Brew Boss Systems

MerlinWerks said:

I've been thinking of getting one of these myself. The BB ferrule is 1.5" so it will fit without any kettle modifications. After trimming the tube height as noted, it should be plug n' play.



I agree, I didn't think about the recirculating issue and I suppose Darin has explored this. But that pick-up tube is 1" and in a normal setup the flow path gets reduced to 1/2" by the ball valve a couple of inches away anyway. Perhaps there are some other "flow dynamics" I'm overlooking, but I would be surprised if this was really an issue...

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Here was the email from Darin:
"The Brew-Boss is en engineered system. Each part was designed the way it was for a reason. No pick-up tube is one of those purposeful omissions. Proper flow in the COFI filter requires "jets" of water through the grain bed. This means small holes are needed in the center infusion tube to achieve proper jet velocity. Adding a pickup tube will pick up debris from the bottom and plug the small infusion tube holes. The height of the valve on the kettles was chosen to minimize intake of debris. We recommend you whirlpool then simply tip the kettle to drain almost everything out. You already figured that out!"

I'm not sure how a pick up tube would pickup any extra debris that the current opening wouldn't. Might be one of those test it out and see what happens

Beavdowg said:

So, did you have to have that ti-clamp welded then or were you able to install the pickup tube on the existing hole placed for the valve?

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Here are some pics to answer some of your questions.

As a disclaimer, I haven't brewed since July or August, I'm waiting for some kegs to open up. My pot has been sitting in storage in the garage and has hard water spots and miscellaneous dirt in it. Looking at the pics I tool I am ashamed of how dirty it is. It will be cleaned out before I use it again, it still makes good beer.









To recap, I purchased
1" Tri Clover Compatible Style Pickup Tube

Silicone Flat Half Gasket for 1.5" Tri Clover Compatible Cap

1.5" Tri Clover Compatible Clamp

Using a Dremel tool, I started off by cutting an 1" off the bottom of the tube and tried to fit in the pot it fit but was flush against the bottom, then I cut another 1/4" off and it seemed to give me the space I wanted from the bottom. After that I filed it down some to remove any burs.

As I side note I highly recommend removing less than you think you should from it. It is always easier to shorten a pipe with more cuts than to add more onto the pipe.

Schumed said:

Here was the email from Darin:
"The Brew-Boss is en engineered system. Each part was designed the way it was for a reason. No pick-up tube is one of those purposeful omissions. Proper flow in the COFI filter requires "jets" of water through the grain bed. This means small holes are needed in the center infusion tube to achieve proper jet velocity. Adding a pickup tube will pick up debris from the bottom and plug the small infusion tube holes. The height of the valve on the kettles was chosen to minimize intake of debris. We recommend you whirlpool then simply tip the kettle to drain almost everything out. You already figured that out!"

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I had not run into this. Sometimes I have seen small amounts of sediment collect in the bottom of the copper infusion tube. (Doesn't that happen without a pickup tube?) When I disassembled the COFI for cleaning I would notice it and spray it out. The sediment never collected as high as the lowest holes in the infusion tube, and I have not noticed the holes in the tube clogging. In addition adding the pickup tube has not affected my efficiency that I have noticed.

Beavdowg said:

Also, did you also install a site glass other than the one he offers inline with the valve? If so, where did you install it and what site glass did you go with?

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I do not have a site glass, I have one of these: Dremel Engraver

I measured out water lines and used the Dremel to engrave. The engraving isn't the prettiest, however it works for figuring out water level.

You can go here to see how to make really pretty etching for cheap: How to add permanent volume markings to a kettle (illustrated)

In my personal opinion I see sight glasses as one more thing to clean and deal with on brew day, so I would prefer to have something easier and still gives me an accurate measurement.

Schumed said:

I have one works great with the immersion chiller...I like to whirlpool hops at the end...collecting the debris in the middle is a wash though because you have to tip the kettle to get the last two gallons ...I dont fear trub though

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Not if you pick up one of these:

https://www.brewershardware.com/1-Tri-Clover-Tri-Clamp-Style-Pickup-Tube.html

@mcgimpkins

Thanks for the photos, I was curious as to how far it extended into the kettle.

Looks like a great stocking stuffer to me

Schumed said:

Thanking of maybe adding the EXCHILERATOR

anyone use one?

I've been using a 50ft immersion with the whirl boss..which works fine...but goes through more water than I would like

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Look at the zchiller. He puts some on eBay and they work great.

Schumed said:

Thanking of maybe adding the EXCHILERATOR

anyone use one?

I've been using a 50ft immersion with the whirl boss..which works fine...but goes through more water than I would like

Click to expand...

Look at the zchiller. He puts some on eBay and they work great.

mcgimpkins you said: I do not have a site glass, I have one of these: Dremel Engraver

I measured out water lines and used the Dremel to engrave. The engraving isn't the prettiest, however it works for figuring out water level.

Would there be any time you would need the water level adjusted to compensate for the COFI filter being in the kettle? Or do you do all the water measurements with the COFI filter out?

stlblues5010 said:

Would there be any time you would need the water level adjusted to compensate for the COFI filter being in the kettle? Or do you do all the water measurements with the COFI filter out?

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No I just did a straight measurement, pouring one gallon into the pot and marking the line then pouring the next in. I then filled the pot up with 8 gallons of water and had the Brew Boss system do a 1 hour boil on it.

I set the Brew Boss to power the element at 70% during the boil boil (easy to set in the Brew Boss program) and I found after a hour that 1.3 gallons had boiled off. Please note that this is with my atmospheric conditions, you may get a different boil off depending upon your elevation and how humid or dry of an area you live in.

I then drained the pot (with the pickup tube in) and measured the amount of water left in the pot. I found that the pot has 0.25 of a gallon left in it. In addition I ran the water though the ExChillerator counterflow chiller I have and measured the water left in that. (I blew out the ExChillerator with air and collected the water.) I put all of these number into my equipment profile on Beer Smith.

Whenever I make recipe now, Beer Smith will tell me I need to put whatever amount of water in my pot, for the sake of an example lets just say it tells me to put 8.5 gallons in the pot. So I put 8.5 gallons in the pot, fill the COFI up with grains, let the system do its entire mash route, and then squeeze the grains in the COFI and let it drip dry while the pot heats to a boil. My efficiency is set for 70% in Beer Smith and I find that I consistently hit the pre and post boil gravity numbers predicted by Beer Smith. When I am done and draining the kettle, I find that as soon as the pickup tube starts to suck air, there is exactly 5.5 gallon of wort in my carboy.

So I basically only measured the water level once at the beginning of the brew cycle, and the system paired with Beer Smith gave me the exact amount of wort I needed without me having to remeasure water levels.

I hope this answers your question and is not too detailed of an answer.

Thanks for the answer, and no it was not too detailed.

mjc999 said:

Problem 4. The controller which until this point has been pretty flawless in maintaining temps was all over the place. I can't believe it has to do with the pump, but that is the only change. It would get to target temp using 10% power, shut down the heater and I get a good 4-5 degrees of overshoot. Then, it would drop 3 degrees below target. These temp changes were taking place in tens of seconds, not minutes, which seems impossible. I resorted to manually adjusting power trying to anticipate the temp changes.

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Mark, I am curious and following up on this older post, where you ever able to get this resolved? I have not run into this problem, but there is always a first time.

mcgimpkins said:

Mark, I am curious and following up on this older post, where you ever able to get this resolved? I have not run into this problem, but there is always a first time.

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I don't know if this is relevant, but I experienced this on one brew. it was a partigyle, I ran the first batch and let the COFI full of grain sit while i did the initial boil.

On the partigyle batch I saw the same temp fluctuations, all over the map. upon investigating i found that the grain had drained to the point that the basket was floating off the bottom and occasionally contacting the temp probe.

Making sure the grain was completely soaked on subsequent batched eliminated the problem.

mcgimpkins said:

Mark, I am curious and following up on this older post, where you ever able to get this resolved? I have not run into this problem, but there is always a first time.

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I have not had the problem again.
Things I did that may have solved it:
Changed to longer temp probe
Double checked to be sure I was using the correct parameters file (which I'm pretty sure I was prior)
There also may have been a BrewBoss software update since I first experienced the issue.
It's been awhile so I'm not exactly sure. I just know the system has been working just fine.
I have the pre COFI system

Has anyone tried the app on an Amazon Fire tablet? I know they are able to run many Android apps, but don't have one yet to test it out.

Brewphish said:

Has anyone tried the app on an Amazon Fire tablet? I know they are able to run many Android apps, but don't have one yet to test it out.

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I have not tried the app out, but it is available in the Amazon App Store.

I have no doubts that it would work on a kindle fire.

I'm planning on purchasing the 20 gallon version today. What is the general consensus on getting the COFI? I'm tempted to just go with the mesh bag instead.

I don't think you'll be disappointed either way. I went with the COFI and I'm happy with it.

*Edit

This was a problem with my Fire on that particular day. I later (weeks later) found the app was installed and works.
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Although the BrewBoss app is available in the Amazon app store, the app WILL NOT download to a Kindle Fire HD 8.9. I cannot confirm that it will or will not work on any other Kindle, only that is WILL NOT on the 8.9 HD. You can make the purchase on the device ($0.00) but it just won't download.

My personal opinion about the Fire is that it's a giant pain in the bum. Cool device, with absurdly limited app compatibility. I've run into many issues in the 4 months I've had the device.

brad88 said:

I'm planning on purchasing the 20 gallon version today. What is the general consensus on getting the COFI? I'm tempted to just go with the mesh bag instead.

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I'm pulling the trigger today too and have been wondering the same thing.

I ordered the 15 gallon. I wasn't sure so I went with the bag figured I could upgrade later.

I'm thinking I'm going to pull the trigger on the 15gal today too. Trying to decide now between the bag or COFI version.

I got the 15 gal bag today with the long term plan to upgrade to the cofi.

10% plus free shipping was just too good a deal to pass up. Just got the 15 gallon kettle for starters and will be building the system piecemeal over the next 6-12 months. I had been thinking about going with the 20 gallon version but want the option of doing smaller batches and really don't have any desire to brew more then 10 gallons. I like the idea of the COFI but wish the $$$ was a bit lower. Wondering if you could have same thing fabricated by a company like arbor freight for a bit less.

BAM!! I just ordered the 15 gal. system w/ COFI filter. I figured I can sell a kettle I have and my keggle to offset the price of the upgrade to the COFI system. I'm excited. Now I just need to get the electrician over to install my power supply. I've been wanting to go electric for a couple years now. Exciting!!

For anyone that currently has the COFI for the 15 Gallon Brew Boss....do you happen to know what the dimensions are? Not sure if I'm going to go the COFI route but do prefer the basket over grain bags/false bottom (especially for electric) so if I order one I'd like to try and have the dimensions similar to the COFI Filter.....including leg height. Thanks.

I'm order number 6016. I ordered at 12:10. Hopefully I'm in on the first rounds so I can be brewing at Christmas.

I ended up ordering the 20G w/COFI and the swirlboss, just couldn't convince myself that the hops-boss is necessary. I'm lazy, but not THAT lazy.

I currently only do 5 gallon batches, and most of those are under 1.070 so I'm hoping that won't be an issue with the 20 gallon system. Worst case I'll need to drink more beer...darn.

Brewphish said:

I ended up ordering the 20G w/COFI and the swirlboss, just couldn't convince myself that the hops-boss is necessary. I'm lazy, but not THAT lazy.

I currently only do 5 gallon batches, and most of those are under 1.070 so I'm hoping that won't be an issue with the 20 gallon system. Worst case I'll need to drink more beer...darn.

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I also ordered the 20g w/COFI, no hop-boss or swirl-boss. I agree I'm lazy but I can do hop additions. I'm hoping by being able to do 15 gal batches I might actually be able to brew less.

I ordered the 20 bag version with the 10" tablet, swirlboss, sight glass, and chiller.

I've got my 3rd batch fermenting now from my 15gal BB with COFI. I'm still dialing in my system and was hoping for sage advice from more experienced BB users. Each batch has had lower than expected OG (total eff on last was 58%) and too much wort at the end of the boil. I've been using Beersmith with the dedicated BB mash/boil profile.

Regarding the extra wort, I presume I should either reduce my boil off rate (current set a 1gal/hr) or maybe reduce my grain absorption rate (0.125 gal/lbs). Is there anything else that could be the culprit?

Regarding the low OG, I've fiddled with my grain mill gap, but that doesn't seem to make much of an difference (currently ~0.9mm/.035"). What are you guys milling at? 58% total eff (as calculated by Beersmith) seems pretty low. I can always bump up my grain bill, but there must be a way to improve my process somewhat. Any advice?

Borneogoat said:

I've got my 3rd batch fermenting now from my 15gal BB with COFI. I'm still dialing in my system and was hoping for sage advice from more experienced BB users. Each batch has had lower than expected OG (total eff on last was 58%) and too much wort at the end of the boil. I've been using Beersmith with the dedicated BB mash/boil profile.

Regarding the extra wort, I presume I should either reduce my boil off rate (current set a 1gal/hr) or maybe reduce my grain absorption rate (0.125 gal/lbs). Is there anything else that could be the culprit?

Regarding the low OG, I've fiddled with my grain mill gap, but that doesn't seem to make much of an difference (currently ~0.9mm/.035"). What are you guys milling at? 58% total eff (as calculated by Beersmith) seems pretty low. I can always bump up my grain bill, but there must be a way to improve my process somewhat. Any advice?

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As for the low efficiency, I also had that problem on my first few batches. I found that I'd been too cautious with the pump settings. BB advises to restrict the pump flow to avoid the possibility of running the heating element or pump dry and I was cranking it down too much. Last few batches I left it wide open and had no issues.

I also had the same issue with volumes. I'm not suggesting this is what's happening with you, but for me it was my misunderstanding the system setup in BS. I went back and made some tweaks and that along with the flow correction has got me dialed in.

I don't yet have a grain mill, so I can't offer too much help there.

Just tried the beersmith profile yesterday...I dont think its right..couple thinks accurately measure your water...my first few batches I was guessing and was finding I was using way too much. Really take the time to drain and squeeze the grains. Now you will get lower efficency for higher gravity beers...Im getting low 60s if gravity is over 1.080

My rule of thumb ...big beers I set at 60% ...normal beers I set at 70% and session beers set at 80% is a good rule of thumb...

You have to measure accurately for efficiency ...I find lots of brewers are guessing

Rhumbline said:

As for the low efficiency, I also had that problem on my first few batches. I found that I'd been too cautious with the pump settings. BB advises to restrict the pump flow to avoid the possibility of running the heating element or pump dry and I was cranking it down too much. Last few batches I left it wide open and had no issues.

I also had the same issue with volumes. I'm not suggesting this is what's happening with you, but for me it was my misunderstanding the system setup in BS. I went back and made some tweaks and that along with the flow correction has got me dialed in.

I don't yet have a grain mill, so I can't offer too much help there.

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Never contemplated the pump as a possible problem. That said, I've had the valve downstream the pump's outflow fully open each time. Other than that, the pump is either ON or OFF, right?

I suspect my grasp of Beersmith could be better and may be the source of too much wort. What boil off rate and grain absorption settings are you using?

I've also considered bumping up my heater settings further on the boil. Stronger boil = less wort and also higher gravity ... I think? I have the international version (3500W for a 15gal) and already have the heater set to 75% for the boil.

Borneogoat said:

Never contemplated the pump as a possible problem. That said, I've had the valve downstream the pump's outflow fully open each time. Other than that, the pump is either ON or OFF, right?

I suspect my grasp of Beersmith could be better and may be the source of too much wort. What boil off rate and grain absorption settings are you using?

I've also considered bumping up my heater settings further on the boil. Stronger boil = less wort and also higher gravity ... I think? I have the international version (3500W for a 15gal) and already have the heater set to 75% for the boil.

Click to expand...

I'll give you an example of a recent brew, an Imperial Stout...

18 lbs grain
5 gallon batch
9.25 gallons mash for 90 min
boil for 90 minutes.

Hit all my numbers and volumes.

I've recently done 7.25 gallons mash volume on a 5 galnSaison.
I hope this helps.

You are correct, with the valve wide open, there isn't anything else to restrict the flow. Your efficiency issues are almost certainly linked to your volumes being off.

quaboagbrewing said:

For anyone that currently has the COFI for the 15 Gallon Brew Boss....do you happen to know what the dimensions are? Not sure if I'm going to go the COFI route but do prefer the basket over grain bags/false bottom (especially for electric) so if I order one I'd like to try and have the dimensions similar to the COFI Filter.....including leg height. Thanks.

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quaboagbrewing, Darin has the dimentions up on his website. They are: 13 inches in diameter x 13.5 inches high, and the legs are 2-1/2 inches tall.

He also states: "The 90 degree barbed elbow at the top adds another 1-1/2 inches, for a total overall height of this filter with the barbed fitting installed of 17.5 inches. Make certain your kettle is tall enough to contain this filter with the cover on."

I understand the 240v system would require some electrical work to use. Can I purchase the 120v and just plug it in and go or does that require an electrician also?

nmelione said:

I understand the 240v system would require some electrical work to use. Can I purchase the 120v and just plug it in and go or does that require an electrician also?

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YOu dont need an electrician, but the 120v system has dual heating elements. Each one need to be plugged into a separate circuit and use of a GFCI is highly recommended. I jsut used an extension cord to plug into a circuit in an adjacent room for mine

and as for the 240 volt system, I plug into my dryer outlet. I guess it wouldn't work if you've got a gas dryer.

Does anyone use the COFI filter as a hops filter too?