40L electric brew system with 2500W heater, integrated pump, and mash basket.

Basically a glorified BIAB system.

~1.5 L left behind when pumping to fermenter

Takes *10 L* before it reaches the bottom of the grain basket. This means ~15L minimum to mash. It also means mash thickness calculations are weird, as a 20L mash for 8kg would normally be 2.5 L/kg (1.2 qt/lb), but only 10L is touching the grain, so the “active” mash is 1.25 L/kg (0.6 qt/lb). Experiment with pumping faster to get more of the liquid on top of the grain.

If the false bottom gets covered in goop, the pump can't prime. All hops and additives must be in a bag.

Holds a low rolling boil at 1600W, with boil-off of about 1.5L per hour.

Safe to start bringing it to a boil while still sparging. It won't reach boiling yet in the sparge time. Sparging takes ~1-1.5 minutes per liter with an 8kg grain bill.

Using an additional 2000W heat stick:
- Cold tap (16L) → 74C: 25 minutes
- Mash (65C) → boiling: 30 minutes

Seems to overshoot temperature when mashing. Lowering power to 200W helps. It's hard to tell where it is measuring the temp, and what the temp is in the middle of the mash. It might be correct to overshoot.

Pre-boil volume: 31 L
Batch size: 28 L
Evaporation rate (hourly): 1,5 L
Kettle top-up: 0,0 L
Final top-up: 0,0L
Grain absorption: 1,085
Volume: 40,0 L
Mass: 4,0 kg
Specific heat: 0,120
Kettle to fermenter: 1,5 L

Mashed with 21.5L for an 8.5kg and a 7.75kg grain bill. Mash was very thick. Recirculated very slowly, keeping the liquid gauge at about 18L. There is space for plenty more grain (top mash basket lid can slide up). There is theoretically space for plenty more water, but it's unclear if it would all sit over the grain. I would try the same grain bill with 24L, recirculating while mashing in to get plenty of water above the grain before setting the top lid on. Maybe recirculate the whole thing faster, so there's more liquid above than below.