Recirculating 3 Gallon BIAB Electric Brewery

[BoxBrewer]

Brewed today, didn't get very good efficiency... Like 55%. Also, I did not have enough water. I didn't think the equipment loss would be so much.

 

[Carlscan26]

Your poor efficiency was more likely from the low water

 

[jrb03]

What do you mean by equipment loss?

 

[inhousebrew]

Here is a link to the ones that are supposed to be the same as the GreatBrewEh pumps: http://bit.ly/XkQX8f

I ordered it straight from GBE.

I've got that pump and it works just fine. More than sufficient for recirculating wort in a three gallon setup. Also blows wort through the plate chiller fast enough to barely cool it to 100* on one pass. Yeah, I still need to get another ball valve to control that but I use it in a copy of the thread you used for your inspiration.

 

[inhousebrew]

Looks like a rough first brew for you efficiency wise. I know in the original thread people who've built it said they hit around 80%. I get 75% but know I could get more if I adjusted my crush but since other people use the same mill I don't want to mess with changing it. How nice was your mash though? Super easy huh?

Just wondering about that element you have. I was looking at the same one but was deterred by the price. Was shipping much, I'm thinking about upgrading.

 

[BoxBrewer]

Your poor efficiency was more likely from the low water

Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing.

By equipment loss I mean wort left in the chiller/pump/bottom of the kettle. I needed to add maybe half a gallon to get it up to full volume.

 

[BoxBrewer]

Looks like a rough first brew for you efficiency wise. I know in the original thread people who've built it said they hit around 80%. I get 75% but know I could get more if I adjusted my crush but since other people use the same mill I don't want to mess with changing it. How nice was your mash though? Super easy huh?

Just wondering about that element you have. I was looking at the same one but was deterred by the price. Was shipping much, I'm thinking about upgrading.

Yeah, everything went well! Just my crappy efficiency was the bummer... But I think I'll get it more dialed in soon.

The price is a lot, but I think it was worth it. It heats up water fairly quickly, and it seemed like I could go from mash to mash out to boil fairly quickly. And the boil was nice and vigorous, even at 85% power.

 

[inhousebrew]

I might have to look into that element if you can have a good boil at 85%. Mine is kinda weak right now and it's a high density element too. Someone bought the wrong one for me for Christmas, which I guess is my fault for not being more specific.

 

[BoxBrewer]

Doing another brew today. Nicks Pale Ale:


4.5 lb Maris otter
1.5 lb Munich malt
1/3 crystal 60l

.5 oz Chinook 60 minutes
1 oz Cascade 20 minutes
.6 oz Citra 10 minutes
.6 ozCentennial 0 minutes
.3 oz Cascade 0 minutes
.4 oz Citra 0 minutes
.5 oz Williamette dry hop 7 days

I am mashing at 156, but I'm doing a 90 minute mash this time to see if my efficiency goes up to where it needs to be.

 

[berkdirt]

Hi. I'm a stovetop (propane) 3 gallon BIABer and have been thinking about something like this. I've been concerned about the speed with which a 120V system would heat up. What is your start volume and how quickly does this heat up? Do you think it would work well if I skipped the pump, went with a manual control and insulation on the pot and then gravity fed the chillzilla? Thanks. Carl

 

[cmumma]

Doing another brew today. Nicks Pale Ale

I'm curious how your second attempt turned out. Do you mind giving an update? Thanks.

 

[jbnla]

BoxBrewer:
I am still planning and have been using your build as a guide. THANKS.
Now that you have been operating a little while , do you see anything you would change ?
I have the same 32 qt kettle and was wondering how low you mounted your sight gauge (inches from bottom) and what is your minimum gallons that you can register ?
I have the same SS element and was wondering if you have had any rust issues so far show up.
Did you use the aerator and sprayer? How are they working out?
THANKS AGAIN and look forward to your updates

 

[BoxBrewer]

Hi. I'm a stovetop (propane) 3 gallon BIABer and have been thinking about something like this. I've been concerned about the speed with which a 120V system would heat up. What is your start volume and how quickly does this heat up? Do you think it would work well if I skipped the pump, went with a manual control and insulation on the pot and then gravity fed the chillzilla? Thanks. Carl

I started with about 5 gallons last time and it didn't take an unreasonable time to warm up to strike temp. Maybe half an hour? I was able to go up to 168 for mash out pretty quickly and up to a boil in a reasonable time too. You really need the pump for recirculation though, the temperatures are too inconsistent without it.

I'm curious how your second attempt turned out. Do you mind giving an update? Thanks.

I still got 55% efficiency... I am wondering if using the basket is causing this... I'm also trying to get my corona mill up and running but I am short on time right now as I'm moving into a new house next weekend.

BoxBrewer:
I am still planning and have been using your build as a guide. THANKS.
Now that you have been operating a little while , do you see anything you would change ?
I have the same 32 qt kettle and was wondering how low you mounted your sight gauge (inches from bottom) and what is your minimum gallons that you can register ?
I have the same SS element and was wondering if you have had any rust issues so far show up.
Did you use the aerator and sprayer? How are they working out?
THANKS AGAIN and look forward to your updates

The only thing I am having trouble with is my hop stopper. It clogged up my chillzilla last time and I had to reverse the flow to get it unclogged... I'm thinking maybe I should ditch it and go with a hop bag.

My sight gauge was mounted as low as possible, so the bottom of the washer between the T and the kettle was right where the kettle starts to curve at the bottom.

No issues with the element, it does have some weird looking white stuff on it after brewing and I don't know what it is, but otherwise it's been awesome. No scorching or anything.

I ended up ditching the aerator and sprayer. It complicated it a little too much and made the hoses less interchangeable, and I feared the sprayer nozzle might be too restrictive on the recirculation, so I just put a 45 out on the inside of the lid so it kind of whirlpools a little.

 

[OneImpBrewery]

Hey BoxBrewer this looks great. Just wanted to see where you got your fuse holder and fuses from? Also by any chance do you have a picture of the back? I like how you have everything wired for the element and the inside of the box. Just wondering how you hooked up the pump on the back side.

Edit: Got it figured out. Do you have any more pictures of the inside from different angles?

 

[BoxBrewer]

To update, I am having some trouble with efficiency still... Only getting 60 to 65% efficiency on most batches. Also, my equipment loss seems like it is a lot. I have to brew over 3 and a half gallons in order to end up with 3 in my fermentor. Seems like a lot to lose to the lines and such.

Hey BoxBrewer this looks great. Just wanted to see where you got your fuse holder and fuses from? Also by any chance do you have a picture of the back? I like how you have everything wired for the element and the inside of the box. Just wondering how you hooked up the pump on the back side.

Edit: Got it figured out. Do you have any more pictures of the inside from different angles?

Sorry it has been a while since I've been on here. I don't have a ton of pictures of the inside.

 

[meshbackhats]

I just wanted to follow up to see how your efficiency is?

 

[BoxBrewer]

If anybody is interested, I might be selling this setup. I just don't brew anymore and don't have the time. So let me know if you're interested, shoot me a PM and I'll try to be sure to check on here. It won't be cheap though