My eBIAB single-vessel build

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Well, the first actual brewday was a success. However, I was not able to save any photo's from this brew session. I had taken photo's of every step and then pulled the SDHC out of my camera. During the cleanup phase, my card containing all the photos was dropped in the container with StarSan. No way to recover, so I'll have to document again on the next brew.

I can report the Convoluted CFC worked much better than expected. I was able to cool from boiling to 68 degrees in 12 minutes with tap water temp @49 degrees. I hardly had enough time to get everything situated until I had to cut the pump.

Going into the brew day, I calculated everything at 70% efficiency not having any track record with this setup. I crushed the grain pretty fine with the default setting of my Rebel Grain Mill. The inner Bayou Classic grain kettle/welded Blichmann false bottom worked fantastically. I was able to recirculate about .75 gal per minute through the grain bed. I was initially concerned about the recirculation rate and not allowing the inner kettle to overflow. This wasn't an issue I'm happy to say and even with the fine crush, a good recirculation rate was achieved without the inner grain kettle getting any fuller indicating a good drain rate and recirculation rate. Also, the mash was a fairly thick consistency. I would say probably about 1.33 qt/lb and the 4 gal reservoir under the grain kettle made this work great.

First, before the grain bill and times, etc. I'll tell you what iBrewMaster and BeerAlchemy calculated as my actual efficiency: ~85%

Here is the grain bill and mashing schedule:
10 lbs 2 row pale ale malt
1 lb 20L Crystal
1 lb Vienne 20L
Mash for 60 minutes at 153 degrees and then ramp to 168 degrees and hold for 10 minute mashout.

Initial water was about @49 degrees, placed 8.25 gal into kettle. Next turned on 4500 watt element @100%. Took 35 minutes to reach 156 degrees, no recirculation at this point, just trying to get water to strike temp. I then shut the element off, placed the grain kettle with welded false bottom in the main boil kettle and starting the dough-in process. After this was completed the temp was about 151 degrees. I then started the recirculation to allow the grain bed to settle and get the recirculation flow set. I was really surprised at how much flow I could run and not have any backup in the grain kettle. I'm guessing about .75 gal/min. Once this was stabilized, I set my mash temp to 153 and it took about 7 minutes to reach 153 and the element then shut off. On my setup, I found the element would stay on about 4 minutes and off about 5 to maintain my mash temp. Never varied more than 2 degrees either way and if it varied the 2 degrees, it would not stay there more than a few seconds. I'm very happy with the EBC SV. Mashed for 60 minutes and then set the EBC SV to 168. Took about 13 minutes to reach 168 and I recirculated for 10 minutes. I am going to have to construct an overhead pulley system to handle the grain kettle. :) We pulled the grain kettle and allowed to drain for about 4 minutes. We then had a contained we set the grain kettle in to allow to finish draining while I brought the wort to a boil. After a rolling boil,which took about 18 minutes, I was able to turn the EBC SV down to about 60% to keep a just right boil.. I do a 90 boil and allowed to boil the first 30 minutes before adding hops on this recipe. I never had to touch the potentiometer on the EBC SV again during the boil.

After the boil finished, I started the cooling process. WOW, I'm impressed with the SS Convoluted CFC. 49 degree tap water brought boiling wort down to 68 degrees in 12 minutes.

So, I'm very happy with my setup so far. Not to many bugs in the system. Just need to brew on it a few more times to really hone in the process. I'm very glad I went this direction with my brewery.

Screenshot from my iPad and iBrewMaster:

iBrewmaster.jpg
 
Also on the efficiency, I'll have to brew a few more batches before I use this number for formulating my grain bill. I'm happy with the number, but more importantly, I want a consistent efficiency number here to accurately have repeatable results.

Jim
 
Thanks for the detailed wright up, that was really helpful for me to visualize what I will be doing for my first BIAB in the next couple weeks.

One thing you might try is recirculating the strike water during your initial heating, it will stop stratification of hot and cold water and heat faster.
 
a question to ragtop what size is your outer pot .I have a 70 litre pot and want to buy a pot to follow your inner idea but dont know how much space between inner and outer pot is required
 
Paul, my outer pot is 15 gallons and measurements are 15.75" diameter and 20" height. The inner pot is 9 gallon and about 13" diameter and 14" tall.

Jim
 
Great build Ragtop. I like the idea of a stainless bag, although it makes my decision harder. I'm trying to decide on how to do my eBrewery build - BIAB or 2 pot. I currently do BIAB so I'm still mulling around with the idea.

With such a thick mash you must sparge - how are you doing this with a one pot system?

paulfg the best pot would be 17.5" OD if your pot is 18" ID. You want the 'bag' to be as close to the same size as the pot as possible.
 
Duncan, I'm not sparging at all. This system was designed to do 5.5 gal to the fermenter. With the stainless leg bolts on the inner grain kettle, that leaves about 3 gallon of water around the element and beneath the grain kettle. When I start a batch, I treat initial water volume just like I would in a BIAB system. So, initially I start with 8.75 gal of water. With grain absorption and boiloff (I do 90 minute boil), it leaves me about 5.5 to 5.7 gal of wort to the fermenter. While mashing, the wort is recirculated back to the top of the grain kettle. I've not made any big beers, usually 1.055 to 1.065, and my efficiency has been very stable and surprisingly very high, ~83% according to iBrewMaster. I really am liking this system and after 4 brews, I'm getting more familiar with it and how it operates. Brew day is still about 5 hours with cleanup, but most of that is "BS and Beer Drinking Time". :) It's an easy system to use and with the Convoluted CFC always in line, when changing from mash to boil, I just have to move the hose from the top inlet on the lid that I used for recirculation during the mash down to the tangential inlet. I also recirculate for 2 minutes every 30 minute during the boil to purge the lines or refresh the lines and I recirculate boiling wort the last 10 minutes. Of course this is just a matter of turning on the pump at the controller. The CCFC recirculates the cooled wort back into the tangential inlet, with the lid on the kettle, and will chill the entire kettle down to 68 degrees in about 10 to 12 minutes using 48 degree water while creating a very nice whirlpool. I then just let the kettle set for about 15 to 20 minutes for the whirlpool to form a cone with what trub is left and then drain into the fermenter. This system is working out very nicely for me.

Jim
 
The inner grain basket is about 1" shorter than the outside kettle allowing the lid to be placed on the outer kettle for the recirculation. I bring the strike water to temp first, then dough in with the pump and element off. Next, I start the pump without the element to set the grain bed and get the recirculation flow set. I am normally recirculating a stream about the size of a pencil. Once this is stabilized and the water levels are stationary, I then turn on the element. I suspect I'm recirculating about a gallon a minute. Never had a problem with inner basket overflowing.

Jim
 
Really like your system, I think I might copy parts of it if you don't mind! I found a 42 qt pot that can slide into a stout kettle with a little less than an inch of clearance all around, was thinking of using that with some 3-4 inch legs.

I read you have 3 gallons of dead space under the inner pot, do you calc your water/grain ratio and then just add three gallons? I usually do three vessel so i guess i am unsure of what ratio you shoot for with biab? What do you think you could get up to as far as o.g.? Are barley wines or imperial stouts out of the question?

Thanks, sorry for the inquisition
 
When figuring the water, I treat exactly as BIAB, meaning all water goes in the kettle for mash, no sparging. So, I calculate how much water I need by the following: How much I intend going to the fermenter (5.5gal) + boil-off rate (90 min. = 1.75 gal) + Grain absorption (1 gal) + loss to trub (.5 gal). So, for my batch, the mash in water would be 5.5 + 1.75 + 1 + .5 = 8.75 gallons. With the area under the grain basket (it's about 4" above the bottom) = 3 gal + space around the grain kettle = 1.25 gal that leaves 4.5 gal of liquid per 11 lb of grain (my normal grain bill for APA ~1.055 OG) That makes a fairly thin mash of 2 qts / lb . I use a rebel brewer grain mill and grind @ the default setting which is a fine grind, but efficiency is stable at ~83% on all brew sessions so far with no problems recirculating.

Jim
 
When calculating mash thickness, you must include all of the water as what matters is the dilution of the enzymes (and other soluble components). You mash thickness is actually 3.2 qt/lb.
 
When calculating mash thickness, you must include all of the water as what matters is the dilution of the enzymes (and other soluble components). You mash thickness is actually 3.2 qt/lb.

While you are technically correct in your calculations, for the sake of illustration, I was setting a point of reference for the water/Grain ratio that is ACTUALLY in the grain kettle. This will give an idea of the water that is in the bottom dead space and to the mash thickness actually in the grain kettle.

Jim
 
Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. How high up in the inner kettle do those 11 lbs of grain go? How many more lbs of grain do you think you could fit? I typically like to make beers with an o.g.of 1.070 - 1.080. Hoping this system will work around there, definitely need a way to simplify my brewing process. Thanks again. Greg
 
Greg, 11 lbs is about half of the inner kettle. I would say 20 to 22 lbs would fit in the inner grain basket without a problem.

Jim
 
Greg, no conical bottom on the kettle. However, there's an area in the center, I'm guessing about 7" diameter, that is indented and after whirlpooling would hold some of the trub.
 
Great write up, it definitely has me thinking... do you think a keggle would work as an outer kettle?
 
The only issue you'd have with a keggle is the opening. That would have to be large enough to accommodate the inner basket and the inner basket would have to be large enough to hold your grain bill.

Jim
 
Thanks ragtop, I found something that will fit in my keggle, i'm ordering parts and will hopefully be assembling in the next week or so... can you show us how you have your lid set up for recirculating?

Do you have tubing on the inside of the return, or does it just pour onto your interior grain container.

did you use the 1" pickup or a 90 degree for the return, i didn't see a 90 degree in your parts list.

Thanks
 
I had to add a few parts for the lid. From Brewers Hardware, they welded a "barb" fitting underneath the lid at the triclover fitting that's on top. I just use about a 18" of high temp silicone tubing pushed up on the barb and curl on the top of the grain. I added a 90 degree to the top of the triclover on the lid and I also moved the probe from the lid inlet as you see in the photo below to the main outlet. I think I get more stability and accurate reading there.

IMG_0160-L.jpg


We just brewed a Honey Nut Brown yesterday, OG 1.060 and I'm still amazed with the efficiency. This was our sixth batch on the new system and we have never been below 82%. I suspect though a larger grain bill with higher gravity in mind would bring the efficiency numbers down.

Jim
 
82% efficiency is my standard setting for my BIAB setup on beers below 1.070. My largest beer was a 1.100 imperial stout and the efficiency was low 70s.
 
Hi Ragtop232.

Love your build. I'm thinking about doing a similar eBIAB setup with top-bottom recirculation instead of a Braumeister-style bottom-top recirc through a malt pipe. My question though is have you ever had issues with scorching on your element, overflows, or running your pump dry from low flows through your grain bed?

I see this as being an issue with wheat or rye beers. How do you control your flows on this rig? And how closely do you need to watch your flows throughout the mash cycle to ensure you don't have these problems?

Or do you just let-er rip and have never had a problem?

Cheers
 
klaiguy -

I have never had a scorching issue. I use a 4500 watt 240v ULWD element. I use a blichmann false bottom that is welded to a 9 gal Bayou Classic SS kettle. We cut the bottom off the BC kettle leaving about a 1" lip on the bottom to weld the Blichmann false bottom to. Never had a stuck grain bed and we've now done 15 brew sessions. As far as the flow goes, my routine is to allow a recirculation flow about the size of a pencil. On dough-in, I cut the heat and get the grain bed set. Once the flows have neutralized, I then turn the heat on with this contoller at about 40%. I'm constantly getting 80 - 82% efficiency with this system. We are now doing all 10 gallon batches, starting out with 11.75 gals of water to dough in 22 to 24 lbs of grain. We then have another SS kettle that we keep 3.5 gal of 175 degree water in to sparge the grains after lifting the grain kettle from the boiler. It works out great for me.

Jim
 
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