Looking for configured system suggestions.

[Wyobrew22]

I have been brewing a bit lately after a long hiatus and in the process I have gotten a couple of co-workers interested enough that we have decided to buy an eBIAB system together. We are not interested in sourcing and building our own, we live and work at a very busy resort and want to brew in our free time not assemble and troubleshoot a a system from scratch. I have been researching and just can’t seem to find exactly what we are looking for. We have access to both 120 and 220/240v power as we will keep the system for use in a commercial kitchen. The thinking is to go with a 240/240v system for time efficiency, but we are not opposed to dual 120v element setups. I like the look of the unibrau system but the price is more than we would ideally like to spend, the CO. Brewing systems 20 gallon setup is also pricey and we don’t need the 20 gallon kettle. A grainfather seems alright but perhaps underpowered. Have also considered just going with a non-automated induction setup with a custom basket and a pump. Do you guys have any suggestions here? I already have fermenters, kegs etc.

 

[wilserbrewer]

If your brewing in a commercial kitchen....as part of a group...my opinion is all you need is a large kettle and a bag.

What size batches are you looking to brew?

I have brewed up to 1/2b batches on a commercial stove using basic BIAB techniques easily.

Ymmv but a small automated system doesn’t seem like a good option to satisfy a “group”

 

[jalc6927]

Brew boss out of Wisconsin makes great systems

 

[whovous]

I've been pretty happy with a first generation Unibrau Mini, but I am sure I'd be happier still with 240V. If getting the current to the source is not an issue for you, then 240V should be the starting point for your system search.

 

[Wyobrew22]

The other 2 members won’t be brewing as much as I do(once a week) so sharing won’t be too bad. I am looking at electric because we turn the gas off in the kitchen for the winter and while using water and electricity is fine, using the gas might ruffle somebody’s feathers. Our ideal system right now looks to be the unibrau but I’m also sketching up a custom kettle for spike to quote me on. I need to not be so stubborn about piecing together some components because we have my current biab setup to brew on in the meantime. I have looked at brewboss but but I’m thinking for maximum functionality and some social aspects having a 120v pair of elements as well as a 240v element will be a good idea, then we also have flexibility to apartment brew. I like the look of the clawhammer system as well but would prefer more power. Was thinking an induction element under the kettle along with the normal heating element in that case.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Are you wanting to brew any "big" (high gravity) beers. At 20 lb max grain capacity, the unibrau is somewhat limited in that regard. The Brew boss is incrementally better (25 lb) but to get enough water to cover it, you may be looking at longer boils.

I'll be watching this thread as I want to go to 240V electric, but I do brew some 12+% abv stuff from time to time. What I'd really like is an PID controlled induction rig (so there isn't the dead space for the element in the kettle), but I'm not finding a 240V induction burner thats manually controlled at a reasonable price.

At this point, Brew Boss is my leader, but it is pricey.

 

[jalc6927]

I can vouch for the brew boss and in reality if you use a bag in lieu of the cofi it’s not much more cost, and definitely a better value

 

[Wyobrew22]

I do not usually brew huge beers and when I do candi sugar is often involved. That being said my current kettle is 15 gallons and has plenty of space for bigger beers in 5 gallon batches. If you were designing a kettle from spike for a versatile recirculating eBIAB how would you configure? My thought is to have one drain port where I would mount the pump much like the unibrau unit and then the recirc port in the lid. Then one or two element ports on the back of the kettle. Keeping brewing location flexibility in mind would you design as a single element 240v based system and just deal with using a single 120v element if you had to brew somewhere else? Or put two element ports in from the beginning to allow dual 120v operation? Boil times with a single 120v element seem pretty abysmal and I can see using this in my apartment maybe about half the time where 240v is unavailable.

 

[whovous]

My early Unibrau has the recirc port on the lid, making it real easy to make messes by mistake. I think it makes a lot more sense to put it near the top of the pot instead.