Blichmann Engineering Electric BoilCoil and RIMS Rocket Sneek Peak @ NHC 2013 | Beer

While at the 2013 National Homebrewers Conference expo we were able to check out some of the newest harsware from Blichamnn Engineering. Pete Fletcher, design engineer for Blichmann, gave us a sneak peek of 2 of their latest products. The BoilCoil and RIMS Rocket are 2 items that will allow brewers to make the jump into electric brewing without having to worry about complicated setups. Check out the video for more info! The actual interview starts about a min thirty in.

Nice looking products but I am not paying Blichmann prices for a PID Controller in a shiny box. The proprietary connection for the coils rules out utilizing it with another controller unless you are comfortable voiding your warranty by hacking off the end of the cord. If their controller was reasonable or their coils were easily grafted into an existing PID/BrewTroller/BCS controlld system I would be very interested in the RIMS coil. I have a Hop Rocket already and it is one nice piece of gear.

Also the plug on the RIMS coil is in a bit of a tough spot. I understand why it was done that way but I can currently sit my Hop Rocket flat on the counter while in use. With that plug configuration I would have to either side mount it with a clamp or cut an opening in my brew table/sculpture to allow the plug to pass through and the unit sit flat.

All valid points but for people who do not have the technical know how to build a controller..i.e. myself, then this is a perfect solution. Just my 2 cents though

MidTNJasonF said:

The proprietary connection for the coils rules out utilizing it with another controller unless you are comfortable voiding your warranty by hacking off the end of the cord.

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Are you even sure the black power cord is sold with the BoilCoil or the RIMS coil? It may be that the black cord is hard wired into their new "Tower of Power" like their old versions of the "Tower of Power". That would make sense given that in the video they mention that you would unplug the power cord at the RIMSCoil and plug it into the BoilCoil when you're ready to boil. In other words, there's one power cord.

This means that you could not purchase their RIMS Coil or their BoilCoil without also purchasing their new Tower of Power because of the hardwiring on the control panel side and more importantly the proprietary connection on the kettle / RIMS side.

I would bet good money this was done on purpose. Not only does adding a good standardized locking NEMA plug and receptacle at the back of the "Tower of Power" control box cost a lot of money that you don't have to spend at all if you hardwire, but hardwiring to the control box and using a proprietary connection at the kettle side completely stops people from buying their BoilCoil and RIMSCoil and using them with other control panels. Nobody's going to spend ~$600 on a Tower of Power just to get their hands on the proprietary heating element power cord.

Tying the control box and heating elements together with proprietary connections means that you can't switch out one without switching out the other as well. It's a system. You can't use their BoilCoil with a different control panel, and you can't use their "Tower of Power" with a different heating element.

It may be a smart marketing move (and possibly done for liability reasons), but it's bound to annoy many as anything proprietary marries you to a single manufacturer. I guess we'll see as more information rolls in as to how it all works.

EDIT: Watched the video again and they do mention that the two items will be available separately. Anyone have any pictures from the event that show the back of the "Tower of Power"?

Kal

Does anyone else make a boil coil like that which would fit a keggle? I wonder why we haven't seen one yet...

kal said:

Are you even sure the black power cord is sold with the BoilCoil or the RIMS coil? It may be that the black cord is hard wired into their new "Tower of Power" like their old versions of the "Tower of Power".

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In the video he does make a comment that along the lines of "you get the coil and the cord with the plug".

Of course he also claims in several spots that marketing, pricing, and other such minor details are not fully confirmed yet. That means we really know nothing other than they have two very clean and well thought out coil designs with a nice but completely overpriced control unit on the way later this year.

MidTNJasonF said:

In the video he does make a comment that along the lines of "you get the coil and the cord with the plug".

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You're right - he did! He does mention that the tower and heating elements can be purchased separately. Good point. I didn't listen well enough.

Kal

kal said:

You're right - he did! He does mention that the tower and heating elements can be purchased separately. Good point. I didn't listen well enough.

Kal

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I will email Pete and confirm either way.

I do not want to come off as a nay-sayer, I love almost all of their stuff. Every single piece of Blichmann gear I have purchased has been 100% top notch save one small item. I have my Blichmann burner was my favorite piece of equipment until I went electric and I still use it on my travel/portable rig. I love, love, love my Hop Rocket. I have a bunch of valves and fittings from them and if I ever upgrade from keggles to kettles it will probably be with their Boilermakers.

I am just not a fan of their tower of power line of control boxes. Limited features/functions made up of rather simple components/designs but vastly overpriced. These coils look top notch just like most of their other gear. If I can use that RIMS coil with a home built controller I will probably be all over it. I have a HERMS coil currently but would like the flexibility of having both RIMS and HERMS for different batches/processes/recipes.

MidTNJasonF said:

I do not want to come off as a nay-sayer, I love almost all of their stuff. Every single piece of Blichmann gear I have purchased has been 100% top notch save one small item. I have my Blichmann burner was my favorite piece of equipment until I went electric and I still use it on my travel/portable rig. I love, love, love my Hop Rocket. I have a bunch of valves and fittings from them and if I ever upgrade from keggles to kettles it will probably be with their Boilermakers.

I am just not a fan of their tower of power line of control boxes. Limited features/functions made up of rather simple components/designs but vastly overpriced. These coils look top notch just like most of their other gear. If I can use that RIMS coil with a home built controller I will probably be all over it. I have a HERMS coil currently but would like the flexibility of having both RIMS and HERMS for different batches/processes/recipes.

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Again I agree 100%, but I have zero technical skills to build a controller so I am willing to pay a premium for something like this. But I could see why anyone who has the ability would skip this

If I can buy one of their kettles with the coil installed and the cord, this will be my entry to electric brewing. I plan to start with a simple potentiometer controlled SSR for boil power control and basically brew the same way I use a single propane burner now. Eventually I'll upgrade to a whole PID controlled HERMS setup, but this will get me indoors a lot sooner.

I just got an email from Pete,the designer of this system, regarding the plug situation on the Tower of Power.

I will post the email when I get home but I will paraphrase it for you here. He said the connection to the RIMS Rocket/BoilCoil will be proprietary but the connection on the other end will most likely be a NEMA connection. He said the details are still not 100% finalised and they are looking for feedback from the viewers of this video to help them figure out what will work best for people. He said though as of now they are leaning towards a standard NEMA connection to allow it to be interchangable.

Very cool, thanks for posting this

My vote would be for either a standard NEMA or bare cable to attach our own connector.

jar said:

My vote would be for either a standard NEMA or bare cable to attach our own connector.

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Its looking like they are going to be using a standard NEMA connector in the final product

I'm in the final phase of a BCS driven electric system. In retrospect, I would would look hard at any electric offering from Blingmann just due to my experience with their pots and therminator.

Well thats really cool! I like the boil coil, looks a lot easier to clean than my ripple element. I might have to upgrade when this comes out.
I remember talking to John at San Diego NHC about an electric option with the tower of power, and him saying they had something in the works but had to sort out liability issues before they could move forward with it. Glad to see it might be out on the market soon.

This interests me, I batch sparge in a cooler outside with a propane setup. I could definitely see myself going the electric route when I possibly build a home in the next 1-2 years. How would one prepare for an electric setup as far as infrastructure? I'm thinking of building a 2.5 car garage, with one side deep. I could house my brewery in the garage with a large vent? Just curious on where to start, and obviously have 240v ran to that area. Any other requirements?

TIA - justin

You'll want a slop sink, plumbing and a vent hood of some sort. I opted for the basement due to existing infrastructure and better climate control. It's also convenient that my fermentation chamber is there already.

I could see myself getting one of these.

1. Unless I misunderstood something, the wattage seems a bit low for the kettle size - or, maybe, most of the e-brewers oversize their elements.

2. As others have stated, I would want the element and controller to be stand-alone product such that I could purchase the element and control it with another controller.

3. Kal, I really wish you would produce a shorter element - 3000W or so - using a single-gang box for those of us wishing for smaller setups with smaller kettles. My 7.5 gal kettle is only 12.75" in diameter.

4. I wonder how this would work with BIAB.

Respectfully,
Keith

idigg said:

How would one prepare for an electric setup as far as infrastructure? I'm thinking of building a 2.5 car garage, with one side deep. I could house my brewery in the garage with a large vent? Just curious on where to start, and obviously have 240v ran to that area. Any other requirements?

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Justin - I'd start a new thread about it and ask there as this one's more about Blichmann's offerings mentioned in the first post. Since your questions are not really specific to these products, you'll get better responses if you start your own thread.

Now that said, I do give suggestions on venting and electrical requirements on my TheElectricBrewery.com website that may be of help.

kzimmer0817 said:

3. Kal, I really wish you would produce a shorter element - 3000W or so - using a single-gang box for those of us wishing for smaller setups with smaller kettles. My 7.5 gal kettle is only 12.75" in diameter.

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No reason why you can't follow my free instructions and use a shorter (smaller) element if you find one. Most brewers use 10 gallons at a minimum so we haven't gotten any requests so far for smaller/lower wattage elements like you mention. The elements I use are also universal/standard which is something that was important to me: When I punched a hole in my $400 Blichmann kettles I wanted the hole size to be able to take a standard element that I know will always be available for purchase a year from now or 20 years from now. I didn't want to rely on some custom element by one manufacturer who may or may not be around in 5, 10, or 20 years. I'm a big fan of standards/open sourcing/etc. Your needs may be different... This is also sort of off-topic Keith so I don't want to derail - if you have follow up questions please send me a PM or email directly ([email protected]). Cheers!

Kal

I'm resurrecting an old thread, but I have to say, this looks awesome. Yes, one could DIY for cheaper, but I don't have the time, know how, or skills to build my own electric system. Kal's instructions are top notch, but I worry that I might overlook something and electrocute myself in the process. I'm willing to pay quite a bit extra for a pro to do it for me.

Any update on when the electric RIMS Rocket will be available?

markbrew said:

Any update on when the electric RIMS Rocket will be available?

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This is from an email I sent to the designer of this system:

"We're still aiming for the end of the year. Several of the system's components are in production now. However, we're still working on some minor design details and finalizing the programming for the power control board. I would say early February is a worst case scenario."

End of year? Dear Lord, please let this be available to order (pre-order is fine) by late November/early December. I have officially asked SWMBO for a brewing upgrade, and the BoilCoil (and all that) are the top of my list.

Any sense about how the element and the pot are grounded? I see two electrical connections emerging from the side of the pot, but no obvious means for grounding. Does their proprietary connector provide ground by contacting the element nuts?

fifthcircle said:

End of year? Dear Lord, please let this be available to order (pre-order is fine) by late November/early December. I have officially asked SWMBO for a brewing upgrade, and the BoilCoil (and all that) are the top of my list.

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I'm in the same boat. I was just about to pull the trigger on a Top Tier stand and burners when I read about this. I hate waiting!

I'm also wondering about setting up my brew stand with my burner and the Blichmann electrics. Do you think the RIMS Rocket will be strong enough to step the mash up without additional burner assistance?

If so, I can use my gas burner for the HLT. At least until I decide to go full electric, or not.

Anyone have an update here? Getting to end of year and havent seen it released yet. Starting to plan new brewery and this seems perfect.

I had emailed Blichmann about the electric element for the Boilermaker earlier in the year and they said they were targeting end of 2013.

Emailed for an update last week and received this: "We are working hard to finish the last details with the electric systems and begin the manufacturing process. We should be ready to begin shipping them at the beginning of the new year. We will post information on our website and notify our retailers as soon as information becomes available."

I went all gas. I'll switch to electric later on, if I feel the need.

Blichmann lost out on selling me electrics this time.

I really like the hop/rims rocket design, that is nice. If you're using the rims to maintain mash temperature and then want to use it for hops you will need to disassemble the rocket and change out the bottom/add the hop filtering plates right? Just trying to envision the workflow

241 said:

I really like the hop/rims rocket design, that is nice. If you're using the rims to maintain mash temperature and then want to use it for hops you will need to disassemble the rocket and change out the bottom/add the hop filtering plates right? Just trying to envision the workflow

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Yes, but it would only take a minute to pop off the RIMS coil and pop in the hop stuffed filter...

craigmw said:

Any sense about how the element and the pot are grounded? I see two electrical connections emerging from the side of the pot, but no obvious means for grounding. Does their proprietary connector provide ground by contacting the element nuts?

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The ground is the center pin on the custom plug. The center pin is attached to the housing (stainless) and the housing is held in place with the two 5/8" nuts securing the heating elements from the inside of the kettle. Its not a true copper ground but its like a copper connection bolted to stainless, just like most custom jobs anyhow. A better ground would be a copper pin bolted to a copper kettle.

blichmann over the top prices markented on equipment that is nice but not worth as much as blitchmann feels it's worth. but again there are folks who buy name first.....i agree with many who feel their controllers are too pricey.........
2 cents & change......
GD

Has anyone actually used the RIMS Rocket or the electric controller?

241 said:

Has anyone actually used the RIMS Rocket or the electric controller?

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I will let you know within a month. I'm ordering the TOP and RIMS Rocket in a few days. Update to come.

Damn it..i had a feeling the Rims rocket would only work with the TOP..well quess i aint buying the RR coil..Thanks john

Im pretty sure this is the way I am going to go in the spring. After a few years of brewing non stop its time to set up a permanent brew area in the garage. Im getting tired of having to take everything out and set it up every time I brew.

This just seems like the simple approach for someone like me not wanting to cobble something together. I realize there's a price to pay for those who are lazy like me and would rather just buy everything ready to go and put it together. I will be getting 2 boil coils, rims rocket and tower of power in the spring.

Grady