Hi Steve, I have a gas fired biab rig. I did build a herms unit so that i would bring it up to temp quickly via gas then use the herms to maintain temperature for mashing or step mashing. It was handy, but just another thing to wash in the long run and i got bored with it.

The only thing i still use is the pump so that when i do the whirlpool i dont have to do it by hand.

steveb.

The whirlpool he is talking about is just stirring the hot wort into a whirlpool. The solid sediments collect into a cone in the center of the whirlpool. Then you drain the wort away from the cone. It's not that easy to do properly. I am not very good at it myself. But I am usually drunk by then and I screw it up?

I was a three vessel brewer in my local brew club. I changed over to BIAB because you got the same beer for less storage, less cost, less time and the satisfaction of being a brewing heretic! Last weekend my club had a brew in a park get together. More than half were now brewing BIAB and I couldn't attend! I have the satisfaction of knowing that most of these people would not be brewing if it wasn't for the simplicity of BIAB!

steveb wrote:...how does that sound so far

Glad to see you have had a few quality replies Steve. Like Bob, I used to three-vessel but now have two BIAB set-ups from which I can get enough wort to package 4 x 19l kegs in the same time with one less vessel. Unlike Aces, I have never had any bling/pumps etc in either set-up though.

I saw your post was unanswered when I left home this morning and that got me thinking on my drive to work. Here's my ponderings.

1. Any brew day I have been to that had bling (a supposed time-saving device) always caused trouble and took longer.

2. Search for posts by Crusty here. He built his own HERMS or RIM and spent about $4,000 on the system. He now BIAB's and thinks the beer is superior so has sold his other system.

3. Bling might make one thing a tiny bit faster but cost you a lot more time in cleaning and maintenance. For example, a tap on a plastic fermentor might make transfer to a keg or secondary a tad more elegant than a syphon but no tap means no cleaning or risk of infection of that tap. A pump might stir your mash for you but you can do the same thing by hand once or twice during a BIAB mash. How will you clean that pump and all the associated parts?

4. Bling in a real brewery makes sense. A pump and hose to transfer 5000 litres of wort from fermentor to secondary makes sense. That pump and hose that has transferred the 5000 litres is probably going to take exactly the same amount of time to clean properly as the pump and hose you have used to transfer 5 gallons .

[The above point is something that applies to every bit of unnecessary equipment you add to your brewery that requires maintenance or cleaning. NO MOVING PARTS SHOULD BE THE GOAL!!! ]

5. Making wort is a very important but very small part of the brewing process. The biggest part of the brewing process in importance and time-consumption is cleaning and sanitisation...

... You will often find brewers with only a few beers under their belt winning high awards at comps. Then many of them stop winning. Why? My belief is that they start to develop minor infections in their system. Many of us have had it happen to them. For example, I had one that occurred due to faulty keg welds and it took me a few years to find the bastard. Imagine how long it would have taken if I had a brewery full of bling .

So, as a general rule, the less equipment the better. Even something likie a kettle tap can be a very bad idea so, if you can, start with minimal wort-producing equipment and try and keep it that way. Spend your money, thinking and time on clever cleaning gadgets instead.


PP

P.S. Forgot one thing... The right porosity BIAB bag acts beautifully as a hop sock as well. This alleviates the need for whirlpooling, bazookas and false bottoms.