BIAB heating help

[Manngold]

Hi all,

I am three brews into BIAB and loving the improved quality of my beer. However, I find that it takes an age to get a good rolling boil going with a single 2.4kw heating element. I have no proper way to cool the hot wort either, so am finding that I am using a chill cube.

Can I do the following for future brews:

Have an initial water of approx. 20 L. Mash grain in this. Boil this for 90 minutes. Put in a sanitised chill cube. Top up with additional water from a standard tap to get the desired gravity?

I probably spent about 30 - 40 minutes in between the mash and the boil waiting for it to get going, and it doesn't provide the most amazing rolling boil.

Thanks for any help.

MG

EDIT: I do insulate the outside of pot, base and lid with a sleeping bag and insulated roll mat.

[rpt]

I use a 40L Buffalo for BIAB brewing. It takes 45-60 minutes to get to mash temperature. To get from mash temperature to boiling takes a similar amount of time. I also use a no-chill cube. I'm happy with the process and make good beer. I think the boiler is 2.6kW.

[Manngold]

Oh, thanks RPT. Maybe I am just being impatient. If I was to upgrade the heating element would thus give problems?

[alexlark]

You can boil less wort and dilute at the end by using a maxi BIAB technique. You will basically need to increase the amount of hops slightly to compensate for the concentrated wort.

If you've got a combi boiler then you can use your hot water tap for the mash water. Mine is hot enough from the tap that I can mash straight in!

[Jocky]

Theoretically to get 20L from mash temperature (62C) to boiling with a 2.4kw element would take about 23 minutes. That presumes that you have no losses, meaning:
1. The kettle starts the same temperature as the mash.
2. Perfect insulation

For #1 you could try prewarming your kettle by heating up some water in it, then dumping that before running off from the Mash Tun. If you're losing 5 degrees, then that's 3-4 minutes of heating saved (you decide if it's worth it).

Insulation wise the two big improvements you can make are:

1. Put the pot lid on while getting to a boil (then take it off).
2. Insulate under your kettle by putting it on a couple of cork floor tiles, or something similar.

The gains you can make everywhere else from insulation aren't great for your size of pot.

Otherwise to speed your boil your other choices are to add more power (3kW element, or a second 2.4kW, but you might find your pot a bit congested doing this), or boil less.

[rpt]

Theoretically to get 20L from mash temperature (62C) to boiling with a 2.4kw element would take about 23 minutes. That presumes that you have no losses, meaning:
1. The kettle starts the same temperature as the mash.
2. Perfect insulation

For #1 you could try prewarming your kettle by heating up some water in it, then dumping that before running off from the Mash Tun.

He's doing BIAB so the kettle will start at the same temperature as the mash!

[Jocky]

Theoretically to get 20L from mash temperature (62C) to boiling with a 2.4kw element would take about 23 minutes. That presumes that you have no losses, meaning:
1. The kettle starts the same temperature as the mash.
2. Perfect insulation

For #1 you could try prewarming your kettle by heating up some water in it, then dumping that before running off from the Mash Tun.

He's doing BIAB so the kettle will start at the same temperature as the mash!

I'm so dim sometimes.

[Manngold]

Thanks for the responses gents, all good stuff. I think I am going to mash with only 22L of water next time and watch my results. Will take notes over the next few brew days and then think about the most efficient method.

Thanks all

[Fil]

add a 2nd element,
an unwound extension lead rated to 13a from a different ring main is a solution may of us use, it is a fairly safe way to ensure your not going to impact on any other normal usage. and speeds up the heat ups.

+1 to insulation as suggested above, £shop space blankets camping mats and luggage straps or ex packing bubblewrap and gaffertape are just a couple of options..

[Manngold]

Thanks chaps. I have a SS pan. What is the easiest way to have the hole made for a second element?

[Fil]

a qmax punch cutter is the foolproof tool for the job, you need to puncture and expand a pilot hole upto 10-12mm for the tools shank and just fix it on and wind it up with an allen key and it punches out a nice clean hole..
large hole saws in a drill will need a cooling oil and can suffer from wobble in unskilled hands, or so ive read,,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-1-2-38-1mm- ... 3cdcbf0626

you would be welcome to borrow mine, but im not in your area, if passing thru oxford anytime, with the pilot hole cut its a 5minute job.

with a thinner bergland stock pot, not a thick £200 jobby the easiest way to open up a pilot hole is with a big hammer and sharp punch, braced behind the impact point to avoid dings.. and then expand up with bog standard hss drill bits, just pulsing the drill trigger. I dont know if you could apply this aproach to one of the US heavy duty brewkettles from blitchmann or SS technologies, but it sure works well for the ebay.fr stockpots/thermopots ..