Blichmann BrewEasy

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eroymada

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I saw this, the 'BrewEasy', at the Blichmann booth at 2013 NHC this week. It's a compact RIMS system. As I recall, the top kettle is the mash tun which recirculates the wort through the bottom using the Tower of Power to control temperature. When done mashing, you drain to the bottom kettle to boil.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13154309@N04/9181257604/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13154309@N04/9181257168/

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Bling! I bet that costs close to the entire $$ I have spent in my 2 year brewing career!

John Blichmann said they're offering a conversion kit if you have the kettles already, but I think it comes out to around $1500 if you want it automated with the Tower of Power.
 
Compare it to a sabco or more beer and it's competitive in price I think.

What was really interesting is to see where Blichmann is going with their products. They essentially have a modified BIAB or Brutus 20 ready to go. They also have a very nice fully electric brew kettle and a very nice 240 element that slots right into their existing hop back.

All the other brewstands are based on years and years of conventional wisdom, and Blichmann was the only company out there that seems to be paying attention to what DIY homebrewers are actually doing. As with everything Blichmann, it seems like they're taking good DIY ideas and over-engineering them until they're bulletproof and bling'd out, but I personally think you get what you pay for with them.

Their electric stuff looks better then any DIY solution I've ever seen, I'd much rather buy that electric kettle off the shelf then build one my own even if I could save a couple of hundred bucks.

To me, it's obvious that homebrewing will eventually move towards electric solutions and BIAB simplicity instead of continuing to emulate commercial brewing, so it was exciting to see a company try and get in front of that wave. It's expensive, sure, but it's pretty darn cool too.
 
Their electric stuff looks better then any DIY solution I've ever seen, I'd much rather buy that electric kettle off the shelf then build one my own even if I could save a couple of hundred bucks.

Yeah, I'm highly interested in the electric kettle. The one thing that I forgot to ask was what control options there are and the total cost. I saw there was a different version of the 'tower of power' for breweasy, but I didn't get the details.
 
Yeah, I'm highly interested in the electric kettle. The one thing that I forgot to ask was what control options there are and the total cost. I saw there was a different version of the 'tower of power' for breweasy, but I didn't get the details.

From what I understand the standard tower of power is PID control for a gas valve. The new tower of power is electric only at 240 volt.

I would assume you could get the breweasy in either an electric or traditional floor burner setup. The floor display was on the floor burner.
 
That is every exciting. Too expensive for me at this point... but creating more of these systems can only advance our understanding and capabilities related to 'add all your water at once' brewing techniques. I shall continue to drool. Well done, sir.

Where is the pump located in the system pictured?
 
I didn't get any pictures of the RIMS or the electric kettle. The RIMS is essentially the bottom of a blichmann hop rocket with a very large custom low density 240 volt element coiled to fill the volume of the hop rocket body.

The electric kettle has a huge low density 240 volt element that circles the entire circumference of the inside of the kettle maybe once or twice at the bottom of the kettle. I think it's designed to sit below a false bottom if needed, but I could be wrong about that. The electric connectors on the outside are huge, chunky and durable looking three prong connectors similar to grounded stage pin connector if anyone's ever seen one of those working in theatrical lighting.

Everything is 240 volt, they didn't seem to have any plans or interest for 120 solutions of any kind and said their internal testing showed it just wasn't up to snuff, so unless your house is wired for 240 you can't use it. Which is ironic since they are indicating that the BrewEasy could easily fit in an apartment closet, don't know how many apartments sport 240 these days.

I don't think the brewEasy comes with a pump, I think their intent is for the system to work with the tower of power which contains the pump.
 
My last two houses had 240V dryer outlets. I guess you could brew in the laundry room> SWMBO might night like that however.
 
Everything is 240 volt, they didn't seem to have any plans or interest for 120 solutions of any kind and said their internal testing showed it just wasn't up to snuff, so unless your house is wired for 240 you can't use it. Which is ironic since they are indicating that the BrewEasy could easily fit in an apartment closet, don't know how many apartments sport 240 these days.

I thought I heard John say they had a 120V element for the 5 gallon batch system only, but the recommend 240 as the the boil with the 120 is more of an 'aggressive simmer'.

Apartments with laundry in unit will usually have a 240V dryer socket, otherwise you're probably out of luck.
 
Yeah, I was thinking that they might have been able to get away with 120 for the RIMS unit, but I'd trust whatever research they did to arrive at their conclusions.

I did live in two different apartments that had a total service of 15 amps for the whole apartment. Electric brewing in NYC is probably near impossible in some buildings.
 
If you have access to the breaker panel, wiring a new 240V circuit is very easy.

I wouldn't do that in a rented apartment though. At least here in Massachusetts, electrical work can only legally be done by the homeowner or a licensed electrician. Should an electrical fire happen in the apartment, you'd be totally screwed.
 
Barnesie said:
I didn't get any pictures of the RIMS or the electric kettle. The RIMS is essentially the bottom of a blichmann hop rocket with a very large custom low density 240 volt element coiled to fill the volume of the hop rocket body.

The electric kettle has a huge low density 240 volt element that circles the entire circumference of the inside of the kettle maybe once or twice at the bottom of the kettle. I think it's designed to sit below a false bottom if needed, but I could be wrong about that. The electric connectors on the outside are huge, chunky and durable looking three prong connectors similar to grounded stage pin connector if anyone's ever seen one of those working in theatrical lighting.

Everything is 240 volt, they didn't seem to have any plans or interest for 120 solutions of any kind and said their internal testing showed it just wasn't up to snuff, so unless your house is wired for 240 you can't use it. Which is ironic since they are indicating that the BrewEasy could easily fit in an apartment closet, don't know how many apartments sport 240 these days.

I don't think the brewEasy comes with a pump, I think their intent is for the system to work with the tower of power which contains the pump.

I think the whole kettle unit was around 3" high, so it won't fit below the false bottom made by Blichmann which only has a 1/2" clearance. The pump is part of the Tower of Power. You could unplug your apartment's water heater to us it. ;-)

I agree though, very cool stuff!
 
Everything is 240 volt, they didn't seem to have any plans or interest for 120 solutions of any kind and said their internal testing showed it just wasn't up to snuff, so unless your house is wired for 240 you can't use it. Which is ironic since they are indicating that the BrewEasy could easily fit in an apartment closet, don't know how many apartments sport 240 these days.

I think many apartments have electric stoves, and condos often have electric dryers.

It may not work for renters who have to do some electrical work, but for those who own it would be perfect in many ways.
 
Any updates on this?

On what one? I just saw this thread, and hadn't seen the BrewEasy thing... kinda cool.
I have looked into the Electric Boilermaker, and the RIMS Rocket system. I emailed Blichmann about them, and the reply was available by end of 2013. I also asked about pricing and if the RIMS Rocket would heat the mash sufficiently, or if I would need to supplement heating with propane.
Pricing is not set yet, as well they have not decided if they will sell it as a system, or components. In other words, you might need to buy the kettle(s)/Hop Rocket, and fit the electric heating elements to them.
As for the heating times, here is the reply:
"The rocket will work very well for your needs. You will be able to heat a 4 gallons mash up 5.5 degrees per minute for a 5 gallon batch. 8 gallons 2.75 degrees per minute for a 10 gallon batch, and 16 gallons 1.5 degrees per minute for a 20 gallon batch. These are estimates that take inefficiencies into account. The controller will allow you to dial in the proper amount of power to find a perfect step rate for your mash. Have a great day."

I keep looking at different systems, and thinking it would be nice to order now, but then I look back at the Blichmann Electric stuff, and I love the look and function of it. I think I'll wait...and maybe get my electrician buddy to wire up 240v in my garage, and my welding buddy to get a stand all set up for me. I know it's gonna be expensive, but I'm really sick of missing mash temps, lifting heavy pots with hot water and dealing with propane. I'll use my Blichmann Burner for my HLT only. Adding a thermometer to my current 10gal kettle should work.... might get a bigger, cheap kettle for it.

-Kurt
 
Anyone have any new information on this unit? Would definitely be interested in the electric one.
 
I'm looking forward to the new Blichmann products becoming available soon, so I sent an inquiry via their website and received this response today:
We are finalizing the details for both the BrewEasy and the Electric Brewing system. We hope to have these available at the end of the year or the beginning of next. Unfortunately we do not have much perfect information regarding the dates or some details as we are still finishing the design and manufacturing specifications. Thank you for the email and have a great day.

Cheers,

Nick
Blichmann Engineering, LLC
 
I'm glad I saw this thread today. I've been mulling converting my brewery to electric but perhaps I'll wait to see what Blichmann comes out with instead of building it all myself from scratch.
 
So all that for $1500 and it gives you an electric brew system with mash tun & kettle together? Is that right?
 
I'm looking forward to the new Blichmann products becoming available soon, so I sent an inquiry via their website and received this response today:

Thanks for the update. I too am looking forward to the details on this. Anyone know how automated it will be with the tower of power?
 
From John Blichmann:

About the BrewEasy - it will be offered in 5/10/20 gal batch size. Bigger than that and you really need a horizontal system which we will offer a kit for too eventually.

The basic operation is to calculate the TOTAL water needed for your complete batch. Put about half in the upper pot which is the mash tun. Put the remainder in the lower pot which is the boil kettle. Since we have level gauges on the pots that is very simple. Then set the AutoSparge to maintain that level in the tun. There is no need for level control in the brew pot.

Heat to strike temp by continuously recirculating with a pump and adding heat to the bottom pot which is the boil kettle and also acts as a grant. You never add heat directly to the mash, and since you're never mashing or heating a concentrated wort there is absolutely no risk of scorching. You can also take pre-boil gravity readings on the fly since you won't be sparging or adding any additional water.

When you're at strike temp simply close the valves and add the malt to the tun. After a 10 min dough-in open the valves and start the recirculation. We include 6 sizes of orifices to restrict the flow out of the tun so you reduce the risk of sticking the mash and don't have to mess with a flow meter or fiddling with the valve - just open it all the way up. This also adds consistency to the system. Then ramp and hold as desired.

When you're at mash out all you need to do is turn off the recirculation pump, close the brew kettle valve and let the mash tun drain. You can immediately turn the heat up full to get to a boil. While this is a bit of a speed sparge you're leaving much more dilute wort in the grain bed which is why this system has better efficiency than a BIAB. I usually slow down the flow when there is about 1/4 left in the tun to get everything possible. No need to measure pH since it is the same SG all the way through the "sparge". When you're done scoop out the dry grains and remove the tun from the brew kettle and boil as usual. There is no lifting of a hot heavy bag.

Since you've been recirculating the wort is already clarified. That, and the "speed sparge", knocks an hour off of the brew day. Not to mention that you're heating at full power much earlier. So same speed improvements as a BIAB but not the cloudy wort situation.

There are two things to watch for though. One is that the high water/grist ratio does create a more fermentable wort. So up your mash temp 2-3 degrees and that will compensate. Or add some carapils. The other is mash pH. If you have alkaline water you have a larger buffer - about 2X actually. So for low specialty malt and those not using highly roasted grains you will likely need to acidify your water. My local water is highly alkaline so I have to do that anyway, and usually use RO water for a portion of my liquor anyway. Palmer's new book covers this in detail. These are easily accounted for so I wouldn't call it a drawback - just something to compensate for. A few batches and you should have it dialed in.


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/new-products-blichmann-engineering-450101/index4.html
 
I heard John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff talk about this on the 1-6-14 episode of Brew Strong. They talked briefly about how cool the system was. I hope that means it will be released soon. I'm really interested in it.
 
After mash-out, a 20 MT full of wet grain is going to be HEAVY to remove from the top of the BK!
 
So, whatcha' trying to do, electric brewery?
Have a dryer outlet nearby?
I know Electricians, but they are on the Southside, and that's where most of their work is.

I bet there are some Electricians in Dunwoody...........;)
 
Yep, I'm sure there are 1 or 2 electricians floating around these parts.
I brew in the garage and electric or not, that's not likely to change so will likely look to have a new outlet installed. Unfortunately, the dryer is 3 floors up so it's not much help. Ha!


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