Picked up a used GIGAWORT, a few questions.

[Ragman]

So I wanted to do smaller batches and Ive been eyeing an Anvil Foundry for awhile but have never had the cash to do so.

Found a used Gigawort 4.4gallon on craigslist for cheap so I scooped it up.

In testing with water it seems to do a fine job of bringing to temp and the temps seem pretty accurate after testing with my digital probe thermometer.

My 1st question is this... I always brew more than I plan to drink and since my preferred serviing medium in a 5 gal corny keg, I want to get as much beer out of this thing as possible.

Looking to try to make a 3.5 gallon batch. Now Ive never done BIAB nut it doesnt look difficult. My issue with this is that I cant sparge and if I pull the bag and my wort level is too low for the recipe the only option I have is to just had hot water directly to the wort. What Ive thought about doing, instead of using this as an all in one system is just to use it as a Boil kettle.
So I would heat up my strike water in the Gigawort, transfer that into mash tun, add grains to mash tun and mash. While it is mashing I would heat up my sparge water in the gigawort and when it reaches temp, wait until mash is done and transfer that water to an hlt. With the gigawort now empty I would mash out into the gigawort and sparge in the mash tun to reach my desired volume, then boil.

Has anyone else ever done it this way?

Also does anyone who owns one have any tips or tricks to make sure I dont scorch my wort but be able to keep a rolling boil for an hour?

Thanks everyone.

 

[aceluby]

I would just do BIAB in the Gigawort and keep a bit of DME on hand if your wort levels are low. Keeps things very simple and just a single vessel.

 

[day_trippr]

hahahaha! With a name like "GIGAWORT" I was expecting something much larger

Cheers!

 

[Joshua Hughes]

I made small batches BIAB in mine and loved it.

 

[papasam]

So I wanted to do smaller batches and Ive been eyeing an Anvil Foundry for awhile but have never had the cash to do so.

Found a used Gigawort 4.4gallon on craigslist for cheap so I scooped it up.

In testing with water it seems to do a fine job of bringing to temp and the temps seem pretty accurate after testing with my digital probe thermometer.

My 1st question is this... I always brew more than I plan to drink and since my preferred serviing medium in a 5 gal corny keg, I want to get as much beer out of this thing as possible.

Looking to try to make a 3.5 gallon batch. Now Ive never done BIAB nut it doesnt look difficult. My issue with this is that I cant sparge and if I pull the bag and my wort level is too low for the recipe the only option I have is to just had hot water directly to the wort. What Ive thought about doing, instead of using this as an all in one system is just to use it as a Boil kettle.
So I would heat up my strike water in the Gigawort, transfer that into mash tun, add grains to mash tun and mash. While it is mashing I would heat up my sparge water in the gigawort and when it reaches temp, wait until mash is done and transfer that water to an hlt. With the gigawort now empty I would mash out into the gigawort and sparge in the mash tun to reach my desired volume, then boil.

Has anyone else ever done it this way?

Also does anyone who owns one have any tips or tricks to make sure I dont scorch my wort but be able to keep a rolling boil for an hour?

Thanks everyone.

I’ve been making 3 gallon BIAB batches for a few years with my Gigawort since downsizing our living space. I drilled holes in the bottom of a brewing bucket, cut the top off, and drop it into a bottling bucket with a tap to use for sparging. I put a separate kettle on the stove or burner for sparge water. Having 170f sparge and room temp spring water at hand, you can make quick mash temperature adjustments if necessary. Just lift the bag from Gigawort, place it in the sparge bucket placed where it drains back into the brewer. Mash in 2 to 2-1/2 gal strike water, 3 gallon in sparge kettle, I end up with a full 4+ gallon boils down to 3-1/2 gallon that goes into a 3 gallon carboy. Fills my 3 gallon keg perfectly.
Stir mash frequently while monitoring temperature, also stir boil to keep wort from sticking to the bottom. This prevents the “dry kettle” sensor from shutting off the Gigawort.

 

[Ragman]

Thank you all for the replies.

Papasam - do you have any pics of this brew bucket sparge setup? I would love to see.

Also - do any of you use any kind of insert on the bottom of your gigawort to keep the bag from scorching?

 

[Ragman]

also - my gigawort didnt come with any instructions but learned the hard way I had to set my boil temp for 218 instead of 212 - 212 gets it boilgin but the temp will drop about 5 degrees before it ramps up again which will kill the boil. Drove me nuts trying to figue that out.

Made a bock the way I described above and it came out pretty good. - Still want to do the BIAB method - found a nice strainer that fits in the gigawort perfectly.

 

[papasam]

Nothing in the bottom of the Gigawort, just keep it stirred.

 

[Ragman]

Papasam - love the idea and the pics. I have extra bottling and brew buckets so I may try this.

 

[SkewedBrewing]

I use the gigawort for all-grain, partial boils and usually end up with 4ish gallon batches. @Ragman can you link to which strainer you're using? That's the last piece of the puzzle for my setup with the gigawort...

 

[papasam]

I use the gigawort for all-grain, partial boils and usually end up with 4ish gallon batches. @Ragman can you link to which strainer you're using? That's the last piece of the puzzle for my setup with the gigawort...

Inside the bottling bucket in the photo is another same size brewing bucket, with the upper 6” cut off and umpteen tiny holes drilled in the bottom. Set your BIAB inside and sparge away.