Thinking about going eBIAB

[FuriousE]

I'm thinking about going electric. One of the things I like about BIAB is the simplicity, so I would like to keep the setup simple. I would also like to continue to be able to use my IC which does a fantastic job.

I am thinking that I have no real need to recirculate, which I have read can be difficult with BIAB due to water not draining out of the bag fast enough.

I would like to be able to set a strike temperature and have the water heated to that temperature. At that point, I can dough in, insulate the pot, and be good. I suppose I can keep the pot insulated when I am heating the strike water, and boiling, for that matter.

I would like to do up to 10 gallon batches, so I'm thinking a 20 gallon Conchord pot and a 5500w element.

I am debating between installing the element in the pot, or using a heat stick. Since I want to use my IC, I am thinking if I installed it in the pot I would have to use a false bottom to keep the IC off the element during cooling. If I used a heatstick, I wouldn't need to worry about that.

Would I need a PID for this plan, or is there a similar type of controller that would work? May Arduino based? Since I'm not looking at maintaining a mash temp, I would just need it to be able to heat the water up to a temperature, and also to boil.

What else am I missing? Is there a reason I should look at adding a recirculation and mash holding feature? Am I missing anything else? Has anyone built something similar?

 

[m00ps]

I don't have an answer for the heating element but I am able to do full-volume mashes on my stove and stay right on target for temps. You'll have to figure out how your setup works, but I set the stove on teh lowest setting once I get to mash temp and just leave it there the whole mash. I stir every 10 min to redistruibute and it works great. My pots not insulated either

I have a grill grate at the bottom of my pot so the bag wont touch the bottom. Theres also a dip tube and ball valve down there.

 

[FuriousE]

I'm currently brewing with NG in my garage. I think I would continue on in my garage, as my wife doesn't care for the smell of brewing (which I can barely comprehend). I currently only lose a degree or two with a 60 minute mash.

The advantage here is mostly the automated strike temperature. Which, when I think about it - is that really enough of an advantage to move to electric?

 

[TexasWine]

I think what you describe can be achieved very simply. Just read this thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=381737

Another alternative that I use to hit my strike temp is putting my kettle in the oven the night before and setting it at whatever temp I want, usually around 160F. Wake up the next morning and after a quick stir and a temp check I'm ready to dough in.


EDIT: I should say this addresses your strike water question, but not boiling.

 

[bsperr]

I'm building a very similar system (ebiab with 20 gallon concord kettle, 5500W element and PID) and am almost finished. I need to update my build thread, but it will at least give you an idea of what it looks like.

I've since put in a steamer tray in my kettle to keep the bag off of the element, and It would be really difficult to use an immersion chiller with this set up. This kettle is so wide that you end up with around four gallons of dead space under whatever you would use to guard the element, which doesn't leave you much room to squeeze in an IC below the surface of a 10 gallon batch and utilize its full cooling potential. If you were dead set on continuing to use the IC, I would look at the heat stick that Bobby M is bringing to the market soon. I'm setting up a CFC with a whirlpool arm back into the kettle, which seems to work well also.

I think recirculation during the mash is a good thing, especially if you already have a pump. It definitely helps to maintain temperature, but a lot of folks report not losing much heat during the mash without recirculating. If you're stepping up to 10 gallon batches, you may want to get a pump anyway.

As far as controlling the heat, I went with the Auber PID and one of PJ's diagrams, with some modifications. It's relatively inexpensive and very well documented by other users, so set up and trouble shooting has been a breeze. You could certainly go with another control device, but it's hard to beat the control and functionality of the Auber PID.

 

[FuriousE]

That is genius!! I think I'll plan on a 1,000W heater. I have an extra STC1000 unit I can control it with, and I have a little 12V pump I can recirc with while heating so I don't get stratification. I just need to add a timer to turn the whole thing on, and I'm golden. Thanks again for pointing me to that thread!

 

[TexasWine]

That is genius!! I think I'll plan on a 1,000W heater. I have an extra STC1000 unit I can control it with, and I have a little 12V pump I can recirc with while heating so I don't get stratification. I just need to add a timer to turn the whole thing on, and I'm golden. Thanks again for pointing me to that thread!

Glad it helped!

 

[wilserbrewer]

That is genius!! I think I'll plan on a 1,000W heater. I have an extra STC1000 unit I can control it with, and I have a little 12V pump I can recirc with while heating so I don't get stratification. I just need to add a timer to turn the whole thing on, and I'm golden. Thanks again for pointing me to that thread!

Can the STC1000 handle 1000W? I thought I recall that is close to the magic smoke number for the STC1000?

edit....Yep confirmed...I think it can...just answered my own post.

 

[FuriousE]

Can the STC1000 handle 1000W? I thought I recall that is close to the magic smoke number for the STC1000?

edit....Yep confirmed...I think it can...just answered my own post.

I believe the relays are 10A, which would be 1200W.

 

[FuriousE]

I'm building a very similar system (ebiab with 20 gallon concord kettle, 5500W element and PID) and am almost finished. I need to update my build thread, but it will at least give you an idea of what it looks like.

I've since put in a steamer tray in my kettle to keep the bag off of the element, and It would be really difficult to use an immersion chiller with this set up. This kettle is so wide that you end up with around four gallons of dead space under whatever you would use to guard the element, which doesn't leave you much room to squeeze in an IC below the surface of a 10 gallon batch and utilize its full cooling potential. If you were dead set on continuing to use the IC, I would look at the heat stick that Bobby M is bringing to the market soon. I'm setting up a CFC with a whirlpool arm back into the kettle, which seems to work well also.

I think recirculation during the mash is a good thing, especially if you already have a pump. It definitely helps to maintain temperature, but a lot of folks report not losing much heat during the mash without recirculating. If you're stepping up to 10 gallon batches, you may want to get a pump anyway.

As far as controlling the heat, I went with the Auber PID and one of PJ's diagrams, with some modifications. It's relatively inexpensive and very well documented by other users, so set up and trouble shooting has been a breeze. You could certainly go with another control device, but it's hard to beat the control and functionality of the Auber PID.

Your system looks really good so far! I'll be watching the thread to see how it works.

 

[FuriousE]

Another question - anyone have a recommendation for a 1000w heatstick? The one linked in the post TexasWine linked to is $40 on Amazon. If you read through that thread, there are several other links for much cheaper alternatives, but they are all over 1000W. I'd like to stay at 800-1000W so I don't run into issues with the STC1000.

 

[haeffnkr]

Another question - anyone have a recommendation for a 1000w heatstick? The one linked in the post TexasWine linked to is $40 on Amazon. If you read through that thread, there are several other links for much cheaper alternatives, but they are all over 1000W. I'd like to stay at 800-1000W so I don't run into issues with the STC1000.

I have built an ebiab system... look for my threads and you can see the good times and the bad times I went through.
Bottom line I never want to go back to a gas fired biab setup... although it was much simpler to operate.

Any way... are you expecting to heat 10 gallons plus with a heat stick to boiling?
I am not sure that will work.
I do 12 gallon finished batches.
It takes around 35-45 minutes to get from room temp water to mash temps, depending on the temp of the shop and water. ( sometimes I mash in low and do a step mash also ) I have a timer on my setup so this time does not count towards my brew day.
It takes 35 minutes on my setup to go from 165 to boiling with a 5500 watt element, so guestimating It might take 3 hours to get it boiling with that little heat stick... maybe longer.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

I have built an ebiab system... look for my threads and you can see the good times and the bad times I went through.
Bottom line I never want to go back to a gas fired biab setup... although it was much simpler to operate.

Any way... are you expecting to heat 10 gallons plus with a heat stick to boiling?
I am not sure that will work.
I do 12 gallon finished batches.
It takes around 35-45 minutes to get from room temp water to mash temps, depending on the temp of the shop and water. ( sometimes I mash in low and do a step mash also ) I have a timer on my setup so this time does not count towards my brew day.
It takes 35 minutes on my setup to go from 165 to boiling with a 5500 watt element, so guestimating It might take 3 hours to get it boiling with that little heat stick... maybe longer.

Right now I'm using 2 1350W heat sticks, and my electric stovetop. 70F to 170F in 16 minutes. Both are on seperate 15A gfci circuits. 70F to boil in under 40 minutes.

Review here: http://pricelessbrewing.wordpress.com/2014/11/04/1350w-heat-stick-review/

I bought these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NJ156B0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 when they were still $6.89 each.

 

[bigdongsr94]

Just a note; I rock a cheap and easy 4500watt 220 water heater element. Cheap, sure but I really like the Blickmann new coil heaters they have. I wouldn't say I would spend the money but from a design standpoint they seem great. I don't feel they are over priced I just have to do things in the cheap which most of the time requires doing them twice.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[FuriousE]

Just a quick update here. I ended up getting a 1,000w bucket heater. I used it for the first time yesterday. I used it in conjunction with an STC1000 to heat up the mash water, and also to hold my mash temps. It worked really well!! Heating to mash temp took about 3 - 4 hours or so, and using the heater to maintain the mash temp seemed to work well too. Overall, I'm very happy.