Ongoing Review: BrewHardware Premium Recirculating BIAB Package

[Hop]

I'll try to keep this main post updated in addition to adding replies as I use the system.

I do not have this in my possession yet, but the process thus far has prompted me to start a thread already.

Why? Because Bobby from BrewHardware provides outstanding customer service.

Part 0: The Discovery Process
I've purchased a few things from BrewHardware in the past. The most notable purchase was a HotRod HeatStick and Topsflo TD5 back in ~2018 to improve the performance of a 120V Grainfather I had at the time. The HeatStick was an awesome solution, allowing me to get a good boil in the GF as well as heat up sparge water during the mash.

I've spent the past month or so kicking the tires of a bunch of systems. I got out of homebrewing a couple of years ago when I moved and I need the majority of the hot side, with the exception of a JaDeD Hydra that I've always liked using--this helped drive me in a direction away from the tall, skinny systems like Anvil, BrewZilla, etc. I'm also attracted to the modularity of some of the other setups.

Step 0 for me was to determine if I'd go with electric or gas. I have natural gas hook-ups outside, but it can get muggy and the mosquitoes get pretty awful here in North Carolina, so I'd rather at least stay in the garage. I decided fairly quickly to go with a 240V system, so I got a receptacle installed in the garage as well as a reverse osmosis system and continued my research.

I started narrowing things down. The Speidels Braumeister has always attracted me. A friend in California had one and it made great beer, but it's very expensive and seems to have proprietary components. The Brewtools B40 looks cool, but it's not particularly powerful, is fairly expensive, and seems to require a fair number of extras to operate super well.

Spike's Solo system looks pretty nice, but it seems quite overpriced to me for what it offers. SS Brewtech's SVBS looks okay, but seems to be a take on the proprietary urn style of systems and I didn't want that this time around.

The Unibräu looked pretty solid to me, but I really needed a good way to lift the bag/basket without using my back too much, as I have degenerative disc disease these days.

We finally get to my first call to Bobby at BrewHardware. I did my due diligence and knew that if I talked his ear off with a bunch of questions, I would go ahead and buy a gift card to his shop so as not to waste his time.

The call lasted about 30 minutes. We discussed everything. Vessel size, Spike NPT vs. Blichmann with the bottom drain vs. the Spike Get Tanked edition. Topsflo TD5 vs. RipTide, heating element styles, BrewCommander vs. Auber vs. other options... really thorough, informative call.

With information gathered, I'd narrowed it down to a few options:

1. BrewHardware something
2. Clawhammer Supply
3. Blichmann BrewEasy Compact
4. Full custom to my own specifications

The Clawhammer Supply system was automatically high on my list because they're based in North Carolina. I grew up in southern Virginia and live in NC now, so I have some local affinity for them (although I don't live in Asheville). I decided not to go with their system for a couple of reasons:

• I'd prefer a bit more capacity than 10 gallon but less than 20
• The pump in the system is not ideal, but that's easily replaceable and not a dealbreaker
• The main reason: the recirculation sprayer. I've had bad experiences with excessive hot side aeration, and good experiences trying to reduce it. The sprayer just seems like a great way to get the most HSA possible. I consider modifying it further, but really didn't want to have to mod a brand new system on day 1.

The Blichmann BrewEasy Compact was attractive to me. I've been brewing since 2003 and remember Blichmann as the gold standard almost from the start of my homebrew journey. I also love buying Made in America if I can help it. To be honest, I very nearly pulled the trigger on a 10 gallon Surface version of this a few times. Why didn't I?

• Size. 10 gallons is just a little smaller than I really want. I don't often brew huge beers, but having the option to would be nice.
• Direct Deposit Return Tube: I kept bouncing between this being a good thing and a bad thing. The theory seems sound to me, but I kept seeing discussion about it causing channeling in the grain bed and was scared off by the comments.
• Power: 3500 watts is okay I guess. I've brewed with 3800 before and found it adequate, but more is more.
• Price: I am willing to pay more for Made in USA, but it's always a consideration.

Why didn't I go full custom? Mostly, I wanted to go with something tried and tested so I can familiarize myself with the process after my time away from brewing. After I do, I can adjust either the existing setup or build something new.

At one point in the full custom/DIY consideration process, I talked to Bobby from BrewHardware yet again and he graciously offered his wisdom regarding building a custom controller (I am fairly comfortable with DIY electronics). Frankly, the price of a completely DIY Auber setup is not far off from prebuilt, and there's the potential frustration associated with DIY.

Part 1: The Decision
Yep, I talked to Bobby again at least one or two more times before pulling the trigger. Again, he was more than willing to put up with my questions.

What did I end up with? Well, really quickly, let's talk about a couple of quick considerations:

• I decided to build a workbench with my 10 year old son to use in part for brewing, and in part for other random stuff in the garage. We built it using the Simpson Strong-Tie WBSK and a set of casters. This made me decide against the Blichmann Bottom Drain version of Bobby's system because I didn't want to leave it there at all times.
• I want to use my immersion chiller. I've found greater overall success with them over the years than counterflow or plate chillers, if only for the simplicity.
• I've taken to fermenting in corny kegs. They're easy to clean, easy to fit in a refrigerator for temperature control, and I prefer naturally carbonating my beers. It also makes splitting batches easier (that said, I did have a Spike conical with a ton of accessories and loved that thing)
• Forgot to mention it earlier, but I like the idea of recirculating to the top and bottom at the same time in the mash.

Okay, so the system I ended up with:

• 15 Gallon Spike kettle (not the Get Tanked edition): Big enough that I can split a batch into two corny kegs or make a high ABV beer, small enough that it's not going to be terribly cumbersome.
• Topsflo TD5 Pump: I've had one of these before. They work great and are super quiet. I also love the direct-mount capability to keep the whole system nice and tidy. If I ever decide to go with CIP, I'll probably grab a RipTide.
• Slingblade element: Bobby said we can get the 5000w element in the 15 gallon Spike, so I went with this to keep my immersion chiller off the heating coil.
• Auber Cube 5e BH Edition: This has the versatility I'm after, and I can modify it down the road if I want. It's not as sexy as the BrewCommander, but the flexibility and modularity sold me.
• XL Ratchet Pulley: Not that important of a note, but I grabbed the stronger pulley. It lets you pull down and provides a mechanical advantage, which is important for my bad back.

So how is it? I have no idea. I just placed the order earlier this week. If I'm feeling up to it, I'll record portions of the process and first impressions and post some videos. It'll be pretty raw without any awesome memes if I do it, though, because I don't really have the time to dedicate to proper editing.

Shout out to @Bobby_M for the excellent customer service. I look forward to checking the system out!

 

[DevilsCups]

Keep us posted on this for sure. I've visited Bobby a few times for some odd jobs and chatted with him. He's a great dude, and knows what he's doing for sure. Easy to have full confidence in him.

 

[kurds_2408]

Following this as I want to convert from gas to electric soon.

 

[Hop]

Everything came in on Thursday. I brewed yesterday and today on it. It's a tremendously pleasant experience.

My previous experience with electric was a Grainfather. I had it for 2-3 years and went through all sorts of whacky setups to try to get the best possible setup.

Here's an amusing photo from 2018 in which I had a cooler as a hot liquor tank. I heated the water in a Bayou Classic kettle using a HotRod Heat Stick, then transferred it to the mash tun. I hated the Grainfather's pump and used a Topsflo TD5 instead. I'd mash in a grain bag inside the Grainfather because I didn't think the basket was good enough for wort clarity on its own, sparged, then boiled in it with the help of the HotRod Heat Stick.

What a moron, eh? But hey, I made some great beers with it, but never stopped screwing around with the setup because I was never totally happy with it.

First Batch
For my first batch on the BrewHardware setup, I decided to put it to a proper test, brewing a German-ish Pils with 4 oz of Noble hops all directly in the kettle.

I used a Protein, Beta, and Alpha Amylase mash schedule of 133-145-160 then mashed out at 168.

https://share.brewfather.app/q1sB57dSdSzJnW

I lifted the bag out with the ratchet pulley and kept it pretty close to the wort the whole time. I don't love the hot-side aeration taking place here (dripping out of a bag) and might end up getting a second vessel down the road if I want to travel back to crazy town and go for proper low oxygen brewing again (I dabbled in it for a while and enjoyed the results, particularly with light lagers).

Everything in the mash went off without a hitch. I'll need to dial in my technique with regard to proper times, Hold steps, and the like.

Here's a crappy photo of the setup. I put together this workbench on casters with my son a couple of weekends ago. It's a good setup, but isn't exactly perfect with the controller on the right side and kettle on the left because of where the element is installed.

I'll probably extend the bench with a floating shelf on the right side for the controller then move the kettle over to the far right side of the main bench so I can have room to work on the left-hand side.

I'll do a better job of documenting the setup and process sometime down the road as I dial it in. For now, I'm just trying to familiarize myself with the new system.

Oh! The way @Bobby_M has the mash so it recirculates through the whirlpool and top of the mash is brilliant. It's yielded me over 70% mash efficiency over two brew days already. No risk of getting anything stuck, crystal clear wort, gentle recirculation--just awesome! The temperature stayed absolutely rock solid, pretty much never ticking above or below my set temperature.

The boil was similarly trouble-free. I have the 5000 watt Sling Blade element that skirts the edge of the 15 gallon Spike kettle. 50% power got me a decent rolling boil. 60% gets around 1.5 gallons of boil-off an hour. I spent most of the boil at 55% power.

At the end of the boil, I dropped in a JaDeD Hydra. I've gone the plate and counterflow route multiple times in the past but keep coming back to this immersion chiller.

In less than 30 seconds while whirlpooling, I brought the wort to <170 then did a hop stand with 0.25 oz of Hallertauer Mittelfrueh and 0.5 oz each of Hersbrucker, Saaz, and Tettnanger.

Dropped it to about 90 in ~3 minutes, then switched from my garden hose to an old Bayou Classic kettle (the same one from the absurd setup earlier) with a sump pump and a bunch of ice I collected over the past couple of weeks.

That took it down to 62 in a few more minutes just recirculating back into the same kettle.

I removed the chiller, popped the top on the Spike kettle, whirlpooled for a few minutes, then let the wort settle out for 30 minutes or so.

When transferring to the fermenter (aka "a standard corny keg"), I was greeted with some crystal clear wort and a giant pile of trub in middle of the kettle.

I hit the wort with 60 seconds of oxygen then pitched WLP925. I've never used White Labs High Pressure Lager Yeast before. It took the better part of a day to start building pressure up in the keg-fermenter, and now it's going absolutely bonkers. I had to hook up a blowoff hose to the spunding valve, which is thankfully quite easy with the BlowTie. It's pooping krausen into a bucket with some sanitizer as we speak (I admittedly played with fire and put too much wort in there).

I hinted at brewing twice with this already. I brewed yesterday (Friday) and today. I brewed an East Coast IPA as I remember them back when I lived in New England (2006-2012). Something more akin to an English IPA--malty and with American hops from before hazy IPAs took over the notion.

This was a decidedly simpler mash (single infusion) and the brew day went off without complaint yet again and with a few learnings applied. Recipe here: https://share.brewfather.app/r50XA2m7PEQubN

Minor Qualms
A review isn't honest without calling out shortcomings. The main one is the Spike kettle itself. It's amazing, but the stepped edge is a blessing and a curse. Getting the last bit of liquid out of it, particularly when cleaning, is a pain in the arse.

I took Bobby's advice and plopped a scrap piece of wood under it to get almost all of the liquid out while cleaning, but I still have to tip the rest out manually. If I planned to use the workbench exclusively for this brewing setup, I'd have bought his newer Blichmann system that has a bottom drain.

I don't love that the recirculation arm has a single outlet. You can lock it really nicely in place so you don't bore down into the grain, so I bought the recirculation ring to better distribute the wort across more of the grain bed (haven't used it yet).

Any other complaints I have are issues inherent to all BIAB systems, particularly the dripping of hot wort and risk of hot side aeration (which I admittedly think is not a big problem, but I still would prefer not to do it... you just need two vessels).

My Take So Far
Overall, the BrewHardware Premium Recirculating Electric BIAB system makes the brew days a very pleasant experience. So much so that I brewed two days in a row after the first session.

If only I never had to clean.

 

[Bobby_M]

Why? Because Bobby from BrewHardware provides outstanding customer service.

Aw shucks. Thanks!

The call lasted about 30 minutes. We discussed everything. Vessel size, Spike NPT vs. Blichmann with the bottom drain vs. the Spike Get Tanked edition. Topsflo TD5 vs. RipTide, heating element styles, BrewCommander vs. Auber vs. other options... really thorough, informative call.

With information gathered, I'd narrowed it down to a few options:

1. BrewHardware something
2. Clawhammer Supply
3. Blichmann BrewEasy Compact
4. Full custom to my own specifications

This is so common. I consult with maybe 3-4 people in your same predicament every week. Being a multi-brand dealer is both a blessing and a curse. I have the advantage of recognizing the best individual components of a system build and offer them up whereas Spike would never put a Blichmann valve on their system or vice versa. The detriment however, is that there are 100 ways to build a single system and managing it from a order process and pricing perspective is a nightmare. Side note, I also have to be relatively delicate about how I express my opinions about any given manufacturer's products if I want to continue being a dealer. To that end, I can generally say that none of the manufacturers build systems (1V, 2V, or 3V) exactly the way that I would do it but I recognize that at the volumes they do, it would be impossible to offer the level of customization that I do.

I lifted the bag out with the ratchet pulley and kept it pretty close to the wort the whole time. I don't love the hot-side aeration taking place here (dripping out of a bag) and might end up getting a second vessel down the road if I want to travel back to crazy town and go for proper low oxygen brewing again (I dabbled in it for a while and enjoyed the results, particularly with light lagers).

This is something that I thought would be an issue but it doesn't seem to be in practice. So many brewers that I know have switched to this process and are all crushing it in competitions for every style of beer. My friend, who also works at the shop, picked up a silver at NHC with a German Pils out of 148 entries and he has a 30 gallon version of this system, hanging bag and all. The only deliberate hot side oxygen mitigation he uses is preboiling the strike water. He also has had Vienna lagers and Munich Dunkels that have hit back to be Best of Shows with scores in the 45-47 range. This isn't brewing performance that can be guaranteed with an eBIAB system, it's just proof that an eBIAB system can never be blamed for bad beer exclusively.

I'll do a better job of documenting the setup and process sometime down the road as I dial it in. For now, I'm just trying to familiarize myself with the new system.

Oh! The way @Bobby_M has the mash so it recirculates through the whirlpool and top of the mash is brilliant. It's yielded me over 70% mash efficiency over two brew days already. No risk of getting anything stuck, crystal clear wort, gentle recirculation--just awesome! The temperature stayed absolutely rock solid, pretty much never ticking above or below my set temperature.

The dual path recirculation and Auber DSPR controller together really does a great job of keeping it stable. Most of the other controller choices I offer are good at it too, but if you've ever used regular 16th DIN PIDs before, you REALLY appreciate how good the Auber stuff is right out of the box.

Minor Qualms
A review isn't honest without calling out shortcomings. The main one is the Spike kettle itself. It's amazing, but the stepped edge is a blessing and a curse. Getting the last bit of liquid out of it, particularly when cleaning, is a pain in the arse.

I took Bobby's advice and plopped a scrap piece of wood under it to get almost all of the liquid out while cleaning, but I still have to tip the rest out manually. If I planned to use the workbench exclusively for this brewing setup, I'd have bought his newer Blichmann system that has a bottom drain.

Cleaning is suck no matter what you brew on but yeah, the bottom drain options are the least frustrating. I had your exact build running for several years and it lived 10 inches away from my large slop sink. Even with that kind of access, I got tired of tilting the pot over and doing that last spray out. I finally did the bottom drain with the hole in my brewing table. It made my cleaning process like 10% better in that I don't move the pot at all.

I don't love that the recirculation arm has a single outlet. You can lock it really nicely in place so you don't bore down into the grain, so I bought the recirculation ring to better distribute the wort across more of the grain bed (haven't used it yet).

Highly debated and opinionated topic for sure. In 99% of my mashes, there's a pretty solid liquid only layer at the top of the mash. I position my locline so the output is horizontal at the end and also such that the outflow is going to cause stirring in that top layer. That's my rational. It's coming out at one point, but that heat gets integrated into the mash pretty evenly. I put my 4-probe temp logger into four spots on the top 3" of the mash and initiated a step mash routine so that the recirculated wort will be quite a bit hotter than the grainbed. I saw only a few degrees of temp variation no matter how far away from the locline a probe was.

That being said, there's no harm in using the circular nozzle locline attachment. It will perform the same function and arguably without needing to position the outflow with precision.


I really appreciate the thorough review of your experience so far.