Blichmann BrewEasy

[the_mc]

You would think BIAB profile would be the one, but i've ran into a problem with it. I've been messing around with a sample recipe using the five gallon brew easy profile on beer smith. The recipe calls for 16 pounds of grain. The 5 gallon set up has a 7.5 gallon mash tun, using the BIAB mash profile, beer smith says i need a mash tun volume of 9.5 gallons.
The guys at Great Fermentations told me the 7.5 gallon mash tun will fit around 17 pounds of grain max.
Take it for what its worth. i'm by no means a seasoned brewer. But it's something i just noticed.

Well from my understanding is you put half the total water in the MT and the other half in the BK so you would never have the full volume in the MT at any given time so the MT would not need to be 9.5 gallons.

 

[RyanKC]

Yeah I get that. It would just be nice to have a mash profile to go along with the equipment profile.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[dooman333]

I understand there's going to be a wait due to shipping and such but im having a hard time finding the 10gallon full tower 240v setup online. Where should I be looking? Great Ferm, high grav and more beer all have just the LTE tower.

 

[dagavox]

Hi dooman333...you can find it in www.brockshomebrew.com

cheers!

 

[avmech]

Since this thread seems to be all things BrewEasy, I will add some information.

I ordered the 10G electric BrewEasy on November 7th. I still have not received the product and there is no sign of it showing up anytime soon. Customer service from Great Fermentations has been great and they indicate that Blichmann may be having some issues with manufacturing of the 20G BK.

I'm not complaining, I understand managing second and third tier suppliers can be challenging especially if you work with low-cost-county. Just a word of caution; if you order, plan to wait.

UPDATE:

Just got shipping notification yesterday that my order has shipped and will deliver on Friday. About a 5 week lead-time. Other people with open orders should start seeing shipping notifications.

 

[deroosa]

Looks like a therminator mounting plate for the TOP LTE is now available

http://www.brockshomebrew.com/SPD/therminator-bracket-tofp-lte-1869---3211422028519276287.jsp

 

[PilotCline]

Looks like a therminator mounting plate for the TOP LTE is now available

http://www.brockshomebrew.com/SPD/therminator-bracket-tofp-lte-1869---3211422028519276287.jsp

That has been available since the day of release. It is the full size tower that we would like a mount for.

 

[Flakk]

I'm sold, I'll be ordering a gas system in the next few days. Thank you for taking the time to write up all of your observations, danam.

 

[Danam404]

No problemo everybody . My issue now, is that I brewed so much when I first got it that I need to drink it all now... Need to free up kegs!

 

[the_mc]

No problemo everybody . My issue now, is that I brewed so much when I first got it that I need to drink it all now... Need to free up kegs!

I'll be right over!

 

[mrclean]

Yeah that's basically what I was getting in my original post but with a lot more words. HOWEVER. This only seems to be necessary at the beginning of the mash. Once everything gets stabilized for a Few minutes, the controller does fine.

Like I said, the Breweasy works as advertised and will get reasonably acceptable efficiency by following the manual... But if you want to take the extra time and effort it can do much more. Same as everything else, the more you put in, the more you get out.

I wonder if the gas setup would do a better job of stabilizing temperature in the mash. Probably not a big difference since we are talking steel here but one heat source is outside the mash and one is inside the mash.

Any first hand experience on accuracy of mash temp to ToP controler with gas?

Could be a good excuse for me to stay with gas and not worry about voltage

 

[Shuasha]

I wonder if the gas setup would do a better job of stabilizing temperature in the mash. Probably not a big difference since we are talking steel here but one heat source is outside the mash and one is inside the mash.

Any first hand experience on accuracy of mash temp to ToP controler with gas?

Could be a good excuse for me to stay with gas and not worry about voltage

I ordered the 10 gallon G1 system last week (I already had a G1 20 gallon kettle). I'll let you know once I do some test batches.

 

[Shuasha]

BAH! Blichmann shipped me a G2 kit instead of a G1, with a G1 mash tun on the same order. Sent an email to AIH to hopefully get it resolved soon.

 

[Pugalicious]

My 10 gallon electric system arrives tomorrow! I'm beyond excited! :rockin:

 

[wlffmnnn]

I am also interested in the gas Brew easy. I am a little disappointed in how Blichmanns website says to just buy the parts that you need to go with what you already have. I have a top teir system with a G1 10g brew kettle. I have the pump, the chiller, and 2 burners. But by the time I figured out everything I needed to make the conversion, it was only about 250.00 less than if I just bought the whole BrewEasy system turnkey.
I am not really big on meeting numbers. I should get more involved with it, instead I make my homebrew to drink and share with friends. I do have questions on it though such as:
1. As time consuming as it is to use a 3 tiered system with cleaning and sanitization and just the overall time to brew, how much time have you actually cut down on your brew day. I can generally make 2 brews in a good 12 hour day. This is me doing everything from getting everything out to getting everything put up after the brew day.
2. Why is the majority of what I am seeing people use and/or purchase is the electric units? I am a plumber by trade, and know that recirculating liquid ( water ) through any system is much better to do through a gas fired method than electric.
3. How do you overcome stuck sparges on the recirc system. Is it truly a flow issue? Is it like any other stuck sparge that has to be fixed at the source.
4. And last, Is it worth converting. I have moved and am unable to use my old system. I love to brew, but have contemplated going back to my old ways of the rectangular cooler mash tun and doing everything on my Camp Chef camp stove.

Over all I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the posts on this subject. My wife pointed this out to me and suggested that i look into it. I havent stopped researching since 8am this morning. Any advice will be great. Keep posting. Thanks a bunch.Wlff

 

[dooman333]

As long as you are hitting your temps why would propane as a heat source be better than a coil? I think some of these guys including myself are just trying to avoid an open flame indoors. Completely agree with your opinion of this thread... keep the feedback coming doods!!!

 

[dlaflamm]

Right, for me it is all about being able to safely brew inside during long New England winters.

 

[medicalneedles]

I got the gas 10g version and have loved it. It's being compared to my old method of extract and steeping grainsand with that comparison its 6 hours start to finish for me to make a full ten gallon batch with the Brew easy vs 3 hours to make a 5 gal extract batch.

In other words: it's the same time investment in gallons per hour as simple extract brewing in my experience.


Which, for all grain, and ten gallon batches seems awesome to me! I've had much more beer on hand since making the purchase and actually took 3rd place for a Vienna lager from my first batch in October. The best part about making ten gal at a time is that I've still got that lager on tap and its gloriously aged and clear as crystal

 

[medicalneedles]

Only had one suck sparge and it was directly related to not using rice hulls in my opinion.

In the end I overcame it by changing out for a much slower flow orifice and had a harder time ramping temps

 

[Pugalicious]

My 10 gallon electric system is here! I have to work today and tomorrow but I'm going to do a batch on Wednesday and another on Thursday. I'm planning on taking plenty of notes, pictures, and videos to share with everyone, since I wished there was more of this available before I made my purchase. Hopefully the additional input will help others in their decisions.

In the meantime, I'll be putting everything together, getting my starters going, and doing some tests with just water. Hoping to provide some info during that time as well. More to come very soon!

Also, if anyone has any specific questions or things they want to see from this system, please let me know. I'd be happy to take pictures, video, notes of any specifics that anyone might want to see. We'll learn together! I'm also considering having one of the batches be a 5 gallon batch to see how that goes on the 10 gallon system. If not, I'll certainly be doing a 5 gallon batch soon so I'll keep you posted.

 

[30Bones]

I'm also considering having one of the batches be a 5 gallon batch to see how that goes on the 10 gallon system. If not, I'll certainly be doing a 5 gallon batch soon so I'll keep you posted.

This is where I am very curious. I do 5 and sometimes 10 gallon batches so I'd opt for the 10 gallon system IF it would work well for my more common 5 gallon batch size

 

[Shuasha]

Worst case scenario, just use the mash tun like a normal 5 gallon batch without the recirculation, or recirculate from/to the mash tun until mash out time.

 

[Shuasha]

Where is everybody putting the temp probe for the tower of power in this setup? In mash tun or in the path of the recirculation?

 

[Gavin C]

Looking forward to seeing the process. Picture would be great.

Best of luck

 

[dooman333]

Very interested pugalicious. We appreciate it.

 

[samandbekah]

Thanks for all the info everyone!

Seriously considering pulling the trigger on one of these... Right now I am torn between getting the gas or electric (240) version in the 20 gallon size...

I'm going to be converting my downstairs basement kitchen to a dedicated brewery and this looks like the perfect setup!

One main question I have is for those using the 240v electric - how long does it take to get the wort to a boil and is it a strong, rumbling boil? Or just a simmer?

I have the blichmann burner and I am considering buying everything else to piece this beauty together but going in-doors for good makes me nervous about the open flame...

If anyone has any stats for boil time using natural gas vs the 240 boil coil please post!

 

[dlaflamm]

240v version definitely produces a vigorous boil easily. I haven't timed anything, but coming from the Blichmann burner I have been pleased. If others don't have stats for you, I can plan on timing things during my next brew.

 

[samandbekah]

240v version definitely produces a vigorous boil easily. I haven't timed anything, but coming from the Blichmann burner I have been pleased. If others don't have stats for you, I can plan on timing things during my next brew.

Wow excellent, glad to hear that... yes, if you don't mind would love to hear some stats... any issues cleaning the coil itself?

I really do not want to retire my blichmann gas burner... I LOVE that thing but at the same time... My kitchen will require ZERO construction if I move to electric... already have the 240 installed too!

 

[drksky]

Wow excellent, glad to hear that... yes, if you don't mind would love to hear some stats... any issues cleaning the coil itself?

I really do not want to retire my blichmann gas burner... I LOVE that thing but at the same time... My kitchen will require ZERO construction if I move to electric... already have the 240 installed too!

If you clean up right after the boil, they're pretty easy to clean. That's the trick with any brewery cleaning. Don't wait.

 

[Pugalicious]

Had my first brew day on my new 10 Gallon electric! So much info to share but I'm drunk and tired! More info and detail to come tomorrow...