Brewie

[sniperd]

I got remote monitoring working with VPN! So now from anywhere I can use the Brewie app on my phone. This might get a little techie but I'll do my best. I've had problems in the past getting the app to work even when home, even when I knew the IP address of my Brewie it rarely would connect. First let's address that.

If the IP (Internet Protocol) Address of my Brewie was in the higher range (the last octet being above 100 for example) it did not work well. So if my Brewie had an IP of 192.168.0.240 it would not connect. I change my DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) settings on my router to always give my Brewie the address of 192.168.0.21 based upon the MAC address of the Brewie. Now it always finds and connects on the first try. If you don't have a problem connecting at home don't worry about any of that.

What is VPN? It stand for Virtual Private Network. The reason you can connect to your Brewie only at home is because your phone has to be on the same network (behind your firewall/router) as the Brewie. Otherwise anybody could connect to it. Using VPN on a remote device to 'VPN into' your home network puts your remote device (your phone in this case) on your home network even if you are on the other side of the world.

Now your router at home has to support VPN (Virtual Private Networking) and you would need to be able to login to your router to set that up. Everybody's router is different and if you got it from your Internet Provider you can ask them if it is supported. There are other ways to VPN into your home network and setup VPN servers but I just used my router.

When setting up your VPN it will probably ask for a username/password and a range of IPs. You'll have to make sure (I did in my case anyways) that the range of IPs has the first 3 sets of numbers (octets) are the same as your Brewie. So if your Brewie IP address is 192.168.0.21 then the range of IPs must be: 192.168.0.90 - 192.168.0.99 for example.

Now on your phone you'll have to setup a VPN client. I would just suggest Goggling that for either IPhone or Android. It is going to want to know the IP address of your VPN Server (your external IP address of your router). While you are home you can figure that out. Just go here: https://www.whatismyip.com/ and it is the IP4 (not the IP6) number. It will be like: 50.241.102.55 or something. Note that for most people this number can change! That is because it is a dynamic IP for most home Internets. There are ways to make sure it doesn't (static IP address which you might be able to ask your internet provider for), or you can use a Dynamic Name Service like this one: https://dyn.com/dynamic-dns/ Your router might also have one for free (my Asus router does) or just check before you leave the house.

Now you have your VPN server setup at home and your client on your phone. To test it you must not be on your home Wifi (got to get on the other side of your firewall), so you can just turn the wifi off on your phone. Activate your VPN client, hopefully it connects, and the open the Brewie app (don't forget to have your Brewie on!), and it should just work like magic.

Cheers!

Bonus tip: I hate that I can't set my screen timeout on my phone to more than 10 minutes when I'm brewing (I just want my phone propped up so I can glance at it). I found an app for Android called: "No Screen Off" and it does just that. Turn the app on and the screen never times out.

 

[Nate R]

Thanks to @sniperd for the post above. About 90% went over my head BUT i got a brother in law in IT so i can show it to him so he can dumb it down for me if needed!!!

Hey anyone have the Brewie cover for their machine? Like it? Hate it? Why?

Also anyone figure out a cover for the thing? It has to live in the garage now and it is not a very clean or closed or insualted garage. I know i can just throw a tarp around it probably. Just curious if anyone has a good cheap cover. I am not buying the brewie cover at full retail price.

Thanks all. Happy brewing to thoose of you getting to brew today!!

 

[kh54s10]

Hey anyone have the Brewie cover for their machine? Like it? Hate it? Why?

Also anyone figure out a cover for the thing? It has to live in the garage now and it is not a very clean or closed or insualted garage. I know i can just throw a tarp around it probably. Just curious if anyone has a good cheap cover. I am not buying the brewie cover at full retail price.

Thanks all. Happy brewing to thoose of you getting to brew today!!

I don't know the sizes but maybe a BBQ grill cover? It would probably need to be shortened.

 

[Nate R]

I don't know the sizes but maybe a BBQ grill cover? It would probably need to be shortened.

Good point! I will check that out.

 

[sniperd]

Good point! I will check that out.

My Brewie lives on a rolling cart that I bought from Harbor Freight. I brew in my garage and when it is done roll it into my basement (my garage is a drive under). After I brew and drain I leave the top lids open and then the next day run the drain cycle again and I get about 1/3 cup of water that comes out. Then I just leave the lids open for several more days. I don't think I would cover it as I want all/any water to evaporate to lessen chance of mold growing inside Perhaps just throw a towel over the top of it so particles don't fall in, or some kind of screen?

 

[Nate R]

My Brewie lives on a rolling cart that I bought from Harbor Freight. I brew in my garage and when it is done roll it into my basement (my garage is a drive under). After I brew and drain I leave the top lids open and then the next day run the drain cycle again and I get about 1/3 cup of water that comes out. Then I just leave the lids open for several more days. I don't think I would cover it as I want all/any water to evaporate to lessen chance of mold growing inside Perhaps just throw a towel over the top of it so particles don't fall in, or some kind of screen?

Thanks- good points. My brewie is on a nice stainless food cart table with casters
It used to live in my spare 3rd bedroom/office- i could just wheel it out and in. Now it is my garage- roughly about 100 degrees now in the summer. Maybe that will help dry it faster? I think i should just cover the top for dust spiders etc.

On a side note- i always start my brewie brew day with at least a sanitizing clean for the reasons you stated above. I also always do a full clean after a brew day. I hate the idea of anything being left in the maze of tubes below.

 

[sniperd]

http://arborfab.com/Brewie_p_139.html Any follow up feedback on these stainless basket things? 400 vs 600? Better/worse efficiency? I was thinking of getting one even if it works the same but is just easier to clean.

 

[Nate R]

http://arborfab.com/Brewie_p_139.html Any follow up feedback on these stainless basket things? 400 vs 600? Better/worse efficiency? I was thinking of getting one even if it works the same but is just easier to clean.

I havent had time to brew yet (darn life always gettin' in the way!)
I got 600.
The thing is very solidly built. Also i cannot see how any finer would be needed. It looks smaller than the bag almost.
Will post once i brew. Will take pics as well

 

[sniperd]

Awesome, I'll wait to hear before I pull the trigger.

 

[HarkinBanks]

Awesome, I'll wait to hear before I pull the trigger.

I have the 600 basket. Tested many times with great results. I will never use bags again.

 

[Nate R]

I have the 600 basket. Tested many times with great results. I will never use bags again.

Plus one here. I pulled the trigger 'cause of Harkin's reviews earlier.
Thanks for the help!!

 

[HarkinBanks]

Plus one here. I pulled the trigger 'cause of Harkin's reviews earlier.
Thanks for the help!!

Brew on my friend!

Too hot here to brew these days, it’s a bummer. Can’t wait for the fall already.

 

[Tim H]

Quick update from Brewie in case anyone else is running into water problems like me. (I thought I was going crazy after calibrating the machine six times and still having issues). The legs aren't calculating the water correctly, so I was ending up with around 5.5 gallons of mash water when the recipe said 4 gallons. The second issue is the water inlet valve. Tanks would be filling, and then stop with a "No water inlet" message. I could click out of it, and it would continue filling. They recommend doing a manual fill until the patch comes out.

A good frame of reference on their website is "10L/2.64 gallons measure 11.3cm/4.45inches on a measuring tape in the center of the tank...... 1cm/0.39in water level equals 0.88L/0.26gal in the tank."


Response from Brewie Support:

The "too much water" is a new software bug that we'll fix in the next release. The "no water inlet" issue has been fixed in our beta software if you want i can send it to your machine

Best regards

 

[Tim H]

I got remote monitoring working with VPN! So now from anywhere I can use the Brewie app on my phone. This might get a little techie but I'll do my best. I've had problems in the past getting the app to work even when home, even when I knew the IP address of my Brewie it rarely would connect. First let's address that.

If the IP (Internet Protocol) Address of my Brewie was in the higher range (the last octet being above 100 for example) it did not work well. So if my Brewie had an IP of 192.168.0.240 it would not connect. I change my DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) settings on my router to always give my Brewie the address of 192.168.0.21 based upon the MAC address of the Brewie. Now it always finds and connects on the first try. If you don't have a problem connecting at home don't worry about any of that.

I am jealous of you Android guys. The app seems like a nice way to design recipies and tweak stuff without standing at your Brewie hitting buttons. How often are you monitoring your brews outside the house? Just curious....I don't know if I trust my Brewie yet to play unsupervised.

 

[sniperd]

I am jealous of you Android guys. The app seems like a nice way to design recipies and tweak stuff without standing at your Brewie hitting buttons. How often are you monitoring your brews outside the house? Just curious....I don't know if I trust my Brewie yet to play unsupervised.

I have no problem leaving my Brewie to make a quick trip to the store. However, I don't like the idea of leaving it home alone all day. But what I will do is leave it home if somebody else is home and have it brew. I also have a little cheap web cam that is pointed at it so if started smoking or water started going everywhere I could see it and stop it. What my next plan to do is use a 'smart outlet' like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K1JVZOE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 so if I had to remote kill the power to it, I could. I guess in the same way I would not want to leave my stove on all day by itself I wouldn't want to leave my Brewie on all day. But if a non-Brewer is home I can click start, go off for the day, and I can do the monitoring then we are all good!

 

[Bondelswag]

Hi Guys, I'm new here. First I want to thanks you, reading this thread helped me fixing my brewie. Since your post have been helpfull for me, I want to share my experience with you and probably helping others to fix this issue, that is to me a major design flaw and might occure on every 120V Brewie+. I am an electrionic and electrical designer living in Quebec City, Canada (yep a french Canadian). I use to design and bultd power unit, drives, robotic stuff for industrial, so I know pretty well all those components and I'll be willing to help everyone of you if asked for. here is my story with the Brewie+.

I get my brewie (B+) end of september, brew 5 5gallons batchs, with the impression the boilling was less and less powerfull from batch to batch. Sunday, I setup the machine then start the brewing of a belgina white I already brewed with this machine. the tank fillup then, when the element turn on, POW, the breaker in the electrical pannel not far trip violently... OK, that's not normal, isn't a standard trip of a breaker, something have shorted to the ground badly.

At that point I was wondering if I can or not open the brewie seal at the bottom without voiding the warenty.. it's at this moment that I read your posts and realise that in any case of pump clog we have to open the machine anyway. I fill a ticket on Brewie website but it's been 2 days and no news from them.

here is how it look inside, few of you had and have the same issue but without the BANG. 3 of the 4 therminals are coocked and unlucky as always in my existance, the element tabs was so close to the thermal switch posts that it finaly made direct contact to the ground.

I know exactly what happen and sadly most 120V machine might need an upgrade. the main issue is our 120Vac. the original machine was made in europe, the 220Vac kingdom, so in there roughly half the current pass thru those therminals, genrating less heat by contact resistance. Looking at those therminals, they look not crimped so good (maybe not the right tool used) and they are quite loose on the tabs. Here it's important to understand that every connection offer a tiny resistance, over a certain current limit heat buildup and then problems occur, that's why a contact is rated in his capacity in current (A) pass a certain curent it overheat and is not able to dissipate this energy, and it's a death circle. Also it's not a normal thing to use glue to hold the tabs during shipping, a good match of tabs and terminal should hold without any compond.

So, I cleaned every tabs on the thermal switch and element with a fiberglass contact cleaner. I replaced the 4 terminal with panduit terminals and crimped them with the panduit tool (take care to cut an other 1/4in of the wire to reach the wire unaffected area, it give a better contact. So then I placed a good quality heatshrink over the tabs (will inspect the machine after a brew and see). when pluging back the therminals, it's important to feel a good resistance, cheap tabs are olften too lose and you might need to close them a little with a plyer before connecting em. In my case the SSR burned, the current from the short toast it, luckly I had one in my stuff. i will continue monitor the situation and look regulary at the connection. My point of view on the situation is that Brewie have a major problem in their hands and they know it. Not everybody have time and tools to do this job but sadly, if every 120Vac machine have the same terminals crimped with the same tool... there is a good chance everybody have this issue.

Thanks

I'm having the same problem. Had the machine about a year and have done several batches including my own recipes. While starting a brew this past weekend I noticed the boil temperature was not rising as it should be during the mash preparation cycle. So I opened a ticket with Brewie and their response was the same. They will send me the parts and I get to fix it. It appears that the boil kettle temperature sensor has two very long bolts that are in the vicinity of the connector for the sensor and the connector isn't very well insulated. So I took everything apart and here I discovered charred wiring and connectors on the sensor and the heating element.

They told me that the earlier versions of the B20+ 120V US versions had problems with the supplier of the wire. Their original reply to me was that they were sending me a wiring harness. Based on the pics, I've requested a the boil heating element, the sensor and the wiring.

On a side note, the workmanship inside the unit isn't great. The mounting platform for the valves was not very well done and several of the valve bodies were not mounted to the platform or the plastic tabs on the valve bodies were broken off. The mounting platform was held in place by four fiber lock nuts that were too small for the holes in the platform (washers should have been used to tighten things up (I'll fix that when the parts arrive)). I found the drain switch wire completely disconnected from the board (which is why it never worked).

 

[Nate R]

Brew day hath cometh!!
Going to try to crank out 2 batches today.
Batch #1 just started. About 15# mixed grain plus 1# rice hulls.
I soaked and gently cleaned the basket and lid first.
Here are a few pics- basket in with no grain, then with grain.
It was so easy to layer the rice hulls in the basket as i poured in the grain. Also so much cleaner than messing with the bag- no heavey lifting, pushing, etc. A lot less grain dust!

 

[Nate R]

Ok well i suck at uploading pics from my phone.. i will work on that! Lol

 

[Nate R]

Mash water in (4 gal). Pre and post stir.
Iirc,i think it's @HarkinBanks who stirs once at mash in and once pre sparge. I know someone said that. I am too lazy to look it up.

 

[Nate R]

Well all, I apologize... I was jamming through 2 brews yesterday, and of course forgot BOTH times to get a pre-boil gravity reading! D'oh! So mad!
Anyways... here's my thoughts on the basket:
-600 mesh is fine. I would not go smaller, but I think larger is not needed- I like to idea of keeping grains inside the basket.
-Gotta watch the total amount of grain used. I tried for a little over 16# and it was NO good. Previously, splitting in two bags, I could get away 8 in each (not saying it was good or efficient). The basket has about 0.3" around all sides, so you lose a lot of space in the mash tun for grain. The trade-off? You have nice flow all around your grains.
-Cleaning is not as easy I had hoped for. While is nice and easy to turn upside down and spray in the sink, a good amount of small grains stick to the corners. Not a big deal for batch #2- just added the fresh grain and went (we are talking about maybe 12 kernels or less total). However- if one wanted to use the basket in the BK for a hop whirlpool, I would be worried if the temp allowed a bug to slip through. Of course, you could dunk it in the BK mins before, and sanitize I guess. Once the basket is dry, the grains flake off.
-Lid- I didn't use or need the lid, even with all the grains. I would imagine I would want it if I use the basket in the BK for hops, but these recipes did not call for whirlpool (which is rare for me). I figure shipping was the same, so I got the lid while I was at it.

And I just gotta say... I really hope my original B20 holds up, Brewie stays in business, and that they continue to innovate new products. I did a multi-step mash German hefe, then a 20 min rinse, and an attempt at a IIPA. All while having a great lazy Saturday with the Mrs,- sure, I had to check up on the machine, add ingredients, etc.- but it was over 100 here, and I was inside 99.9% of the time! What a great machine. I got a GREAT rolling boil on both brews.

Did a deep clean last night, went to bed... woke up this morning and gave the outside a little shine with some stainless cleaner... this baby is so sexy!

I hope everyone on here gets their issues, if they have any, resolved. I know some day this little girl will quit on me... I am looking at what my next "all-in-one" machine may be (Pico, Grainfather, Anvil, etc.) but so far I gotta say this thing takes the cake.

Cheers all! Happy Sunday all!

 

[Still Brewn]

I'm in the planning stages of my next brew and I can't seem to find a reference to the amount of whole leaf hops we can put in the cages. Since I have never use whole leaf (freshly dried from my garden, 1st year plants) I don't know first hand what to expect and unsure how much I can use. Any help or link appreciated. Thanks

 

[Nate R]

I'm in the planning stages of my next brew and I can't seem to find a reference to the amount of whole leaf hops we can put in the cages. Since I have never use whole leaf (freshly dried from my garden, 1st year plants) I don't know first hand what to expect and unsure how much I can use. Any help or link appreciated. Thanks

This is all i can find. 20 grams or 0.7 ounces. I seem to recall there a limit to the amount one could use for pellet vs whole... but think the whole was less.
What type of beer? Can you use a hop bag or cage/spider and dump it in the boil manually? I pause at 170 for "whirlpool" hops this way.

 

[Nate R]

This is all i can find. 20 grams or 0.7 ounces. I seem to recall there a limit to the amount one could use for pellet vs whole... but think the whole was less.
What type of beer? Can you use a hop bag or cage/spider and dump it in the boil manually? I pause at 170 for "whirlpool" hops this way.

Found it! Manual (older version onlone at the Morebeer website- brewie manual)

https://www.morebeer.com/products/brewie-fully-automated-brewing-system.html

30g pellet, 15 g whole

 

[Still Brewn]

On a side note, the workmanship inside the unit isn't great. The mounting platform for the valves was not very well done and several of the valve bodies were not mounted to the platform or the plastic tabs on the valve bodies were broken off. The mounting platform was held in place by four fiber lock nuts that were too small for the holes in the platform (washers should have been used to tighten things up (I'll fix that when the parts arrive)). I found the drain switch wire completely disconnected from the board (which is why it never worked).

Be sure to report any assembly errors to tech support it has been an ongoing issue.
Those are the originally installed wires the new ones have a white silicone cover over the end and the crimp was not rated for the power being consumed, they were not tight like should be and there is too much heat build up in that area. Be sure to check the other side also especially if you are doing a lot of lower temperature mash-ins.... basically if you are doing a mash-in 130's or below the heating element under the mash tun is on for an extended period of time allowing the cascading effect of high current = heat =higher current =higher heat and on and on until there is the failure you have with the other side. Heat causes resistance causing higher current causing higher heat.....
You can do the fan mod some of us did to eliminate the heat from the area. It works. I do low temperature Mash-ins and still have seen no additional scorching in the area of the wires.

 

[Nate R]

Found it! Manual (older version onlone at the Morebeer website- brewie manual)

https://www.morebeer.com/products/brewie-fully-automated-brewing-system.html

30g pellet, 15 g whole

Sorry for all the extra posts all.
One final note- that manual referenced above is older.
I have found that about 0.75 ounce pellet max per cage is best. They just swell up too much. Iirc i tried whole once- not good. The flow was just too thin. Again, iirc.

 

[Still Brewn]

Found it! Manual (older version onlone at the Morebeer website- brewie manual)

https://www.morebeer.com/products/brewie-fully-automated-brewing-system.html

30g pellet, 15 g whole

Damn that was quick ! Thanks. I looked for a half an hour on Brewie website an couldn't find anything other than the "if using more than .7 ounce use an empty cage if you have one" same thing you found.

 

[Nate R]

Damn that was quick ! Thanks. I looked for a half an hour on Brewie website an couldn't find anything other than the "if using more than .7 ounce use an empty cage if you have one" same thing you found.

Yeah well if i had my computer booted up i could give you like 3 versions of the original manual! Lol. But i would trust 15 g max whole for sure.

 

[Still Brewn]

Sorry for all the extra posts all.
One final note- that manual referenced above is older.
I have found that about 0.75 ounce pellet max per cage is best. They just swell up too much. Iirc i tried whole once- not good. The flow was just too thin. Again, iirc.

Don't worry about it .... go back a few pages when I was explaining things. I was thinking about chopping my hops up a little bit befor I put them in the cages

 

[Brewdoode]

Hi all,

I've had my Brewie + since early April and it seems the dreaded melted boiler wires has hit. Tried to brew this last Saturday a red ale and absolutely no increase in temps on the boil side. Running brewie in dev mode also confirms that the boiler isn't heating.

Does anyone know roughly how long it takes Brewie support to contact you back (or is there another email address to try)? I'm assuming they'll send me the replacement wires and I'm pretty handy myself (honestly would be fine just buying the crimps, terminals, etc from a local supply store), but I'm hesitant to open it without them "authorizing" it. I tried searching this monster of a thread, but did anyone ever put together a step by step guide for replacing the terminals and putting in the fan? Apologies if I missed the obvious. I'm just dying to get back to brewing.

Oh and I've been using the 600 micron mesh basket from Arbor Fab since my second brew thanks to this thread. Best investment ever

Anyways, looking forward to see what everyone brews in the coming days!

 

[Brewdoode]

Another day, and still no response to my support ticket from Brewie. I've been reading the thread and found the quick repair guide for the boiler wires (a pdf titled 'Fix for boil tank heating element no longer working.pdf'), but looking up the disconnects pictured in the doc, it seems they're only rated for 167° F or so, so I'm not sure those would actually hold up over time.

Hopefully will hear back from Brewie soon

Got all the ingredients to try brewing an Imperial Red Ale and nothing to do!

 

[Nate R]

Another day, and still no response to my support ticket from Brewie. I've been reading the thread and found the quick repair guide for the boiler wires (a pdf titled 'Fix for boil tank heating element no longer working.pdf'), but looking up the disconnects pictured in the doc, it seems they're only rated for 167° F or so, so I'm not sure those would actually hold up over time.

Hopefully will hear back from Brewie soon

Got all the ingredients to try brewing an Imperial Red Ale and nothing to do!

Remember they are overseas in Europe Hungary?) So give them a bit.

 

[Brewdoode]

Remember they are overseas in Europe Hungary?) So give them a bit.

Thanks Nate, that’s good advice. I’ll try to be a bit more patient.

So tempting to just open her up and start digging around. I might go the route of a few others and purchase a backup rig like the robobrew v3. Looks like a pretty nifty system.

 

[Nate R]

Thanks Nate, that’s good advice. I’ll try to be a bit more patient.

So tempting to just open her up and start digging around. I might go the route of a few others and purchase a backup rig like the robobrew v3. Looks like a pretty nifty system.

Don't stop following up, of course!!!
My machine was down for a bit- it needed a new SD card. Add to that my landlord was selling, and we had to find a new home... I did not brew for about 3 months or so. It sux! So I feel for you!
And yes- there are SO MANY awesome all-in-one electric machines coming out! Or already out.

 

[CUNY ALEXIS]

Hi My brewie will not start anymore. It turns on, the screen lights up but there are no more noise at startup ... Then the red bar progresses and hangs when it reaches its maximum. I did not do anything special and only realized 4 brews. I wanted to make a new one and it will not start anymore. I wrote several messages to technical support for 15 days but no answer ... I can not even log in to their site since today .. could someone help me? It would be great Thanks in advan

 

[Nate R]

Hi My brewie will not start anymore. It turns on, the screen lights up but there are no more noise at startup ... Then the red bar progresses and hangs when it reaches its maximum. I did not do anything special and only realized 4 brews. I wanted to make a new one and it will not start anymore. I wrote several messages to technical support for 15 days but no answer ... I can not even log in to their site since today .. could someone help me? It would be great Thanks in advan

Sounds like maybe a software issue. May need to install a new sd card. That is what happened to my original B20 unit. I might still have all the info (including software) mate sent me. PM me with an email address and i will send it to you Monday.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Looking at the brewie Facebook site it's possible they have closed the doors for good. Sites down and there not responding to all the support tickets. Cheers

 

[c06u]

Hi My brewie will not start anymore. It turns on, the screen lights up but there are no more noise at startup ... Then the red bar progresses and hangs when it reaches its maximum. I did not do anything special and only realized 4 brews. I wanted to make a new one and it will not start anymore. I wrote several messages to technical support for 15 days but no answer ... I can not even log in to their site since today .. could someone help me? It would be great Thanks in advan

 

[c06u]

B20 0r B20+ , if it's a B20+ you can try unplugging it and see if that gives you a reset, if it's a B20just cycling the switch would do the same thing....I don't see them up on their site but then again we are talking East Europe here

 

[c06u]

Looks like they will be co hosting an event on 9/14 so am guessing they are still active?

SEP14
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[Blazinlow86]

Looks like they will be co hosting an event on 9/14 so am guessing they are still active?

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· Hosted by BrewDog Budapest and Brewie

Time will tell. Seems inevitable at this point. It was a decent idea just executed so unbelievably poorly. Cheers