New BIAB setup. Ss brewtech or Spike? Utah Diesel or Arbor Fab?

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dhoyt

dhoyt

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I just got back into brewing and I am going to move from extract to BIAB (basket). I have been looking over my options for a couple weeks and tried going through some reviews but most of them are at least 2 years old so I'm sure somethings have changed. For example Spike says its the only one to use sanitary welds but I see Ss is making kettles with this. I also read reviews that said Spike welds were pitted and rusting and customer service has something left to be desired. Now to be fair as I said these reviews are old so I am hoping you guys have some more updated news and insight for me.

I'm looking at a 15 gal kettle so that I can make 5 gal and 10 gal batches. That being said Spike has the side by side ports (Horizontal) allowing for the temp sensor to be submerged when doing smaller batches. This seems like a good option but I'm unsure of the welded handles on the Spike kettles. Wouldn't riveted handles be better like what Ss brewtech has? I wish Ss brewtech had the side by side (horizontal) ports because I think that would swing my vote. I am also open to other kettles but I like the welded ports with the TC connections. I would like to stay away from weldless ports.

I am also planing on getting a basket from Utah Diesel Supply if anyone has some opinions on them or like Arbor Fab better. I would like the hooks on the side of the basket that let you slide in the metal piece for the basket to rest on while it drains. I feel like this would be easier than rigging up a hoist system.

Thanks!!!
 
Two things on the basket:
1) They are not cheap so be prepared for that.
2) Don't put the hooks too low on the basket. I had mine installed at 3" from the bottom screen and that leaves enough grain above it to make it unstable while draining. Totally my fault for not thinking of that. It doesn't tip over but it's definitely not stable. Just something to be aware of.

Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Arbor Fab makes the baskets for Utah Biodiesel so you are getting the same basket either way.

Are you doing electric brewing?
 
Every time I think about upgrading my kettle and BIAB bag, I think about how much beer I could make for that amount . . . Once you have whirlpool capability and maybe a sight glass, that's really all you need. I actually took my thermometer fitting out and put an NPT plug in place, because didn't like that the bag could get caught on it, or whacking it with the mash paddle. For a pulley/hoist system, I use a $5 ratchet pulley from Amazon - even with max grain, it's easy enough to lift. I hook it to a bike hook in the rafter.
Ultimately, you do you, and YMMV, but there are cheaper and just-as-effective ways to do BIAB.
 
Both vendors you're looking at have very nice kettles and I heavily shopped and researched each as you are doing. I still have a smaller SsBrewtech kettle from before I moved to all grain and use their brewbucket fermenters as well.

I surprised myself by going with Blichmann ekettle with the ULWD Boil Coil when I found out you didn't need a basket for it. My brew bag touches the coil and is not the least affected while running heat during the mash.

Any of the 3 systems would be a good choice for what you want to do. Good luck with your upgraded system, I'm sure you'll be thrilled.
 

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Arbor Fab makes the Utah Bio filters.

That said I really like the Brew Bag bags. I just use a Brew Hardware false bottom to keep the bag above the element and it works out great.
 
I'm not doing electric, I like the gas burner. I don't want to use a bag because I just feel weird about using a material like that in my beer. The basket also allows me to never worry about melting a bag and I can get away without a hoist. I will definitely keep in mind the hook positioning, I didn't think about that.
 
AF1HomeBrew said:
I received an email from Spike today on a new offering.

f0bc64cd-774e-4fac-a3d5-d677b7313d2b.png

8af07934-2bfb-406a-8cb0-18805b15e4d2.png
Click to expand...
This is interesting, I was looking at their site this morning and did not see this. With solid sides you would have to recirc right? I wonder how you would hoist the top bucket?
 
matt_m said:
Arbor Fab makes the Utah Bio filters.

That said I really like the Brew Bag bags. I just use a Brew Hardware false bottom to keep the bag above the element and it works out great.
Click to expand...
That's interesting I will have to look into it more. I didn't see much customization on arbor fabs site like Utah. I'll investigate more.
 
dhoyt said:
This is interesting, I was looking at their site this morning and did not see this. With solid sides you would have to recirc right? I wonder how you would hoist the top bucket?
Click to expand...

I don't think it's on their site yet. You can use their site to sign up for updates.
 
dhoyt said:
I'm not doing electric, I like the gas burner. I don't want to use a bag because I just feel weird about using a material like that in my beer. The basket also allows me to never worry about melting a bag and I can get away without a hoist. I will definitely keep in mind the hook positioning, I didn't think about that.
Click to expand...

I don't think you have to use only electric for the Spike kettle, they just have extra TC ports for fitting an electric element into the kettle. I am sure they will be sharing more info soon. If I didn't already have all of my equipment I would probably go with this new Spike offering. They make great stuff.
 
Re-reading the email I received from Spike, they are targeting a late spring release date.
 
dhoyt said:
I just got back into brewing and I am going to move from extract to BIAB (basket). I have been looking over my options for a couple weeks and tried going through some reviews but most of them are at least 2 years old so I'm sure somethings have changed. For example Spike says its the only one to use sanitary welds but I see Ss is making kettles with this. I also read reviews that said Spike welds were pitted and rusting and customer service has something left to be desired. Now to be fair as I said these reviews are old so I am hoping you guys have some more updated news and insight for me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for considering Spike! I can tell you that if we produced pitted and rusted welds we would have been out of business a long time ago. We're actually known for our quality welds done at our facility in Milwaukee and our customer service. Sounds like someone was having a bad day. Check out the Spike User group on Facebook. It's run and moderated by Spike customers. You'll get a lot of feedback from actual Spike customers.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/291675194673906

hezagenius said:
Hey now. Is this a 15 gallon kettle @SpikeBrewing ?
Click to expand...
That is our 20g however we will have a 15g and 10g as well.

For anyone else interested in more information on our new single vessel BIAB system please sign up below to receive exclusive updates on price, launch date, pre-sale, etc!

https://spikebrewing.com/pages/ebiab
 
dhoyt said:
This is interesting, I was looking at their site this morning and did not see this. With solid sides you would have to recirc right? I wonder how you would hoist the top bucket?
Click to expand...

I don't think you would have to recirculate, but the solid side basket would allow for clearer wort than a bag or basket if you did recirculate or vorlauf.

I assume they will provide a means of holding the basket up to drain.
 
I have a Spike kettle (only a year old so far)., and I have enjoyed it very much. Their QA department contacted me when my kettle was made (custome built) because of a slight (minor) flaw A++, I am also considering get a Steam slayer, so I contact Spike about sending my kettle back to have them weld another 1 1/2" port for me. Fast response and they were able to give me a good quote on the cost( i had included my zip code with my e-mail to them).

Now with the new Spike Kettle as @AF1HomeBrew showes, i'm not sure about. I did read that their baskets will work with all their kettle's. But they also state that you need their 15G kettle for a 5 Gal batch. The kettle I have is only 10G. So Take it that I can only do a 3 gal batch (if memory serves me correct, i can be wrong, but I know for sure that their baskets for 5 gal batches needed a 15G kettle).

SpikeBrewing said:
That is our 20g however we will have a 15g and 10g as well.

For anyone else interested in more information on our new single vessel BIAB system please sign up below to receive exclusive updates on price, launch date, pre-sale, etc!

https://spikebrewing.com/pages/ebiab
Click to expand...
As to Spikebrewing, Just out of curiosity, With the new line that is coming out geared to EBIAB line, will there be any options for a buy back on kettles purchased for the upgrade? I have to ask.... Also, will there be any customization available to this, such as the size of the ports?
 
I have a spike 15 gallon kettle and the quality is top notch. To be honest, if I was in the market for another kettle, I wouldn’t even research what else was out there. Straight to spike.

The 15 gallon kettle is ideal for 5 gallon batches. There are a lot of 10 gallon batches I’ve thought of doing that will not fit in my 15 gallon kettle without some type of extra step. You can still do it, but would need to incorporate some type of sparge step. Use this link below to get a better idea on kettle size.

http://www.biabcalculator.com
 
Ridenour64 said:
I have a spike 15 gallon kettle and the quality is top notch. To be honest, if I was in the market for another kettle, I wouldn’t even research what else was out there. Straight to spike.

The 15 gallon kettle is ideal for 5 gallon batches. There are a lot of 10 gallon batches I’ve thought of doing that will not fit in my 15 gallon kettle without some type of extra step. You can still do it, but would need to incorporate some type of sparge step. Use this link below to get a better idea on kettle size.

http://www.biabcalculator.com
Click to expand...
I agree with spike being a great kettle, however...

What size beer are your brewing that makes you feel that you need a 15 Gal kettle for a 5 gal Batch? I may be reading to far into this, if so, i do apologize. I know I am a strange one, just because I do enjoy my beer , and I actually try to stay along the small size ( 4-6%), so my 10 Gal kettle is perfect for my brewes. with my grains and water I am at the 9 gal mark on my kettle. when i start my boil i am at the 7.5 Gal mark. I have no issues with boil overs or anything. From what I have read, you want a kettle that is double the size that you want to brew, so if you want to do 10 gal, you actually want a 20 G kettle. On this note, I do BIAB, an actually bag, not a basket ( i can see a basket needing a bigger vessel just because of the extra weight)
 
Spike is a good option. I've not had one, but I've been impressed with the positive support I've seen for their products here. Personally, I bought a Brewbuilt because, at the time, it was about $70 cheaper and it came with a valve (another $20 in value). It's also welded ports and I'm very happy with it. I'm using it with a 240v induction burner now.

I am thinking of getting a second kettle to do kettle RIMS and I'm having a hard time justifying going with Spike or SS when the brewbuilt has been so good.
 
I know that a 10 gallon kettle works great for a lot of people doing 5 gallon batches. If he can say for certain he will stick in the 4-6% range then by all means that might be the right way for him. But when your getting started, why limit yourself for only a $45 price difference? (Assuming spike plus kettle)

I’ve been using my setup for probably around 2 years now and I’ve never wanted a smaller kettle. I have have made a few strong beers, around 8%, and I do want to do a barley wine eventually.
 
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Ridenour64 said:
I know that a 10 gallon kettle works great for a lot of people doing 5 gallon batches. If he can say for certain he will stick in the 4-6% range then by all means that might be the right way for him. By when your getting started, why limit yourself for only a $45 price difference? (Assuming spike plus kettle)

I’ve been using my setup for probably around 2 years now and I’ve never wanted a smaller kettle. I have have made a few strong beers, around 8%, and I do want to do a barley wine eventually.
Click to expand...

I'm switching from mashing in a cooler to BIAB. I plan to keep and use my same 10G kettle. I still like to brew some big beers (1.128 OG stout with 25lb grain bill) but I'll do those in my cooler anyway. I'm not sure I could hit my target gravity without a sparge. I could also dunk sparge I guess, but that still requires a second vessel of some sort.
 
I'm just curious but if you go from BIAB to using a basket why not just go with a Grainfather , robobrew , M&b or any of those 1 vessel systems? I thought most people who do BIAB do so because it's cheap . You just need a big pot or an old keg and a bag .

Edit . I guess an eBIAB with a basket is basically the same as one of those systems I listed
 
Jag75 said:
I'm just curious but if you go from BIAB to using a basket why not just go with a Grainfather , robobrew , M&b or any of those 1 vessel systems? I thought most people who do BIAB do so because it's cheap . You just need a big pot or an old keg and a bag .

Edit . I guess an eBIAB with a basket is basically the same as one of those systems I listed
Click to expand...

Yeah thats what I always though as well. Brew in a bag was just a cheap way to get into full grain without the extra equipment costs of a dedicated mashtun, laudertun, etc... As all you need is a big enough kettle and a brew bag to get started.
 
I have a 15 gallon Spike kettle (V2 maybe?) and I used to use it for 5 gallon BIAB batches. I went with a 15 gallon kettle so I didn't have to worry about the size of my grain bill or the amount of hops I add during the boil or hover over the kettle for the entire time. I tossed an ounce of Columbus into the boil once and the foam got within an inch of the top of the kettle. That would have been an awfully big mess if I was using a 10 gallon kettle.
 
Hwk-I-St8 said:
Do you boil with the false bottom in place?
Click to expand...

Yes, its so open it has no impact on basically anything except that during whirlpool some of the hop matter will pile up on it if there were a lot of hop additions.

hezagenius said:
I have a 15 gallon Spike kettle (V2 maybe?) and I used to use it for 5 gallon BIAB batches. I went with a 15 gallon kettle so I didn't have to worry about the size of my grain bill or the amount of hops I add during the boil or hover over the kettle for the entire time. I tossed an ounce of Columbus into the boil once and the foam got within an inch of the top of the kettle. That would have been an awfully big mess if I was using a 10 gallon kettle.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I went with. Except then I also bought an Anvil Foundry. It would be pretty easy to max out the Foundry with a bigger beer if you want 5 gallons out. So far the beers I've done it went into a corny keg for fermenting with Kviek in a hot water bath. Once I get rolling I'd like to do double brew days.
 
I know you said no electric, but thought I'd toss my .02 in. I use a Brewboss system for all grain and a burner for extracts and ciders. The brewboss is electric and after having built a propane based, two tier converted keg system, this is far easier. Brew days are fast-around 4 hours from cold water to total cleanup. I've only been making 6 gallon batches in it. Is it perfect-no-but I like the flexibility. And electric isn't bad at all. Sure, you don't have the reassuring sound of a jet engine burner going-in fact, it's kinda weird with how little sound the thing makes while brewing-except for the voice prompts, but take a look at them. No, Darrin (the owner) didn't put me up to this, but if you are looking at some of the other systems, you should take a look at Darrin's too.
 
Redpappy said:
I agree with spike being a great kettle, however...

What size beer are your brewing that makes you feel that you need a 15 Gal kettle for a 5 gal Batch? I may be reading to far into this, if so, i do apologize. I know I am a strange one, just because I do enjoy my beer , and I actually try to stay along the small size ( 4-6%), so my 10 Gal kettle is perfect for my brewes. with my grains and water I am at the 9 gal mark on my kettle. when i start my boil i am at the 7.5 Gal mark. I have no issues with boil overs or anything. From what I have read, you want a kettle that is double the size that you want to brew, so if you want to do 10 gal, you actually want a 20 G kettle. On this note, I do BIAB, an actually bag, not a basket ( i can see a basket needing a bigger vessel just because of the extra weight)
Click to expand...
I'm personally trying to have my cake and eat it too with a 15 gal but I'm not sure my thought process is even valid. I want the ability to do 5 and 10 gal batches. I know that I wouldn't be able to do big beers at the larger volume but I don't want to go all the way up to a 20 gal and not be able to do 5 gal batches at all. However that was also why I was leaning towards spike because you can get the side by side ports instead of horizontally stacked. I was thinking that even with a 20 gal kettle I could still do 5 gal batches? Thoughts?
 
ranchonodinero said:
I know you said no electric, but thought I'd toss my .02 in. I use a Brewboss system for all grain and a burner for extracts and ciders. The brewboss is electric and after having built a propane based, two tier converted keg system, this is far easier. Brew days are fast-around 4 hours from cold water to total cleanup. I've only been making 6 gallon batches in it. Is it perfect-no-but I like the flexibility. And electric isn't bad at all. Sure, you don't have the reassuring sound of a jet engine burner going-in fact, it's kinda weird with how little sound the thing makes while brewing-except for the voice prompts, but take a look at them. No, Darrin (the owner) didn't put me up to this, but if you are looking at some of the other systems, you should take a look at Darrin's too.
Click to expand...
I have nothing against electric it just doesn't really tickle my fancy. I feel more badass making beer over a flame hahaha. it's like the difference between grilling a steak outside or putting it in the oven. Do they both work and result in eating delicious meat, of course. I just enjoy one process more than the other is all.
 
dhoyt said:
I'm personally trying to have my cake and eat it too with a 15 gal but I'm not sure my thought process is even valid. I want the ability to do 5 and 10 gal batches. I know that I wouldn't be able to do big beers at the larger volume but I don't want to go all the way up to a 20 gal and not be able to do 5 gal batches at all. However that was also why I was leaning towards spike because you can get the side by side ports instead of horizontally stacked. I was thinking that even with a 20 gal kettle I could still do 5 gal batches? Thoughts?
Click to expand...

If you're not going electric you could probably get away with doing a 5 gallon batch in the 20 gallon kettle. I had planned that when I bought my Spike 20 gallon kettle two years ago, however the placement of the TC port for my heating element is around the 4 gallon mark, so I haven't even tried to do any 5 gallon batches in it and ended up getting a 10 gallon kettle from their Bargain Cave that already had all the ports I needed (I may add one more for whirlpooling).
 
dhoyt said:
I'm personally trying to have my cake and eat it too with a 15 gal but I'm not sure my thought process is even valid. I want the ability to do 5 and 10 gal batches. I know that I wouldn't be able to do big beers at the larger volume but I don't want to go all the way up to a 20 gal and not be able to do 5 gal batches at all. However that was also why I was leaning towards spike because you can get the side by side ports instead of horizontally stacked. I was thinking that even with a 20 gal kettle I could still do 5 gal batches? Thoughts?
Click to expand...

if your planning to stay gas, you should have no issues doing 5 gal batch in a 20 g kettle. For my set up, I start with 8.5 G of water, and about 13lbs of grain. Once the grains are added, I’m sitting at about 9.8 g. Not much room, so 15g kettle for 10G batch would be hard to do unless you do a sparge.
 
dhoyt said:
I have nothing against electric it just doesn't really tickle my fancy. I feel more badass making beer over a flame hahaha. it's like the difference between grilling a steak outside or putting it in the oven. Do they both work and result in eating delicious meat, of course. I just enjoy one process more than the other is all.
Click to expand...

You must not love in an area with cold winters. I have a really nice burner, but brewing in the garage with the door open when it's 5 degrees ot gets old. I brewed the other day when it was about zero out with 30mph winds. I was mashing in my heated garage in a tshirt. Electric is the way to go for those of us who live on the frozen tundra.
 
Hwk-I-St8 said:
You must not love in an area with cold winters. I have a really nice burner, but brewing in the garage with the door open when it's 5 degrees ot gets old. I brewed the other day when it was about zero out with 30mph winds. I was mashing in my heated garage in a tshirt. Electric is the way to go for those of us who live on the frozen tundra.
Click to expand...

Yeah Im with you there this is why I got a robo brew. Plus even in the summer we have the option to take it to basement or whatever when its 90 with 80% humidity. But now I have the option to do both. Do summer brews outside in my old school cooler mash and burner boil or take it inside when weather sucks.
 
Hwk-I-St8 said:
You must not love in an area with cold winters. I have a really nice burner, but brewing in the garage with the door open when it's 5 degrees ot gets old. I brewed the other day when it was about zero out with 30mph winds. I was mashing in my heated garage in a tshirt. Electric is the way to go for those of us who live on the frozen tundra.
Click to expand...
I moved to NC a few months ago, while it's cold now everyone says it doesn't last long. That is the down side of not going electric though and it is definitely a valid point.
 
Redpappy said:
if your planning to stay gas, you should have no issues doing 5 gal batch in a 20 g kettle. For my set up, I start with 8.5 G of water, and about 13lbs of grain. Once the grains are added, I’m sitting at about 9.8 g. Not much room, so 15g kettle for 10G batch would be hard to do unless you do a sparge.
Click to expand...
This is good to know, if I can comfortably do 5 and 10 gal batches that would be great. If I went with a 20 gal I think I would have to go with a spike kettle because they are the only ones doing side by side ports. The traditional vertical configuration would probably not keep the temp sensor submerged for a 5 gal batch.
 

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