Brew Boss Systems

[u81doughboy]

Thanks for the insight. I'm planning a big brew in the next couple of weeks.

 

[bowserm]

Any chance you guys know how to reset the wifi settings on the module?

*edit *

I should say reset the wifi module without knowing the old wifi settings

 

[jturman35]

Email Darin. There is a reset button on the board somewhere.

 

[MerlinWerks]

Starting on page 64 of the Legacy Brew-Boss Manual (v2.07) are the instructions for connecting your controller to your home network. I'm reasonably certain that the initial screenshots show the default Brew-Boss network values.

 

[bowserm]

I know someone who purchased a second hand brew-boss and the original owner didn’t remove his network info from it. The brew-boss support team want him to ship back his radio they will reprogram it and ship back, but they want something close to 60 USD to do it. Plus time shipping back and forth will end up being a month + without it

 

[andrewmaixner]

I know someone who purchased a second hand brew-boss and the original owner didn’t remove his network info from it. The brew-boss support team want him to ship back his radio they will reprogram it and ship back, but they want something close to 60 USD to do it. Plus time shipping back and forth will end up being a month + without it

I don't know for sure if it will also wipe the saved settings, but you could flash the NVRAM with a new/upgrade firmware:
https://www.brew-boss.com/v/vspfiles/files/pdf/Brew-BossFirmwareUpdateInstructions.pdf

 

[bowserm]

I don't know for sure if it will also wipe the saved settings, but you could flash the NVRAM with a new/upgrade firmware:
https://www.brew-boss.com/v/vspfiles/files/pdf/Brew-BossFirmwareUpdateInstructions.pdf

Thank you, I will have him try it.

 

[Toadies]

Does anyone know if it’s possible to extend the feets of the brew boss 15gallon COFI basket? I need 3.5” to clear my element.

 

[jturman35]

Have you measured them? Seem like they are about 3-3.5” long standard.



Any sheet metal shop could fabricate longer feet for you. Or you could bend the foot st the bottom straight. I’m not sure if this would give you 3.5” though.

 

[Toadies]

Does anyone have the measurement of the center pipe for the 15 gallon basket?

They sell them on their webpage and want to pick one up for my basket I’m building.

 

[MerlinWerks]

Does anyone know if it’s possible to extend the feets of the brew boss 15gallon COFI basket? I need 3.5” to clear my element.

If it were me I'd remove the silicone feet and use a stainless bolt and two nuts per leg. The head of the bolt will now become the "foot", thread one nut on then stick the bolt in the hole where the silicone foot was then thread the second nut on to lock it in place. Move the nuts to adjust the height as needed.

 

[racin_ny]

Can someone tell me what the length is of the beverage tubing is on the top of the the new style swirl boss? I want to convert my rigid unit into the new adjustable style. Thanks

 

[dleonard5]

Anybody have experience using rye in a brew? The manual says don't but I'm wondering how much will cause a problem.

 

[dleonard5]

Does anyone have the measurement of the center pipe for the 15 gallon basket?

They sell them on their webpage and want to pick one up for my basket I’m building.

Did you get an answer on this? I can measure mine if you need it.

 

[MerlinWerks]

Anybody have experience using rye in a brew? The manual says don't but I'm wondering how much will cause a problem.

I do a Roggenbier that's 45% rye malt, used about 3/4 pound of rice hulls and I gently stirred the mash often, no issues. My system uses an after market 500u basket with a DIY COFI style center sparge. You can also add a beta glucan rest to help make the mash less sticky, but I've never tried it.

 

[dleonard5]

I do a Roggenbier that's 45% rye malt, used about 3/4 pound of rice hulls and I gently stirred the mash often, no issues. My system uses an after market 500u basket with a DIY COFI style center sparge. You can also add a beta glucan rest to help make the mash less sticky, but I've never tried it.

Never used rice hulls. When you say stir do you mean low setting on the pump or are you doing something else?

Thanks for the pointers!

 

[jturman35]

I stir all of my batches and I use the COFI basket. Heck lately I don’t even bother putting the top of the basket on until I get ready to hoist the basket out. I also add the grain with the basket already in the kettle.

 

[MerlinWerks]

Never used rice hulls. When you say stir do you mean low setting on the pump or are you doing something else?

Thanks for the pointers!

Rice hulls are popular for mashes that contain large percentages of husk-less malt such as wheat or rye, they supply some husk so to speak which allows for easier recirculation and lautering, plus they are relatively cheap and are flavorless.

Because my basket mesh is tighter than a BB COFI 500u vs 800u I always have to throttle the pump back a bit, in addition I stir the mash manually with a big whisk like THIS...

 

[dleonard5]

Do you figure the extra stirring will help your efficiency numbers or to prevent a stuck sparge?
The BB manual advises against any rye due to it burning on the heating element. Something about the rye he says although, he does not say anything about wheat. This is why I asked originally.

Rice hulls are popular for mashes that contain large percentages of husk-less malt such as wheat or rye, they supply some husk so to speak which allows for easier recirculation and lautering, plus they are relatively cheap and are flavorless.

Because my basket mesh is tighter than a BB COFI 500u vs 800u I always have to throttle the pump back a bit, in addition I stir the mash manually with a big whisk like THIS...

 

[MerlinWerks]

Mostly to keep the recirculation going and keeping the wort level even between the inside and outside of the basket, although I suppose it helps with efficiency as well, I'm usually in the 70% - 72% range for brewhouse.

I'm generally an avid manual reader, but I don't recall seeing the bit about rye. I have had a few batches result in some heavy build-up on the element with a bit of scorching, but not to the degree that it affected taste, maybe those were my rye heavy beers but I can't say for sure.

I have a 15 gal system, do 5 gal batches and my boil pwr is 52% @ 1100'.

 

[dleonard5]

My system is a 15gal as well doing 5 gal. batches. I think the power is 48-50% boil at 210 deg.
Can you see the picture below? Its on page 54.

 

[jturman35]

I’m boiling at 63% power at sea level. You guys are making me think I’m boiling to hard.

Are you guys above sea level a good bit?

 

[dleonard5]

I'm at 710' which is a bit lower than Merlin. A good boil is subjective of course so I'm sure your fine.

 

[SanPancho]

it does seem a bit wierd that rye would cause a problem but not oats or wheat. oats are just as much of a mess. we do a 40% rye on a 2.5bbl electric and i cant say i recall any above-average carbon on the elements.

are folks really getting carbon on the elements?

 

[MerlinWerks]

I have gotten carbon on the element on several occasions, but only 1/2" - 3/4" max, near the end closest to the kettle. Last weekend I got about 3/8" with a 53% wheat grist.
Never affects the taste. There is often a tan coating on the element which scrubs right off.

 

[Nmnbrewer]

I stir all of my batches and I use the COFI basket. Heck lately I don’t even bother putting the top of the basket on until I get ready to hoist the basket out. I also add the grain with the basket already in the kettle.

So in essence you are just doing a recirculation with a tube on top of the mash bed and not using the center tube/lid? This is exactly what I do. I just purchased a basket with a handle from arbor fab at the beginning and bypassed to cofi basket altogether.

 

[jturman35]

No, I have the COFI plugged up and running when I add the grain. This prevents and grain from entering the holes in the infusion tube. If you restrict the flow it prevents water from spraying everywhere. I leave the top off so I can stir the grain bed.

 

[Jtvann]

I wanted to bump this thread and jump in on it. I’m considering purchasing the 15g deluxe brew boss system with COFI.

Since this has been out for a few years now I wanted to get the feeling from you guys on how you like the system. Is it worth it? Does the system hold up over time? Is there anything that you wish you’d bought from the start, or regret buying?

Anything else to advise either way to recommend or warn against.

 

[markgalli]

I've owned the system for over four years now--the original system without the COFI etc. Just the brains, the wiring, and the 15 gal. brew pot. I have my own recirculation system that works well for me (not unlike the one in the picture above, but I have a cover, and with four tubes running water over the mash. Frankly, I would be less interested in the COFI system; just more things to go wrong, it seems to me. But I'm probably just jealous. I don't use the Hops Boss either--I like having something to do during the brew session

Anyway, I've VERY satisfied. It makes brewing such a pleasure. You do have to pay attention to programming--I sometimes have failed to put in the right amount of minutes before the next step, or failed to use the right code, etc. Just a lack of attention to detail on my part. It's very easy to program. And when I screw up, it's easy to temporarily stop the program, fix things, and then go back to the place with the brew session left off.

Also, if you have another wifi system in your house, the unit may zone out of the BrewBoss wifi and look for the home wifi, which of course, cuts out the programming, which means the temperature can go higher than one wants! But that has happened only twice in four years, and once I figured out the problem, I just had the Android "forget" the home wifi address.

There are some questions about using Rye above, but I don't understand the problem. I've use rye often and don't have burnt or stuck mashes. Of course, I do use rice hulls regularly--8 oz for normal and 16 oz for a mash intensive session. I don't see how rye could get burnt on my system: my bag sits in a cylinder which sits an inch above the heating element.

Also: Darin has never failed to get back to me immediately when I've had a question; that's huge to me.

Hope this helps. Happy to answer any questions....

Mark

 

[SeeMont]

JT:
I have had the 15 Gallon with the COFI and have run well over a hundred brews on it. I did have the heating element go out of it, it was a poor design, Got the new heater and cables, all is well. have five brews on this fix. The one thing that I like is the support from Darin. This is has been a big positive. I like the system, 15 gallon is the way to go, I can brew 5 or 10 gallon batches. It is more industrial than some of the new systems and way more powerful. I have brewed side by side with the Grain Father and RoboBrew, there are smaller but not as powerful.
I have been able to make this my own, built a rolling cart, I see Darin has one know too.
Good Luck and happy brewing

 

[jalc6927]

I love my system, I don’t have a winch yet so I only do 5 gallons, once I get the winch I’ll do 10 gallons

I love the tablet operation making it easy and completely repeatable so beer is consistently good

It took a few batches to get the water volume figured out

I’m sold on it

Had it since nov 2017, and brewed about 40 batches

I do use the bag not the cofi

 

[jturman35]

I have the 15gal system as well and probably pushed dozen or so beers through this system. My only gripe is there is no redundancy with the controller. My radio quit communicating with the controller in the middle of a mash and I ended up having to finish my beer using my old gas pot. Darin sent me a free radio and everything has worked great ever since. I have the Cofi filter and never had issues if I don’t crush the grain to fine. After brewing a handful of beers using gas there is no way in hell I would go back. I can hold a whirlpool 170deg all day long. I would buy this system again. I export all of my brew steps from Beersmith which really makes this easy.

 

[andrewmaixner]

I have the 15gal system as well and probably pushed dozen or so beers through this system. My only gripe is there is no redundancy with the controller. My radio quit communicating with the controller in the middle of a mash and I ended up having to finish my beer using my old gas pot. Darin sent me a free radio and everything has worked great ever since. I have the Cofi filter and never had issues if I don’t crush the grain to fine.

Hm, on that topic, I wonder
1) what parts might be good to keep on hand
and
2) if a rheostat override could easily be wired in to the base controller, for emergencies. Electrical guys?

 

[Jtvann]

Could be a good reason to keep a propane burner on hand just in case

 

[Jtvann]

I’d like to see if I can get some advice on numbers for a particular recipe. I’ve got my 3 tier system dialed in exactly, but with the brew boss it’s going to be starting from scratch. I’ve never done a full volume mash before. Always fly sparged. I’ve had the luxury of just having extra water in the HLT to make sure I reached final volume.

Is there someone here that minds me going direct with them asking some specific questions about BeerSmith settings? Hate to tie up this thread with it.

I do treat all of my water starting from RO, using a pH meter. Hoping that will help my efficiency here with biab.

 

[Jtvann]

Basically does 9 gallons seem like an outrageous starting volume for a 12.5lb grain recipe, making a 6 gallon into the fermenter batch.

On my first run, Its hard to estimate system losses through the plate chiller, hoses, kettle etc ... as well as boil off rate.

There’s some assumptions in there, but the first run will be a major system testing and learning run.

 

[andrewmaixner]

On my first run, Its hard to estimate system losses through the plate chiller, hoses, kettle etc ... as well as boil off rate.

Put in some water. Drain it like you would when transferring to a fermentor.
dump all remaining liquid into a bucket and see how much you have. Boom, there's your 'dead space' volume loss.

I personally use 13.5g water with 19-20lb grain, 30-45min boil at 50% on a 5500w element, to get a 1.045 wort with 10.5-11 gallons into the fermentors. If off a little at the end, I top up with water or dump some, but those numbers generally work for me.

 

[jturman35]

I’d like to see if I can get some advice on numbers for a particular recipe. I’ve got my 3 tier system dialed in exactly, but with the brew boss it’s going to be starting from scratch. I’ve never done a full volume mash before. Always fly sparged. I’ve had the luxury of just having extra water in the HLT to make sure I reached final volume.

Is there someone here that minds me going direct with them asking some specific questions about BeerSmith settings? Hate to tie up this thread with it.

I do treat all of my water starting from RO, using a pH meter. Hoping that will help my efficiency here with biab.

Shoot me a PM I use Beersmith.

 

[jturman35]

I personally use 13.5g water with 19-20lb grain, 30-45min boil at 50% on a 5500w element, to get a 1.045 wort with 10.5-11 gallons into the fermentors. If off a little at the end, I top up with water or dump some, but those numbers generally work for me.[/QUOTE]

I’m still dialing in my boil power rate. I started off with my first few batches at 70-67% and recently dialed it down to 62%. Something tells me I can maybe go lower. Seems like I read somewhere your boil off rate needs to be under a certain percentage. I think somewhere below 15% but don’t hold me too it. For this reason I have been trying to lower my BO rate.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Seems like I read somewhere your boil off rate needs to be under a certain percentage. I think somewhere below 15% but don’t hold me too it. For this reason I have been trying to lower my BO rate.

No, I don't think that matters either way. Boiloff is just something you need to account for, whether it is 0.1gal or 2gal. It can be used to concentrate high gravity worts also for strong beers.