BIAC Specifications

Small 5 Gallon 20L BIAC brewing system 

Max grain bill 5.5kg/12lbs 

Medium 10 Gallon 40L BIAC brewing system 

Beer volume 20-40L/5-10gal

Large 15 Gallon 60L BIAC brewing system 

Beer volume 40-60L/10-15gal

Beer volume 120-180L/32-48 gallons 

Max grain bill 100kg/220lb

Max. pre-boil volume 400L/105gal

Beer volume 180-360L/1.5-3BBL

Max grain bill 160kg/350lb

Max pre-boil volume 680L/180gal

Beer volume 360-590L/3-5BBL

Max grain bill 225kg/500lb

Max pre-boil volume 1000L/264gal

Beer volume 590L-819L/5-7BBL

Max grain bill 480kg/1050lb

Max pre-boil volume 2040L/539gal

Beer volume 1170L-1760L/10-15BBL

Medium 10 Gallon 40L conical fermentor: 60L/16USG  gross volume

Large 15 Gallon 60L conical fermentor: 91L/24USG  gross volume

1.5BBL 2HL conical fermentor: 240L/63.4USG  gross volume

3BBL 3HL conical fermentor: 420L/110USG  gross volume

5BBL 6HL conical fermentor: 720L/190USG  gross volume

Medium: 38.5L/10USG 

Large: 56.5L/14.9USG 

Large 15 Gallon 60L: 8L/2USG 

3-in-1 and 4-in-1 (without lid; add minimum 20-40cm/8-16" for lid, plus blow off hose height; there is a push bar on the 1.5BBL-7BBL fermentors which adds approx 20cm/8" on one side; one of our Chillers beside the fermentor adds approx 46cm/18"): 

Small 5 Gallon 20L: 90cm/35" height (40cm/16" outside diameter)

Medium 10 Gallon 40L: 110cm/43" height (50cm/20" outside diameter)

Large 15 Gallon 60L: 120cm/47" height (55cm/22" outside diameter)

1.5BBL 2HL : 145cm/57" height (75cm/30" outside diameter)

3BBL 3HL: 162cm/64" height; (90cm/35" outside diameter)

5BBL 6HL: 180cm/71" height; (110cm/43" outside diameter)

Small: 42cm/17" height

Medium: 52cm/20.5" height

Large: 57cm/22" height

Combined Height (total height of vessels when lifting the Mash Colander out of the fermenter; ceiling height recommendation includes allowance for vessels, lift apparatus (30cm/12"), gantry (15-20cm/6-8") and/or hoist clearance (45cm/18") and 15cm/6” additional space (measurements assumes 15cm/6" gantry I beam for all systems 1.5BBL and larger, except 20cm/8" for 7BBL); ceiling recommendation is with our standard SER Kito electric chain hoist; with our SHB Ultra-Low Headroom Hoist the recommendation would be 36cm/14" less than shown below and with the SHB hoist without the lift hooks (attach shackle directly to Mash Colander) and a hammerlock connection the minimum ceiling height would be ~22"/55cm less than shown below; this link details the range of ceiling heights that can be accommodated with each system: 

Small 5 Gallon 20L: 132cm/52" height; 193cm/76" ceiling recommended (216cm/85" with electric hoist)

Medium 10 Gallon 40L: 162cm/64" height; 224cm/88" ceiling recommended (244cm/96" with electric hoist)

Large 15 Gallon 60L: 177cm/69" height; 236cm/93" ceiling recommended (256cm/100" with electric hoist)

3BBL 3HL: 251cm/99" height;  358cm/141" ceiling recommended (305cm/120" minimum)

5BBL 6HL: 284cm/112" height;  391cm/154" ceiling recommended (335cm/132" minimum)

3-in-1 conical fermentor (Homebrewery BIAC) 3psi in vessel / 5psi in jacket

4-in-1 conical fermentor (Microbrewery BIAC) 14.9psi in vessel / 7psi in jacket

Medium BIAC 100kg/220lb* with 3-in-1

Large BIAC 112kg/250lb* with 3-in-1

1.5BBL  BIAC 260kg/570lb

3BBL BIAC 475kg/1050lb 

5BBL BIAC 590kg/1300lb 

7BBL BIAC 680kg/1500lb 

1. Main brewing controller has the following specifications for the various systems:

Medium BIAC 240V/20A 1Φ; 4.5kW

Large BIAC 240V/23A 1Φ; 5.5kW

1.5BBL BIAC 240/55A or 208V/60A 1Φ; 11kW heaters plus 1hp pump

3BBL BIAC 240V or 208V; 1Φ/100A (2 hots, neutral and ground) or 3Φ/75A (3 hots, neutral and ground); 22kW heaters plus 1hp pump

5BBL BIAC 240V or 208V; 1Φ/145A (2 hots, neutral and ground) or3Φ/100A (3 hots, neutral and ground); 33kW heaters plus 1hp pump

7BBL BIAC 240V or 208V; 3Φ only, 125A/240V or 150A/208V (3 hots, neutral and ground); 47.5kW heaters plus 1hp pump

15BBL BIAC 208V; 3Φ 160A (3 hots, neutral and ground); 54kW heaters plus 1hp pump

The controllers for the Small to Large systems require a NEMA 14-30r (4c) that the controller plugs into. On the 1.5-15BBL systems, the Programmable Touchscreen Power Controller comes ready for install and should be hard wired to the power main with appropriately sized cable. The current (please confirm with BREWHA before ordering cable) distribution block model that you will tie into is Littlefuse LD2580-3DIN /0LD25803ZXDIN which has maximum supply size of 2/0 copper. Customers should hang the Power Controller on the wall directly behind their brew area (the heater extension cords are 12' long to reach from the tank to the controller so the controller should be within about 6' of the brewing fermenter.) The heating elements, pump and level controller are all powered through the Power Box.

2. Temperature regulation during fermentation: a standard 15A (120V in Canada/US; 4 gang box recommended) circuit should be near the brewing area to power the ETC temperature sensor, as well as one near the fermenting area to power each ETC and Water, Beer and Wort Chillers (if used to maintain fermentation temperature; since the 6500BTU chiller has two circulation pumps for two fermenters, there should be one 120V/15A circuit with four gang receptacle for every two fermenters). And if you purchase additional PBC (240V/22A) Power Box controllers if you want to ferment ABOVE your room temperature, they come with a NEMA 14-30 receptacle (15-30r for the 7BBL, additional PBC single heater 3Ph controller).

3. The hoist comes with a 15' whip but will need to be connected to a power source (either receptacle or hardwired into an electrical panel; see more details on the hoist product page). The 7S commercial pump will need to be wired by an electrician; the cable and cord end are supplied (if you are connecting the 7S pump to the Touchscreen Power Controller, use the 'high voltage' wiring pattern shown on the pump).

See 'Humidity Venting Requirements' section below regarding electrical  requirements for venting/steam removal.

Customers have found that a 3/4" water line is sufficient (if that is what is there), but if you have a 1 or even 1.5" line available that is preferred in commercial applications. A water pressure regulator should be installed in the fermenter jacket supply line at or below the jacket pressure limit (5psi for 3-in-1 fermenters and 7psi for 4-in-1 fermenters). For quickest chilling, flow rate for chilling when using tap water should be not less than 3%/minute of total wort volume (ie. min. 20L or 5gal/min on the larger systems). A closed-loop 1 stage (one source of cold water) or 2 stage (two sources of cold water) plate chiller (out from and back into the fermenter) can also be employed in addition to the jacket to reduce the duration of post-boil chill. One of the major benefits of the BREWHA BIAC system is that water consumption is much lower than traditional systems since it does not require the chemical cleaning and rinsing cycles after every brew. While traditional breweries use 6-7 volumes of water per volume of beer produced, total water volume per batch with the BIAC is as low as about 2 times beer volume (1x for beer, about 0.5x for mash/grain/boil losses and about 0.5x for cleaning) and typical cooling water for getting rid of boil heat is 3-4x beer volume depending on chilling water temperature (of which the first 1-1.5x can be recovered for the next batch; the remainder can be recycled with the use of one or two of our cold liquor tanks).
As for water filtration, the simplest, from a brewing perspective, is to get a reverse osmosis (RO) system which strips out pretty much everything and one can then simply add the exact minerals/salts they want back in. Size for RO filters is determined by flow rate and that is determined by how long one wants to wait. The RO filter we use here is a restaurant sized one that filters about 1L/minute. We only brew 1-1.5BBL here at the shop so the day before, we fill our tank over 2-3 hours. One could also have a holding tank (BREWHA sells a 1500L/~400USG stainless storage tank) with a switch (shut off when full) that will turn the RO on as water is withdrawn, keeping it full. One can install a simple 120V float switch that shuts off the RO system whenever the tank is full. The drawback of a less expensive RO system is that it is low pressure so for every 1L of filtered water, about 1L goes down the drain. There are higher pressure systems that recover about 90% so less water is wasted with these systems. And of course there are larger systems that can produce RO water faster. An alternate solution, if your tap water is good quality (low metals, chlorine and carbonates), and relatively stable mineral count throughout the year, is to use just a basic filter such as carbon to remove chlorine. For this approach, it is best to talk to your municipal water supplier to get annual reports, as well as a local water filter install companies — tell them what you are doing (e.g. brewing) and they will be able to make a recommendation based on your local water supply.

Each municipality and space will have unique venting requirements based on occupancy so confer with local code (and consult local engineer if necessary). Venting directly outside is normally the cheapest and easiest way to control humidity if permitted; the lid of the fermenter can be lowered with the hoist to within about 1" of the fermenter during the boil, and the steam elbow/vent attached to the center port on the lid with a flexible hose/duct connected to the Steam Vent and a fan (a 350cfm inline 6" fan like used in hydroponics gets the job done) drawing air through the hose/duct and pushing it outside. If venting outside is not an option, using the BREWHA non-mixing steam condenser to knock the steam down inside will work well. Or a few customers have just used internal dehumidifiers to get the job done. As an example for dehumidifiers, 3 Dogs Brewery (White Rock, BC) is in a 1600sf commercial space (open concept) with 50 seat tasting room, and uses two 3t ac units (the general rule is 1t/250sf). They run three 75pint/day dehumidifier units plumbed to their condensate drain and vent vapor from the boil (using 15' of 5" hose and a 450cfm fan) into these units; they keep humidity at about 45% and within a few hours of boil, the units have returned humidity to those levels. Gas (CO2) and heat (other than vapor) are relatively small and generally managed by venting requirements for the occupancy load (peak occupancy will in most tasting room situations produce more CO2 and heat than fermentation). If there is no, or low occupancy and high production volumes, these numbers should be factored in. (3 Dogs also has a 3t cooling unit for their walk-in cooler where they store their kegs, with dehumidification plumbed to the condensate drain.) To calculate the volume of vapor that your system can produce use the following equation: W (of one of your 4-in-1 fermenters from the list above; e.g. 33000 for the 5BBL) x 3600 (seconds/hour) / 2300000 (J/kg of water boiled) = Kg/hour (of water boiled off). Divide this number by 0.59 (kg/m3) to get the volume (in m3) of water vapor being produced each hour. Divide that number by 0.0283 to get cfh and then divide that by 60 to get cfm). For the 5BBL this amounts to 51.5cfm of steam vapor. Yes, water really expands when it becomes a vapor! Size your fan and ducting to withdraw this (and allow for a large margin as air will also get carried along with the vapor).

Excise Canada measured our brew vessels and audits our grain purchases and productions. We report our production in hectoliters at the beginning of every month for the previous month. We record each keg fill for every product on a spreadsheet for backup. Revenue Canada can use these to compare our grain purchase vs production vs sales. We don’t have to have a flow meter. Revenue Canada allows you to round down to the nearest hectoliter for each production run. So if we say produce 9.5 x 50 liter kegs from a 5 barrel  that is 475 liters. Revenue Canada allows you to round down the production to 400 liters or 4 hectoliters. All the individual runs are rounded down to the hectoliter added together at the end of the month and reported to Revenue Canada. As long as we maintain records of each production run they seem to be happy. As long as your grain purchases, inventory on hand and sales all jive you shouldn’t have an issue.