ISO: "simple" route for 10 gal. indoor brewing

[jcorn]

I am looking to find a way to brew in my basement. I typically do extract brewing/partial boil batches, occasional 10 gal. BIAB. On hand I use a 5 gallon ss pot for small batching and 20 gallon Concord ss pot for 10-15 gallon batches.

What is my best option for basement brewing with the 20 gallon ss pot? My pot measures around 18.5 inches in diameter. Would an Avantco IC3500 work with this setup? Some type of heating wand? I suppose I could simply unplug my dryer and plug the large electrical unit in? I do not mind waiting upto an hour for a boil if I can do everything inside and not have to climb stairs constantly for brewing purposes. Thanks!

 

[BeardedBrews]

By simple, are you also implying inexpensive?

That IC3500 will boil 10 gallons, eventually. It has plenty of power to maintain the boil, it's just the heating part that takes a while. You can leave the insulation from mashing on the kettle while you heat it to help speed this up.

http://farnam-custom.com/resources/engineer-talk/how-much-wattage-do-i-need/

3500 Watts would theoretically raise 12 gallons of water 1.5°F / minute if all of the power was getting into the water and none of the heat was escaping. 1 hour from mash temp to boiling temp is probably about right.


There are other factors indoors:

1. Steam Exhaust
2. Waste Water (chiller, cleanup)
3. Overhead Space (lifting the bag)

I spent more than $200 putting an element directly into my 15g kettle, but the extra money got me more power, and the ability to set-it-and-forget-it on mash temperature.

 

[jcorn]

The steam/heating the house in the summer issue do worry me. Would it be safe enough to use my turkey fryer in the basement if I installed a window ventilation system? This would in turn pull the heat/steam out? Maybe put up carbon monoxide alarms along the ceiling in seperate areas? I would worry about the furnace turning on and having some possible propane fumes in the air?

 

[madscientist451]

Your not supposed to use a propane tank indoors. Mostly, if a fire breaks out, the propane tank could be a real hazard to the firefighters. If someone got injured from something like that, they could end up owning your house and everything else you have.
You could put the propane tank outside and run a gas line in if you really want to, but I think it would just be easier to go electric.
I'd also get some kind of range hood and hook that up to a pipe to vent your steam out. Just using a window or even a window/fan combination is a somewhat haphazard way of dealing with it. Depends on what your standards are.

 

[jcorn]

Yeah that propane route just sounds horribly unsafe to me.

If I were to use the 3500 Avantco watt induction route:
To use my 18.5 inch 20 gal. pot it would extend over the induction top by quite a lot. The Avantco states that it will hold a 10 1/4" max size pot. Will it be useless to try and use this large of a pot? I wonder how inefficient that setup would be..

 

[BeardedBrews]

http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/ventilation

I am not aware of any turkey burners that run clean enough to be tagged as appropriate for indoor use. Read the warning labels before you try that technique.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Yeah that propane route just sounds horribly unsafe to me.

If I were to use the 3500 Avantco watt induction route:
To use my 18.5 inch 20 gal. pot it would extend over the induction top by quite a lot. The Avantco states that it will hold a 10 1/4" max size pot. Will it be useless to try and use this large of a pot? I wonder how inefficient that setup would be..

A bigger pot doesn't hurt, other than adding more un-insulated surface area to loose heat. You get into problems if you go smaller since it won't trip the pan sensors in the burner.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIUqYZX-PGU[/ame]

 

[jcorn]

I am also reading and seeing on youtube that non- magnetic pots do not change the effectiveness of heating. My Concord 80 qt. pot will not hold a magnet but theoretically should heat up much like others have stated with their ss pots?

 

[jcorn]

The Concord pot I have is super thin so I can only imagine that would be an advantage to heating it up on the induction top.

 

[BeardedBrews]

I suppose I should have read more closely, it is unlikely that those concord pots are induction capable. You will want to check that before you drop $200 on the burner.

The thicker the bottom, the better it will spread out the heat. With induction, the heat doesn't pass through the pot, it's actually generated in the pot, so a super thick bottom isn't a problem.

-B

 

[jcorn]

I dont think they are either. I took a magnet on a string to it and it would not even come to sticking besided in one spot. 1/2 an inch up from the very bottom the magnet sticks. Even if the pot did somehow work I wonder how efficiently it would even work. I guess I could buy one of those plates to make any pot induction ready but even that makes me wonder if efficiency would lower since its not "true induction cookware" even though it is being converter in a way.

I wonder if a 2000 watt heat stick in conjuction could work?

 

[BeardedBrews]

Honestly, I don't think you'd regret building an element into your kettle. It's a bit more work, and cost, but it's a much more flexible solution.

@Bobby_M has some great gear that would get you going in no time:
If you don't want to put a hole in your kettle for the element use this
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/hotrod.htm

If you don't mind some work, check out this
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/tc15wlf.htm
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/element5500_ripple_tc.htm