Brewie

[Still Brewn]

What it actually looks like it that there was a low flow of wort and a lot of flour got down in there and wasn't washed into circulation and deposited on top of your grain bed. Probably a combination of things happening here. Low flow, long heating interval, too fine of a crush not a fine enough mesh on your basket and basket too close to close to heating element.

 

[Still Brewn]

Now back to why I was checking in tonight...... has anyone messed around with the "Developer Mode" yet? I can see it being really useful to clean the machine since the short clean really sucks other than that I don't really see the point unless I'm missing something. Kind of defeats the purpose of the machine unless you can actually save the programming you do.

 

[cubsfan16]

Now back to why I was checking in tonight...... has anyone messed around with the "Developer Mode" yet? I can see it being really useful to clean the machine since the short clean really sucks other than that I don't really see the point unless I'm missing something. Kind of defeats the purpose of the machine unless you can actually save the programming you do.

I agree, it would be great IF you could program steps and time for each function. The zymatic has this and would use it for setting hop whirlpool temp/time. Hopefully Brewie will add this function in future updates..

Right now I just run two short clean cycles with pbw and a nylon brush then manually fill the tanks with water and drain...i usually run the short clean before brewing as I am prepping ingredients. It would be nice to just adjust this short clean cycle to my liking.

 

[HarkinBanks]

@volx if you are stirring like crazy you may be compounding your problem by causing air pockets under your false bottom. Here is a pic after one of my units scorched. I used the brewie bag for this brew.

Brewie recalled this unit after the scorching.

 

[HarkinBanks]

@volx if you are stirring like crazy you are probably compounding your problem by causing air pockets under your false bottom. Here is a pic after one of my units scorched. I used the brewie bag for this brew.

Brewie recalled this unit after the scorching.

View attachment 614882

 

[Holrits]

Hello everyone

I have a question regarding my brewie i hope you can help me with...

I read on the Brewie website that during the cooldown i could turn down the water flow to reduce the was amount used, since the waste water is very cold. I tried this at my last brew, but when i turned down the inlet water flow, my brew/beer/mash started to flow out of the water waste hose, mixed with water?!? Directly into my drain - i tried to turn it even more off, and it seems like it was pure Beer comming out, can anyone tell me how this is possible? And what a out when there is pressure on, is there comming water into the Beer then :-0??

Another thing, when you calibrate your brewie do you do it with or without the false buttom + hop tanks inside the brewie?
I had some issues that it tales too much water in, resultant in a massive boilover.... I spoke with Máté, that told me to run the test recipe, and measure the height in the middle of the boil tank. It should be 11.3cm, when i test it i get from 11.5 to 12cm.
Máté also told me the test recipe is a 10-10 liter test, but the recipe of the brewie tells the machine to fill it up with 8 liters, I asked Máté but havent heard from him.

FYI this is a brand new Brewie, we have used it 4 time last week )
First time we started it up and did the “short cleaning” it turned off completely in the beggining of the cleaning. We tried around 5 times, and then it stopped. Now it seems to work.

Last thing!
I am going to brew a Grimbergen clone soon, but in this i need to add Dextrose and liquid syrup in the end of the boil. Can you do this with the hop tanks somehow or should i just add it manually ??


Hope you can help me, + all tips are welcome.

(Picture of the “too much water” added)

Best Regards Nicolai (from Denmark)

 

[Still Brewn]

Hello everyone

I have a question regarding my brewie i hope you can help me with...

I read on the Brewie website that during the cooldown i could turn down the water flow to reduce the was amount used, since the waste water is very cold. I tried this at my last brew, but when i turned down the inlet water flow, my brew/beer/mash started to flow out of the water waste hose, mixed with water?!? Directly into my drain - i tried to turn it even more off, and it seems like it was pure Beer comming out, can anyone tell me how this is possible? And what a out when there is pressure on, is there comming water into the Beer then :-0??
I had the same thing, if you are comfortable taking your machine apart take the bottom off and check to see your hoses are not twisted. Otherwise contact tech support and they will help you out. You may have a "valve" that is not closing all the way.
Another thing, when you calibrate your brewie do you do it with or without the false buttom + hop tanks inside the brewie?
According to instructions remove hop cages and false bottom
I had some issues that it tales too much water in, resultant in a massive boilover.... I spoke with Máté, that told me to run the test recipe, and measure the height in the middle of the boil tank. It should be 11.3cm, when i test it i get from 11.5 to 12cm.
Máté also told me the test recipe is a 10-10 liter test, but the recipe of the brewie tells the machine to fill it up with 8 liters, I asked Máté but havent heard from him.
He will get back to you, recalibrate your machine. The Brewie+ uses a pressure sensor instead of weight sensor so it is pretty accurate and can tolerate more movement etc
If you are unsure about water amounts you can manually measure your input and measure the height then run the test program. You can change the test recipe to your needs or to what Máté says.

FYI this is a brand new Brewie, we have used it 4 time last week )
First time we started it up and did the “short cleaning” it turned off completely in the beggining of the cleaning. We tried around 5 times, and then it stopped. Now it seems to work.
The machine was probably not updated all the way to the latest software.

Note to everyone!
You must make sure your machine is updated to the latest software version! You may have to reboot it several times for it to get there. It WILL NOT update to the latest software all at once it only updates to the next version available from what is already on the machine each time it is turned on. Current version 3.1.1 as of Feb 26 2019. Check on brewie.org for latest version number.

Last thing!
I am going to brew a Grimbergen clone soon, but in this i need to add Dextrose and liquid syrup in the end of the boil. Can you do this with the hop tanks somehow or should i just add it manually ??
Do it manually. Hops tanks are for hops and spices and things like that. I would not try to add dry malt, malt extracts, honey, liquid malt extracts to them.

Update: I just found a video from Brewie that says you can add sugar to the hop cages to adjust your OG.
Additional note: the hop cages will float when they are being used under certain circumstances and it could cause a mess. Be sure to have your lid closed if you are not right there paying attention.


Hope you can help me, + all tips are welcome.

(Picture of the “too much water” added)

Best Regards Nicolai (from Denmark)

Click on expand to see all my answers

 

[volx]

What it actually looks like it that there was a low flow of wort and a lot of flour got down in there and wasn't washed into circulation and deposited on top of your grain bed. Probably a combination of things happening here. Low flow, long heating interval, too fine of a crush not a fine enough mesh on your basket and basket too close to close to heating element.

Thank you for your ideas! I was using the false bottom. My grain basket is 400 micron and my mill spacing has not changed. I agree that it has probably to do with low flow underneath the basket and therefore that area is getting scorched. I just don’t know how to improve the flow other than stirring. I did do a 125/143/162 step mash with a 168 mashout, so the heater was on quite a bit.

 

[volx]

@volx if you are stirring like crazy you may be compounding your problem by causing air pockets under your false bottom.

View attachment 614882

Good point! I did the extra stirring to remedy the problem but may have caused the opposite.

 

[HarkinBanks]

Good point! I did the extra stirring to remedy the problem but may have caused the opposite.

If you cause a lot of turbulence then you are creating moments when the element is almost dry firing so I would limit your stirring. I gently stir at mash in and at the beginning of the sparge.

I suggest getting a 600 micron basket. I think 400 is too tight. 600 will help your flow.

Was there caking on the bottom of the basket when you dumped the grain?

Sadly I believe your beer will be ruined. I scorched a few mashes in my beginning e brewing days with high density elements. It happens.

 

[Still Brewn]

Are you using rice hulls? I have added them to every brew so far and have had good results. I am still using a Brewie bag for now. I usually flip the bag halfway through, poking and moving the grains the rest of the time but not touching it for the last 15 minutes to be sure most or all of the flour is deposited on top of the grain bed.

 

[volx]

If you cause a lot of turbulence then you are creating moments when the element is almost dry firing so I would limit your stirring. I gently stir at mash in and at the beginning of the sparge.

I suggest getting a 600 micron basket. I think 400 is too tight. 600 will help your flow.

Was there caking on the bottom of the basket when you dumped the grain?

Sadly I believe your beer will be ruined. I scorched a few mashes in my beginning e brewing days with high density elements. It happens.

I saw no caking on the bottom of the basket. Yeah, I think the beer is ruined, I will let it ferment though for a week and then taste it. If I can still taste the burn it will be dumped. I will brew with the bags next to rule out a Brewie problem.

 

[volx]

Are you using rice hulls? I have added them to every brew so far and have had good results. I am still using a Brewie bag for now. I usually flip the bag halfway through, poking and moving the grains the rest of the time but not touching it for the last 15 minutes to be sure most or all of the flour is deposited on top of the grain bed.

I have used rice hulls with the Brewie bags and got pretty good results. The basket is just easier to stir and clean. If I get it to work I definitely prefer it over the bags. I did not use rice hulls in the last brew with the basket.

 

[Still Brewn]

May need to redesign the basket. Maybe double the surface area of the bottom screen.... and make sure the screen is not actually touching the false bottom especially on the current version. I believe that the surface tension of water will slow down the flow of wort with the screen and false bottom touching. It will happen less with the bags because the bags sag through the holes in the false bottom and water will run down hill easier than breaking the surface tension between things that are in such close proximity. Maybe ther is a physicist on here that can explain this better than I can.....

Comes to this. Design flaw on top of all the issues stacking up to burn your beer. I personally think the false bottom could use a redesign.

 

[Still Brewn]

I edited my response above regarding hop cages and adjuncts. Everyone should watch this video from Brewie. It looks like they are adding rock candi and it really doesn't specify. But it says you can add sugar to the hop cages to adjust your OG.

It doesn't say how much you can safely add or the kinds you can add. If you use this method I would use caution I can imagine it making a real mess if things go wrong or not dissolving all the sugar if your time is too short. I have a couple of bags of sugar left over from my winter baking that I didn't do much of this year because of my new toy (as the wife calls it). I will try to find time to experiment with it this week and see what happens.

 

[Holrits]

Click on expand to see all my answers

Thanks for your answer, i will speak with Mate about the "beer comming out of drain".
Regarding the Brewie turning off, I was update to the newest version, we did it before we startet. But anyway it works for now

Do you know what the minimum water pressure/flow can be into the brewie? When i put on my filter after the brewie have filled the boil tank with aproxx 80% of the water i get the "no water inlet pressure" error even though there is water... I do not get the error if i take away the filter. I just need to use this filter to lower my PH and dH -_-

 

[Holrits]

I have used rice hulls with the Brewie bags and got pretty good results. The basket is just easier to stir and clean. If I get it to work I definitely prefer it over the bags. I did not use rice hulls in the last brew with the basket.

How much you add approx in %? if you have for example a grain weight of 4000g how many gram of rice hull would you add?

 

[HarkinBanks]

May need to redesign the basket. Maybe double the surface area of the bottom screen.... and make sure the screen is not actually touching the false bottom especially on the current version. I believe that the surface tension of water will slow down the flow of wort with the screen and false bottom touching. It will happen less with the bags because the bags sag through the holes in the false bottom and water will run down hill easier than breaking the surface tension between things that are in such close proximity. Maybe ther is a physicist on here that can explain this better than I can.....

Comes to this. Design flaw on top of all the issues stacking up to burn your beer. I personally think the false bottom could use a redesign.

Design flaw of what?

The basket has 4 other sides that the wort can spill over and keep enough volume under the false bottom. In volx's case, I really think the scorching was caused by too much stirring. I had a similar result when I used two Brewie bags and rotated them around and caused sloshing during the mash.

 

[Still Brewn]

Design flaw of what?

I think you are missing my point. My whole point is that is a huge combination of things that are all working together to cause the problem of burning/scorching.
1. Too much stirring BUT stirring is good and contributes to Better efficiencies.
2. Too fine of a crush BUT a fine crush is good to a certain extent and contributes to better efficiencies ..... check the video I posted above for crush recommended by Brewie.
3. Long heating times BUT step mashing contributes to higher efficiencies to a certain extent and depending on malts and grains used. Be sure to keep your lids closed and heat your strike water to the proper temperature.

Now this is where it gets complicated and requires math and a Sheldon Cooper.
4. Surface tension..... pure water has a surface tension of 71.97 dyn at 25° C when in contact with air
A 55/45 mix of sucrose and water has a surface tension of 76.45 dyn at 20° C
Surface tension decreases with temperature increase. See Eötvös rule.
Surface tension increases when surrounded by air. See Laplace's Law (I think)...... where is Sheldon when you need him? In other words once there is air present under the false bottom flow is again decreased due to surface tension.
Now the design of the false bottom does not take into account the surface tension energy that water has, as expressed by γ = 1/2 F/L. The 138.063 sq inches of false bottom only about 29.9761% of the surface area is open to flow and with such small openings it is prime for surface tension flow restrictions as demonstrated by this picture.

The surface tension is further increased by the addition of the metal mesh of the basket because the close proximity of the false bottom and the mesh. The mesh is bridging the problematic small openings.

There are things that can be done to fix these two design flaws
1. redesign the false bottom with bigger openings
2. For the basket redesign the bottom mesh with a corrugated bottom much like a pleated air filter and build the false bottom into the basket. Basicly attach feet to the redesigned basket but make sure you are including the thickness of the plate when measuring. In my opinion I would double the surface area of the bottom mesh and make sure that the lowest parts of the corrugated mesh are above where the top of the false bottom sits now. I would also give air a place to escape. In other words at the top of the corrugated bends I would leave the ends open for the escape of air. But the opening has to be big enough to overcome the surface tension of a sphere of air in water and it is always a sphere as defined by Fick's Law.

I hope this helps explain a little bit better about what I was saying. All of these things are working together to cause issues it is not just one thing. If you need me to draw up a sketch of what I'm talking about with the mesh in the basket let me know.

 

[Still Brewn]

I was update to the newest version, we did it before we startet. But anyway it works for now

Do you know what the minimum water pressure/flow can be into the brewie? When i put on my filter after the brewie have filled the boil tank with aproxx 80% of the water i get the "no water inlet pressure" error even though there is water... I do not get the error if i take away the filter. I just need to use this filter to lower my PH and dH -_-

The Brewie updates first thing when you turn it on. The "No inlet water pressure" is a product of the previous version of the software and you should not get it anymore. I wouldn't turn on the water full blast and I have had it pretty low with no problem. They have increased the off water time during the fill process to help alleviate this false error. If you still get the error you may need to recalibrate your machine run the test brew and do some math. To check that it is filling correctly.

How much you add approx in %? if you have for example a grain weight of 4000g how many gram of rice hull would you add?

I go by what my ingredients are... 1 ounce for a light beer up to 9 lbs. 2 ounce for up to 12lbs then I add additional 1-2 ounces for wheat, corn and oats in the ingedients. I haven't brewed anything with a heavier grain bill in the Brewie yet.

 

[Holrits]

The Brewie updates first thing when you turn it on. The "No inlet water pressure" is a product of the previous version of the software and you should not get it anymore. I wouldn't turn on the water full blast and I have had it pretty low with no problem. They have increased the off water time during the fill process to help alleviate this false error. If you still get the error you may need to recalibrate your machine run the test brew and do some math. To check that it is filling correctly.



I go by what my ingredients are... 1 ounce for a light beer up to 9 lbs. 2 ounce for up to 12lbs then I add additional 1-2 ounces for wheat, corn and oats in the ingedients. I haven't brewed anything with a heavier grain bill in the Brewie yet.

It is updated :-/
I know the newest update should fix this error, but i still get it, even after a perfect calibration. I tested severeal times with and without filter, but with the filter i stops all the time at same spot (around 80% full) without filter it works flawless, i might try to put 2 filters in series.
I spoke with Mate about the teste recipe, he just said it was a 10-10 liters test but the recipe as said before is set to take in 8 liters. i assume if i let it take in 8 liters as the recipe is programmed to, i can measure the water when i drain it to see if there really is 8 liters.
I wonder how they measure the water inlet with a pressure sensor ?? i thought it was with weight, as you must not touch it when calibrating

 

[Still Brewn]

It is updated :-/
I know the newest update should fix this error, but i still get it, even after a perfect calibration. I tested severeal times with and without filter, but with the filter i stops all the time at same spot (around 80% full) without filter it works flawless, i might try to put 2 filters in series.
I spoke with Mate about the teste recipe, he just said it was a 10-10 liters test but the recipe as said before is set to take in 8 liters. i assume if i let it take in 8 liters as the recipe is programmed to, i can measure the water when i drain it to see if there really is 8 liters.
I wonder how they measure the water inlet with a pressure sensor ?? i thought it was with weight, as you must not touch it when calibrating

If it works without the water filter and doesn't work with then you don't want to add another in series because this would further reduce your water flow and water pressure. You would want to add a filter in parallel if you want to increase your flow and pressure.

The weight sensors are gone on the Brewie+. The Brewie+ has a (if i remember correctly) 4 wire pressure sensor into the outlet tube of the boil side. It is very sensitive but does not cause as nearly as many misreadings as the weight sensor did.if the water is still moving to where you can see changes in the elevation of the surface of the water it will register on the pressure sensor.
PLEASE NOTE
Calibration still needs to be done periodically because of build-up that can occur on the sensor. If you travel with your Brewie you should also recalibrate especially if you have a change of elevation because the change in elevation changes not only air pressure pushing down on the water but the force of gravity pulling down on the water. You can go to the developer mode on the Brewie and see how sensitive it is while you are filling it if you want. I didn't time it but it looks like it is taking a reading about every 1/2 second or so. You will be able to see your flow rate in developer mode at (approximatly) 1/2 second intervals. Time it for 1 min to get your liters/gallons per minute. Do this without your filter on and see what you get. After you do this you can do it with your filter on and see what kind of reduction your filter is causing. If you are using a refrigerator filter the reduction is probably pretty big since they are designed for a very low flow.
Hope this helps

 

[HarkinBanks]

Flawless brew day with my B+. Boil made it to 209F. I will take it. I haven’t replaced my thermal switch yet or the wires that Brewie sent me so the wires could maybe get me above 209.

90 min step mash from 144 to 153 with a 45 min sparge at 168. My recipe was 8.8lbs of marris otter into 4.7 gal for mash and then 2.1 gal for sparge. Pre boil was 1046 and post boil was 1053. Will calc my eff tomorrow. Used 5.2 mash stabilizer.

Some pics of my 600 micron basket and post mash sediment. There was quite a bit of sediment under the false bottom and I didn’t have any scorching. I stirred gently at mash in to break up any dough balls and then again at the beginning of the sparge.

Great day. I did so many other things during this brew, I almost forgot I was brewing.

 

[Still Brewn]

Flawless brew day with my B+. Boil made it to 209F. I will take it. I haven’t replaced my thermal switch yet or the wires that Brewie sent me so the wires could maybe get me above 209.

90 min step mash from 144 to 153 with a 45 min sparge at 168. My recipe was 8.8lbs of marris otter into 4.7 gal for mash and then 2.1 gal for sparge. Pre boil was 1046 and post boil was 1053. Will calc my eff tomorrow. Used 5.2 mash stabilizer.

Some pics of my 600 micron basket and post mash sediment. There was quite a bit of sediment under the false bottom and I didn’t have any scorching. I stirred gently at mash in to break up any dough balls and then again at the beginning of the sparge.

Great day. I did so many other things during this brew, I almost forgot I was brewing.

View attachment 615805View attachment 615806View attachment 615807

Don't do that.... wires need to be replaced right away, it will cause damage to other parts if you don't.
Looks like around 75% 76% about where I have gotten for most of my brews. 72%,80%,75%,68%,74%

Lot of flour in there.... way more than I have gotten so far but no scorching which means flow was good. I see you added rice hulls and your efficiency was pretty good but that amount of flour would make me want a finer mesh in the basket.... what do you think?
This might bring up the flow issues though

 

[Still Brewn]

I took another look at the mash tun .... that isn't actually that bad, less than that other one with the scorching pictured previously. But still far more than I get w/ the bags. You can see it was starting to Caramelize the flour. Any more floor in there and I think you would have run into issues

 

[HarkinBanks]

Don't do that.... wires need to be replaced right away, it will cause damage to other parts if you don't.
Looks like around 75% 76% about where I have gotten for most of my brews. 72%,80%,75%,68%,74%

Lot of flour in there.... way more than I have gotten so far but no scorching which means flow was good. I see you added rice hulls and your efficiency was pretty good but that amount of flour would make me want a finer mesh in the basket.... what do you think?
This might bring up the flow issues though

No rice in my beers man. j/k

I did not use rice hulls and the sediment is about what I got on the one that scorched with bags, so I am satisfied with my basket.

See also this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/brew-in-a-basket-anybody-try-one-of-these.575674/page-2

I just calculated 79.15% efficiency into the kettle. The machine targeted 80% efficiency when I created the recipe, so it is nice to see the software is pretty close to reality. I want to be able to repeat my recipes and get the same results.

I will replace the wires eventually, but I trust my clean cut re-crimped wires with silicone tape. They have been tested through a few brews now without issue.

 

[Still Brewn]

No rice in my beers man. j/k

I did not use rice hulls and the sediment is about what I got on the one that scorched with bags, so I am satisfied with my basket.

See also this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/brew-in-a-basket-anybody-try-one-of-these.575674/page-2

I just calculated 79.15% efficiency into the kettle. The machine targeted 80% efficiency when I created the recipe, so it is nice to see the software is pretty close to reality. I want to be able to repeat my recipes and get the same results.

I will replace the wires eventually, but I trust my clean cut re-crimped wires with silicone tape. They have been tested through a few brews now without issue.

That's cool. I only had one brew that was off on efficiency from what what the machine said and that was my fault I was going to do a light wheat beer but forgot the wheat at brew store and forgot to change the mash schedule. I should have just written a new recipe. The rest were within a point or two.
Thought I saw a couple of rice hulls stuck to the side of your basket must have been hulls from the marris otter but they looked more pointed than barley.... oh well. Im glad it is working for you. Is that ring of particles stuff that was floating on foam or was that your water level? Does it splash straight up on that side when it goes into high flow mode during the mash?
How long did you sparge?

 

[HarkinBanks]

That's cool. I only had one brew that was off on efficiency from what what the machine said and that was my fault I was going to do a light wheat beer but forgot the wheat at brew store and forgot to change the mash schedule. I should have just written a new recipe. The rest were within a point or two.
Thought I saw a couple of rice hulls stuck to the side of your basket must have been hulls from the marris otter but they looked more pointed than barley.... oh well. Im glad it is working for you. Is that ring of particles stuff that was floating on foam or was that your water level? Does it splash straight up on that side when it goes into high flow mode during the mash?
How long did you sparge?

The ring of particles is the high water mark that is set at mash in. After mash in, the level settles a bit below that line once the grain absorbs the water. I maxed my mash tun volume so there was quite a bit of volume above the grain bed for this brew. The basket deflects the recirc port slightly, but flows through. It does not splash up. I sparged for 45 mins. In my old CB20 system, I would do a continuous full volume recirculating mash. If that was an option with the Brewie, I would do that, but it is not right now. I would much prefer to use the BK element to maintain temps and less from the mash tun element to reduce any chances of scorching.

 

[Still Brewn]

Full volume? As in the full 5 gallon? Won't that throw off the ph enough to require water adjustmets? That is one area where my knowledge base is really lacking. Our local water is perfect for dark beers and since I prefer those anyway I have never really read up on adjusting my water chemistry. I bet my lighter beers would benefit from me gaining a little knowledge.

I'm not sure but I bet with a little experimentation you could use the developer mode to make it do what you want. Unfortunately you would have to stand over it the whole time because developer mode shuts off safety features and i think automatic temperature control, at least I don't remember seeing a place to set temperature..... essentially defeating the purpose of the Brewie. I think the only safety feature still working in developer mode is the thermal switches everyone is having to replace after meltdown and by the time those trip you are way too hot to salvage a brew anyway in my opinion. If you experiment with it let us know how it goes. I would try to experiment but I get distracted way to easy and would end up with issues for one reason or another.

 

[Still Brewn]

Speaking of experiments.... I did check on the adding plain white sugar to the hop cages but the sugar went right through the mesh. So, in my opinion, i wouldn't add that kind of sugar there. Maybe if it were a finer mesh I might attempt it. Another note on that is that a cage only holds about 10.5 oz when completely full. So if you needed a bigger adjustment than .006 or there about you would be out of luck unless you use multiple hop gages.

 

[HarkinBanks]

Full volume? As in the full 5 gallon? Won't that throw off the ph enough to require water adjustmets? That is one area where my knowledge base is really lacking. Our local water is perfect for dark beers and since I prefer those anyway I have never really read up on adjusting my water chemistry. I bet my lighter beers would benefit from me gaining a little knowledge.

I'm not sure but I bet with a little experimentation you could use the developer mode to make it do what you want. Unfortunately you would have to stand over it the whole time because developer mode shuts off safety features and i think automatic temperature control, at least I don't remember seeing a place to set temperature..... essentially defeating the purpose of the Brewie. I think the only safety feature still working in developer mode is the thermal switches everyone is having to replace after meltdown and by the time those trip you are way too hot to salvage a brew anyway in my opinion. If you experiment with it let us know how it goes. I would try to experiment but I get distracted way to easy and would end up with issues for one reason or another.

Yes, full volume continuous recirculation. No more ph concerns than any other mash, 10 gal mash, 20 gal mash. It is all the same ph concern, if you have one with your water.

The full volume continuous recirculation is basically the "sparge" step in the Brewie now. If I wanted to skip the mash out to 168, I could do it with the Brewie. But there is a real benefit to adding a 168 mash out step to this type of system.

 

[Arbe0]

kind of looks like you cant brew a big beer with this. But you probably get a nice 5% or maybe a little more.

 

[HarkinBanks]

kind of looks like you cant brew a big beer with this. But you probably get a nice 5% or maybe a little more.

I’ve brewed 8% beers pretty easily with brewie. No issues.

 

[Still Brewn]

I’ve brewed 8% beers pretty easily with brewie. No issues.

Do you know what your efficiency was? I haven't done a big beer with mine yet but I wanted to do one next, I just haven't decided yet. I looks like the weather is going to suck around here for at least 2 more weeks so I might as well jump on it.

 

[HarkinBanks]

65-70% depending on the grain bill.

 

[Still Brewn]

Cool, thanks

 

[Still Brewn]

Time for one of my long posts, again.
My new brewie+ MCU Board showed up today. I got my new lower powered fans and connectors installed and my new board installed. For anyone wanting to power their boil kettle fan and mash tun fan that you installed with the switched connections of the case fans the plugs you need are the ones I originally purchased. Micro JST connectors. I'm very sorry if you already ordered the wrong parts. I will correct my post if I can.
All the parts went if almost flawlessly. There is some thread locking material on the bolts of the case fans and it was hard to get the nuts off. I used my impact screwdriver and actually broke one of the bolts. The nuts are 7mm and you will need a good screwdriver to remove them.
Here is a picture of the repair I did on my old board. The object in the lower left is the point of a sewing pin just for reference.

Picture of the power supply

Labels for reference

Wiring completed

If anyone needs better picture let me know. I actually remembered to take a few this time. Hope this helps anyone wanting to upgrade their cooling system.

 

[Still Brewn]

I couldn't edit my post about the plugs so I guess this will have to do.
Note. Note note note
The plugs used for the Brewie case fans are micro JST plugs. It is not listed correctly in post 1535 and 1536.

Sorry for any inconvenience it is my fault, I should have taken my machine apart and double checked but I wanted to brew instead.

 

[volx]

I had a super smooth brew day today. I used the bags instead of the basket and had no issues with burn in on the mash tun, so it is a basket problem, or rather, as HarkinBanks suggested, related to how I use the basket (too much stirring). Next brew will be with the basket again with minimal stirring, I am sure I can figure this out.

 

[cubsfan16]

I had a super smooth brew day today. I used the bags instead of the basket and had no issues with burn in on the mash tun, so it is a basket problem, or rather, as HarkinBanks suggested, related to how I use the basket (too much stirring). Next brew will be with the basket again with minimal stirring, I am sure I can figure this out.

Do you think this could be due to flow restrictions of the 400mesh vs 600? I haven’t really seen much flow restrictions using the basket with 600 mesh....I also use a couple handfuls of rice hulls.