Blichmann BrewEasy

[the_mc]

Prince we are recirculating during the mash, would longer mash times increase efficiency points?

It would be an interesting test. I know that most BIAB info I have read suggests a 90 minute mash for better efficiency.

 

[BierHausPR]

It would be an interesting test. I know that most BIAB info I have read suggests a 90 minute mash for better efficiency.

Almost certainly. I did a 90 min mash at 146F, and the mash efficiency was about 82% if I remember correctly.

Stirred the upper 3rd of the mash every 15 mins.

 

[jackers252]

Wow, good results, Bier.

So you just mashed longer? Do you think there is a risk of extracting tannins with longer mashes? What is your opinion of just raising it to the "sparge" temp for longer than the recommended 10 minutes? That would stop the conversion process.

 

[the_mc]

Wow, good results, Bier.

So you just mashed longer? Do you think there is a risk of extracting tannins with longer mashes? What is your opinion of just raising it to the "sparge" temp for longer than the recommended 10 minutes? That would stop the conversion process.

It is recommended by many BIABer's to mash for 90 minutes with no adverse affects such as tannins.

 

[jackers252]

Great, thanks for the tip. I don't know much about BIAB so this is like a new learning experience for me.

I'm loving how small of a footprint the Breweasy is.

 

[BierHausPR]

I always mash 90 min for dry saisons, and tannins are a problem at high temps and over-sparges.

Brewed a 13 gal Imperial Smoked Stout yesterday. Target OG was 1.085 and measured was 1.083. Got 65% efficiency, but the grist was huge (48lbs), and only mashed for 60 min at 152F. Mash out at 168F for 15min.

Did a 75min boil and my boiloff was less than I expected, but the OG was pretty good. I always have problems with the boiloff because at sea level with an ambient temp of 86F, if I don't set the cycle to control de boil, I miss the target post-boil volume.

 

[Danam404]

It is recommended by many BIABer's to mash for 90 minutes with no adverse affects such as tannins.

I know guys who mash overnight with no ill effects.. 90 minutes will certainly not hurt, and i would tend to agree that it helps.

Glad to see people are getting a handle on efficiency!

 

[silhouette]

I was assembling my brew easy this weekend. I was wondering where folks used the PTFE thread tape. Far as i could tell the directions only specified on the out of the pump and male end of the ball valve (attached to the pump).

Should i use the tape
- on the quick connects for kettle?
- on the "in" for the pump?
- on the temperature sensor?

Thanks!

 

[BierHausPR]

Wherever the Blich QDs have a red O-rings, and the Temp sensor screws into the TOP, won't need thread tape. The water pump inlet and outlet may need them if its NPT thread.

 

[BierHausPR]

Danam404,

Where'd you snatch the sweet Heat resistant gloves you use on the vid?? Link me up to Amazon!!

Thanx!

 

[SwitchbladeSquirrel]

I think one of the best aspects of the breweasy is access to the mash for gravity testing. I can easily take a reading at 45 minutes or 60 minutes to see if I've reached the gravity I'm shooting for, and either move to the next step early or mash longer if I need to. Cant do that easily with a cooler without mucking up the temps.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I think one of the best aspects of the breweasy is access to the mash for gravity testing. I can easily take a reading at 45 minutes or 60 minutes to see if I've reached the gravity I'm shooting for, and either move to the next step early or mash longer if I need to. Cant do that easily with a cooler without mucking up the temps.

Pull a sample from the outlet of the cooler. No temperature mucking up required.

 

[roncruiser]

I know it's pushing it, but can the 7.5 gallon mashtun hold 20 pounds of grain?

1.25 qt/lb of grain equates to 7.85 gallons of space for 20 pounds of grain. So, that's out of the question.

1 qt/lb of grain equates to 6.6 gallons of space for 20 pounds of grain. This may work.

Anyone with experience with the 7.5 gallon BrewEasy mash tun, please chime in. Am I missing something here? Other than going to a larger alternate mashtun, any tricks or tips to get this to work with the 7.5 gallon?

Thanks!

 

[Hex23]

One thing you may be missing is something I mentioned a few posts ago. With a larger grain bill, you'll need to have more wort in the MT, resulting in less in the BK. If it's too little, it may not cover the coils (assuming you're electric and not gas)

Edit: I guess a similar problem might exist for gas. If there is too little wort in the BK, it might increase the chances of scorching. I'd also guess that it might change the dynamics of the control system (assuming a ToP) enough to make temp control more difficult?

 

[roncruiser]

One thing you may be missing is something I mentioned a few posts ago. With a larger grain bill, you'll need to have more wort in the MT, resulting in less in the BK. If it's too little, it may not cover the coils (assuming you're electric and not gas)

Edit: I guess a similar problem might exist for gas. If there is too little wort in the BK, it might increase the chances of scorching. I'd also guess that it might change the dynamics of the control system (assuming a ToP) enough to make temp control more difficult?

I have the propane model and no Tower of Power

Assuming I use 1 quart/pound of grain. Before re-circulation, I will start off with 5 gallons in the MT by itself. Approximately 3 gallons will be absorbed by the grains leaving 2 gallons of unabsorbed liquid in the MT. The difference of 4.5 gallons will be in the BK heating up and getting pumped back up to the MT when re-circulation starts. Even starting with 2.5 gallons in the MT should still allow enough wort in the brew kettle.

I might be missing something still. Let me know if I am.

This is all assuming about a 6.5 gallon pre-boil volume.

 

[roncruiser]

...or simplify it and do two mashes of 10 pounds each. Then recombine at the end. I lose time, but believe this will be better for conversion and efficiency.

 

[Hex23]

Those numbers seem reasonable to me. So 4.5 gallons in the BK should be plenty.

Just a couple other things you may want to consider:

1) Is your AS in a location that it can handle that much grain. Consider grain interfering with the hinge. Will the led still fit?

2) with a lower water to grist ratio the efficiency might take a hit (but you could compensate with time).

 

[roncruiser]

Those numbers seem reasonable to me. So 4.5 gallons in the BK should be plenty.

Just a couple other things you may want to consider:

1) Is your AS in a location that it can handle that much grain. Consider grain interfering with the hinge. Will the led still fit?

*The autosparge is mounted as high on the MT as possible. I've not used this much grain before so I am unsure if grains will interfere or the lid will still fit.

2) with a lower water to grist ratio the efficiency might take a hit (but you could compensate with time).

*Agreed! I'll likely go with two separate mashes. I've not combined mashes before. Will the wort from the first mash be okay sitting around waiting for the 2nd mash to finish? Should I stick it in the fridge during the 2nd mash?

Thanks for the replies... it really helps.

 

[Hex23]

Closest experience I can share is that I let some spent mash sit for 4 hours and it went sour in that time. Since you're probably talking just a couple hours and the wort is fairly acidic, I doubt you'd have any problems. Probably would want to keep a lid on it though.

 

[Danam404]

Danam404,

Where'd you snatch the sweet Heat resistant gloves you use on the vid?? Link me up to Amazon!!

Thanx!

It may have been you who commented on the video, but theres a link in the comment section now

 

[BierHausPR]

Yep! Thanks for the link!!

 

[BierHausPR]

*Agreed! I'll likely go with two separate mashes. I've not combined mashes before. Will the wort from the first mash be okay sitting around waiting for the 2nd mash to finish? Should I stick it in the fridge during the 2nd mash?

Thanks for the replies... it really helps.

As long as you're sanitary, and keep it well covered, your wort-in-waiting will be OK. Lots of brewers pitch yeast hours later, while they wait for the right temperature. I've pitched 12-14 hours later with no ill effects.

Who says you can't mash some more wort in the meanwhile?

 

[roncruiser]

As long as you're sanitary, and keep it well covered, your wort-in-waiting will be OK. Lots of brewers pitch yeast hours later, while they wait for the right temperature. I've pitched 12-14 hours later with no ill effects.

Who says you can't mash some more wort in the meanwhile?

Two separate mashes may not work.

The volumes won't work out for each separate mash for a 7 gallon pre-boil volume when combined at the end.

Using a much more efficient 1.5 quarts/lb of grain, for 10 pounds of grain, I calculated 4.55 gallons of the MT volume being used up. Of that, about 1.5 gallons will be soaked up by the grain. Leaving 3.05 gallons in the MT. That leaves .45 gallons to be used in the BK for heating before getting pumped back up into the MT. Not good enough.

There won't be enough water in the BK for heating. In other words not enough margin for error. I only need 3.5 gallons of wort from each 10 pound mash. When combined at the end will give me a 7 gallon preboil volume at the proper starting gravity.

I could be wrong, but I'll have to re-think this one. I may have to use my 10 gallon MT cooler in place of the 7.5 gallon Blichman MT for this one and do all 20lbs at once.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[jackers252]

Well I knocked out two brews this weekend on my new Breweasy and I just love it. Thanks to the hints and tips in this thread and the helpful video, I hit my numbers just fine.

It's so much nicer brewing in the basement. Heck, I brewed a batch today in my pajamas. I did a 90 minute mash and 90 minute boil and my brew day, including cleanup, was still quicker than with my old setup doing 60/60 minutes.

 

[30Bones]

Well I knocked out two brews this weekend on my new Breweasy and I just love it. Thanks to the hints and tips in this thread and the helpful video, I hit my numbers just fine.

It's so much nicer brewing in the basement. Heck, I brewed a batch today in my pajamas. I did a 90 minute mash and 90 minute boil and my brew day, including cleanup, was still quicker than with my old setup doing 60/60 minutes.

What are you using for ventilation? That is likely my biggest issue in my basement. Maybe someday

 

[hmattar]

I`m still dialing the ammount of water I need to use in the 10 gallon breweasy.
I`m hitting 70% efficiency, but using the ammount of water Beersmith tells me to, i`m allways ending with more beer and lower gravity.
My last brew beersmith told me to use a total of 17.5 gallons of water (I wanted to finish with 11.5 gallons of beer) but I ended up with 13,8 gallons losing 5 points in gravity.
I will cut the water in 15% of what beersmith tells me to use, but I would love to just fix Beersmith.
What mash profiles are you guys using?

 

[the_mc]

I`m still dialing the ammount of water I need to use in the 10 gallon breweasy.
I`m hitting 70% efficiency, but using the ammount of water Beersmith tells me to, i`m allways ending with more beer and lower gravity.
My last brew beersmith told me to use a total of 17.5 gallons of water (I wanted to finish with 11.5 gallons of beer) but I ended up with 13,8 gallons losing 5 points in gravity.
I will cut the water in 15% of what beersmith tells me to use, but I would love to just fix Beersmith.
What mash profiles are you guys using?

I too tend to have extra wort...my total water volume is around 16.8 Gallons but I do hit my numbers right on target. I use the Single Infusion Mash profiles and this hardware profile:

 

[BierHausPR]

I too tend to have extra wort...my total water volume is around 16.8 Gallons but I do hit my numbers right on target. I use the Single Infusion Mash profiles and this hardware profile:

Same here. Adjust your lauter tun deadspace, your loss to trub and your boiloff rates by doing a "wet run" with only water, and then measuring the true values for each. I'm still tweaking mine.

Remember, heavy hop profiles increase trub loss.

 

[Danam404]

Hi guys, great fermentations just posted the text write-up companion to my video on the BrewEasy. Hope this helps someone!

Dana

http://www.greatfermentations.com/brew-day-tips-blichmann-breweasy/

 

[roncruiser]

Are you guys factoring in grain absorption? You have too right? Is it considered part of lauter tun loss?