Nope, that's the thing, they've thought of everything. You can't see it but he's got 3 'screws/bolts' drilled in the top to let the basket rest on. I have the SS Brewtech kettle so I guess things still work the same on the Bayou Classic kettle.
High Gravity Custom eBIAB System
- Thread starter goofiefoot
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Just noticed on your picture that you didn't have the hole to the left of your valve. I have the same kettle and bought the same whirlpool, but I have an extra hole it looks like to the left of the weldless valve. Maybe I shouldn't worry until the rest of it comes in. I wonder if it literally is another weldless valve assembly just for the whirlpool...
Austin_
Well-Known Member
If you look at the picture of mine, the black valve to the left of the blue kettle drain valve is where the blichmann whirlpool goes.
Ah so it looks like Dave may have forgot to send me over another plug for the whirlpool hole at the top.
My SS Brewtech came with 2 plugs but since 1 wasn't needed for the whirlpool, I have an extra if I ever want to remove it.
What kettle did you buy? I'm thinking that's part of SS Brewtech's parts and not Dave's but am not sure.
The only hole I needed to plug is obviously for the thermometer which wouldn't work in this setup due to the basket. There is a smaller hole just above the BoilCoil which is for the temperature probe. I had to email and ask Dave if the fact that the probe set only about 1/4" or so above the coil was correct and he said yes. It gives a more accurate temperature and would kick on and off more efficiently.
On another note, it takes some getting use to these ball valves because they seem loose due to the washer. I have to remember to be careful when cleaning this thing that I don't damage it.
SS Brewtech 15 Gallon kettle. I bought that whirlpool you mentioned above. Basically my setup is exactly like Austin's setup. The whirlpool return for us is below the basket not at the top of the kettle like yours.
Yeah I was about to wrench the valve down tight, but saw the washer squish out...and thought that doesn't look right. SO I just tightened a little better then hand tight and yeah it does seem kind of flimsy. The valve itself, to open and close, takes a little force and it seems like you are about to rip the thing off the kettle.
Wonder why your whirlpool is in a different location than mine. I never was given a choice, not that I care as this thing really works well, but just curious why he does some differently.
He told me that the whirlpool that comes at the top of the kettle interferes with the basket. We may have different baskets. I'll snap a pic of my partial setup tonight and see if it differs at all from your setup.
goofiefoot seems to have the same system I have (post 2). Except he has the 20 gallon pot and I have the 15. I wondered if the baskets differed between Bayou and SS pots but I don't see any 'posts' on the top to hold the basket from touching the coil in his system. Not sure how that one works but I'm just in curious mode now........none of this means anything other than me nerding out.
The Bayou Classic basket works well with a standard configuration 5500w heating element. But when upgrading to a Boil Coil Dave includes bolts to hold the basket bottom up higher than the Boil Coil.
Just spoke with Dave and the plug should have came with the Kettle which is something they don't normally check, but he's sending one out no sweat. Great dude. Customer service couldn't be any better..well unless Dave drove to my house and set the whole thing up for me...but....
All their staff (family?) is that way too. I've heard James from Basic Brewing Radio advertise and use their BIAB version for years and even asked him a few questions before ordering. It's great to know that should you need them after the purchase, they'll be there.
I've heard but don't expect this, a few people sending units back even when they admitted mucking with them and he fixed them just for the shipping back and forth. I don't expect it but to me, that's money in the bank!
I've heard but don't expect this, a few people sending units back even when they admitted mucking with them and he fixed them just for the shipping back and forth. I don't expect it but to me, that's money in the bank!
Sure, but you have to unplug both the pump and element plug from the controller and keep the thermocouple plugged in to the controller and kettle. I’ll unplug the heating element when chilling so I can monitor temp.
Austin_
Well-Known Member
Brew #2 in the books. It went a little bit better. I changed my mill gap to be finer, and I think I made it too fine. Even at the lowest speed, the pump was drawing in more than could drain through, so I ended up just doing a single infusion with the heat and pump cut off for the majority of the mash. Lesson learned. I'll go back to my old mill gap. Or I'm going to look into a mesh basket and ditch the bag.
I had my 1st brew in it Sunday and loved it. My table is high and working on a step ladder is tricky but I had help. I also crushed a bit finer and met my numbers so my efficiency is pretty much the same as my old BIAB. However, my 7 year old mill is in need of help so I may be replacing it.
I've also always gone commando so this time I used a SS hop thingy with the hope that I don't loose any good hop oils and flavors as compared to commando. I'll see how the next few turn out and if needed, just increase the hops a bit.
When done, I cleaned the pot, put it back on the table and used PBW at 170 for 25 minutes and it looks brand new.
Only 1 thing happened that I can't explain and I sent Dave a message. Twice in the mash (I was watching like a kid) the temp started to increase form 152 to 156-158. I caught it quick, turned off the heat and waited 2 minutes and back on and it was fine. I wonder if I had the pump too wide open and it forced the grains to pile up and affect the temperature probe. I think I'll stir a bit more next time as well as have less wort coming out the top.
I've also always gone commando so this time I used a SS hop thingy with the hope that I don't loose any good hop oils and flavors as compared to commando. I'll see how the next few turn out and if needed, just increase the hops a bit.
When done, I cleaned the pot, put it back on the table and used PBW at 170 for 25 minutes and it looks brand new.
Only 1 thing happened that I can't explain and I sent Dave a message. Twice in the mash (I was watching like a kid) the temp started to increase form 152 to 156-158. I caught it quick, turned off the heat and waited 2 minutes and back on and it was fine. I wonder if I had the pump too wide open and it forced the grains to pile up and affect the temperature probe. I think I'll stir a bit more next time as well as have less wort coming out the top.
I think this weekend will be my first go at brewing on it. I cleaned it. Found one leak in one of the cam-lock elbow fittings. A little teflon tape fixed it right up. Still don't like the flimsy feel of that brewtech weldless valve. The Blichmann whirlpool return valve is sturdy. May have to swap that out down the road.
I might agree with the flimsy valve but the valve quality is top notch. It's the silicone washer that gives it the movement and I worry about a tear and leak.
This is why I questioned the change of putting the temperature probe below the grains. The original HG system I bought over 4 years ago has the temperature probe mounted on the lid just before the wort sprays on top of the grain bed. I've never had any issues as you described with temperature fluctuations when recirculating with the valve wide open.
I'll post his comments when I receive his reply to my questions about this.
Also, I noticed that after awhile, the liquid level got so high during the mash that it almost overflowed. I think that also has something to do with the pump and valve being open to much though I honestly can't say that a faster, harder sparging will make much difference. My point is that I would not want to leave the brew area too very long without checking on how things are going.
Also, I noticed that after awhile, the liquid level got so high during the mash that it almost overflowed. I think that also has something to do with the pump and valve being open to much though I honestly can't say that a faster, harder sparging will make much difference. My point is that I would not want to leave the brew area too very long without checking on how things are going.
Sounds like you may have crushed too fine. Also,I think you may want to open your valve wide open and control the flow on the riptide.
Another recommendation is not to take your eye off of the kettle for long during the hotbreak. Having an overflow will add at least another hour to your cleanup work. After a few batches you'll be able to intuatively tell where to keep the boil intensity adjustment knob for best performance.
Austin_
Well-Known Member
My theory on the temperature jumping around is the pump is pulling too much water through and creating a void under the basket, making the probe and coil go a little wonky.
Still I think the crush may have a lot to do with that. Could have a stuck mash and causing the flow to be limited through the bag.
Should try conditioning the grain before milling. It's really easy.
Austin_
Well-Known Member
Oh yeah, for sure. That's why I had trouble on my second brew. I crushed too fine and it wasn't draining quick enough through the bag/pot combo, even at the lowest volume the pump would do. I didn't have that problem the first brew when I did my standard crush.
I was having trouble with a 7 year old grain mill and I think it's about time to retire it and my crush was a bit finer than normal. I'll adjust next time and see how it goes.
.OR, and this is what I did. Order one of these bad boys from Utahbiodieselsupply and the basket replaces the bag completely!
https://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php about 1/4 down page... AWESOME brew n bag set up!
for the price I'll try it!
zzzzzzzzz
https://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php about 1/4 down page... AWESOME brew n bag set up!
for the price I'll try it!
zzzzzzzzz
Don't think this will help their problem but I do like the idea in general.
I've been emailing Brewtech about the valve just to see what they would recommend to do or try. Nothing helpful back so far. I wonder if something like this would work better just so you could maybe wrench it down tighter to the kettle.
https://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=42&product_id=105
Flat high temperature silicone gasket. 500 degree F max temp.
RED VERSION 1/2" NPT flat gasket
27/32" Inner Diameter, 1-7/8" Outer Diameter. 1/8" Thick Silicone rubber.
Fits tight on a 1/2" nipple in the weldless sets.
https://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=42&product_id=105
Flat high temperature silicone gasket. 500 degree F max temp.
RED VERSION 1/2" NPT flat gasket
27/32" Inner Diameter, 1-7/8" Outer Diameter. 1/8" Thick Silicone rubber.
Fits tight on a 1/2" nipple in the weldless sets.
Hey guys got a question . I just received my 20gal SS brewtech kettle with the boil coil element. The one thing i noticed when opening the box and checking everything out is that it appears the basket will rest right on top of the boil coil. To me this doesn't seem right and i recall somebody mentioning here with their systems that there is a bolt or something like that to keep the bottom of the basket off of the element. Am i missing something here or was my system not set up correctly?
Yes, my 15 gallon SS Brewtech kettle has 3 bolts at the top so that the basket can rest on them and they are adjustable.
I think the Bayou kettle has a lip to hold the basket but I'm guessing you'd not miss the bolts as mine were already attached to the kettle. You might want to email Dave and ask about it.
I think the Bayou kettle has a lip to hold the basket but I'm guessing you'd not miss the bolts as mine were already attached to the kettle. You might want to email Dave and ask about it.
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First brew day, everything went great. Took a preboil gravity at 1.031...pretty low. Boil went fine but in the confusion of using all the new stuff forgot to take post boil gravity. I used a couple different calculators out there to figure it up...just cause I didn't want to screw with getting any wort from the fermenter. The efficiency is pretty low then what I'm used to but I also didn't squeeze this time. Probably need to take that into consideration next time. What efficiency is everyone else getting with their setups?
I got 72% last week on my first use of the system but I always have squeezed. That pretty much matches what I was getting with my old BIAB setup. I did tighten my mill a bit but only because it was 5 years old and had widened. In fact, it's dying so I ordered a Monstor Mill.
I also stirred my mash about once every 15 minutes. I know the recirc is going but old habits die hard and it can't hurt.
On another note, Dave wrote back about the spike in temps I mentioned in an earlier post:
"You should have the flow dialed back while mashing. The RipTide pumps are more powerful too. We need to add this verbiage to the instructions now that we use a less restrictive spray head."
I also stirred my mash about once every 15 minutes. I know the recirc is going but old habits die hard and it can't hurt.
On another note, Dave wrote back about the spike in temps I mentioned in an earlier post:
"You should have the flow dialed back while mashing. The RipTide pumps are more powerful too. We need to add this verbiage to the instructions now that we use a less restrictive spray head."
Also my jaded brewing hydra chiller was a hard fit in the kettle with the boil coil. I did see that northern brewer has a stainless counterflow for 150 bucks. Anyone have one like this or have this exact chiller?
https://www.northernbrewer.com/prod...wjMnVzDWk9HkcjheDSWMj9VSl5vfXAxQaAqlaEALw_wcB
https://www.northernbrewer.com/prod...wjMnVzDWk9HkcjheDSWMj9VSl5vfXAxQaAqlaEALw_wcB
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I have the Jaded Cyclone CFC and have been happy with it.... I recirculate through the a whirlpool arm. Seems like it uses a lot more water though.
My hydra fit just fine in my 15 gallon Brewtech. And the whirlpool really sped up the chilling. In the summer, I use groundwater to chill to 100 or so then switch over to an ice chest with an aquarium pump. Last week on my first brew in the HGB kit, I got to 61 in 13 minutes total! That's so much better than my usual.
I think I had one of the early hydra's and got a great price, so mine seems like its more oblong then round. So some of it sticks out of the top no matter how you position it.
Powercat
Well-Known Member
I have almost the same system with a boil coil. I used an elevated false bottom at first to protect the bag from the coil, didn't like it and now use nothing with no problems. Recently I have stopped recirculating and my beer is still great. Enjoy your new system.
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