Blichmann BrewEasy Brewing Challenges

[pegasusherd]

Hi All,
I bought the BrewEasy (5-gal) in 2016 around the time it first came out. I used it a few times without ever truly dialing in my process, and after many years hiatus, I started again in 2023. Unfortunately, I still have yet to get my process fully dialed in, and would love some feedback from anyone who uses the system successfully.

(1) Mash-In. I calculate water temp with BeerSmith paying attention to also input correct gain temp. At first, when grain is sitting ~10 min in MT with ~50% of the water (the other 50% is below in BK), the temp is significantly low. Once I start recirculation, I have a lot of trouble getting MT up to correct mash temp. A few observations:
-- I think some heat is lost during the 10-15 min mash-in (prior to recirculation). This could probably be remedied by mashing in with water a few degrees hotter.
-- I’ve been making beers with a fair amount of wheat, oats, etc. and have had some issues with slow or stuck mashes. This contributes to the problem because the MT temp is initially low and when I cannot get the recirculation going quickly, the temp keeps falling.

(2) Big Beers. For the first time I tried making a beer with a LOT of grain in the mash. 9 lbs two row, 3 lbs carapils, 5 lbs flaked oats, and 1.5 lbs rice hulls (pre-soaked). Many of the problems above were exacerbated and then some. MT temp was low to begin with. Had some trouble getting the recirculation going cleanly and by this time, MT was even lower and so the Boil Kettle had to ramp up temps very high (180 at one point) to get the MT back to temp. I assume this denatured a good portion of the enzymes because after a very long mash, I had absolutely terrible efficiency and ended up needing to compensate with DME.

Overall, I think the solution is to get the recirculation started rapidly after the 10-15 min mash-in period. Rather than trying to perfect this with simple recipes, I’ve been using lots of wheat, oats, etc. which is not helping the process.

Overall, to any BrewEasy users out there, any tips for (1) mash-in and (2) big beers that you can share? Thanks for reading, and for any suggestions you may have.

Chris

 

[Jag75]

I use a Grainfather, basically same type of system (aio) . You should have your full amount of water when you mash in . Your grain will drop the temp , especially if you only have 50% of the water in it.

Dough in shouldn't take 10-15. The quicker you start your recirc the better . When i brew 3bbls the dough in to recirculation is probably 10 min tops .

 

[pegasusherd]

I use a Grainfather, basically same type of system (aio) . You should have your full amount of water when you mash in . Your grain will drop the temp , especially if you only have 50% of the water in it.

Dough in shouldn't take 10-15. The quicker you start your recirc the better . When i brew 3bbls the dough in to recirculation is probably 10 min tops .

Hi @Jag75 , thanks for the feedback. I believe one key difference (if I understand GF correctly) between BrewEasy and Grainfather is that BE is two vessel. So when I mash in, the full volume of water is actually in the system, but it's split about 50/50 between MT and boil kettle. So that was my reference to ~50% of the water ...

Noted you dough in for 10 mins max. Realistically, 10 mins is probably what I do. Despite my impatience to get going, I have been trying to wait at least 10 mins to let the grain bed settle to mitigate stuck mash.

 

[Bobby_M]

1. Start with most of your water in the mash with just enough in the BK to cover the element with about 1/2" of wort. Be absolutely sure the autosparge is set perfectly so that you cannot drop the BK level to expose the element.

2. Be sure you calculate your strike water temperature via software to land at your desired first rest temp at dough in to prevent having to chase it.

3. No need to wait a full 15 minutes before recirculating. Give it 3 minutes after you stop stirring to settle and create a loose filter bed, then ramp up the flow very slowly.

The conundrum with K-RIMS designs is that the mash operates as a full volume mash, "no sparge" from a total water calculation perspective (total volume and water salts/acid/pH) but the initial temperature calculation has to only consider the volume that's in the mash tun if you leave them isolated for too long. That's why you're seeing such a low temperature. If you get it recirculating earlier, you can calculate the strike temp at the full volume. If you want to wait, you'll have to set the software as a batch sparge where the "sparge" volume is what's in the kettle and the strike is what's in the tun. You'll hit the initial numbers better that way. I hope that makes sense.

Finally, when you're tired of fiddling with that thing, remove the mash tun and put a bag in the boil kettle.

 

[k c]

I know this was posted a while ago, but I've been brewing on the 5 gallon BrewEasy since just about when it came out, and I have it dialed in pretty good so figured I'd give some insights on what works well for me.

• I use Brewfather to calculate the mash water strike temp (100% of the water in the kettle and the float set towards the upper limit depending on the amount of grain). My grain is usually sitting at about 67 degrees when I start, but I found by the time it gets ground and mixed up in the pail, it warms up to room temp, so I set the grain temp in the BrewEasy equipment profile to 70 degrees. When I use that setting, the temp is exactly on after I add the grains. For this example (Imperial Stout) , the strike temp was 158.7, the saccharification temp was 151, and the mash out was 167.
• I use a 1.5 BrewEasy Orifice in the downspout.
• I use a Spike Grain Mill set on 4 for my grain milling, and I never run the flaked oats or flaked wheat through the mill, I just add those in whole as they are already "flaked".
• Don't add your grains until the mash kettle water temp is stable at the target strike temp. In this example, that is 158.7. When it is stable and you are ready to add grains, drop the PID temp setting down to your target saccharification temp (plus whatever loss you have, in my case that is 2 degrees, so I set the PID to 153).
• When you add grains, keep the circulation running full time. I've heard of some people stopping the flow to add grains and then start it back up again, but I've found through the years that I simply add the grains 1 cupful at a time into the flowing mash water, and they settle themselves well with the flowing water. The grains being added cool the water as it is flowing through the system. After I'm done adding grains, I give one stir about 50% deep into the grain bed with a paddle, and that's it... I cover the kettle, check the target temp on the mash kettle (which will read 151 now), and start the fermentation timers.
• I typically use a 2-step mash with saccharification at 151 degrees (in this case) for 60 minutes. Then I heat the water to 167 and when the upper kettle reads 167, I start the mash out timer (10 minutes). Heating the water for mash out can be a little slow, so what I do is set the PID 10 degrees over target, and when the PID temp sensor hits my target temp, I back the PID back down to 2 degrees over target. This slight overshoot works great and by the time the temp settles to the mash out target in the mash kettle (168 in this case), the PID is stabilized pushing 169 degree water through (I lose about 2 degrees in the flow, so I always set the PID 2 degrees over my target temp). With this process, I've never had a stuck mash (knock on wood).
• After the mash out, I shut off the pump and let it drain.
  • If I'm in a hurry, I'll start to heat the wort while it is draining
  • If I'm doing a 2 part brew (sometimes I mash one night, and boil the next night) I'll just shut off the pump and coil and let it drain overnight which gives a teeny bit more efficiency.
• I get roughly 69-70% efficiency, so that is dialed into the equipment profile and the software adjusts the grain bill based on equipment efficiency. If I'm a little high or low, I just compensate in the boil, but generally I'm hitting right on target for the plato reading.
• On the big beers - you have a grain limit with the 5 gallon setup, but you can get a pretty good brew with that. I just did a 9 percent Imperial Stout and the kettle was full to the brim with a starting volume 9.3 gallons (which is about the most I've done). The grain bill was 18.3 lbs, and I don't think I could fit more in the mash kettle. If you need more OG than grain you can fit in the mash kettle will allow you, you have to augment with sugar during the boil... I'd say 18 lbs is just about the maximum this setup can do.

Hope this helps...
Ken