Pot size for BIAB

[Patrick]

Hi everyone, I have been lurking for a while on this site so I though I'd better create an account and get posting!

I returned fairly recently from 4 years living in the UK, doing a lot of travelling around the UK and Europe and drinking lots of different beers and I am now trying to get set up for home brewing. Money is tight so I am gradually getting the equipment together for BIAB. I have a 41L aluminuim pot and I am wondering if I will be able to do 23L batches without over-filling the pot. How do I work out how much water to use at the start, and is there a formula for how much water the grain displaces?

Also, I am looking for copper pipe on Trademe and I have seen some 15m rolls of 12.7mmOD pipe, is this a good size for an immersion chiller?

For the thermometer, should I go for a digital one or just one of those long metal ones that are used in the food industry?

Finally, what is the cheapest way to get a fermenter? Can I just get a 30L food-safe bucket with a lid and add my own airlock etc? Or will it not work out much cheaper than buying one that already has all the accesories?

I already have 3 dozen swappa crate bottles so I will be looking for a capper soon as well.

Sorry for all the questions - hopefully I will eventually learn enough to srart helping other learners like me!

Cheers
Patrick

[JackoNZ]

I got mine 3 ring burner from Mitre 10, it does the job but it aint great by any means. I think it depends on the one you get though, I've seen other people's exact same burner working waaay better than mine. If you don't want to spend heaps then it will certainly do the job for you. I think there made by campmaster aren't they?

[Reviled]

I only keg these days so I run a line from the tap on the jerry can, but I used to use a bottling valve which would fit straight into the tap...

the 3 ring burners are good, but you still wont get a really good flame without an adjustable regulator, so be prepared to wait a while for the wort to come to the boil...

[JackoNZ]

Rev, how much are those adjustable regulators, do you have a link to the kind of thing you're on about? I got the reg that the burner instructions said you needed, better than my bbq reg but like I say not brilliant.

[Reviled]

Not too sure Jacko, Glen knows where to get them tho as he has one??

[denimglen]

Welding suppliers for the baller twin gauge ones. Dunno about the cheaper ones with no gauges though. Haven't seen them for sale in NZ but have seen them for sale with some burners in the US though.

Adjustable regulators expensive and you don't need one.

I actually switched back to my standard BBQ reg - those burners only need a few PSI to run, and the adjustable regulators are made to run at a bazillion PSI for welding so getting just a couple PSI out of it is a mission. Also I found it added one more variable (boil off rate) into my brewday, which I didn't like.

[Reviled]

I still use my bbq regulator also (probably shouldve said) but I get so fucked off with how long it takes to bring 28 litres to the boil, if I was doing double batches id def be looking at a high pressure reg :o)

[denimglen]

Get a bigger burner before you get a bigger regulator.

If I turn the burner on after the first runnings and keep it at about 80C, then sparge, I'm at at about 75ish after sparging, then maybe like 15 - 20 mins to get to a boil.

That's on a 4 ring with the outside 3 rings running and a standard BBQ reg.

[Mike Neilson]

I dont know why everyone is trying to shorten a brewday!! Its not a chore around here!! I love it!! If it takes and hour to get to the boil so be it, if the mash takes 2 hours so be it!! My brew day takes 6hrs and I still have to spend an hour on a Sunday to clean up I do it week in week out and it dosnt worry me. Brewing I Love it!!

[Arron]

Pretty much all lpg burners/appliances sold in Nz are designed to run on 2.75Kpa which is less than 1 psi. The key to getting a good flame is flow rate not pressure.
Standard bbq regulator is about as good as it gets with these burners.

[denimglen]

I will say I could get the hell good flame (no pun intended) with my adjustable regulator, but trying to run a regulator that's designed for like 50psi or something is frigging hard, try getting 1 psi out of your CO2 regulator, mega hard.

But like you said, probably more to do with flow rate.

Re drill the holes on the burner to a bigger size maybe?

The thing I find with my ring burner is that it's hard to get enough oxygen into it, the adjustable things are shit, closed, wide open, or in between it still runs rich.

Maybe I should hok the oxy-acet rig up to it hehehe...

[Nick T]

"Pretty much all lpg burners/appliances sold in Nz are designed to run on 2.75Kpa which is less than 1 psi." - why is that? Is it illegal to bring in high pressure burners? How about bringing in one of those high/medium pressure 'nasa' burners that they sell in the states and also at beerbelly for AUD$60...

[RopenutS]

Fuck i might go for a i bit of a beast then, and a regulator.