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I'm in a similar boat and went with the 20 gallon system (well, the kettle and basket anyway, I'm piecing together the rest of the system custom). It doesn't sound like there's any problems doing 5 gallon batches in the 20 gallon system, although I wouldn't be surprised if boiloff is higher...

I just bought a 20 gallon kettle from them -- how do you like having the temp probe near the bottom like that? It seems like there's not a viable option for a TC thermowell, so I'm probably going to do a TC->FPT like it looks like you've got.

I've used one of these along with my stovetop for 5.5/6 gallon batches the last few times. I haven't had any scorching problems. I use a cheap Home Depot spring clamp to hold it to the side of the kettle.

It will turn on less. You'll be using a temperature controller, which will turn the freezer on and off when the temperature fluctuates. So at, say, 42F, it will switch on, and the freezer will attempt to get it to 10F. Once it reaches, say, 38F, the temp controller will switch it off again.

I don't have numbers for this or anything, but once the temperature is reached with 20 gallons of beer, it probably takes less energy to maintain it than with 5 gallons. Thermal mass works in both directions -- it's cheaper to run a full fridge than an empty one.

Over serial?

You'll need a TC -> hose barb fitting like this: https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/tc15hb58.htm. You'll probably want to use a hose clamp on that, yeah. It's more hardware, i.e. more expensive, but might be easier to use TC -> male camlock fittings and hoses with female camlocks. That...

If I understand correctly, the Hosehead uses a separate circuit to power the elements. i.e. when powering 240V elements, the 240V input only drives the elements themselves. The Pi and pumps are on a separate circuit. For 120V, these could be the same circuit, but they don't have to be.

Does anyone use the hosehead temperature probes with a triclamp thermowell? My EBIAB kettle is going to have a 1.5" TC ferrule for a temp probe, and while I could do a TC to NPT fitting and then an NPT compression fitting, I'd rather keep the sanitary connections if possible.

To further clarify, the biggest drawbacks to BIAB are typically: you need a kettle much larger than into-fermenter batch size, around twice as large to be safe, and that with large amounts of grain it's a giant pain in the ass to lift. 14 lbs of grain gets heavy when it's wet, for 10 gallon+...

No, if it required more grain, it wouldn't be the same efficiency. That's like saying your car needs twice as much gas to get the same fuel efficiency. Also, no, BIAB (I'm assuming you mean no-sparge BIAB) isn't necessarily lower efficiency. There's some sugars left behind by the lack of a...

Could this be used as a replacement for Strangebrew Elsinore, for instance on the Hosehead controller?

How high OG were you able to get for 10 gallons in the 15? I don't brew much high gravity because I don't like to drink high ABV that much. So a few high gravity 5 gallon batches a year plus 10 gallon batches up to ~1.060 or so and I'd be happy, I think.

Has anyone done 10 gallon (11 into fermenters) batches with the 15 gallon Brew Boss setup? I'm thinking about getting the kettle and bag to use with a custom controller -- a 15 gallon kettle with 2 triclover fittings and a whirlpool port already installed for $225 is a pretty good deal. I'd...

Great work, this would be perfect for ramping up/down temperatures automatically! Is there by any chance a serial interface on the PIC, and could the firmware be written small enough to use it?