My One Vessel AG System

[wobdee]

I made some changes this morning. I didn't like how the basket was a tad too tall and I couldn't get a tight seal with my lid and I wanted the basket to sit down closer to the bottom of the kettle.

I cut off those side tabs and 4 extra flat stock risers that kept the basket off my inner spigot then removed the inner spigot so the basket sits about 3/4" off the bottom instead of 1 1/2". Also bought a Weber 17" grill grate that fits perfectly and will use it to drain and squeeze.

 

[wobdee]

I should be able to put much more pressure down this way when squeezing the grains and it was only $10 for the grate.

 

[uberg33k]

That looks good, man! When are you brewing next? I'd like to know how the adjustments work out for you before ordering from Chad.

Also, in the original thread on this, was there any consensus on what size basket you would need to hold a given amount of hops?

 

[jammin]

BBQ grate is genious!

 

[grathan]

I need a solution for hot break filtering. Something like this would be pretty neat. Remove once before first hops addition, clean and replace. Then again after cooling.

 

[wobdee]

That looks good, man! When are you brewing next? I'd like to know how the adjustments work out for you before ordering from Chad.

Also, in the original thread on this, was there any consensus on what size basket you would need to hold a given amount of hops?

Brewing again tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes.

I have the 4x10" basket and I feel it's just right for my smaller 2.5gl system. If your into big hoppy 5gl or larger batches I'd recommend something larger. 2-3 oz of pellets in mine looks pretty compact and I like to do a big flame out addition so I dump out the boiling hops at flame out before adding the rest.

 

[wobdee]

This was my first atempt at BIAB and noticed a difference in wort clarity and trub compared to my old 3 vessel system. I use to recirculate the mash and set the filter bed until it ran clear, I wonder if I should recirculate some before pulling the basket? Thoughts?

 

[grathan]

This was my first atempt at BIAB and noticed a difference in wort clarity and trub compared to my old 3 vessel system. I use to recirculate the mash and set the filter bed until it ran clear, I wonder if I should recirculate some before pulling the basket? Thoughts?

Darn, I was hoping to use this for hot break. perhaps a tighter mesh...
Recirculating would certainly give clearer wort and couldn't hurt anything. It wouldn't take any extra time cause you could do it with the mash going. Probably even a good idea to keep even temps.

 

[501irishred]

How tough would it be to clean the basket out and use it for the hops as well?

 

[wobdee]

I thought about taking it out, dumping the grain and using it for hops but I would need to get it out of the way when it's time for my immersion chiller. It only takes a few minutes to dump the grain and rinse off.

 

[uberg33k]

I thought about taking it out, dumping the grain and using it for hops but I would need to get it out of the way when it's time for my immersion chiller. It only takes a few minutes to dump the grain and rinse off.

Why? Drop the chiller in at the last 15 minutes for sanitation and chill with the larger basket in situ. I don't see any reason that wouldn't work. The biggest issue there is making sure you get all the grain out of the basket between mash and boil.

 

[501irishred]

Gotcha.

 

[wobdee]

Why? Drop the chiller in at the last 15 minutes for sanitation and chill with the larger basket in situ. I don't see any reason that wouldn't work. The biggest issue there is making sure you get all the grain out of the basket between mash and boil.

Yeah, I suppose it could work. Wonder how whirlpooloing would go with that basket in there?

 

[uberg33k]

Yeah, I suppose it could work. Wonder how whirlpooloing would go with that basket in there?

In this case, who cares about whirlpooling? The point to whirlpooling is to help separate trub from wort. You're doing that mechanically with a screen (your basket). You don't need to whirlpool as you're effectively straining all the wort at once. Just wait till it's cool so cold break has a chance to form and you should be golden.

 

[wobdee]

In this case, who cares about whirlpooling? The point to whirlpooling is to help separate trub from wort. You're doing that mechanically with a screen (your basket). You don't need to whirlpool as you're effectively straining all the wort at once. Just wait till it's cool so cold break has a chance to form and you should be golden.

Ok, you guys talked me into it, I'll give it a try tomorrow and report back with more pics.

Maybe not! Just tried boiling some water with the basket in there and it was forming a big air bubble underneath and then it would burp with the whole basket rising up and splashing water. Maybe it's got something to do with the induction burner?

 

[uberg33k]

Ok, you guys talked me into it, I'll give it a try tomorrow and report back with more pics.

Maybe not! Just tried boiling some water with the basket in there and it was forming a big air bubble underneath and then it would burp with the whole basket rising up and splashing water. Maybe it's got something to do with the induction burner?

Take a magnet to the basket. Does it stick? If so, it might be an issue with the induction. If not, there's just too much air building up. The mesh might be fine enough where it's not easy for the air to pass through, so it has to pass on the outside. I would think it would be fine if the basket was weighed down or held down, letting the air bubble up on the sides, but it's hard to say.

 

[wobdee]

Just finished my 2nd attempt, excuse the grammer and lack of detail cuz I've been drinking IPA homebrew all day!

Thanks to my brewing ****** (metalhead) for the help.

With the changes I got a little better efficiency according to Promash, 74% verses 70%. I'm thinking a finer crush would probably give me more but 70% is good enough for me. The grain mill I used is set at .45.

The grill rack is much better, I can push down and squeeze much harder and only lost .25gl from grain absorsion.

My kettle held mash temp of 150-153 for 1 hour no problem with the lid on and no heat so I'm happy with that. I mashed for 1 hour then raised temp up to 170 which took about 15 min then raised the basket to drain.

The basket drained great and I squeezed pretty hard but didn't kill myself trying to get every last drop out.

This whole brew day was very simple and clean up was a breeze with only one vessel. The gain basket is easy to clean, just dump the grains and rinse. There are a few kernnals that don't like to dump out but you can wipe them right out with a paper towel.

Pretty happy with this system, I recommend Chad's great work!

 

[wobdee]

Few more pics

 

[wobdee]

After I squeezed the grains it was just a normal brew day, boil 60 min, flame out, chill and rack into carboy. Easy peazy!

 

[uberg33k]

I'm a bit confused here. Did you use the big basket for the hops?

 

[blaster_54738]

I'm a bit confused here. Did you use the big basket for the hops?

No he uses the basket for grains. Instead of brew in a bag it's brew in a basket. Looks good Todd

 

[hanson95]

Looks like a great system for 2.5 g batches. How do you think it will work for 5 g? Obviously, the weight of the grain in the basket might be a concern. Additionally, how much strike water do you think would be needed to end up with 6.5-7g at the start of the boil?

 

[uberg33k]

No he uses the basket for grains. Instead of brew in a bag it's brew in a basket. Looks good Todd

He spoke of cleaning the large basket and using it for good after the first test batch. He did a boil test and found it might be trapping bubbles. In the second batch, he speaks of cleaning the basket after mash making its use in boil ambiguous.

 

[wobdee]

Looks like a great system for 2.5 g batches. How do you think it will work for 5 g? Obviously, the weight of the grain in the basket might be a concern. Additionally, how much strike water do you think would be needed to end up with 6.5-7g at the start of the boil?

I think I could squeak out a 5gl batch with my system but it would be close. I used 3.75gl of strike water for this batch that gave me 3.5gl at the start of the boil, so I'd say maybe double that for a 5gl batch or a little less? If I was a 5gl brewer I think I'd want at least a 10gl kettle.

There was 5.5 lbs of grain in this batch and it was nothing to lift it out. I could see where larger amounts in a 5gl batch could get a bit heavy. Maybe a pully system above would be a good idea?

 

[wobdee]

He spoke of cleaning the large basket and using it for good after the first test batch. He did a boil test and found it might be trapping bubbles. In the second batch, he speaks of cleaning the basket after mash making its use in boil ambiguous.

Yep, I used the big basket for the mash only and have a smaller 4x10" basket for hops. I didn't like how the bigger basket worked in my test boil. It burped up water and didn't give a good rolling boil.

 

[501irishred]

I believe I would want to go with a 15 gal min for 5 gal batch. If you were to plan on 5gal or less into fermenter and light grain bills, you could probably get away with a 10ga, but what fun is that?! Personally, I try to plan on bottling 5gal (~5.5gal into primary) and would not want to be held to 1.044 batches because of MLT size. Guess size matters after all (sad news)..........

 

[wobdee]

I'm sure Chad would build a basket of any size someone would need. The s/s mesh size comes in various sizes as well but my 400 micron seems to drain quite well. Maybe beef up the bottom a bit for lager grain bills.

Next up for me is a Hopslam clone in a couple weeks. Should be about the biggest beer I make in this system with 8lbs of grain.

 

[MetallHed]

Thanks to my brewing ****** (metalhead) for the help.

I accept beer as a form of wage!

That way I can tell people I make "40 thousand" per year for brewing. 40 thousand ounces that is....

 

[wobdee]

I accept beer as a form of wage!

That way I can tell people I make "40 thousand" per year for brewing. 40 thousand ounces that is....

Well, your going to be a rich man then!

 

[Yambor44]

Yep, I used the big basket for the mash only and have a smaller 4x10" basket for hops. I didn't like how the bigger basket worked in my test boil. It burped up water and didn't give a good rolling boil.

Looks great! I was wondering about using the basket in the boil when we've been having the discussion about the wort not boiling in the smaller screens, thanks for clearing that up.