Brew-Boss vs Brewtroller

[swimIan]

I am interested in your thoughts on the Brew-Boss controller vs. the Brewtroller for a semi automated recirculating BIAB system. Brew-Boss seems to be set up out of the box but it's not expandable and xml recipe importing seems to be challenging. The Brewtroller is expandable, offers many advanced features, but it does require some level of configuration. Thanks for your opinions!

 

[oakbarn]

Have you considered the BCS? It has a large user base and is generally ready to use once you have your setup (pumps, valves, temperature probes).

 

[swimIan]

Thanks for the suggestion. I had thought that xml recipe importing would be handy in an automated system.

 

[swimIan]

I'll admit that it's not a necessity though

 

[crane]

BCS has a recipe editor now that takes me only a single minute to enter the mash profile, boil time, and set the boil addition timers.

Directly importing from beersmith or some other SW would be nice, but with how quick and painless it is to enter in the recipe parameters now, it should not be a show stopper.

 

[Sparkologist]

Have you considered the BCS? It has a large user base and is generally ready to use once you have your setup (pumps, valves, temperature probes).

Oakbarn is Right On!
I use the BCS controller on my RIMS system and I wouldn't change a thing. It is funny watching the youtube videos where they are constantly over shooting with standard PIDs. Over 30 batches through the latest BCS system and I have never had a single problem.

 

[Sparkologist]

I put my grains in the mash tun and water in the HLT the night before brewday. I lay in bed, design the brewing process on my laptop or tablet and click start while enjoying a cup of coffee. I have my most common designs saved and I can create a new crazy process in minutes. There is a small learning curve, but it does not take long before you have it down. I also use beer smith for the design and write my program based on the beersmith recipe. Beersmith is Awesome, but the learning curve in Beersmith is harder than the BCS controller.

 

[MrShake]

BCS certainly isn't any more simple to implement than BrewTroller. Both are great systems, but (and I am biased) BrewTroller does offer a bigger feature set, more inputs and outputs, and at a better price point (especially right now). Both are much more flexible than Brewboss if you want/need that flexibility

 

[brewvet]

I currently have a brew-boss but looking to upgrade to something more robust and with a better interface. I do like the price point and features on the BrewTroller, cons to me are the web interface and lack of an active community. Also notice that they are currently out of stock.

The BCS to me has a much larger community of active users and a more rich feature set (i.e. Web Interface) at a higher price then the BrewTroller, looking at the BSC-462.

Still haven't decided on what route to take, but any idea of when I would be able to purchase the BrewTroller?

 

[MrShake]

BrewTroller also has a web interface and a bigger feature set, for less money.

Brewtrollers should be back in stock by next week (the next batch is on its way to the store right n ow)