E-BIAB with Recirculation.

[Crusader-Rob]

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f85/biab-recirculating-rig-first-brew-2...

I've been doing alot of research in the downtime not brewing. (It's been 3 months sicne an actual brew day). I've ahd an ongoing Shoulder issue for awhile, and am post op surgery for about 6 weeks.

So I've been working on alot of different project for my "Brewery". I have a small garage, which I have installed power into, properly, running underground cables etc. I will be going live on the weekend, with switches, lights and plug sockets in the garage.

I have 2 fridges already for fermentation and conditioning, both with STC-1000's fitted.

So, I've finally made a decision, which I think is a pretty good one. As it will give me room to expand/add vessels, should I need or want to.

The link is something similar, and wondered if anyone has had any experience building such a system?
If so, parts list and sourcing would be helpful, in this country anyways.

Will be sourcing a new Pot as well. I'd love a Blichmann, but it's just too expensive at this stage I think, unless someones got them in good condition. a 15 gallon one would be good, for those big beers.

I'll be doing 23 Litre batches, and wanted to know what sized element would give a good rolling boil? not too vigorous, but solid. I'll need a re-circulation pump, and disconnects. 

the other big issue is lifting the bag out etc.  I have purchased a pulley system, but need to install it, and I'd like to run it on a slider type system. to lift the grain slide out and dump in a bucket or the bin etc. any suggestions for this?

I was thinking a square steel bar, about 2m long, steel on steel with no runners... to slide, attached to the struts of the garage. 

And lastly the bag, I have something that works currently, although it's not fantastic, because theres no real way to lift it out. Suggestions required for where I can get a good bag with handles for pulley lifting, if anyone has a design, that'd be good too.  I was actually think of putting a Zip in one for grain removal as well.Steel of course.

any help is appreciated. thanks guys.

[Ralph]

Ah... you would definitely need something to keep the bag off the elements.... whether this is a true false bottom or just something that would keep the bag off is up to you...

[Robert McLeod]

If you're going to go for that pot I reckon spend the extra $25 and get the 70L one.

I've got one, they're awesome. The extra 10L head space is useful.

[Crusader-Rob]

Figured as much. Trying to get hold of some Stainless Steel Perf, this should do the trick. I'll have to track some down first.

Step 1 is the pot, as above. this will be done in the next few days.

then the pulleys, and hopefully a slider.

I'll be able to brew from there, and gather equipment periodically from there, as I'm gas at the moment.

Then the pump and connections.

Then Electrical Work. and Thermowells etc.

Then I'll be done and onto something bigger and better, lol.

[G S]

Re the pulleys and slider
I'm a brewer and yachtie. Boatshop will def get your pulleys sorted out. A slider which will allow you to move the 10 ish kgs along a track may cost you, this is the top end yacht gear, http://www.harken.co.nz/productcategory.aspx?taxid=4537
Which is bound to be pricy, cheaper stuff won't have bearings in the slider ( traveller car in yachty speak). They are built or take load in any direction, not just vertical, which is more than you'd need for lifting.
But without ball bearings in the traveller the bag will just swing around on a pendulum, instead of sliding along a beam. May be better to looking into a vertical with an arm which spins around, sort of like one of those tall cranes on building sites rather than a gantry you see inside big workshops if that makes sense.
If you're really into a DIY job could look into castors running inside a small I-beam?

[Ralph]

or pop down somewhere like Musgroves recycled building place and see if you can find a sliding door that is hung from the top and grab the slider out of that?

[Crusader-Rob]

Yeah I thought of Musgroves. Might pop down to the boat shop on sat morning and see what the go is. Depending on the outcome, I'll go see scrap merchants etc. including musgroves.

I thought of the turning arm. My only concern was the bending of the arm, also, I'm limited for space cos the garage roof is pretty damn low. I hit my head on the rafters constantly.

Any thoughts on the arm bending, I know the weight generally wouldnt be massive. 

[Peter Smith]

BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand       go for an old cavity door slider rail

[Crusader-Rob]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=614441082

found this, any thoughts? not sure how I'd mount it with a 1.8m rafter height.

Robert McCleod: I'll stick with the 60L pot, I've got a 50L now, and was able to get a good solid Grain Bill in last week in the Chch Collaboration. 9kg of grain.

[Hamish Jones]

I was thinking about something like that the other day,

if you built a beam from box section steel, then hinged it to a wall stud, that way mount the winch out of the way and just swing the beam out when you need to use it, with 12m of cable in the winch you could just about mount it anywhere, and it leaves one hand spare for drinking

[Crusader-Rob]

Interesting thought. My biggest concern is the stability of weight on thestud, I'd be more inclined to use a roof rafter? although that could create some issues as well.

where would I get one of those beams made up? I think if I went this way I'd feel safer spreading the weight out a bit? ditribute it more evenly across the wooden rafters.?

Hamish what do you use, you mentioned your BIAB, do you just lift?

[Hamish Jones]

I have just got a stainless arm that attaches to my brew stand with a hook on it that I swing out of the way, its not ideal and any grain bill over 6 KG I get a bit stressed that it will let go but its safe as houses just bloody heavy when lifting the basket out

Have a yarn to an engineer as they'll let you know how much it costs, or if you can get some box section I have a mate who can weld, then all you would need to do is make sure the stud can handle the weight of it

 

[Crusader-Rob]

Looks good Hamish.

for an idea of what sorts of weight I'd be looking at, for a maximum sized beer out of my pot, I'd say 10kg of grain, what in theory would the weight of the grain bag be when lifted after mashing, bearing in mind that this is saturated in water. would it be safe to say 30%? or more like 50%?

If I get an idea of weights I'd like to distribute out the weight across the rafters a bit more, and obviously check and make sure the rafters would hold such a big weight...For Example the 8 Wired i Stout CYBI Recipe. Lots of grain.....LOTS!

Then I can design to some extent the arm you talk about with the winch, as the winch is a pretty good price, and based on the pulley stuff I've looked at on the internet, its not much cheaper doing it manually.