Unboxing Colorado Brewing Systems new Single Vessel System

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
The re-circulation tube mounts to the basket via a removable bracket fitting. The same bracket simply mounts to the kettle for whirlpool. Tim at Colorado Brewing was very helpful and quick to respond. I can't see any reason to go with the Nano Pro-Down Under for my needs as a home brewer.

Recirculation Fitting.jpg
 
pretzelb said:
I like the stand you picked. Very nice setup.

I'm going to see if my mill can handle the 030 range. I had not thought to try and squeeze the grains. I'm not sure if I have a lid that might help do that. Or maybe I need to try one change at a time.
Click to expand...

Welp. Changing the mill seems like a bad idea for me. I can't run the pump without it draining the kettle. I guess my version with the solid sides is different. Too last fur today's session but I need to go back to the .039 range.

View attachment 1461521924426.jpg
 
How far down does the re-circulation fitting reach? is it far enough to whirlpool the post-boil 5 or 6 gallons for a single batch? (I've seen two different fitting pictures on their site and videos, one that is long and straight, another that is shorter and bent)

I guess my main concern is still how well a 15gal system will work for 5/6gal batches due to the amount of lost mash volume under the basket (especially for a high gravity small batch)
 
pretzelb said:
I include the chill plate with my kettle cleaning process loop. My fear of using boiling wort is adding debris to the chill plate. Plus, I assume Starsan will sanitize just like boiling wort will. So by not using the debris filled wort to sanitize I should be keeping debris out of my chill plate. In theory of course.

I'm also surprised clogging the plate isn't an issue.
Click to expand...

OK, this was a bad idea. I've created a separate thread in the equipment forum.

plate chiller issues with hot wort
 
pretzelb said:
Welp. Changing the mill seems like a bad idea for me. I can't run the pump without it draining the kettle. I guess my version with the solid sides is different. Too last fur today's session but I need to go back to the .039 range.
Click to expand...

Did you throttle down the outlet side valve from the pump to slow down the recirculation?
 
andrewmaixner said:
How far down does the re-circulation fitting reach? is it far enough to whirlpool the post-boil 5 or 6 gallons for a single batch? (I've seen two different fitting pictures on their site and videos, one that is long and straight, another that is shorter and bent)

I guess my main concern is still how well a 15gal system will work for 5/6gal batches due to the amount of lost mash volume under the basket (especially for a high gravity small batch)
Click to expand...

Mine goes down far enough for a 5 gal batch in my 20 gal system.
 
I brewed a 5 gallon batch in my 20 gallon tank yesterday with the new recirc. arm (retrofit model for the old single vessel system). I used 8 1/2 gallons of water. When I added the basket plus grains, the volume rose to about 9 1/2 gallons as per sight glass. The recirc. arm was about 1" above the liquid level. I also have the "all mesh" basket. Running the pump wide open blasted wort through the mesh and oxygenated the wort and created a lot of foam. It looked like I was mashing with Oxy Clean instead of grain. I throttled the pump back to maybe 25% flow and the foam died down. Hope this doesn't cause a problem.

I still really like the system, but like anything new, there is a learning curve involved. Feedback from users really helps.
 
rappell said:
Did you throttle down the outlet side valve from the pump to slow down the recirculation?
Click to expand...

I tried that but it was really bad. This is how it drained while suspended above the kettle. I had to use a mash paddle to scrape out the pockets of wort. I've never seen a stuck sparge like this before. And the crush wasn't as fine as I've done before.

View attachment 1461597225315.jpg
 
Fantastic upgrade! I upgrad d my pump from the 7gpm chugger to the 17 gpm chugger max. What a difference! The larger flow rate really moves the mash around. Just what you want with the all mesh basket. Probably would be bad with the solid side basket....

image.jpg
 
rappell said:
Mine goes down far enough for a 5 gal batch in my 20 gal system.
Click to expand...

@rappell
About how far off does the re-circulation arm sit from the bottom of the basket?

@pretzelb
Does yours sit low enough to to a 5 gallon batch or do you have to put some tubing on it? I'm curious if they have changed where the re-circulation arm sits on the newer kettles.

If either of you have any pictures that would be great. :mug:
 
mcgimpkins said:
@rappell
About how far off does the re-circulation arm sit from the bottom of the basket?

@pretzelb
Does yours sit low enough to to a 5 gallon batch or do you have to put some tubing on it? I'm curious if they have changed where the re-circulation arm sits on the newer kettles.

If either of you have any pictures that would be great. :mug:
Click to expand...

I have the grains for a stout recipe that requires 17.5 lbs of grain at 5g so I will be doing another 5g recipe next (if I could make 10g of this recipe that would be amazing). My plan is to always use a hose for a 5g recipe. I suppose with something huge it might be possible to avoid the hose but I have so many laying around it isn't a big deal to me.

In the distant future when I'm fully comfortable with the system I might look to experiment with other recirc options. Since the tri-clover clamps are used, all I need is something that can attach to an adapter. I was thinking something that drips liquid from the top like a traditional sparge (but with higher volume) might be interesting. If it was parallel with the top of the basket, then I could use it for both 5g and 10g batches.
 
swimIan said:
Curious how far "open" or at what rate others run their pump during mash recirculation? Thx!
Click to expand...
Only done one batch so the verdict is still out. It was 10 gallons and I had to keep it around 1/4-1/3 open it seemed or it would pull too much liquid before it could get through the grain bed.

Doing a 5 gallon of a RIS tonight so I am curious how this plays out. Similar grain bill as before at ~22# just far less liquid.
 
Unsure how you folks mash full throttle. I'm around an 1/8 open and still have to watch the level between the basket and kettle. Mashing at 149 and the top of the first 4" of the grain bed I can measure is 4 degrees low. Kind of want to up the PID a couple degrees to try to raven this out.

In the beginning of a 90 minute mash and don't want to have to stir and babysit this. I'm thirsty [emoji23]
 
Towards the end I was able to open the valve more before mash out. I suspect my pre boil gravity may be a bit low but crossing my fingers.
 
Under shot my gravity on a RIS but not by much, all in all a good brew session. My element shot the moon during cleaning though. Bummed about that but I have a backup
 
Ozarks_Mountain_Brew said:
I burnt a couple of mine, you can clean the elements off with oven cleaner if its charred, then do a pbw cleanout, should be fine
Click to expand...
Let me rephrase that, it's burnt up as in no more worky. ;)

I honestly think the solid side basket hinders this whole process and a full mesh basket like before would work better. I guess I need to buy rice hulls in bulk now
 
30Bones said:
Let me rephrase that, it's burnt up as in no more worky. ;)
Click to expand...

Ouch :(
I did that on my system also when I was new to it, fortunately I noticed as soon as it turned orange, cut the power, and it appears to have survived (at least according to the basic multi-meter test instructions from a water heater troubleshooting website). It's worked for two large brew sessions since then.

I am tempted to add a float switch at the element level which would disable the SSR when not floating, but that's yet another thing to goof around with and clean.
 
30Bones said:
Let me rephrase that, it's burnt up as in no more worky. ;)

I honestly think the solid side basket hinders this whole process and a full mesh basket like before would work better. I guess I need to buy rice hulls in bulk now
Click to expand...

I'm also looking at rice hulls as a regular part of the brew. My last brew was a monster 5g recipe with wheat and I used 1lb of rice hulls and a 045 crush. I'm going to try another high gravity beer and a 039 crush to see if the rice hulls will still work. Only part that annoys me is trying to rinse them before adding them. I don't want them to absorb water and throw off my calculations.

I also wonder about the solid side basket. Seems too restrictive.
 
pretzelb said:
I'm also looking at rice hulls as a regular part of the brew. My last brew was a monster 5g recipe with wheat and I used 1lb of rice hulls and a 045 crush. I'm going to try another high gravity beer and a 039 crush to see if the rice hulls will still work. Only part that annoys me is trying to rinse them before adding them. I don't want them to absorb water and throw off my calculations.

I also wonder about the solid side basket. Seems too restrictive.
Click to expand...
All things to keep me wondering. I just don't see the solid sides being a benefit since it's all to be soaking in the recirculating water anyway. Wish I could justify buying a new basket to test this theory, but that's not happening
 
Ozarks_Mountain_Brew said:
its an efficiency thing, if the grain is in its glue stage the water will flow over the top and out the sides, with solid sides it has to go out the bottom touching more grain on the way
Click to expand...
I get the idea in theory, but unsure it's 100% accurate since some seem to be able to run full bore start to finish and some can't. Not knocking the system, just learning how it all works best for me
 
30Bones said:
I get the idea in theory, but unsure it's 100% accurate since some seem to be able to run full bore start to finish and some can't. Not knocking the system, just learning how it all works best for me
Click to expand...

I'm starting to doubt the theory of the solid sided basket. Re-circulation in this system has the main benefit of keeping the temperature uniform and consistent. From the articles I read the only other benefit of re-circulation is clear wort but that is when it is part of a traditional 3 vessel system. I'm not so sure about the concept of improving extraction. What we do know is that BIAB can be beneficial to extraction due to the ability to crush to powder. But that goes out the window when you can't due to the inability to re-circulate. So the benefit of better efficiency from a finer crush are thrown away for no other benefit that I can easily find. I'm going to keep trying though. I'd like to try with another Wilser bag but unless I also get a false bottom shelf over the element it won't work.
 
the reason the screen is that fine and possibly causing a slow recirculation is it keeps grain from passing through and depositing on the element, if that happens it can bake and burn as your heating, this is not a theory, Ive gone through everything your going through many times and built many systems, tested many different ways and found that a full open recirculation is not going the change anything, your better off using half open and adjusting your pids for it, its not worth the trouble of constantly watching it
 
30Bones said:
Let me rephrase that, it's burnt up as in no more worky. ;)

I honestly think the solid side basket hinders this whole process and a full mesh basket like before would work better. I guess I need to buy rice hulls in bulk now
Click to expand...
Took out the element to wire up it's replacement and water got into the enclosure! Water not wort, very odd since it worked for an entire batch.

The element was not threaded in very tight. May order a new enclosure from Brewers Hardware when I order a T to move my probe to the kettle output.
 
Brewing a 10 gallon Schwarzbier and it's wide open and going well. The recirc arm rotated and sprayed my walls with wort. This needs a serious fix. So frustrated with this one single aspect of this system.

I may get it welded to the basket the. Add a tangential port on the side for whirlpooling. May kill my no hose change setup is all.
 
Also I was wondering if anyone is using any type of trub damn or hop spider over the output tube like the Electric Brewery? The pickup sit's so low it just sucks up all the proteins I don't want in the fermenter. I use hop bags and whirlflock/irish moss, but that massive pickup sucks all that crap right back up after a 15 minute rest.
 
30Bones said:
Also I was wondering if anyone is using any type of trub damn or hop spider over the output tube like the Electric Brewery? The pickup sit's so low it just sucks up all the proteins I don't want in the fermenter. I use hop bags and whirlflock/irish moss, but that massive pickup sucks all that crap right back up after a 15 minute rest.
Click to expand...

I think you have a different model than mine. I use a hop spider because of my plate chiller but I plan to change that. But I don't get much junk if I stop before it gets to low. But in not worried about trub in the fermenter which is why I hope to change to an IC. Then I can just drain all the way to the bottom.
 
Not worried about it in the fermenter, but it just gives false volumes is all.

I use a CF chiller and would rather not run all that slop through it. Not wanting to add a filter post kettle if I can avoid it. Plus I have limited room
 
30Bones said:
Also I was wondering if anyone is using any type of trub damn or hop spider over the output tube like the Electric Brewery? The pickup sit's so low it just sucks up all the proteins I don't want in the fermenter. I use hop bags and whirlflock/irish moss, but that massive pickup sucks all that crap right back up after a 15 minute rest.
Click to expand...

yes I have a clamp on shield that acts as a dam, it helps keep hops out of my pump from Brewhardware.com
 

Similar threads

nubrewer82
For Sale Ss Brewtech 10Gal 3 vessel eBrewing RIMS system + more Cincinnati OH
Replies
1
Views
603
nubrewer82
nubrewer82
G
Trying to narrow down options for a new AIO
Replies
7
Views
671
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
A
New K-RIMS System question
Replies
10
Views
913
Genuine
Genuine
M
For Sale Complete homebrew system - HERMS, conical, temp controlled.. Denver metro
Replies
1
Views
354
metaltim
M
movet22
For Sale Electric Brewery for Sale (Philly/South Jersey)
Replies
1
Views
599
Indian_villager
I
wps-hbt2

Latest posts

Back
Top