Small batch ebiab - narrow kettle better?

[R2Brew2]

Hey all,

Been gathering brewing info on this site for years, finally asking a question I couldn't specifically find the answer to before. Excited to be posting for the first time!

A bit of background, which probably isn't needed to answer the question, but whatever, here it is. For a long time I was brewing 5 gallon batches with a "traditional" 3-tiered HLT/MLT/boil, gravity-fed, setup with a 10 gallon boil kettle. Simple, works great, usually get my mash temps pretty close...kind of a PITA to clean, but not the worst. However, lately I've been migrating towards quicker, smaller BIAB on the stove, using a stock pot wrapped in a towel to mash. Quicker to finish the brew day, easier to clean, and lets me brew more batches often while still meeting the daily beer consumption needs of the household.

Which gets me to the question. I'm looking to making a dedicated ebiab rig to make 2.5-3 gallon batches. With an electric setup, given that the heating element apparatus is always going to take up the same amount of vertical space regardless of the diameter of the kettle, it seems that a taller, narrower kettle is more ideal to get a greater percentage of the strike water into the mash grain, right? This seems to me to be particularly important when you're brewing on small scales. Curious what you guys think.

Going one question further, does anyone have any suggestions for a kettle? Will 8 gallons suffice for what I'm looking at? I don't really have a preference b/t aluminum or SS, so I'm open to suggestions for either.

One last related question: I'm interested in the Blichmann Boilcoil. There was a post somewhere (not finding the link at the moment) that said it was such low density, that the biab grain sack can rest on it safely. If that is true, I guess it makes the height v. diameter problem moot. But I'd love to hear the thoughts of others on this.

 

[jwalkermed]

I'll address the boil coil question. I built an eBIAB system for xmas with a 10gal Gg2 and a 3750W boil coil. I've used the system several times now and I have not experienced scorching of the bag or wort.

The element does fire for short intervals throughout the mash to maintain temp. I'm recirculating with a chugger pump. I think you need to recirc to maintain mash temp properly. I also have heated the mash for mashout where the element was on for about 5 mins while i stir the mash. Still no scorching.

I've done 5 and 2.5 (final kegged volume) gal batches with this system.


There is also a complete 3 gal system to buy that looks pretty compact. It includes pot, bag, element, pump and controller. Can't remember the name. Maybe someone can chime in.


Hope that information is helpful to you.

EDIT: Found the link http://brausupply.com/collections/brew-kits Take a look there. Never used these but they do have a small tabletop compact system.

 

[R2Brew2]

Thanks for the info jwalkermed, that's perfect. So if the grain bag doesn't have to be entirely above the heating element, I guess kettle shape doesn't really matter, and the grains will fully submersed. Good to know!

Interesting turn key items from brausupply, and not as costly as I would have thought. But I think I want to go DIY, not just for potential savings, but out of pure DIY pride.