 1.5” Tri Clamp fittings. Try taking two of the hose barbs with a gasket in between and putting them together. Should fit perfectly!

 

[crankyx]

Hey! Those clamps are sized appropriately for 1.5” Tri Clamp fittings. Try taking two of the hose barbs with a gasket in between and putting them together. Should fit perfectly!

You are correct. Appologies, The barb fittings have a slimmer profile and they fit correctly. Even with 1 barb and say the tee (a larger taper on the side) they fit just fine. I must have been attempting to fit them to 2 TC fittings I already have with large tapers which is why I had an issue. My mistake, looks fine, back to excited with no concerns.

 

[groundedbrewtech]

You are correct. Appologies, The barb fittings have a slimmer profile and they fit correctly. Even with 1 barb and say the tee (a larger taper on the side) they fit just fine. I must have been attempting to fit them to 2 TC fittings I already have with large tapers which is why I had an issue. My mistake, looks fine, back to excited with no concerns.

No worries!

Just wanted to make sure one of a smaller size didn’t get thrown into the mix by mistake. Cheers!

 

[AHol]

What's the word on a 20 gal version?

 

[emr25]

Anyone here received the full kit yet and have any first impressions from a water test or brew day?

My kettle, basket, and CFC arrived last week. I’m waiting on a few missing items to arrive so I can run a water test / auto tune cycle. Hoping to have a batch brewed in time for Thanksgiving but I may miss that one...

 

[crankyx]

Anyone here received the full kit yet and have any first impressions from a water test or brew day?

My kettle, basket, and CFC arrived last week. I’m waiting on a few missing items to arrive so I can run a water test / auto tune cycle. Hoping to have a batch brewed in time for Thanksgiving but I may miss that one...

I got my table last week, panel and some accessories couple weeks before that and a notification from fedex that a label was created Monday. Assuming that’s kettle, basket, CFC, etc. I have a bit of plumbing and venthilation todo, hopefully I can brew before the end of the month.

 

[Quadrider]

Anyone here received the full kit yet and have any first impressions from a water test or brew day?

My kettle, basket, and CFC arrived last week. I’m waiting on a few missing items to arrive so I can run a water test / auto tune cycle. Hoping to have a batch brewed in time for Thanksgiving but I may miss that one...

My kettle/basket/CFC are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. Planning on doing a cleaning/auto-tune/water run this weekend.... and hoping for a full brew day next weekend.

 

[crankyx]

My kettle/basket/CFC are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. Planning on doing a cleaning/auto-tune/water run this weekend.... and hoping for a full brew day next weekend.

Did you get it? If so, hows everything look? basket hangers?

Mine got delayed until Wednesday, bummer.

 

[emr25]

I have everything except for the basket hangers, TC pickup tube, and 12’ of tubing. That package is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

I’ll try to post some pictures and first impressions once I have everything and can run a water test to figure out the setup.

 

[Quadrider]

Did you get it? If so, hows everything look? basket hangers?

Mine got delayed until Wednesday, bummer.

Not sure what happened, but looks like even though the label was printed Monday, it didn't get shipped until Thursday. Rex apologized and said he had a personal issue which delayed shipping... No problem, **** happens. It's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow in 2 packages (I presume the hangers and pickup tube are included). Will try digging into it on Saturday night over some beers.

Looks like they added an instruction manual to the website to help understand on how to navigate the OMRON PID:

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta.../1527890645251/BIAB+Manual+w:Alarm+Switch.pdf

 

[Quadrider]

Received the rest of the components yesterday and set it up last night. Everything was packaged very well.

I did an initial deep cleaning of all the parts using a ratio of 1/2 cup TSP per 2 gallons of hot water. Before I cleaned the interior of the kettle, I ended up pouring some of the cleaning solution on the outside of the kettle and letting it sit....which I’m glad I did... I couldn’t believe the amount of grease that came off of it. Ended up cleaning the exterior bottom (which has some soiling) using a little bit of BKF. The inside had some residual aluminum dust which I first washed out. Proceeded to Fill the kettle with 14 gallons of hot water/tsp cleaning solution and recirced for 1/2 hr. Hooked up to the CFC and recirced in both directions for 15 min each. Before dumping, I filled a bucket with the cleaning solution and soaked all the fittings, hoses, butterflies for about 20 min. After which, did a complete rinse/recirc of everything with fresh water. I Definitely recommend doing a heavy deep cleaning on everything before the initial use.

During cleaning, I would accasionsly fire up the element and I was amazed how fast the water would heat up. Within a minute or two I would easily go for 100 to 120.

The only issue I had was the T-Fitting. There was a small hairline crack that was causing some leaking, which eventually turned into a full spray leak. Ended up removing it, and bypassing the T completely and just set the probe in the top of the kettle. Emailed GBT this morning about it and they immediately responded and will be sending me a new one tomorrow. Once received, planning to do temp probe calibration, auto-tune, then a full water run... With hopes of the first brew within a week or two.

Overall, aside from the defective T-Fitting, I’m very pleased with the quality of this system. The kettle is thick, with nice clean welds, and definitely top quality. The butterfly’s are compete professional grade and I couldn’t believe how heavy they are. What really amazed me is the CFC... its a compete monster and I can't believe how big and oversized it is.... definitely professional brewery quality. Also, I really like using the panel's timer and alarm. Yes it's an expensive system, but as of right now, I'm very happy with the purchase and have absolutely no regrets.

 

[MX1]

Received the rest of the components yesterday and set it up last night. Everything was packaged very well......

The only issue I had was the T-Fitting. There was a small hairline crack that was causing some leaking, which eventually turned into a full spray leak. Ended up removing it, and bypassing the T completely and just set the probe in the top of the kettle. Emailed GBT this morning about it and they immediately responded and will be sending me a new one tomorrow. Once received, planning to do temp probe calibration, auto-tune, then a full water run... With hopes of the first brew within a week or two.

It has been my observation that sometimes things happen, it is how the parties involved respond that makes the difference.
Seems like GBT is on the right track!

T

 

[emr25]

Received the rest of the components yesterday and set it up last night. Everything was packaged very well.

Thanks for the detailed post and pictures! I was planning a TSP recirculation cleaning, but your post will ensure I am more thorough in the initial cleaning process.

Water test and playing around with the heating element and recirculating with the pump is on deck tonight. Full cleaning and auto tune will have to wait another week or two until I have a larger chunk of free time.

 

[jangevaa]

@Quadrider are those mounting brackets for the CFC in your first image?

edit: nevermind, I see they are for the basket.

With the size of the CFC it looks like one should plan to purge every bit of wort out of it at the end of the brew with gas of some kind, or plan to mount it high in a way that can drain fully into fermentor.

 

[Quadrider]

With the size of the CFC it looks like one should plan to purge every bit of wort out of it at the end of the brew with gas of some kind, or plan to mount it high in a way that can drain fully into fermentor.

Great point. At the end of the transfer, Maybe just set the CFC at the same height as the kettle and disconnect the wort in from the pump out, and let gravity do the rest?

 

[Quadrider]

Finally had a chance to brew last Friday using the new system. Ended up going with a simple 2 hearted clone recipe using 13 lbs. grain with a strike of 7.5 Gal @ 157 per BIAB calculator. Cold Ground (45 Degrees) to strike took approx. 26 minutes. Mashed for 50 @ 150, with a 10 Minute mashout @ 170. Temps held perfect the entire time. Preboil OG was right around 1.050 with just under 6 Gallons volume. Let the grains drain for 10-15 Minutes and switched to manual mode @ 100% output. By the time I was done letting the grains drain, the boil was already rolling very strong and vigorously.

Did a 75 Minute boil with hop additions as instructed. 15 Minutes prior to end, I decided to recirculate through the CFC for sterilization for about 5-10 Minutes…. Unfortunately by doing this, I lost quite a bit of wort since the CFC is oversized.

Whirlpooled for 15 minutes. The whirlpool worked terrific, and left a decent sized trub cone right in the middle. Afterwhich, ran through the CFC into the fermenter. Coming from a standard IC, and never using a CFC Before, Unbeknownst to me, I ended up running at full throttle output using the chugger which gave me a temp readout of just over 95 into the fermenter. Lesson learned.

All said and done, I only ended up with around 3.5 Gallons in my fermenter @ 1.072. A lot of this was due to my lack of experience in using an advanced system. Between Boil off, Kettle Trub loss, CFC, Hoses, and Pump, I lost at least 1 Gallon. Plus I made the mistake of pumping wort into the CFC from the bottom instead of the top; so anything that was inside after the chill was essentially lost between connections.

Still, overall I’m very pleased with the system and happy with my purchase. Given a few more batches though it, I should have the specifics and technicalities mastered & nailed down. On deck is a 10 Gal. Gingerbread ale this weekend or next just in time for Xmas.

 

[charger]

This system seems to accomplish just about everything that I have been looking at lately to plan how I want to move forward. I did BIAB with 3.5 gallon batches, then moved to 5-10 gallon batches with a cooler and keggle. I miss my BIAB days as clean-up was far quicker/easier and I would think electric brewing makes it a little easier on the control side of things.

The only thing that kinda sticks out to me on this system is the Tee with temp probe. I don't have an issue with the probe placement but more with the tee in transition from mashing to boil whirlpool. I can't imagine it being anything less than very messy, especially with wort, when disconnecting the Tee and moving to the lower whirlpool port. For those who have had a chance to water test and/or brew, how is that transition being handled?

 

[Tommakesbeer]

Just checking in to say I have my third brew done. Went from cold water to work in the fermenter in 3h flat last night.

I used a jaded king cobra to help those times.

Overall I'm absolutely satisfied by the system and would suggest anyone thinking of something like this to give serious consideration to GBT.

As for moving the t fitting, there is a small amount of loss when breaking the TC seal. A dishcloth under the port is enough to catch this small loss, and not make it a sticky mess.

 

[BigBangBrewing]

Looking into possibly buying one of these, what do you folks reckon the max OG for a 10 gallon batch is? Generally looking to put 6 gallons into two SsBrewBuckets - Guessing I'll have to figure out a way to sparge?

 

[Quadrider]

Had a chance to do my 2nd brew on the system this past weekend. A 10 Gal. Gingerbread Ale. Using 19lbs grain with a strike of 13.75 gal. Once I started adding the first 9lbs of grain, I found there was too much strike water; causing the floating grains to slightly overflow the basket edge. I Removed about 1.5 Gal., heated it to around 190, and used as sparge water at the end of the 60 Min. rest.

One thing I found with this system is the boil off. It's is a lot... I mean A LOT. Even at 55% element output, I still had approx. 1.5-2 Gallon total boil off. The excessive steam was quite concerning, and even with open windows, and ceiling fans going, It was way too much. I'll definitely be investing in a Hood / Exhaust fan. Between Boil off, Whirlpool, Kettle Trub, and CFC loss, I ended up with 5.5 in my catalyst, and just under another 3.5 in a bucket. Total loss was about 3-3.5 Gallons. I'm sure this will continue to be reduced the more I use the system.

Still haven't figured out the best & most time efficient post boil cleaning method.

 

[Quadrider]

The only thing that kinda sticks out to me on this system is the Tee with temp probe. I don't have an issue with the probe placement but more with the tee in transition from mashing to boil whirlpool. I can't imagine it being anything less than very messy, especially with wort, when disconnecting the Tee and moving to the lower whirlpool port. For those who have had a chance to water test and/or brew, how is that transition being handled?

1st time was a mess. 2nd was actually pretty seamless. As long as the Butterflys on the Pump Outlet & Tangentials are closed, the only spillage that occurs is whats left in the 2-3" outlet between the top butterfly and Kettle TC post. Maybe 2-3 fluid ounces max. I used a small pitcher to catch it.

 

[Quadrider]

One more thing to point out was the CFC usage. With throttling the butterfly's and how they "Click", I found it extremely difficult to achieve a constant slow flow into the fermentor. Throughout the entire cooling process, I had to keep my hand on the pump outlet butterfly to reach that slow drain. Even with that, on a single pass I still measured 85 degrees in the fermentor. Not really sure how to combat this on the next brew. Was thinking of maybe just constantly recircing a whirlpool throughout the entire chill process, until I reach pitching temps?

 

[Elky]

With throttling the butterfly's and how they "Click", I found it extremely difficult to achieve a constant slow flow into the fermentor.

Butterfly valves are great for on/off and because they are really easy to sanitize, but they are not designed to throttle flow. It's not what you want to hear after dropping so much $$ on a complete system but your best bet is to replace the pump outlet valve with a ball valve. Grounded really should have taken this into account when designing the system.

 

[zeptrey]

Butterfly valves are great for on/off and because they are really easy to sanitize, but they are not designed to throttle flow. It's not what you want to hear after dropping so much $$ on a complete system but your best bet is to replace the pump outlet valve with a ball valve. Grounded really should have taken this into account when designing the system.

Easy fix would be a ball valve on the pump outlet to throttle flow.

 

[doug293cz]

Easy fix would be a ball valve on the pump outlet to throttle flow.

Ball valve is better than a butterfly valve, but still not great at fine flow control or linearity. They do make valves that are much more linear (Blichmann has one, I don't know about others.)

Brew on

 

[Quadrider]

All great points, and I think I’ll eventually swap it out for a ball or linear. For the next brew, I think I’ll try just a constant recirc whirlpool through the CFC until the probe reads good pitching temps.

 

[emr25]

Finally got to brew the first batch with my Grounded eBIAB system. It was also my first attempt at a LODO brew day (last night), but I won’t derail this thread with much discussion on that topic.


Overall it was a huge success for the first time with a new system and following new techniques. We had excellent break material and trub separation and nearly nailed our numbers and volumes. 5.5 gallons of the cleanest wort we’ve ever produced (coming from traditional squeeze the bag with no pump recirculation BIAB) into the conical. The chilled wort tasted sweet and delicious!


This recipe is a Kolsch, wanted something simple and clean to judge the new system and process.


9.5 Gallons Strike Water (RO)

90% (11 lbs 11.2 oz) Weyermann Barke Pilsner
5% (10.4 oz) Weyermann CaraHell
5% (10.4 oz) Weyermann Acidulated

13 IBUs (1 oz) Spalt at 45 Minutes
11 IBUs (1 oz) Tradition at 45 Minutes

WY2565
Predicted OG - 1.045
Actual OG - 1.047
Predicted FG - 1.009
Actual FG - TBD


5:45PM - Fired Kettle w/ 10 Gallons of RO Water
6:25PM - Pre-Boil Reached
6:30PM - Element Off and CFC Whirlpool Started
6:35PM - Dosed NaMeta, AA, BTB in Kettle
6:35PM - Conditioned Grain w/ 4oz Water (~2% of Grain Weight)
6:45PM - Milled Into eBIAB Mesh Basket (Monster MM3)
6:55PM - Dosed CaSO4, CaCl, MgSO4, NaCl in Kettle
7:00PM - Slowly Lowered Basket into 9.5 Gallons Strike at 131* (Dough-In)

Step-mashed with continuous recirculation with rests at 144*, 148*, 153*, 163*, and 172*. Pre-boil OG was 1.043 (predicted at 1.042).

8:55PM - Removed Basket after Draining
8:55PM - Fired Element at 100%
9:08PM - Boil Reached, Lid On Kettle, Steam Slayer On
9:10PM - Element Reduced to 25%
9:10PM - Dosed 1.25mL Lactic Acid and FermCap-S
9:23PM - Added Hops
9:53PM - Added Whirlfloc and Yeast Nutrient
9:58PM - Dosed 1.5mL Lactic Acid
10:05PM - Recirculation Through CFC to Sanitize
10:08PM - Element Off / Boil Complete
10:45PM - Transferred to Conical (70* Wort)
11:50PM - Aerated w/ O2 for 90 Seconds
11:55PM - Pitched Yeast (58* Wort)

 

[crankyx]

This morning I finally brewed with the system. Before I get to the today's brew however, lets talk about cleaning out of box. There was so much manufacturing crud on everything and it took the better part of Friday to clean, soaking, scrubbing, rinsing, repeat. I followed the TSP method from above that @Quadrider used, then PBW with brushes on tangential inlets, valves and fittings after a long soak.

Today's first brew was 10 gallons of a mild brown ale which was a bit of a learning curve coming from 3v herms gas setup. Rough calculated efficiency came out at 72.5% and overall the day went OK. There were a few challenges with lifting the basket due to my hood placement and cleanup as I have yet to procure my garage sink.

I was impressed with electric component and all TC fittings. The chiller i'm sure will work better once I have a functioning drain (buckets man, lots of buckets) but as stated above it is over sized. I may go back to my plate chiller as it takes up less space and frankly I think works better.

The biggest take away for me was to order a sink, cleanup would have been leaps easier than it was and also that 10 gallons is a bit more of a challenge than I was expecting. I was inaccurate in my assumptions about water volumes and the kettle volume was a bit too high with the grain added initially and the grain basket gets quite heavy.

Side note:
Pictures forthcoming of the brewing area, couple more things to complete.

 

[Quadrider]

Brewed my 4th batch on the GBT system last weekend, and with every brew I'm continually figuring out what works better and better.

1) Boil-Off - Had about 1 1/2 - 2 Gallons total boiloff @ 72% element output. Dialing back down to around 58-63% output should give you that gentle roll with minimal boil off on a 5 Gal. batch

2) Chiller - Still having the issue with the butterfly "click" and flow control on the pump outlet, but I found that hooking the T-Fitting up (with probe attached) to the Chiller outlet will give you an exact temp readings into fermenter. 1 full open click on the butterfly will result in about 83-85 degree output (using Michigan ground Winter water) and fill 5.5 gal. within 2-3 Minutes. 1/4-1/2 click is a slow gentle flow @ about 60-65 degree output. took me about 8-10 minutes to fill 5.5 Gal. @ this rate. Still considering swapping the butterfly for a ball valve

3) Cleanup - Obviously the most tedious task of all. Found the best way is to disconnect everything (except element) leaving the pump inlets / outlet hoses connected and into a bucket of fresh water for an initial trub pump flush then into a bucket of PBW for a 10 min recirc / soak; while following the same routine with all the fittings soaking in the PBW while the pump is recircing - While everything is soaking, rinse out all the kettle trub, then fill with the recirc'd used PBW and fire up the element to heat up. I use (2) blank TC plates for the 2 lower kettle outlet ports. After a 10-20 min soak and light scrub, just a good rinse. Had everything completely cleaned up 100% and on towels within 1/2 hour.

 

[hezagenius]

1) Boil-Off - Had about 1 1/2 - 2 Gallons total boiloff @ 72% element output. Dialing back down to around 58-63% output should give you that gentle roll with minimal boil off on a 5 Gal. batch

I have mine set to 60% in the boil phase and I boil off about 1 gallon per hour

 

[emr25]

Only one batch so far, but used in conjunction with the Steam Slayer from Brew Hardware my boil-off was 0.6 gallons or 7% (8.3 gallons pre-boil and 7.7 gallons post-boil).

PID is set to 100% until boil starts and then reduced to 25% once the lid is on and Steam Slayer functioning.

 

[emr25]

Anyone else have feedback on the Grounded eBIAB system?

I have two batches down (Kolsch and NE IPA) with a third planned for Friday (repeat of the Kolsch, no changes to recipe).

The system, in conjunction with several other changes, has produced our two best beers to date. Stainless mesh basket over standard fabric bag and the ability to step mash with precise temperature control and pump recirculation have been the biggest improvements. And the eBIAB controller looks clean and professional on the wall.

 

[cheesebach]

Anyone else have feedback on the Grounded eBIAB system?

I have two batches down (Kolsch and NE IPA) with a third planned for Friday (repeat of the Kolsch, no changes to recipe).

The system, in conjunction with several other changes, has produced our two best beers to date. Stainless mesh basket over standard fabric bag and the ability to step mash with precise temperature control and pump recirculation have been the biggest improvements. And the eBIAB controller looks clean and professional on the wall.

Good to hear, thanks for sharing! Could you explain what the improvements are that you’ve seen with the stainless mesh mash basket vs. a bag? Is it ease of use/cleaning? Or has it helped you to improve the quality of your beer in some way?

I’ve been struggling to decide between a simple e-kettle and controller with a bag vs. a more complete all-in-one with a mesh basket or solid walled mash pipe. Was initially leaning towards something sturdier but lately have been thinking just a simple bag might be easier for the cleaning and possibly increase the maximum grain bill I could mash without going to a larger kettle. Curious what your thoughts are since it seems you have some experience with both.

 

[emr25]

Good to hear, thanks for sharing! Could you explain what the improvements are that you’ve seen with the stainless mesh mash basket vs. a bag? Is it ease of use/cleaning? Or has it helped you to improve the quality of your beer in some way?

I’ve been struggling to decide between a simple e-kettle and controller with a bag vs. a more complete all-in-one with a mesh basket or solid walled mash pipe. Was initially leaning towards something sturdier but lately have been thinking just a simple bag might be easier for the cleaning and possibly increase the maximum grain bill I could mash without going to a larger kettle. Curious what your thoughts are since it seems you have some experience with both.

A few improvements, at least in terms of my opinion and goals.

I get cleaner / clearer wort when removing the stainless mesh basket than I used to with a fabric bag. Recirculation has a rigid “floor” of the basket to compact the bed and filter through. Also, the grain bed is disturbed to a lesser extent during removal.

Ease of use is a slight edge to the basket, I find it easier and less messy to remove than the bag. I raise it with a pulley to be just level with the liquid in the kettle. It only takes a few minutes to drain. I do not squeeze or sparge so efficiency is a little lower than I used to get, but grain is cheap and I prefer the cleaner wort.

Cleaning is equivalent, no advantage either way. Both get a spray down with the hose and air dry until the next brew day.

 

[emr25]

Sounds like Grounded Brewing might be getting out of the homebrew equipment market for the time being.

They don’t plan to restock the 30A eBIAB Panels and the dual tangential inlet 15 gallon kettles are on fire sale at $140 shipped. I picked up a spare at that price as a backup and/or potentially as a mash tun to allow for bottom filling (underletting) the grist and also bottom draining from mash tun into boil kettle.