HUGE 65 gallon BIAB

[ThrappersAle]

Challenge accepted! Ive been giving it a lot of thought, We do 2 brews in a day, side by side, so i think we may be able to mash each bag of grain twice, and concentrate the wort collected into a third pot. Time is definitely a restriction considering our brew day can exceed 12 hours sometimes so were going to have to figure out the most efficient way to do it. I love the idea, and im sure we could pull off an extra 30 gallons.

 

[Mashinations]

One thing that may help you speed up your brew day....

I brew 20 gallon batches and get everything set up the night before, water into kettles and grain and such and then put a 1000w electric stick heater into each to heat overnight. Plugged in at 9PM, when I come out at 7AM, the water in a 30 gallon kettle is sitting at around 160-180 degrees. Dilute with cold as necessary to get the water temp you need. I'm usually mashing in within about 20 minutes of getting to the brew space.

 

[Beer is good]

Does this exceed the 200 gallons per household yearly max?

 

[automobiliben]

Do you dump trub out of the Boil Kettle? Or just chill to temps and pitch the yeast?

I haven't read up on it much, but with a lot of the German styles they are open fermented, wonder if going to that length to seal up the Boil Kettle/Fermenter is needed. Also, since C02 is heavier than air, I would think even after high krausen there should be a protective layer, no?

 

[rmchair]

Those monks have open fermented for centuries. But they have a lot of goodwill.
I would look at one of those electric aussie water heaters set on a timer. You can find some in the us on ebay.

 

[Mashinations]

Those monks have open fermented for centuries. But they have a lot of goodwill.

Yes - and I've known a few breweries to do it in this country but the fermentation is also closely monitored so that as the krausen starts to fall back the beer is transferred to a closed vessel.

 

[shuckey]

Best when "open" fermenting like this to move the beer to a keg sooner rather than later, I typically move to kegs after 10 days or so, then maybe cellar the kegs another week or so depending on my pipeline and fridge space.

I have started to feel that airlocks and a perfectly sealed fermenter is kinda silly during an active ferment as it's generating co2 pretty rapidly.

Yeah, I was at Bourbon distillery and they ferment in open fermentors with the windows open right next to it. I asked the Master Distiller and he said something along the lines of:

They pump it with plenty of strong yeast before anything else can get to it. Plus there is so much negative pressure that nothing can get in there.​

Also, the picture on the Samuel Smith bottles look pretty darn open to me, too.

 

[ThrappersAle]

One thing that may help you speed up your brew day....

I brew 20 gallon batches and get everything set up the night before, water into kettles and grain and such and then put a 1000w electric stick heater into each to heat overnight. Plugged in at 9PM, when I come out at 7AM, the water in a 30 gallon kettle is sitting at around 160-180 degrees. Dilute with cold as necessary to get the water temp you need. I'm usually mashing in within about 20 minutes of getting to the brew space.

Thanks for the input. I am going to dabble with this idea. I originally mapped out an electric system for my setup but found that heating 2 65 gallon pots would require too much hydro and investment. I do like the slow and steady set it and forget it method though. That may just work for us and save some time. In the first kettle we mash in about 30 minutes after we fill it up with my hot water tank. Water goes in at about 130 f. This would definately speed the second kettle though. Plus setup in the morning would be a breeze.

 

[ThrappersAle]

Do you dump trub out of the Boil Kettle? Or just chill to temps and pitch the yeast?

I haven't read up on it much, but with a lot of the German styles they are open fermented, wonder if going to that length to seal up the Boil Kettle/Fermenter is needed. Also, since C02 is heavier than air, I would think even after high krausen there should be a protective layer, no?

We just chill and pitch. Ferment with trub and all. No off flavors to speak of. I've had infections before in smaller batches (lactobascillus) and get pretty worried about dumping 120 gallons after all that time, effort and $$. Its an extra step at the end of the day and helps me sleep at night.

 

[ThrappersAle]

Does this exceed the 200 gallons per household yearly max?

We live in Canada, i believe there is no legal limit as long as it is consumed by friends or family and not sold.

 

[hwrd]

Have you thought of making a small beer (partigyle) with the spent grains? I'm betting you could get 30 gallons of decent beer during the second mash.

At least one Belgian monastery does this with their Dubel. The monks, alas, get the small beer to drink.

 

[H20ENG]

Time to buy another big BK for the partigyle brew, since you ferment in those nice big kettles.
Also, could you post pictures of your lid and seal setup? I didn't see them in the thread.

 

[Magnus314]

Instead of a partigyle, you could always sparge or even dunk sparge instead of topping of with just plain water. If you've already got a 30 gallon kettle there anyway...

 

[muffinman]

You could also use the grains to grow mushrooms. It is a great substrate and you could add a secound product.

 

[jimdkc]

We live in Canada, i believe there is no legal limit as long as it is consumed by friends or family and not sold.

Another reason to move to Canada! (Besides the upcoming presidential election...)

 

[fatherdan]

Another reason to move to Canada! (Besides the upcoming presidential election...)

I hope your joking.

 

[Mashinations]

Thanks for the input. I am going to dabble with this idea. I originally mapped out an electric system for my setup but found that heating 2 65 gallon pots would require too much hydro and investment. I do like the slow and steady set it and forget it method though. That may just work for us and save some time. In the first kettle we mash in about 30 minutes after we fill it up with my hot water tank. Water goes in at about 130 f. This would definately speed the second kettle though. Plus setup in the morning would be a breeze.

Not to mention the savings in propane. The cost of the bucket heaters varies widely though - be aware that you can find them for $30-$35 with a little searching or if you go to ebay or some other homebrew places you might see them for $55-$75.

 

[automobiliben]

Not to mention the savings in propane. The cost of the bucket heaters varies widely though - be aware that you can find them for $30-$35 with a little searching or if you go to ebay or some other homebrew places you might see them for $55-$75.

Any chance you have a link for $30-35 one? I have been thinking about picking one up.

I had switched my set-up to Natural Gas, but had to go back to Propane as it was taking forever...

 

[numberspace]

Mixed reviews and might not be able to cope with your volume
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/allied-precision-bucket-heater-1000-w

 

[TexasWine]

Thanks for the input. I am going to dabble with this idea. I originally mapped out an electric system for my setup but found that heating 2 65 gallon pots would require too much hydro and investment. I do like the slow and steady set it and forget it method though. That may just work for us and save some time. In the first kettle we mash in about 30 minutes after we fill it up with my hot water tank. Water goes in at about 130 f. This would definately speed the second kettle though. Plus setup in the morning would be a breeze.

If you're going the route of bucket heater, I'd recommend ditching the cheap route and springing for a Hot Rod from Brew Hardware.

http://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/hotrod.htm

I've owned both cheap bucket heaters (several) and now I own two of these Hot Rods. They are an indispensable part of my little home brewery. I use them for boiling wort, which you wouldn't necessarily. But I also use them during clean up to heat PBW solution. Extremely handy, and bullet proof.

You can wire them up with either a 240v or 120v element. I imagine 5500 watts would heat your strike water fairly quickly.

 

[numberspace]

The low energy density ones might be better for your kettles...less chance of damaging the bags. But I concur!

 

[Mashinations]

Google 742G - which is the model number for the 1000w bucket heater. The prices of them seem to go up & down depending on the website. Someone above posted a link for $40 - I just ordered two more from Mills Street Farm and paid $35 each.

Reviews do vary on them. I've had 2 of them for about 3 years and using them about 20 times/year. One did just kick the bucket (pun intended) and I ordered 2 more assuming the other one might be close. The money I save on propane to get water for the HLT, cleaning, infusion additions, etc. means that they've paid for themselves several times over. The "new" units look exactly like the old units so I wouldn't suggest that the quality of them has decreased - but the quality may be tied to something I can't see so only time will tell.

I prefer the portable nature of them, can be used to heat water in a homer bucket or within a kettle to speed things up. I agree that a permanent solution might be better for you, but this is what works for me.

Make sure they are immersed fully when plugged in.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Guys, reality check....a 1000 watt element to assist with 65 gallon batches is akin to throwing a deck chair off the titanic. Kettle losses alone for a kettle that size and surface area are likely greater than 1000w.

A hot rod and a 5500w element may help, but the OP stated he takes around 20 minutes to reach strike temp, seems speedy to me considering batch size.m

 

[bhumph77]

We just chill and pitch. Ferment with trub and all. No off flavors to speak of. I've had infections before in smaller batches (lactobascillus) and get pretty worried about dumping 120 gallons after all that time, effort and $$. Its an extra step at the end of the day and helps me sleep at night.

So just chill and pitch? How do you handle all the hops? Do you bag or just let them party with trub while it ferments?

 

[rkadish]

I hope your joking.

Joking about moving to Canada or joking about the election we have this year. ( no one laughed at Reagan ) I thought it was bad 8 years ago.


By the way this has all been brought to you by BRAWNDO the thirst quencher.

 

[TexasWine]

Guys, reality check....a 1000 watt element to assist with 65 gallon batches is akin to throwing a deck chair off the titanic. Kettle losses alone for a kettle that size and surface area are likely greater than 1000w.

A hot rod and a 5500w element may help, but the OP stated he takes around 20 minutes to reach strike temp, seems speedy to me considering batch size.m

Forest, trees. 🤣

 

[r8rphan]

Challenge accepted! Ive been giving it a lot of thought, We do 2 brews in a day, side by side, so i think we may be able to mash each bag of grain twice, and concentrate the wort collected into a third pot. Time is definitely a restriction considering our brew day can exceed 12 hours sometimes so were going to have to figure out the most efficient way to do it. I love the idea, and im sure we could pull off an extra 30 gallons.

Split up the work crew into (overlapping?) shifts to allow for a longer work day?

 

[r8rphan]

One thing that may help you speed up your brew day....

I brew 20 gallon batches and get everything set up the night before, water into kettles and grain and such and then put a 1000w electric stick heater into each to heat overnight. Plugged in at 9PM, when I come out at 7AM, the water in a 30 gallon kettle is sitting at around 160-180 degrees. Dilute with cold as necessary to get the water temp you need. I'm usually mashing in within about 20 minutes of getting to the brew space.

Thanks! You just solved a problem for me... I was wondering how I was gonna do my brews with prepared RO water in the kettle the night before when winter sets in... didn't want a kettle sized ice cube in the morning to start brew day...

Such a simple solution... Use the electric element to keep it warm over night.. DOH!

Probably would have gotten there on my own, but now I don't have to!

 

[numberspace]

How did you guys happen upon your boil kettle? Construct it?

 

[ThrappersAle]

We have 4 of them. We found them on kijiji. We looked for probably a year and finally stumbled upon these ones. Another good bet would be to check your local scrap yard's stainless section. This takes some frequency and commitment but I've seen the odd gem at the yards around me.