Blichmann BrewEasy

[Danam404]

Mine showed up today! Six boxes and 104 glorious pounds. Unfortunately I'm in Kuwait and Italy for a work trip... be home Monday to try it out. Can someone post a full review after use? I will do the same when I get it going.

 

[dooman333]

Drooling with jealousy. I need to buy this. More reviews please

 

[limulus]

I really want to buy my "last" homebrew setup and I keep coming back to this system. For you guys who have them, are they easy to clean? Easy to clean is my biggest desire now. By easy, I mean easy to disassemble, easy to get all the used grain out, easy to wash in a sink.

 

[medicalneedles]

I've only used mine once so far, and I'm stepping up from a 7 g pot and doing extract batches. So, with that in mind it's very easy to clean, but I have the 10 gallon setup with a 15 g and 20 g pots that are larger than your ordinary kitchen sink capacity for cleaning. Fwiw.




---


Primary: north of the border Vienna lager


Secondary:


Kegged: Brett IIPA, scotch ale


RIP: Kern River Citra DIPA


On Deck: Stouts

 

[Semad9]

I am new to posting, but have been a long time reader of the forum. Sorry if this has been asked before. I am looking to upgrade to the 10 gallon electric setup myself. I brew a mix of 5 and 10 gallon batches throughout the year. I am wondering if the 10 gallon setup would be servicable for 5 gallon batches? I am nervous the element wouldn't be completely submerged with the 20 g kettle for a 5 g batch.

medicalneedles, do you have any any thoughts on this this since you've got the 10 g setup (or others who have the electric version)?

I am already anticipating that there would be some variances with evaporation rates and the grain beds, but I figure that probably could be managed if it's technically feasible.

 

[medicalneedles]

Really can't help since I have the propane version




---


Primary: north of the border Vienna lager


Secondary:


Kegged: Brett IIPA, scotch ale


RIP: Kern River Citra DIPA


On Deck: Stouts

 

[Danam404]

I am new to posting, but have been a long time reader of the forum. Sorry if this has been asked before. I am looking to upgrade to the 10 gallon electric setup myself. I brew a mix of 5 and 10 gallon batches throughout the year. I am wondering if the 10 gallon setup would be servicable for 5 gallon batches? I am nervous the element wouldn't be completely submerged with the 20 g kettle for a 5 g batch.

medicalneedles, do you have any any thoughts on this this since you've got the 10 g setup (or others who have the electric version)?

I am already anticipating that there would be some variances with evaporation rates and the grain beds, but I figure that probably could be managed if it's technically feasible.

A 5-gallon batch will work with the 10 gallon version. Takes about 4.5 gallons to cover the element fully. It won't reach the thermowell but thats no biggie.

 

[Danam404]

First brew day on the electric brew easy yesterday. The rig was awesome... easy to clean, nailed temps, etc. My efficiency was crap, i need to get to the bottom of that.

 

[bmiller8]

What was your efficiency?

 

[Semad9]

Thanks so much danam - this is really helpful. It's great to see your photos of the system up and running. I am eager to continue to hear your (and everyone else's) experience with brewing on it.

Hopefully I'll be joining the ranks here in a couple weeks with the 10 g setup. Cheers!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[dlaflamm]

I took some time today and played around with my BrewEasy (5 gal, 240v). I didn't brew anything, but just tried to get comfortable with it and also ran some PBW through it for an initial clean. I took a bunch of pictures and uploaded them to DropBox. Here's the public link to the gallery: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7ztibmj2dsarecn/AADktKhNnVMOkQSqauxAtmBha?dl=0

Below are some of my thoughts/notes. I know there is a lot I don't know, so feel free to kindly correct me and add info. I make no claims about being an expert. I just know people are hungry to hear more about this system, so I thought I'd share my limited experience so far.

I assembled it last week. I did not find it difficult. I didn't happen to have a deep 7/8" socket, so I picked one up. I'm sure I could have borrowed one easily enough. It is needed for installation of the BoilCoil.

I fiddled around to see if I could just set the kettles on top of my stove, but it was too high for me. I needed a step stool to see in the mash tun. A tall chair (a sturdy bar chair) wasn't level enough and I was worried that even with some cork pad heat mats it might still be too much for the finish of the chair. I ended up setting it on my burner (w/ leg extensions). That was a perfect height for me to comfortably see and reach into the mash tun. I'm about 5'9". I'll have to figure out another solution since I'm selling the burner, but at least now I know this height works well for me. I like the idea of having it on a cart with locking wheels, but I don't think the KettleKart will be my choice.

Judging just from the pictures, the KettleKart looks like it is made to work best with a burner on it. For the electric version, I question whether it would really be at a sufficient height when the LTE is sitting on the floor with a pump and Therminator. Might be OK, but I definitely like it up higher if only for comfort.

I added water to both kettles -- enough to cover the BrewMometer probes. The temps in the two kettles always seemed to be about 5 degrees (F) apart even 20 minutes or so after reaching 167. Neither agreed completely with the temperature sensor placed right after the pump and read on the controller. Checking with a digital thermometer, the mash tun BrewMometer seemed about right when measured at the top of the water where it was hottest. I could not reach into the boil kettle while the mash tun was on top, so I couldn't check that one. I may need to calibrate one or both of my BrewMometers.

I didn't test yet whether the sight gauge for the boil kettle was installed in a way that corrects for the coil displacement. Based on an earlier discussion on HBT in which John Blichmann participated, I don't think the gauge is installed in a way that accounts for it. It may not be a big deal, at least for this size. And it isn't difficult to use another container to add water and measure it that way. The BoilCoil dimensions are posted online. Can any of you (engineers?) calculate the volume of the 10 gal coil for me? I don't recognize some of the column heading abbreviations and I am guessing some of you could do it much faster than it would take me to figure it out. Here is the link: http://www.blichmannengineering.com/sites/default/files/boilcoil_dimensional_drawing_v2.PDF

BTW, I have seen some questions about how much water is needed to cover the various size coils. You can find a chart with that info here: http://www.blichmannengineering.com/products/boilcoil

What else... I found the manual could use quite a bit of updating and improving. For example, the manual does not show an LTE stand setup alongside a BrewEasy with hoses, RTD sensor, etc. A close-up of the various connections would be nice for people like me who still have a lot to learn. I brewed extract for many years, but only jumped to an all-grain setup last year. I bet there are quite a few folks like me who will get a BrewEasy and a manual with more pictures (yes, I can read! ha, ha) and more detailed instructions would be helpful. The manual isn't terrible, there were just a few things I couldn't find. Another example is whether pipe tape is needed on the threads for the temperature sensor -- couldn't find that answer in there. I put some tape on figuring it was better to err on the side of not messing up the threads. I can always remove it. The temperature sensor cable seems much longer than necessary. You'll see it in at least one of my pictures coiled up with a clothes pin holding the cable coil together.

The manual shows the older ball valve in the pictures. The new linear flow valve is not shown. The elbow that goes on the boil kettle extends below the bottom of the pot, so if you leave the valve oriented down then the pot must be positioned on the edge of something to allow the elbow to fit. The linear flow valve can be oriented in any direction, but then the elbow probably isn't the best choice for that hose connection. I would have liked to have the option for an extra straight connection so I could orient the valve sideways. I may have to purchase one depending on what I end up using for a stand/cart.

My Therminator is mounted on the LTE over the pump like it is designed to do. I wonder if there should be a drip shield over the pump? I know Blichmann sells one for their full size tower, so why wouldn't one be necessary here?

Although the BrewEasy is billed as a turnkey system, there are a couple things I would have liked to see included that were not. The most obvious one is the communications cable. The software that requires the cable sounds like it makes things even easier, though I haven't checked out any reviews. It would be nice if the cable was at least a recommended option when ordering.

The HopBlocker and Therminator might also be good recommended options when ordering. I already had both, so it was nice not to have to purchase them. Speaking of the HopBlocker, it is a tight fit. The dip tube goes between the coils, and then the HopBlocker goes inside the coil. Although I've been using it for a while, I've never been a big fan of the HopBlocker. It just feels a little clunky. I've been thinking a hop spider might be a better option. I do bag all my (pellet) hops.

An option I think should be offered with every BrewEasy is the decision about where to punch the hole for the sparge arm. Somewhere in the documentation it says that the sparge arm is usually located on the same side as the pump. I can imagine situations where someone would want to specify one side or the other. It didn't matter for me.

Just FYI because they could easily be missed. There are clear plastic protective coverings on 3 kettle labels (on each pot). Good to peel those off before you heat up anything.

I don't find the Blichmann QuickConnector fittings to actually be very quick. I will probably swap them out for some stainless quick disconnects.

OK...so here is one thing that somebody must have figured out how to do -- but I haven't yet. How the heck do I disconnect the hoses without spilling whatever liquid is in them? For example, to move the hose from the sparge arm to the Therminator. There must be a good way to do this(?).

I hope at least some of this was interesting to read.

 

[medicalneedles]

@Danam404

Which orifice were you using for the flow rate?

For my 10 g BrewEasy system I used the 2.0 gpm for heating strike water and recirculation, then switch to the 1.25 gpm orifice and obtained 71% efficiency with an all barley (no adjunct) mash.






---


Primary: north of the border Vienna lager


Secondary:


Kegged: Brett IIPA, scotch ale


RIP: Kern River Citra DIPA


On Deck: Stouts

 

[dooman333]

Thanks for the feedback. So is the sight glass useless with a boil coil?

 

[Danam404]

@Danam404

Which orifice were you using for the flow rate?

For my 10 g BrewEasy system I used the 2.0 gpm for heating strike water and recirculation, then switch to the 1.25 gpm orifice and obtained 71% efficiency with an all barley (no adjunct) mash.

I used the 1gpm for the whole thing. 10 gallon batch. Maybe I will try the 1.25 as well. Did you trust the temp controller for your mash temps or did you use the brewmometer and adjust the digital accordingly?

As far as the temp probe, it is not supposed to have teflon tape on it.




One more thing I wanted to add for anyone who plans on buying one of these systems. I HIGHLY recommend purchasing from Great Fermentations. I ordered from them because they're always the first ones to get blichmann products, but was pleasantly surprised at how awesome Bryan over @ Great Ferm is. I had a faulty temp probe with my unit, he overnighted me a new one with no questions asked. He's been quick to answer my countless "When will the brew easy be available?" and "when will my unit ship" questions, and has gone above and beyond with helping me correct my efficiency issues even after he made the sale. They will be my goto for ordering any homebrew stuff online from here on out.

Cannot say enough positive things about Great Fermentations.

 

[medicalneedles]

I trusted the temp controller. their documentation says its calibrated prior to shipping, but I also calibrated my brewmometer with distilled water at 150 with a third High quality digital thermometer.

I too bought my system from Great Fermentations and totally agree. They rock. And I have no financial interests in their business. 😛


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[dlaflamm]

Thanks for the feedback. So is the sight glass useless with a boil coil?

No, I think it is still useful. I checked it today by filling from a large measuring cup. It doesn't appear to be off a significant amount for the 5 gallon BrewEasy. See the attached picture.

And it is also useful in other ways. Here is a quote from the manual:

TIP: Fortunately the BoilerMaker brew pot features a level gauge that can be used to warn you of impending stuck mashes. The level gauge acts as a manometer (pressure gauge) to indicate how hard you are drawing on the mash bed. If the level in the sight glass drops more than half of the starting level (with the pump off) you are drawing too fast and are risking a stuck mash. Either install a lower flow orifice or throttle the flow using the outlet valve of the mash tun. If you experience grain bed compaction troubles, it is nearly always the result of crushing your grain too finely.

As far as the temp probe, it is not supposed to have teflon tape on it.

Thanks. Source of info and/or rationale?

+1 on a good experience with Great Fermentations!

 

[OzzyBrew]

I just used my 10 gallon breweasy for the first time last night. It was pretty fun and I think everything went well, however my eff was way low at roughly 60%. I used the 1.25 gal washer and just trusted the temp controller for temps. Before I brew again I will calibrate the brewmometer's just to be safe. My plan is to play around with the flow rates next batch to see what I can do to increase eff. 60% is pretty bad and a waste really, since I had 30.5 lbs of grain in there.

 

[dooman333]

Appreciate it. The systems low square footage and lack of lifting has really peeked my interest. Low efficiency seems to be a trend thus far. Hoping this is just working out the kinks. Anybody else with feedback?

 

[joeman]

I got the 5 gallon electric breweasy system. I've got it because I thought I can plug it into any outlet in my house. Even with the 110 volt I had to rewire some things and change some breakers to get it to work properly. It requires a 20 amp fuse and an outlet that looks very different from your common household outlets. My efficiency also went to about 60 percent. Before I was using a cooler at the mash ton and always hit about 72 73 percent. Outside of the efficiency I would say the cleaning is very easy. And the setup and breakdown is also very simple. And the fact that I can store it in a very small space makes it a winner for me. I set the system on a metel stand that is 8 inches high. And was able to brew indoors without causing heat damage to my wood floor. I only had to worry about the condensation.

 

[medicalneedles]

I've only brewed one batch at 71% efficiency. I'm not certain if I just had a beginners luck but my stats were:


- all barley (no adjunct mash) milled at LHBS with their standard roller settings
- with recirculation heated 16.5 gallons (8.5 in the top and 8 in the bottom kettle) to 158 degF using the 2.0 gpm orifice
-dough in with 23 lbs of grain then rest for 10 mins
- begin RIMS using the 1.25gpm orifice, mash temp stabilized at 147 degF
- adjusted Mash temp to 150 and recirculated for 45 mins
- adjusted temperature setting to 168 and recirculated for 20 mins
- drained at 1.25 gpm.

Would like to compare my process with the others who got lower efficiency.






---


Primary: north of the border Vienna lager


Secondary:


Kegged: Brett IIPA, scotch ale


RIP: Kern River Citra DIPA


On Deck: Stouts

 

[OzzyBrew]

MedNeedles - I was curious about your crush, thanks for the info. I used my cereal killer grain mill, set at the same numbers as it came from Adventures in Homebrewing (the settings have been fine for my previous BIAB batches). I was making a black ipa with 26 lbs of 2-row with 4 lbs of other various grains. I see you used 16.5 gallons of water. I am curious as to how much wort you had at the end. Here were my calcs, taken from brewersfriend water volume management: (I guessed on dead space and trub, staying with bf default numbers)

40 qt wort
15 qt grain absorp
2 qt dead space
6 qt boil off (60 minute boil)
1 qt trub
1.6 qt shrinkage

This added up to 65.6 qt or16.4 gallons, so I rounded up to 16.5 gallons. 8.5 in the upper kettle, 8 in the lower.
- Began heating water and started recirc. Played around with pump until flows evened out.
- Dough in at 159.7 deg, mash at 152 deg. Waited 10 mins, started recirc.
- Set temp on tower of power at 152, set to auto and finished out 60 min mash.
- Stopped recirc and allowed water to drain from top kettle to bottom.
- While it was draining, I turned on the tower of power and allowed boil kettle to start coming up to boiling.
- After the top kettle drained I removed it and got ready for boil.

After a 60 minute boil I chilled the wort with a very undersized immersion chiller, but it eventually got the job done. I did not think about a whirlpool, nor did I think ahead to clean my pump and lines to use for wort transfer. Instead I just grabbed my auto-siphon and got going on transfer. I got 5.25 of really clear wort into one fermenter. The second fermenter got about 4 gallons of nice clear wort, and roughly 1.25 gallons of murky trub/hopped up stuff. Like a dummy I forgot to measure the final remaining liquid/sludge, but I estimate it roughly 1/2-3/4 gallons.

Anyway, I took a sample and using 11 gallons as the final numbers in Brewsmith got me a 63.8% eff. The fun thing about this brew is I added a 1.5L of 1056 to one fermenter, and 2 packs of us-05 to the other. I am interested in how much difference there will be between these two similar strains.

Sorry for the long post.

(sp entire post)

 

[medicalneedles]

The only real difference I can see between our processes is a mash-out step for raising the temp to around 170degF to solubilize the last of the remaining sugars and finalize conversion within the mash... Maybe that could account for the 8% difference in efficiency?


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[OzzyBrew]

Well it's certainly worth the try. I never did that with standard BIAB, but I also increased my 2-row by 1 lb per recipe to skew the eff #'s in my favor. I probably won't be able to brew for roughly 3 weeks, but will post my results once I try a mash out.

 

[Braufessor]

The only real difference I can see between our processes is a mash-out step for raising the temp to around 170degF to solubilize the last of the remaining sugars and finalize conversion within the mash... Maybe that could account for the 8% difference in efficiency?


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

I think this step could definitely make a few percentage points difference...... I know it does on my 3 tier set up...... heating that mash/wort up toward the end thins things out, keeps my mash from getting sticky, bumps my efficiency up several points. I would think it would be the same on this system.

Also, I would think since this system uses all the water at once, finding the sweet spot of the least amount of strike water/total volume that can effectively be used and still get boil volumes, enough water to recirculate, avoiding thick mash.....etc.... whatever that low (and still effective) amount is will get a few points too.

Still eying one of these and looking at pulling the trigger sooner or later.

 

[Danam404]

Brewing a 15 gallon batch of pumpkin on my 10 gallon BE tonight. She will handle the extra capacity with a 1.068 beer but just barely. The autosparge is rendered more or less useless for the mash level, but throttling of the pump valve works. Noticed my level gauge on the mash tun dipping severely, just as the manual references it being a manometer for stuck mash... Had to swap all the way down to the .75 orifice to counteract this. Noticed my brewmometer being significantly colder in the mash than the controller (142ish), but resisted the urge to bump the temp and trusted the controller. Also just bumped the mash out temp to 170, giving this step a shot. Will report back with numbers when I get them.

 

[Danam404]

Brewing a 15 gallon batch of pumpkin on my 10 gallon BE tonight. She will handle the extra capacity with a 1.068 beer but just barely. The autosparge is rendered more or less useless for the mash level, but throttling of the pump valve works. Noticed my level gauge on the mash tun dipping severely, just as the manual references it being a manometer for stuck mash... Had to swap all the way down to the .75 orifice to counteract this. Noticed my brewmometer being significantly colder in the mash than the controller (142ish), but resisted the urge to bump the temp and trusted the controller. Also just bumped the mash out temp to 170, giving this step a shot. Will report back with numbers when I get them.

Came up with 1.054 OG, BeerSmith shows me at 65% efficiency tonight. Not where I want to be but getting there, I feel like the 15 gallon batch may have had something to do with this.. couldn't exactly operate by the book. Much better than the first time, so I'm happy.

 

[Danam404]

Photos from Pumpkin brew night.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Nice looking system! Is there adequate ventilation for the boil? I see some holes on the sides...I wonder if an exhaust pipe can be fitted?

 

[Danam404]

Nice looking system! Is there adequate ventilation for the boil? I see some holes on the sides...I wonder if an exhaust pipe can be fitted?

The top kettle is removed for the boil

 

[limulus]

Nice looking system! Is there adequate ventilation for the boil? I see some holes on the sides...I wonder if an exhaust pipe can be fitted?

Hey, it's ScubaSteve! What ever became of that system you were building with all the electronic valves and a truckload of stainless parts? BTW, have you always lived in NC?