Brew-Boss Opinions

[Mike Howard]

I was a little worried to add the full volume right at the start because I didn't want an overflow, so I added about 13 gallons, lowered the grains and then topped up until the COFI was covered. I added the final amount after I raised the grains and began to bring it to a boil.

 

[cnash]

When you add the water after you are diluting your extraction. If you are going to do this you should add 170 degree water and sparge it over the COFI grain imo.

 

[Mike Howard]

Yea, I realized after the fact that I should have sparged....

 

[TennBrewer]

If you are making a 5 gallon batch in the 15 or 20 gallon COFI basket and recirculating the wort, how much of the recirculated wort is released above the grain bed? How much force is used, determined by how far from center it travels? I have not had a good experience when wort is sprayed over the grain bed, even at very low pressure. Beer after primary fermentation has a bad disgusting odor and taste, hard to describe but it's very phenolic and kind of metallic. When I do 5 gallon batches in my 20 gallon setup, I recirculate the wort using a Loc-Line and make sure it is well below the surface with no wort swelling on the top.

 

[Mike Howard]

Well, I won't be brewing any 5 gallon batches, but has anyone tried sparging through the COFI with the grains suspended above the kettle? I rigged up a "T" to allow me to raise the grains with the sprayer still attached to the wort loop so I can sparge after the mash. I am going to try it on the next batch to see if I can capture some of that sugar.

When I emptied my 34 lbs of grains I noticed it was very sticky and sweet and that, I am sure, contributed to me missing the OG. I think if I run the pump while suspended above the wort, I'll get better results.

 

[TennBrewer]

Well, I won't be brewing any 5 gallon batches, but has anyone tried sparging through the COFI with the grains suspended above the kettle? I rigged up a "T" to allow me to raise the grains with the sprayer still attached to the wort loop so I can sparge after the mash. I am going to try it on the next batch to see if I can capture some of that sugar.

When I emptied my 34 lbs of grains I noticed it was very sticky and sweet and that, I am sure, contributed to me missing the OG. I think if I run the pump while suspended above the wort, I'll get better results.

I'd be very interested to know how it works out and what the setup looks like. I guess you would have a second kettle with a separate heater/burner available to heat the sparge water, then, how much sparge water would you have available. Assuming you have a 20-gallon kettle, your last batch used 34 pounds of grain, even at 1.5 qt water / lb of grain would require 12.75 gallons of water. I don't think this would be enough to cover the grain bed. Grain absorption will rob at least 3 gallons leaving 9.75 gallons. An 11 gallon batch may require 13 gallons pre-boil volume leaving 3.25 gallons for sparge. I think this will be taken up by the extra water you need in the mash to cover the grain bed. I don't see how this could work out unless my figures and calculations are off.

 

[andrewmaixner]

The difference in gravity made by water temperature in a pour sparge is minimal... I think brulosophy did it once and got .001, not worth the trouble. I use room temp water.

 

[Mike Howard]

Yea, I guess sparging might be a bit of a misnomer....I was thinking more of lautering I guess. Just recirc my wort through the raised grains right after Mashing and before Mashout. No extra setup needed, except the T configuration that allows me to raise the grains and keep the pump on at the same time. Still need to run some test batches, obviously, as I have a couple different methods I want to try. One being compress the grains, the other being to not compress the grains as they are raised.

 

[cnash]

Brewed a Sweet Stout yesterday (5 Gallons in the 15 Gallon Kettle) and I got great efficiency. The best so far on this system.
My Mash Efficiency ended up at 78%, so I slightly overshot my OG by 2 points, but it won't really affect the final beer I don't think. I'm just glad I am getting dialed in with volumes and stuff, next is actually dialing in my efficiency.

 

[Mike Howard]

Finally got around to building my fermenter setup for my BB20. I only have one of the three fermenters connected and under control right now, but my plumbing is all ready for when I get the new parts for the other two. Also added a plate chiller connection for transfers from the kettle to the fermenter.

 

[cnash]

Nice! You built that all yourself (coils and all)?
PEX looks good there.

 

[Mike Howard]

Yep, here are some build pics. It is set up to heat and cool, although I do not have the heater element connected yet.

 

[cnash]

Awesome man. That’s good work.

Hopefully one day I’ll do something similar. Right now just leaning on my anvil bucket.

 

[brewswithshoes]

OK. Thought about making a new thread, but will try posting in here first. I am about at my wit's end with the "Swirl Boss" attachment. I don't think i've ever had a full brew session without having to do some kind of clearing it. Seems to be causing me more trouble with latest batches though.

Curious if others have trouble, or if they use something else? Also, anyone know why it's cut with the "E" type shape? Wondering if i can just bend out those flaps to make the "out" holes bigger.

Overall, still very much love my BB, but i'm about to ditch this piece for something else (unless i'm doing it wrong)

Any help or advice appreciated.

 

[Mike Howard]

Not sure why its bent in the shape it is but I've never had an issue with it clogging...

 

[cnash]

OK. Thought about making a new thread, but will try posting in here first. I am about at my wit's end with the "Swirl Boss" attachment. I don't think i've ever had a full brew session without having to do some kind of clearing it. Seems to be causing me more trouble with latest batches though.

Curious if others have trouble, or if they use something else? Also, anyone know why it's cut with the "E" type shape? Wondering if i can just bend out those flaps to make the "out" holes bigger.

Overall, still very much love my BB, but i'm about to ditch this piece for something else (unless i'm doing it wrong)

Any help or advice appreciated.

I use a hop spider to not worry about clogs.
The “E” shape is to make the whirlpool more effective. I don’t know if it actually helps. But regardless of the shape with enough hops you will clog it. Use a hop spider. ‍

 

[Conodor]

anyone else having a problem with the pump getting primed? In most cases i have to loosen up the tri clamp. Rotate the pump so it's at like a 45 degree angle.

 

[Mike Howard]

Ive seen that when using the pick up tube.

 

[h22lude]

anyone else having a problem with the pump getting primed? In most cases i have to loosen up the tri clamp. Rotate the pump so it's at like a 45 degree angle.

This is a common issue with all pumps not just Brew Boss. You need to allow air to escape so water flows down to the pump.

 

[cnash]

I have it happen occasionally. Play with the hose and typically it will get flowing. Have to get the air pockets out.

 

[Conodor]

Sorry, i though about it afterward. forgot to mention i have the pick up tube. if i'm doing cleaning or rinse water i crack the quick disconnect off and on for a second, this works. Hot wort i mess with the hose and eventually, the hose fills. that's when i turn on the pump.

Other than that the system has been running very good. Still figuring out the app with the steps. I'm getting close to getting it figured out.

 

[Lax coach]

Any time I hear the pump cavitating or sounding like it's running dry, shutting it off for a few seconds and then turning it back on again seems to re-prime it.

 

[cnash]

Sorry, i though about it afterward. forgot to mention i have the pick up tube. if i'm doing cleaning or rinse water i crack the quick disconnect off and on for a second, this works. Hot wort i mess with the hose and eventually, the hose fills. that's when i turn on the pump.

Other than that the system has been running very good. Still figuring out the app with the steps. I'm getting close to getting it figured out.

I've been having problems with the steps lately, it seems like I have steps that get skipped or the temperature isn't right, but all the values are correct, so I have some investigating to do.

 

[Mike Howard]

Remember, if you have the boil flag set, the temps won't be the same as your recipe. I set mine to 220 and just let the BB figure it out. And a #2 always just moves to the next step, so it looks like it skips it but the BB actually performs whatever you told it to do.

 

[cnash]

Remember, if you have the boil flag set, the temps won't be the same as your recipe. I set mine to 220 and just let the BB figure it out. And a #2 always just moves to the next step, so it looks like it skips it but the BB actually performs whatever you told it to do.

I have the Boil Flag set, tried to set 220 but it tries to actually go to 220, set it to 212 and it was only going to 168, and showing 168 on the program. So.... I have to mess with it.
See example attached.

 

[Mike Howard]

Yours:
1,Please remove the grain,212,0,1,0,0,1,0
3,Heating wort to boil,212,0,1,0,0,1,0
1,Boiling state reached,212,0,1,0,0,1,1
4,Maintaining Boil for 50 minutes,212,50,1,0,0,1,0

Mine:
1,Attach whirlpool tube,212,0,0,0,0,1,1
3,Heating water to boil temperature and storing value,220,0,1,1,0,1,0
4,Maintaining calculated boil temperature,220,90,1,1,0,1,0
1,Brewing complete,0,0,0,0,0,1,1


Hmmmm....I don't see anything obviously out of place, but I have a couple of observations;
1) I don't think the boil flag should be set here: "1,Please remove the grain,212,0,1,0,0,1,0", as you have stopped the brewing process.
2) I'm not sure why you do this step "1,Boiling state reached,212,0,1,0,0,1,1" since that will stop the brew process and wait for your input.
3) It might just be me, but I always set the Alarm flag whenever I set the type flag to a "1", since that tells me brewing has stopped, waiting for me to do something.

I brewed yesterday and my boil temp was set to 220 and it topped out at 210 with a boil slope of 28.5 seconds. I'm wondering if your grain removal/delay is messing up your boil slope.


From the Manual:
The Boil flag, if set to 1, tells the controller that it should detect boiling, once detected, store the temperature
value where the wort boiled for the following steps and then proceed to the next step. It is best
to set the setpoint for any step, where you set the Boil Flag to 1, to a value of 220F or 105C,
guaranteeing it reaches boil. Set this value to 0 when setpoints for mashing, etc. are set. The Boil
flag tells the application that we are not trying to reach a specific setpoint, instead, we want it to
determine automatically what the boiling temperature is for the current conditions. The
application looks at the slope of the temperature rise curve and determines when that slope
levels off, which is the point where the temperature ceases to rise. That indicates that the kettle
is boiling. At that time, the boil temperature is recorded, and the power is reduced to PwrB.
Make certain to set the Boil Flag for any step that involves boiling so that the program knows to
use the PwrB value.

 

[cnash]

Yours:
1,Please remove the grain,212,0,1,0,0,1,0
3,Heating wort to boil,212,0,1,0,0,1,0
1,Boiling state reached,212,0,1,0,0,1,1
4,Maintaining Boil for 50 minutes,212,50,1,0,0,1,0

Mine:
1,Attach whirlpool tube,212,0,0,0,0,1,1
3,Heating water to boil temperature and storing value,220,0,1,1,0,1,0
4,Maintaining calculated boil temperature,220,90,1,1,0,1,0
1,Brewing complete,0,0,0,0,0,1,1


Hmmmm....I don't see anything obviously out of place, but I have a couple of observations;
1) I don't think the boil flag should be set here: "1,Please remove the grain,212,0,1,0,0,1,0", as you have stopped the brewing process.
2) I'm not sure why you do this step "1,Boiling state reached,212,0,1,0,0,1,1" since that will stop the brew process and wait for your input.
3) It might just be me, but I always set the Alarm flag whenever I set the type flag to a "1", since that tells me brewing has stopped, waiting for me to do something.

I brewed yesterday and my boil temp was set to 220 and it topped out at 210 with a boil slope of 28.5 seconds. I'm wondering if your grain removal/delay is messing up your boil slope.


From the Manual:
The Boil flag, if set to 1, tells the controller that it should detect boiling, once detected, store the temperature
value where the wort boiled for the following steps and then proceed to the next step. It is best
to set the setpoint for any step, where you set the Boil Flag to 1, to a value of 220F or 105C,
guaranteeing it reaches boil. Set this value to 0 when setpoints for mashing, etc. are set. The Boil
flag tells the application that we are not trying to reach a specific setpoint, instead, we want it to
determine automatically what the boiling temperature is for the current conditions. The
application looks at the slope of the temperature rise curve and determines when that slope
levels off, which is the point where the temperature ceases to rise. That indicates that the kettle
is boiling. At that time, the boil temperature is recorded, and the power is reduced to PwrB.
Make certain to set the Boil Flag for any step that involves boiling so that the program knows to
use the PwrB value.

Since you seem to have this programing step files down more-so than I do I have modified my "standard file" based on what you have stated which I can build other files off. Can you check it out?

1,Fill kettle with water,0,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Place cover on kettle and then open the valve,0,0,0,0,0,1,0
3,Heating water to Strike Temperature of 154 degrees,154,0,0,1,0,1,0
1,Water at Strike Temperature. Please close valve and add grains,152,0,0,0,0,1,1
1,Place cover on kettle and then open the valve,152,0,0,0,0,1,0
3,Heating to Mash Temperature of 152 degrees,152,0,0,1,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Mash Temperature of 152 degrees,152,60,0,1,0,1,0
3,Heating to Mash Out Temperature of 168 degrees,168,0,0,1,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Mash Out Temperature of 168 degrees,168,10,0,1,0,1,0
1,Mash out complete. Please close the valve and remove cover,168,0,0,0,0,1,1
1,Please remove the grain,212,0,0,0,0,1,1
3,Heating wort to boil,220,0,1,0,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Boil for 50 minutes,220,50,1,0,0,1,0
1,Add chiller & whirlpool arm & open valve,220,0,1,0,0,1,1
4,Maintaining Boil for 10 minutes,220,10,1,1,0,1,0
1,Boil Complete. ,68,0,0,0,0,1,1
5,Recirculate and chill until 68 degrees,68,0,0,1,0,1,0
1,Brewing complete. Transfer to primary fermenter then add yeast.,0,0,0,0,0,1,1

Do you think it looks alright?

 

[cnash]

Based on my process above I made one with a whirlpool (this one shows 40 minutes but can be adjusted).

1,Fill kettle with water,0,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Place cover on kettle and then open the valve,0,0,0,0,0,1,0
3,Heating water to Strike Temperature of 154 degrees,154,0,0,1,0,1,0
1,Water at Strike Temperature. Please close valve and add grains,152,0,0,0,0,1,1
1,Place cover on kettle and then open the valve,152,0,0,0,0,1,0
3,Heating to Mash Temperature of 152 degrees,152,0,0,1,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Mash Temperature of 152 degrees,152,60,0,1,0,1,0
3,Heating to Mash Out Temperature of 168 degrees,168,0,0,1,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Mash Out Temperature of 168 degrees,168,10,0,1,0,1,0
1,Mash out complete. Please close the valve and remove cover,168,0,0,0,0,1,1
1,Please remove the grain,212,0,0,0,0,1,1
3,Heating wort to boil,220,0,1,0,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Boil for 50 minutes,220,50,1,0,0,1,0
1,Add chiller & whirlpool arm & open valve,220,0,1,0,0,1,1
4,Maintaining Boil for 10 minutes,220,10,1,1,0,1,0
1,Boil Complete. ,170,0,0,0,0,1,1
5,Recirculate and chill until 170 degrees,170,0,0,1,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Whirlpool Temperature of 170 degrees for 40 minutes,170,40,0,1,0,1,0
1,Whirlpool Complete,68,0,0,0,0,1,1
5,Recirculate and chill until 68 degrees,68,0,0,1,0,1,0
1,Brewing complete. Transfer to primary fermenter then add yeast.,0,0,0,0,0,1,1

 

[Mike Howard]

I think it looks OK. I'm heading into work, but I'll take a better look tonight when I get home. I also have a recipe that I wrote up to mimic the Picobrew Zymatic 2 step mash, I'll post it up so you can see what that looks like.

I do have much more complicated recipes for various things that I've been testing out to record brewing efficiencies and such, but I'm not ready to divulge those yet as I'm still tinkering with them and analyzing the results.

 

[cnash]

I think it looks OK. I'm heading into work, but I'll take a better look tonight when I get home. I also have a recipe that I wrote up to mimic the Picobrew Zymatic 2 step mash, I'll post it up so you can see what that looks like.

I do have much more complicated recipes for various things that I've been testing out to record brewing efficiencies and such, but I'm not ready to divulge those yet as I'm still tinkering with them and analyzing the results.

That would be great.
This is the only part of the brew-boss I am really falling behind on. I think I have everything else on the process pretty well down.

I did learn last brew day that you need to be careful when lifting the basket though and don't try to force it even if the false bottom is slightly stuck. Hot mash temp wort all over the place and all over me taught me a pretty quick lesson also ruined my efficiency for the brew day.

 

[azdavid]

This site may help you out some.. It is a Brew Boss Step Generator. I use this site when I am setting up a step file for a new brew. It starts you off with all the basic steps already there and is easily edited to whatever steps are needed for your particular brew.

http://brewingintheburgh.com/brew-boss/index.html

 

[cnash]

This site may help you out some.. It is a Brew Boss Step Generator. I use this site when I am setting up a step file for a new brew. It starts you off with all the basic steps already there and is easily edited to whatever steps are needed for your particular brew.

http://brewingintheburgh.com/brew-boss/index.html

I’ve used that site, but you still have to make sure the data is correct.

 

[Mike Howard]

...I did learn last brew day that you need to be careful when lifting the basket though and don't try to force it...

I learned that if you are using an electric hoist....use the double pulley system vs just using it as a wench. The motor moves much too fast and the first time I lowered grains, I lost a lot of water over the side. Granted, I was doing a 16 gallon batch, so the water level was near the top. Once I added the second pulley, it operated much more smoothly and I was easily able to control the speed of descent.

 

[cnash]

I learned that if you are using an electric hoist....use the double pulley system vs just using it as a wench. The motor moves much too fast and the first time I lowered grains, I lost a lot of water over the side. Granted, I was doing a 16 gallon batch, so the water level was near the top. Once I added the second pulley, it operated much more smoothly and I was easily able to control the speed of descent.

I don't have an electric hoist, I am using a winch with pulleys, but I can crank it up pretty quick. I was raising it and the false bottom didn't go up right away and when I pressed down on the top of the basket to make it go up it pushed a bunch of water out of the basket.

 

[Mike Howard]

Yea, understood. I usually raise it about 6 inches and push down, then another 6 inches and push down before raising it all the way up. I've seen the false bottom catch and hang up, myself.

 

[Mike Howard]

BTW, here is the Step File that mimics the Zymatic High Efficiency Multi Step that I've been using comparing the two systems at 3 gallons and 15 gallons. I usually get around 72% efficiency on both machines.

2,High Efficiency Multi Step Mash,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
1,Unplug the heater from the controller,0,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Fill kettle with water,0,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Attach whirlpool tube,0,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Place cover on kettle and then open the valve,0,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Plug heater into controller,0,0,0,0,0,1,0
3,Heating water to Dough In Strike temperature,104,0,0,1,0,1,0
1,Water at Dough In temperature remove whirlpool tube and lower grains,102,0,0,0,0,1,1
1,Connect hose and place cover on kettle,102,0,0,0,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Dough In temperature,102,20,0,1,0,1,0
1,Dough In complete remove cover disconnect hose and raise grains slowly,102,0,0,0,0,1,1
2,Heating water to Mash 1 Strike temperature,154,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Slightly depress filter to squeeze out water,154,0,0,0,0,1,0
3,Heating water to Mash 1 Strike temperature,154,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Water at Mash 1 temperature lower grains,154,0,0,0,0,1,1
1,Connect hose and place cover on kettle,152,0,0,0,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Mash 1 temperature,152,30,0,1,0,1,0
3,Mash 1 complete heating water to Mash 2 Strike temperature,154,0,1,0,0,1,0
2,Water at Mash 2 temperature,154,0,1,0,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Mash 2 temperature,154,60,0,1,0,1,0
1,Mash 2 complete remove cover disconnect hose and raise grains slowly,154,0,0,0,0,1,1
2,Pre heating to Strike Temperature for Mash Out step,177,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Slightly depress filter to squeeze out water,177,0,0,0,0,1,0
3,Heating to Strike Temperature for Mash Out step,177,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Water at Strike temperature lower grains into Mash Out water,177,0,0,0,0,1,1
1,Connect hose and place cover on kettle,175,0,0,0,0,1,0
4,Maintaining Mash Out Temperature for Mash Out step,175,10,0,1,0,1,0
1,Mash Out complete remove cover disconnect hose and raise grains slowly,175,0,0,0,0,1,1
2,Pre heating water to boil temperature,212,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Slightly depress filter to squeeze out water,212,0,0,0,0,1,0
1,Attach whirlpool tube,212,0,0,0,0,1,0

If using the Hops Boss add this to the end:

2,Attach hops boss,212,0,0,0,0,1,0
3,Heating water to boil temperature and storing value,220,0,1,1,0,1,0
2,Boil temperature detected adding first boil hops to the boil,220,0,1,1,1,1,0
4,Maintaining calculated boil temperature,220,30,1,1,1,1,0
2,Adding second boil hops to the boil,220,0,1,1,2,1,0
4,Maintaining calculated boil temperature,220,15,1,1,2,1,0
2,Adding third boil hops to the boil,220,0,1,1,3,1,0
4,Maintaining calculated boil temperature,220,15,1,1,3,1,0
1,Brewing complete,0,0,0,0,0,1,1


If you don't have the hops boss use this ending scenario after you attach the Whirlpool tube before the boil:

3,Heating water to boil temperature and storing value,220,0,1,1,0,1,0
1,Boil temperature detected add first boil hops to the boil,220,0,1,1,0,1,1
4,Maintaining calculated boil temperature,220,30,1,1,0,1,0
1,Add second boil hops to the boil,220,0,1,1,0,1,0
4,Maintaining calculated boil temperature,220,15,1,1,0,1,0
2,Add third boil hops to the boil,220,0,1,1,0,1,0
4,Maintaining calculated boil temperature,220,15,1,1,0,1,0
1,Brewing complete,0,0,0,0,0,1,1

 

[TennBrewer]

Mike Howard, thanks for the step files for the Zymatic method. I have tried many things to get my efficiency up and this looks excellent (is this brewhouse or mash efficiency?).

 

[TennBrewer]

anyone else having a problem with the pump getting primed? In most cases i have to loosen up the tri clamp. Rotate the pump so it's at like a 45 degree angle.

I added a 90 degree 1.5" elbow with clamp and gasket off the dip tube and into the pump, which locates it below the kettle. Gravity will usually prime the pump.

 

[Mike Howard]

Mike Howard, thanks for the step files for the Zymatic method. I have tried many things to get my efficiency up and this looks excellent (is this brewhouse or mash efficiency?).

This would be Brewhouse Efficiency. If you tweak the Mash temps for Dough In, Mash 1 and Mash 2 you'll get some different, sometimes better, sometimes worse results (I've been doing a lot of research on the different temps and the results). Also, in full disclosure, I always add about 2 cups of Rice Hulls for every 5 pounds of grain and mix thoroughly.

I find that raising the grains between steps and slightly squeezing out the wort keeps the BB from tunneling. Saw a definite increase in efficiency when I started doing that.

 

[brewswithshoes]

I added a 90 degree 1.5" elbow with clamp and gasket off the dip tube and into the pump, which locates it below the kettle. Gravity will usually prime the pump.

Sweet. I like this idea. I've been struggling with the pump sticking far out from my counter. Going to looking setting this up. Do you find your pulling "extra" trub when transferring due to the lower setup?