Winter Basement Brewery

[weremichael]

Living in frequently frozen Wyoming, I want to be able to take my 15 gallon HLT kettle and brew some 20 liter batches of BIAB on an induction burner down in the basement about five to six times per year.

The base of the kettle is pretty wide at 18 inches (46ish cm). The two top selling burners on Amazon seem like they could work (except for the width of the kettle). The first is the Avantco IC3500 and the second is the Mai Cook 3500W. The seller of the Mai Cook says the maximum pot width it will support is 40cm (about 6 cm too short of a diameter for my kettle) so I am guessing that ones out.

Does anyone use a 15 gallon Morebeer kettle on an induction cooktop? If so, which cooktop are you using and would you recommend it?

 

[tjmac5071]

I was under the impression that for induction it was not necessarily max width but more if it gets wider then it is less efficient. I am actually planning to get the ic3500 in a couple weeks to do some 5 gal batches in my basement here in MA and have a very wide pot, so really interested if I'm wrong here...

 

[weremichael]

I was under the impression that for induction it was not necessarily max width but more if it gets wider then it is less efficient. I am actually planning to get the ic3500 in a couple weeks to do some 5 gal batches in my basement here in MA and have a very wide pot, so really interested if I'm wrong here...

That makes sense since it will only be heating the area in contact with the induction unit. I was worrying about melting the controls and, to a lesser extent, stability (I could always build some supports for that).

 

[tjmac5071]

I was about to buy the ic3500 today and noticed a review about the unit breaking quickly. The response from the website was your pot is over 10.25" and that is why. There goes what I read as simply being less efficient. Guess it is back to the drawing board for 5 gallon batches in the house

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Look at the one below; great price 3kw at 208v (so ~3.4kw at 240v) and works a treat. The best part is manual controls, so if you want to automate a bit, when you turn off/on you don't have to worry about bypassing any electrical therm.

https://www.missionrs.com/adcraft-i...duction-cooker-with-manual-controls-208v.html

 

[wilserbrewer]

Hot rod heatstick at brewhardware.com would serve you well.

Can also be used outside brewing to save propane .....

 

[oujens]

I was about to buy the ic3500 today and noticed a review about the unit breaking quickly. The response from the website was your pot is over 10.25" and that is why. There goes what I read as simply being less efficient. Guess it is back to the drawing board for 5 gallon batches in the house

I'm researching this as well, but I'm not sure that is the issue. Seems there is a part that goes out but can be fixed if you know how. Looks like these units are hit or miss. Seems more people have success with it than not.

 

[jrstephens65]

Look at the one below; great price 3kw at 208v (so ~3.4kw at 240v) and works a treat. The best part is manual controls, so if you want to automate a bit, when you turn off/on you don't have to worry about bypassing any electrical therm.

https://www.missionrs.com/adcraft-i...duction-cooker-with-manual-controls-208v.html

Sure glad I stumbled onto this post! Was researching induction cook tops and about to order the IC-3500 but was concerned about the quality and having to modify it later if I wanted to automate it. Went ahead and ordered the IND-C208V today. Hopefully this will allow me to bring my BIAB setup inside. The wife likes to brew with me but wants to be able to do it indoors.

Thanks Again!

 

[weremichael]

Sure glad I stumbled onto this post! Was researching induction cook tops and about to order the IC-3500 but was concerned about the quality and having to modify it later if I wanted to automate it. Went ahead and ordered the IND-C208V today. Hopefully this will allow me to bring my BIAB setup inside. The wife likes to brew with me but wants to be able to do it indoors.

Thanks Again!

Report back how it works. If another Rocky Mountain brewer can make it work, I'll be more likely to buy one for next winter.

I finally got to brew last weekend (Wyoming broke 40F for a day) which allowed me to use a Brett c yeast cake I've been sitting on for over a month (that session IPA is going to be wonderful in a couple weeks). I'd been panicking because I built that cake up from a 250ml starter (damn small pitches from Wyeast and White Labs). I would have hated to have lost all those little guys instead of giving them another life into a 7% IPA.

 

[jrstephens65]

Received my Adcraft Induction Cook-Top last week, set it up and brewed a batch of Blonde Ale on Sunday. First here is the link to the unit I purchased. Shipping was great and it shipped direct from the manufacture. If you sign up for JES's newsletter they will give you $10 off you purchase!

The unit itself seems very sturdy (specs say it can hold 300lbs) and with only one control it is simple to operate.

http://www.jesrestaurantequipment.com/manual-control-induction-cooker-constructed-heavy-duty-stain-p-1052240.html

Did some testing with water before I brewed and found it will increase the temperature of 8 gallons of water approximately 23 degrees every 10 min. This seemed to be the same with or with out the pot insulated but I will do more testing. Having the lid on made the biggest difference. When I tried with the lid off it could only increase about 18 deg every 10 min.

During the brew day I started with 8.7 gallons of room temp water and within about 40 min I was at my target mash temp of 155 deg. I mashed in, insulated the kettle with a sleeping bag and waited the required time. pulled the bag and cranked up the heat and 30 min or so later I was boiling.

The boil was not as vigorous as it was with propane but I feel it was good enough. I didn't boil off as much as I did with propane so I will have to adjust for that next time.

Best part it was windy, cold and rainy here on Sunday and I was inside brewing away! Had I been using propane I would have been out in a cold garage hoping the wind didn't kick up too much dust from my other hobbies and get it into the wort.

Over all a good experience. I'll update after a few more brews.

 

[Pantherjon]

Looks like you got a nice boil! Induction cooktops are nice! I have a similar unit that does a fair job when I do partial mash brews..

 

[weremichael]

Received my Adcraft Induction Cook-Top last week, set it up and brewed a batch of Blonde Ale on Sunday. First here is the link to the unit I purchased. Shipping was great and it shipped direct from the manufacture. If you sign up for JES's newsletter they will give you $10 off you purchase!

The unit itself seems very sturdy (specs say it can hold 300lbs) and with only one control it is simple to operate.

http://www.jesrestaurantequipment.com/manual-control-induction-cooker-constructed-heavy-duty-stain-p-1052240.html

Did some testing with water before I brewed and found it will increase the temperature of 8 gallons of water approximately 23 degrees every 10 min. This seemed to be the same with or with out the pot insulated but I will do more testing. Having the lid on made the biggest difference. When I tried with the lid off it could only increase about 18 deg every 10 min.

During the brew day I started with 8.7 gallons of room temp water and within about 40 min I was at my target mash temp of 155 deg. I mashed in, insulated the kettle with a sleeping bag and waited the required time. pulled the bag and cranked up the heat and 30 min or so later I was boiling.

The boil was not as vigorous as it was with propane but I feel it was good enough. I didn't boil off as much as I did with propane so I will have to adjust for that next time.

Best part it was windy, cold and rainy here on Sunday and I was inside brewing away! Had I been using propane I would have been out in a cold garage hoping the wind didn't kick up too much dust from my other hobbies and get it into the wort.

Over all a good experience. I'll update after a few more brews.

Have you brewed mow with the burner? Is it still working well for you?

 

[jrstephens65]

Have you brewed mow with the burner? Is it still working well for you?

Yes I have and it is working very well. I have brewed 3 batches and will be brewing the 4th this weekend. My first brew I was slightly off on my volumes, and gravity I attributed this to the less vigorous boil. I didn't change any of my process for the second and third brew and my volumes and gravity were right where they should be. I guess I must have measured incorrectly on the first brew. All three of those brews were recipe's that I brew frequently.

My brew days are a little slower now because I can't turn the propane up and get things going faster but overall I am enjoying brewing inside. Especially when I can go sit on the couch between hop additions.

I am going to experiment with partially covering the kettle during boil and see how that affects my final volumes.

Cheers