High gravity beers : Unibrau or Clawhammer eBIAB system

[pourliver]

Hi everyone, new brewer here!

As an appartment brewer, I'm very interested in a single kettle setup. My research lead me to either the Unibrau 10gal 120v, or the Clawhammer Supply 10gal 10v.

If I go for the Unibrau, I'll go for a dual 1650w element setup. The clawhammer as a single 1650w element, but using a 1650w heatstick / induction heater is a possibility.

I mostly drink russian imperial stouts, but also love NEIPAs and West-Coast IPAs. I'm looking for a system able to brew any of those beers. I don't mind having LESS than 5 gallons per batch, as long as the beer turns out fine, the final batch size doesn't matter much to me.

I'm pretty much lost here. I haven't found much information in regard to high-gravity beers in any of those systems. I understand that 11% - 13% ABV beers can require a ton of grain, and I'm willing to pay for whatever system can offer what I'm looking for. Can anyone help me with a few pointers in regard to which system I should go for?

Thanks a lot!

 

[madscientist451]

Does your apartment have a dryer? If so, you can plug your brewing system into that and run on 220. Also, don't dismiss using yor existing kitchen stove. Most stoves can easily boil 3.5 gallons, which will then boil down to a 2.5 gallon batch. You can also use two pots to get your boil accomplished and then combine everything. If the stove has a vent hood, you can vent off the steam from the boil. Also look at High Gravity Brew systems in Tulsa, OK.
I recently found a Masterbuilt electric turkey fryer/boiler at a thrift store and I did a 2.5 gallon BIAB test batch in it and it worked great. I don't think they make them anymore though.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124552032985?hash=item1cffe132d9:g:xVUAAOSwoU1grrGV

 

[pourliver]

I do have 220 in my apartment, but I would need a cable of ~15 feet if I want to go that route. So I'm a bit hesitant about that setup.

About the kitchen stove, its in vitroceramic and the vent is very low, so I can't brew on it. I'm more looking toward going with "field tested" systems, so I can learn from the experiences of others, but thank you for the recommendation.

I've done my research and I have mostly settled on those two systems. I "may" be willing to mix & match pieces from a few sets tho.

 

[pourliver]

After doing some more research, I arrived to the conclusion that I shouldn't have to compromise with either of those kits. I'll probably end up with a custom kettle from brewhardware, their price is hard to beat (even after conversion from USD -> CAD + shipping!)

 

[NewJersey]

I have and brew on a spike solo 15 gallon.
You can make 5 gallons of any gravity beer you want.
After brewing biab on a 10 gallon setup it quickly became apparent that it's less than ideal.
Between the 2 you mentioned I think the unibrau looks better personally

 

[pourliver]

What you described is kinda what I think I will be going for, but instead of the Spike Solo, a custom 15g spike kettle that fits my requirement will allow me to brew without any constraint.

5gal BIAB with a 15gal kettle really sounds like its the best thing in regard to high gravity beers, and neither Unibrau and Clawhammer will help with that.

 

[NewJersey]

What you described is kinda what I think I will be going for, but instead of the Spike Solo, a custom 15g spike kettle that fits my requirement will allow me to brew without any constraint.

5gal BIAB with a 15gal kettle really sounds like its the best thing in regard to high gravity beers, and neither Unibrau and Clawhammer will help with that.

Yeah, they only sell 10 & 20.
Even 20 seems stupid tho, imo. If you wanna brew 10 gallon batches you'd want 25. Or maybe move to 3 vessel

 

[pourliver]

Yeah I just don't see the point of 20 gal right now, 10 gal batches are just too much, and 5 gal batches will last me a good while. If I were to go that route in the future, I'd prefer 3 vessel too.

 

[IdahoBrewing]

I use the ClawHammer 20 gal 240v... well worth paying the few extra bucks for the extra 10 gallons. You can do some serious damage with the amount of grain that you can fit into that puppy. Even though it is a 20 gal system... I do 5 or 6 gallon batches with it all the time. I like the freedom of having more space in the kettle... and I have never had a boil-over or been short fitting grain in. A lot of it is preference... for me it is really versatile.

 

[Homebrewer20]

I went with the 120v - 2 element setup on the unibrau and couldn't be more happier.. It works really great and will probably last me a lifetime! I purchased a second controller for the other element so I could fine tune both of them. You could just use an inline on off switch as well though.
I'm on my 3rd beer so far and good efficiency! I just do a double batch sparge, drain the wort into a bucket, and then dump it back into the kettle for boiling. Works great!