Brew kettle ventilation

First post by dke, 2 years ago

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I live in NY and only brew in the winter. Garage is best option for me, but boil condensation is terrible. I need a ventilation solution that does not involve putting a hole in the roof or wall of the garage. I also need to disassemble it between uses. Any suggestions on design and materials/parts sourcing?

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Hey dke,

If you brew with gas in the garage, you need to vent...for safety's sake. Do you have a window and a fan...? You would probably need to crack the garage door open to get it working right. Like a summer time vent system. Put the burner near the window forcing the exhaust out. That sounds like a logical solution. Unless you want to just leave the garage door open. And fire it up near the open door... That could work too, just don't want exhaust getting sucked into the house.

I brew...

gas fired rims biab

First post by Thonz, 4 years ago

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Hi all!

I'm going from a single vessel AG system to a BIAB for the ease of use and the speed. I want to use a false bottom to keep the bag off the bottom of the kettle and recirculate the wort via a small solar pump. I guess this has already been done before, so I think you'll be able to tell me if and where I made some wrong assumptions.

Let me know what you think!

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Great topic. Ty for sharing

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DIY brew table on a budget

First post by Oldgit, 2 years ago

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Two old chairs plus some 2 by 4 routed out holes for gas ring legs
The first test for my 5.5 kW gas ring and 70 litre kettle
I left the bottom open so the gas ring would not catch the food on fire

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Yippee it works, happy happy happy
I saved biabacus to notes then used wps to open it
:thumbs: :thumbs: :clap: :champ: :argh:
Thank you for your help :thumbs:

Gas fired step mashing

First post by Twinkeelfool, 4 years ago

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Hey gang, new BIABer here. In my old 3v I step mashed with boiling water. With the BIAB I've been cranking the gas while holding the bag off the bottom and stirring. It's tricky, but manageabl, and I can do as many temp rests as I want, as long as I've got the time hehe.

How do you guys do it? Any tips?.

I think some strong clamps to peg the bag up off the bottom would make it much easier, might look out for some. Or a cake rack to keep the bag up off the bottom.

Cheers

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I've never understood why anyone would use a traditional mash paddle in home brewing :scratch:.

Im now running a 100L pot so the standard stainless steel chefs spoon i had for my single batch pot is now a little short. The mrs picked me up a metre long stainless steel stirrer from a kitchen shop recently which looks kinda like a mash paddle which is perfect for my new setup. I guess some circumstances warrant it...but yes i agree with you for the most part. I see so many using a metre long...

Converting propane burner to domestic gas (natural gas)

First post by jube, 3 years ago

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Does anyone have any experience of this? I have recently moved to an apartment building where they don't allow propane tanks to be stored which makes brewing a bit difficult with the setup I have at the moment.

I could just smuggle in a tank but I'm wondering if I could convert my system to run off the installed gas in the apartment. There are plenty of superfluous gas outlets in the bathroom and kitchen (attached to gas convectors/heaters I don't use).

At the moment I'm using a cast iron...

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One option might be to buy an old gas fired water tank and use the gas ring from that as the heat source.

An excellent idea, one that I had thought about and then forgotten. (I even went as far as collecting the water heater burner assembly from a plumber friend).

I do know that a conversion from LPG to NG will require a different regulator and gas orifice as well as enlarging the burner holes.

Regarding carbon monoxide, it is heavier than air, which is what makes it so insidious. You can...

Please sanity check my ideas for a gas-fired kettle design

First post by Kev888, 4 years ago

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Hello all. I've been brewing on 3-vessels for a long time, but these are my first serious steps into BIAB. So, I've been reading around the forum and now wanted to check if the resulting plans are reasonable:

Volume: I want to do double corny batches (~40L) and occasionally single-keg (~50L or 13 US gallon) batches up to OGs of about 1.060 or so - as full volume mashes. It appears that a 70L (18.5 US gallon) kettle would be possible but that 100L (26 US gallon) would be more comfortable, so...

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Thanks! Glad it doesn't seem silly. If it works well enough then it could become one of those temporary fixes that lasts for years. :evil:

Part of the reason for all this is to drastically reduce the space all my brewing kit takes up and the facilities/services I need to brew, so not needing winches and A-frames or similar would be quite useful.

Cheers
Kev

First BIAB issues

First post by Barbarossa, 4 years ago

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I attempted my first BIAB yesterday, an English Pale Ale (Montheiths Original Ale Clone from AHB). Things were going pretty well until it came time to boil. I couldn't get a rolling boil, more of a simmer, the wort was circulating and I could see the hot break swirling around but the surface was pretty flat. Also, it took about an hour to get up to strike temp and another hour from mash temp to boil . I think the issue is with my gas burner, I realised now that it is only about 13,000 BTU,...

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Only time for a quick post Barbarossa* and your question above caught my interest as I nearly always do dried yeasts or yeast slurry so yeast starters are not my level of expertise. For example, one thing I have never been able to find clear info on (though I haven't looked hard) is if you should be adding all the liquid from your yeast starter to a brew or just the yeast layer?

My thinking has always been it should just be the yeast layer but I'm not sure. In this case, then you wouldn't make...

Kettle question

First post by gmhowell, 4 years ago

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I've been looking for a kettle for a while and just stumbled upon this Jarhill pot. My biggest concern is thickness. Should I care that it's only 0.95 mm? I plan on doing batches that are 5.5 US gal into fermenter with the occasional big beer. There are slightly smaller ones that I may go with instead (50l).

And I'm not married to this vendor: shipping is outrageous. I know I can get an Al pot shipped for a bit less.

So, bottom line: thickness concerns and minimum suggested thickness of Al...

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Noted. Thanks for the input.

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Propane efficiency

First post by gmhowell, 4 years ago

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Here is a barrel (haha) of worms: what sort of efficiencies are people getting? How many mash+boil sessions in a 20 lb (I'm in the US) bottle of gas.

Please note volume and make of brew/mash vessel, burner type, volumes mashed/boiled, and ambient temps. Might also mention special situations, such as durations if not 90 minutes, presence of wind, and any modifications to your burner.

Or just tell me to take a leap and search (again) in the forums :)

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The exchange ones here in Aus I've found are notoriously under filled when you get them.
My brother used to get the swap and go's from the local servo. We compared one we had filled ourselves, and it felt half empty.

I generally get about 4-5 brews to a 9kg bottle. Running a standard low pressure regulator. Takes a while to ramp up but goes alright once its got heat into the keg.

New Project : 10 Gal Propane "Kangaroo v1"

First post by dexclamation, 4 years ago

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Hi Guys,

After scouring the forums for ideas and reassurance that our ideas would work, my two brew buddies and I have decided to dive deeper and scale up our original BIAB rig.

We've been brewing in a bag for a couple of month 15 liters batch in a 30 L pot I paid way to much for a couple of years ago. Loved the simplicity, hated the batch size and efficiency. (Only had a crappy Corona mill - our best efficiency was probably 55%).

In homage to the origins of the BIAB technique, and because...

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Kangaroo - lol Pierre,

Hey guys, this might sound silly but what about pumping in reverse? Suck from outside the bag at the top and pump in at the bottom in the centre. Probably a stupid idea but it would stop that pumping speed issue and I reckon it would agitate through the grain bed well enough.

Other thing to be sure of Pierre is that you can clean everything really easily and that the technology doesn't end up being labour-producing rather than labour-saving. This can happen very quickly...

Almost went to the dark side

First post by Three3Beer, 4 years ago

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So I've been dissatisfied with the limitations of my 5 gal kettle, mainly not being able to do large batches of strong beers.

I must I admit I was tempted by a 15 gallon cooler at Costco that was pretty cheap. I thought I could use that to mash in and go that route. But then I thought about the hassle of cleaning it and storing it.

That is when I realized that buying a larger kettle is the right choice, even if it is more expensive.

Playing around in biabacus has brought me to the conclusion...

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Thanks for including the metric figures, PP! I wanted to include them but wasn't able to look up the conversions easily at the time.

GMH, thanks for the heads up on the inconsistent sizing, I will be sure to check the dimensions and calculate volume before buying. I'll also have to find out I'd there are any used restaurant supply stores nearby.

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New Starter Setup

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First post by Irwazza, 7 years ago

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Hey Guys

Sorry for all the questions as of late but i still have more :)

I'm looking at getting this pot .... do you think this will be suffecient? do you know of any cheaper places?

To go with this i will get the italian spiral burner with a HP regulator.

I'll have to get the mrs to make up a bag for me :)

Can you guys see any issues with these products?

Regards
Brenton

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Maybe we should start a new thread; Show us your (false) bottoms .
A search of biabrewer.info site shows several historical threads on questions about this topic, but no single go to forum.

BIAB in stainless carboy with narrow mouth?

First post by a1lawng, 4 years ago

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Hey Everyone,

My first time posting here, so be gentle...

Do any of you have experience with the stainless carboys from Deep Wood ? I don't currently have a big enough kettle for biab and I was thinking of using the 13 gallon version they offer for my biab kettle, no-chill container, and fermenter. Crazy awesome to think I can do all that in one vessel. The only thing that's holding me back is that, even though the vessel is 14+ wide, the mouth is only 7 . Any thoughts on being able to use...

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Okay, I have a few questions here and a lot to write...

My first question is what is the lid? Why I am asking this is because being able to put a bung in the lid will become important in the future. For example, I have a bung that works as an airlock, a thermo-well and a transfer point. These are important/valuable things that I've never written about here on BIABrewer.info.

Secondly, the picture shows a weld seam. THIS IS MY BIGGEST WORRY!!!! You see that weld seam just below the handles and...

Wind Screen/ Heat Jacket/Insulator for Mashing

First post by Ziggybrew, 7 years ago

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Can't think of a short way to put this. I have two separate, but related, topics to inquire.

1) I am an avid hiker and have made several alcohol stoves that work like a charm. The real trick is adding a wind screen. It not only keeps the flames and heat from blowing away, but also concentrates the heat up tight against the sides of the pot. I can only assume that this would be ideal on a large scale for BIAB kettles. Yet, I've never really seen this come up in discussions or pictures of rigs...

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I use one of those silver automotive windscreen shields to insulate my boiler. I just use a tie-down strap to hold it tight.
It halves heat up times so I recon could be a great option in this situation. It has done close to 50 brews and it will stand 100degC.
I need to remove it to get the boiler to cool down. They don't melt and you can get them from cheap junk stores for $2 AUD.

Rossco

New project

First post by phytenphyre, 4 years ago

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I just got a keg to transform into my brew kettle!! I didn't think about a picture before I started, but here is a before and after...all hand sanded.

Parts are on order to get it set up, I'm itching to do my first BIAB in it.

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And the final product!!

It was going great untill....

First post by 2trout, 5 years ago

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I started to run out of propane at 10:40 pm. S@^%! So the boil slowed to a simmer about 45 min into a 60 min boil for a porter. It died at 52 min in so I tossed in my flame out hops. Im about a 1/2 gallon over on my end of boil volume. Should I resume the boil for 15 min tomorrow with more propane, or leave it be. Ill be cooling it as per my usual in the pot tonight.

what say you?

trout

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brew more, worry less

---Todd

BIAB on BBQ??

First post by jarvo_325, 5 years ago

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Hey

I was wondering, would a BBQ be a good heat source for BIAB?

Cheers

Nick

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Jarvo,

Interesting question, but I think that you would have some problems (I'm assuming that its gas fired). The primary issue i think will be that it will take a LOOOOOONG time to get the pot to boil (if it can) and keeping it boiling for 60-90 min will take a ton of gas. The flame is pretty far away from the pot.

I really like to keep additional equipment to a minimum and save money, but I don't think that the BBQ is the best way to get there.

trout

Thanks for the reply, it was just a...

My Brewing Gear

First post by pist, 5 years ago

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Well i've just joined up to Biabrewer, thought id share what I have got/made:

Keggle and Brewing Rig:

Other Misc. Bits and pieces:

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Would a medium pressure variable reg be ok? That'll be perfect pist. That's what I have and I can boil 60 litres of wort with it no problems.

I do make sure I pull the Ball Valve apart completely after every batch. Good on you! Hopefully yours isn't too time-consuming. My one is a PITA to put back on the kettle as it always leaks so what I do is fluch through a fair bit of boiling water, opening and closing the valve many times and then do the same with Starsan. On top of this I do the...

Thoughts on this Burner?

First post by Homemade, 5 years ago

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hi all

I am still dabbling with stovetop brewing but i am planning on setting up to BIAB properly ! I have a 50L keg which I will use as my pot and now I need a burner.

I am thinking of buying one of these for the burner and was wondering what you think. I brew with a mate and we are planning on double batches in the keg, aiming for about 20L x2 into the fermenter this is too keep our brew time: beer qty ratio healthy. so will probably have to fill the kettle, so do we think it will it boil...

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Hi guys

Thanks to you all for your input.

I should have come back sooner to say that I decided to go a different route. In the end I bought a Braumeister instead, big difference I know but I had looked at them before and decided i wanted something really easy :party:

Sorry I should have posted back earlier.

Thks again for the input.

My first BIAB

First post by sunnycoastbrew, 5 years ago

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I read through the BIAB Bible in this forum and descided to have a crack at my first BIAB, FA Kikinda Pils, a german Pilsner.

I purchased a 60lt Crab Cooker from a local camping outlet as well as a 104000BTU gas burner. My beautiful partner sewed up a voil bag and Presto! I'm away!

I added some s/s bolts to the basket to keep it off the bottom of the pot

Here is the bag pegged in place. The top of the bag goes down between the basket and pot side to prevent it burning if I need to fire...

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will do rock.
Cheers

First brew underway

First post by wr400, 5 years ago

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Hi all
got my first biab brew underway and in fermentor.
Didnt have any major issues with the setup, I put this down to searching and reading articles on this website, lots of good help and advice to be found.

Used Graham wheelers book and the calculator to copy london pride recipe
as i live in france and the tap water has a very chlorine tang to it and bottled water is cheap i use it for brewing
I Lie I did have a issue with the wood cladding on the boiler, it started to burn so i had to...

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You have a 100L kettle wr400. I have a 70 L one. Maybe do what I do?

What I do is double batch. At the end of the boil, I drain half the wort into a no-chill cube which I can ferment a few months or a year later. The remaining half I chill and ferment immediately.

You can get caught up with the pedantics of hop management etc but I don't do that. I get good marks when I do choose to go in comps. In many/most beer styles, chilling or no-chilling is not a major/critical factor. So, next brew...

Help adding 30L keg as a BIAB pot in Beersmith 2

First post by Tsar, 5 years ago

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Hi guys,

I'm trying to add my 30L keg as a BIAB equipment in Beersmith 2, I actually have these settings:
Brewhouse efficiency - 75%
Hop utilization factor - 100%

Top up water for kettle - 0
Calculate boil vol automaticlly - yes
Boil vol. - 24.05L
Boil time - 90 min
Boil off - 5,38L
Use boil off as an hourly rate - yes
Total boil off - 8,07L
Evaporation rate - 22,4%/hour
Post boil vol. - 15,98L
Cooling Shrinkage - 1%
Cooling loss - 0,16L

Mash tun vol - 30L
Mash tun weight - 7Kg
mash tun...

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That's a very nice reply Tsar and it is a real credit to you that you bothered to spend the time studying/reading my last post above.

There are some remarkable analogies between three-vessel brewing/BIAB and commercial software/the BIABacus. Hopefully there are many others like you who realise that the best advice is rarely found in a single or few short sentences.

Gotta race sorry but before I go...

There are lots of errors in popular commercial software that I have not mentioned above....

Recirculating and boiling.

First post by sjcampbell, 6 years ago

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I have been out of BIAB for a couple of years due to ill health, but I feel the time will be ripe after Xmas to start again.

Just before I stopped I began recirculatingmy 70l pot with a small pump during mash to even out the temperature and it worked great and I was amazed how clear I could get the wort. For the boil I always let my hops swim free . I have been reading about using a grain bag (as opposed to a hop sock) to reduce trub. Now if I kept recirculating into this grain bag during the...

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Good Day, This may be Stoopid(stupid), but, I have a Stainlees steel ball bearing at the bottom of the bag, and a Polyester string tied around it with the bag attached.

When ever I want to mix the grains/mix the water temperature, I pull the string up until the grains become uncovered, and let the bag drop back down. It has worked better than a spoon.

Update, the string goes thru a pulley and into the room with the TV I watch, and I pull it from there. Yes, I am one LAZY SOB. and maybe...

My first all-grain, BIAB, and no-chill

First post by kzimmer0817, 6 years ago

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Now 5 months after I bottled my 4th brew - the Smashing Pumpkin Ale kit from Northern Brewer, I finally brewed and decided to go all out:

1. I brewed Reno eNVy's Punkin ale found on the following Homebrewtalk thread. It's not a beginner recipe:

2. It was my first brew on the keggle I made:

onclick= window.open(this.href);return false; ... le-353760/

3. It was my first all-grain

4. It was my first BIAB

5. I no-chilled

Here are the details of my brew, the original recipe can be found...

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oxygen bottles are not readily available here.i would have to buy hospital grade oxygen and that would be very very expensive.
so what i do is to pour about 4-5 liters out of the cube into a small fermenter, recap the cube and shake the crap out of it. here's a pic of my last brew. i brewed a double batch of saison wort, filled two 23 L cubes and fermented the three portions with three different yeast strains.