Brewie

[volx]

Today's brew proved that my previous scorching issues were not grain basket related. 16.5 lbs of grain, stirred twice, once during mash-in and another time during sparging. No signs of scorching. 1.070 O.G. (no rice hulls). With the expected F.G., this will be a >8% beer (Morebeer Belgian Saison), I usually don't make anything stronger. The once a year RIS I can brew on my old system. I am happy.

What else happened:
1. One of my lid hinges broke.
2. I had my first boil over: the first 16 times when I watched for it, it didn't happen. Today I didn't watch for it...
3. The Brewie would have overflowed: I need to re-do the calibration, which I knew, this one is on me.
4. The Brewie froze twice towards the end of the boil. No big deal due to developer mode, but still a bit worrisome.

 

[Still Brewn]

Today's brew proved that my previous scorching issues were not grain basket related. 16.5 lbs of grain, stirred twice, once during mash-in and another time during sparging. No signs of scorching. 1.070 O.G. (no rice hulls). With the expected F.G., this will be a >8% beer (Morebeer Belgian Saison), I usually don't make anything stronger. The once a year RIS I can brew on my old system. I am happy.

What else happened:
1. One of my lid hinges broke.
2. I had my first boil over: the first 16 times when I watched for it, it didn't happen. Today I didn't watch for it...
3. The Brewie would have overflowed: I need to re-do the calibration, which I knew, this one is on me.
4. The Brewie froze twice towards the end of the boil. No big deal due to developer mode, but still a bit worrisome.

Is this a Brewie+?
Did it boil over while you were in developer mode, while the machine was in control of the brewing or while it froze up?
How did you get past the freeze? It is suppose to restart where you left off if you tell it to, it should have asked you if wanted to resume the brewing session.

Please be sure to let tech support know all of your issues so if there is a software problem they can work on it. If it just a machine (your machine) issue they are pretty good about getting parts out to you if you feel comfortable working on it.
The one time I had mine freeze up it kept doing the same function that it was doing and it took a few minutes for me to realize what was going on. During that time the countdown stopped but the pump kept running. I had to unplug to restart and it resumed where it left off with no further issues. That was the only time mine ever froze up while brewing.

 

[volx]

Is this a Brewie+?
Did it boil over while you were in developer mode, while the machine was in control of the brewing or while it froze up?
How did you get past the freeze? It is suppose to restart where you left off if you tell it to, it should have asked you if wanted to resume the brewing session.

Please be sure to let tech support know all of your issues so if there is a software problem they can work on it. If it just a machine (your machine) issue they are pretty good about getting parts out to you if you feel comfortable working on it.
The one time I had mine freeze up it kept doing the same function that it was doing and it took a few minutes for me to realize what was going on. During that time the countdown stopped but the pump kept running. I had to unplug to restart and it resumed where it left off with no further issues. That was the only time mine ever froze up while brewing.

Yes, I have a Brewie+. I was not in developer mode when the freeze and the boil over happened, it happened during a normal brew cycle. I unplugged it (power button was not responsive) and it tried to resume the brew afterwards, but while I had only minutes left in the boil, it looked like it restarted the entire boil step, hence the need for developer mode.
I submitted two tickets, one for the hinge and one for the freeze. Support has been outstanding, at least for my issues, so I assume there will be new hinges in the mail soon.

 

[Still Brewn]

Thanks for the update.
You said that it needed recalibrated..... so do you think too much water was the cause of the boil over? Or do you think the heating element was not cycling properly? Do you know what the temperature was at the time of the boil over?

I wanted to brew tonight but between the errors you are having and the water restrictions put in place because of the flooding I just didn't really feel like pushing my luck tonight. All of that and I may have to go help the fam with flood clean up the rest of the week between us we have 3 summer cabins that got or are flooded.

 

[HarkinBanks]

Today's brew proved that my previous scorching issues were not grain basket related. 16.5 lbs of grain, stirred twice, once during mash-in and another time during sparging. No signs of scorching. 1.070 O.G. (no rice hulls). With the expected F.G., this will be a >8% beer (Morebeer Belgian Saison), I usually don't make anything stronger. The once a year RIS I can brew on my old system. I am happy.

What else happened:
1. One of my lid hinges broke.
2. I had my first boil over: the first 16 times when I watched for it, it didn't happen. Today I didn't watch for it...
3. The Brewie would have overflowed: I need to re-do the calibration, which I knew, this one is on me.
4. The Brewie froze twice towards the end of the boil. No big deal due to developer mode, but still a bit worrisome.

Good to hear on the basket. I suspected it was too much stirring.

I highly recommend fermcap for insurance against boilovers. Always used it and have never had a boil over.

 

[Fredrik Lerigon]

Since my brewie always shoot over the water supplied with 7% (constantly) the efficiency calculated by Brewie will always be wrong for me (since the volumes are wrong) so cant really compare it but I think both system do a theoretical calculation based on the suppliers reported content in the grain used so shouldent be different, reality is another thing though. brewie have for example a 10% lower IBU contribution from the hops than in a "open system" with the hops in the midle of the boil (you can easily calculate this by taking some of the standard recipies that Brewie have puplished, put them into the beersmith and c the result compared to the result that the recipie says it will be).

The stiring is probably around 10 rpm but have never checked.

Fredrik

 

[volx]

Thanks for the update.
You said that it needed recalibrated..... so do you think too much water was the cause of the boil over? Or do you think the heating element was not cycling properly? Do you know what the temperature was at the time of the boil over?

I wanted to brew tonight but between the errors you are having and the water restrictions put in place because of the flooding I just didn't really feel like pushing my luck tonight. All of that and I may have to go help the fam with flood clean up the rest of the week between us we have 3 summer cabins that got or are flooded.

No, the water level was OK before the boil. It could have been the higher gravity wort. I also used delayed hopping for the first time. It was set to 10 minutes. I don't know what the temp was when it boiled over.
Sorry to hear about your flooding issues!

 

[Still Brewn]

Thanks, With the flooding I'm one of the lucky ones, we live about a half hour away and are selling our cabin, only a few payments left on it. Unfortunately my nephew bought it and it will most likely need to be completely refurbished. He sent me a picture of the island during the height flooding and one of the family cabins was completely submerged or gone. I couldn't tell because the closest he could get was still about 3/4 of a mile away. I could still see my cabin but couldn't tell if it was filled with water or not it is another half mile further from where he was at. The third cabin is completely surrounded by dense forest so no glimpse of it. Hopefully the one bridge onto the island is still standing.

 

[Still Brewn]

So I brewed last night. Went well, efficiency was a little low but within a few points so it is ok. But I have my Brewie hooked up to the kitchen sink. The original plastic adapter didn't fit so I went and bought a different one, no big deal. Problem I am having is that the threads of it are so sharp they sliced into the palm and a finger. Unfortunately this is the second time I have done this because I forgot to run a file over the threads.
So just a word of caution if you buy a metal adapter it may be sharp.

 

[volx]

Today's brew proved that my previous scorching issues were not grain basket related. 16.5 lbs of grain, stirred twice, once during mash-in and another time during sparging. No signs of scorching. 1.070 O.G. (no rice hulls). With the expected F.G., this will be a >8% beer (Morebeer Belgian Saison), I usually don't make anything stronger. The once a year RIS I can brew on my old system. I am happy.

What else happened:
1. One of my lid hinges broke.
2. I had my first boil over: the first 16 times when I watched for it, it didn't happen. Today I didn't watch for it...
3. The Brewie would have overflowed: I need to re-do the calibration, which I knew, this one is on me.
4. The Brewie froze twice towards the end of the boil. No big deal due to developer mode, but still a bit worrisome.

A quick update on my freeze: this may have nothing to do with the Brewie+ but might rather be an issue of the power outlet is was plugged in. I had pretty much constant freezes the day after my brew. I tried to do a full clean and the Brewie would freeze even just sitting idle on the start screen for 5 minutes. The next day when I tried it again my GFCI outlet was tripped and had to be reset. After that I ran a short clean, followed by a full clean, followed by a calibration and a test brew with no issues. I will continue to monitor this but am hopeful it had something to do with me outlet.

 

[HarkinBanks]

A quick update on my freeze: this may have nothing to do with the Brewie+ but might rather be an issue of the power outlet is was plugged in. I had pretty much constant freezes the day after my brew. I tried to do a full clean and the Brewie would freeze even just sitting idle on the start screen for 5 minutes. The next day when I tried it again my GFCI outlet was tripped and had to be reset. After that I ran a short clean, followed by a full clean, followed by a calibration and a test brew with no issues. I will continue to monitor this but am hopeful it had something to do with me outlet.

How many amps on the outlet? How old is your wiring?

 

[volx]

It is a 15 amp outlet. Not really sure how old the wiring is. The house was build in the 50s but at least the breaker box is newer.

 

[HarkinBanks]

It is a 15 amp outlet. Not really sure how old the wiring is. The house was build in the 50s but at least the breaker box is newer.

15 amp should be ok but the wattage does get close. Could also be your gfci or old wiring. May want to try a different circuit if that is possible. I run mine on a 20 amp circuit.

 

[Still Brewn]

Wow..... 1850 watts for one burner! (Note: both burner are never on at the same time) That is the very edge of a 15 amp circuit. You should really consider a 20 amp circuit. You will probably notice the GFI outlet getting quite warm while you are brewing. But your problem is probably that outlet. We have had the very same problem with the outlet my wife uses every day to dry her hair. We are on the 3rd one in 12 years, (we got a box of them (12) for really cheap, spend the money on a quality one) 15 amp circuit. A 15 amp circuit is suppose to be able to handle that much power usage but it doesnt take much of any error in istallation to have things go horribly wrong. We found a number of errors and close calls in our house. Hell when we bought it the stove was connected directly to the incoming power .... right to the incoming lugs. The garage had a 30 amp circuit.... 2 wires.... 14 gage wire.

 

[c06u]

Numbers up front.... Not really needed, you can get your expected numbers when you enter your recipe and so far the calculations it comes up with are pretty accurate. I've had a couple that were off but both were me making errors. As soon as they get the fermentation tab up and running again the numbers you get will be accurate from grain to glass.

Pricing ... I'm not sure where you are getting your ingredients but even buying from the over priced and only brew shop within 50 miles I spend less than $20 on a batch and as low as $12. If I would purchase on line I could bring my costs down. My $12 something batch was a BMC lite clone so it probably couldn't get much cheaper.

I posted the recipe for the lite somewhere.... I will try to find it or post it again if anyone is interested. Not my kind of beer I made it for my brother. You can search for "Philjina Lite" or "3 Squared" and maybe find it I can't remember which one I posted. I don't think I had the hops listed I will look them up and post.

"numbers up front" I don't mean output numbers, example take a look at a brewie pad recipe, note the multi stage mash (Temps/times) honestly using the pads for me they have all brewed perfectly by the numbers, my problem is I don't like any of the Pad beers period, I am into just plain jane Hefe's etc, I brew to drink not create high brow brews, so dry hopping and additives playing with temps during fermentation have never been my thing, just a simple guy here!

 

[c06u]

Recipes! are there any of you guys out there that have either created or converted Recipes to Brewie format? (Volumes/times/temps) a plug and play type Recipe guide, a nice Hefe would be wonderful nothing fancy, have run 4 Brewie pads so far all turned out on the money and machine has worked flawlessly BUT I don't really like any of them....

 

[Still Brewn]

Recipes! are there any of you guys out there that have either created or converted Recipes to Brewie format? (Volumes/times/temps) a plug and play type Recipe guide, a nice Hefe would be wonderful nothing fancy, have run 4 Brewie pads so far all turned out on the money and machine has worked flawlessly BUT I don't really like any of them....

I made a German Wit last week, it is fermenting still. I will cold crash it in a couple of days. It should be ready next week. If anyone likes the beer I will post the recipe otherwise I will go back to the drawingboard with it which I'm sure I will have to do because I didn't hit the numbers I wanted but it was close. I have yet to make a Brewie pad, I can't see paying twice the price for a beer I could make. I'm still trying to get my brew area finished after having to change my brewery from the Z2 to the Brewie. What simple beers do you like? There are a number of people that have brewed a dozen beers since I got my machine in December. Not sure if they were Brewie recipes or their own recipes.
Try this one .... very simple recipe.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/schneider-sohn-original-german-hefe-weizen-ale.659768/
Or this one
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/american-wheat.520929/
If you want to a less choppy beer use only half the citra that the recipe calls for. Try using k-97 for your yeast if you prefer a dry German yeast. Or if you want it more fruity try WB-06.

 

[c06u]

I made a German Wit last week, it is fermenting still. I will cold crash it in a couple of days. It should be ready next week. If anyone likes the beer I will post the recipe otherwise I will go back to the drawingboard with it which I'm sure I will have to do because I didn't hit the numbers I wanted but it was close. I have yet to make a Brewie pad, I can't see paying twice the price for a beer I could make. I'm still trying to get my brew area finished after having to change my brewery from the Z2 to the Brewie. What simple beers do you like? There are a number of people that have brewed a dozen beers since I got my machine in December. Not sure if they were Brewie recipes or their own recipes.
Try this one .... very simple recipe.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/schneider-sohn-original-german-hefe-weizen-ale.659768/
Or this one
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/american-wheat.520929/
If you want to a less choppy beer use only half the citra that the recipe calls for. Try using k-97 for your yeast if you prefer a dry German yeast.

Thanks for the feedback, will take a look at those, my main interest was in using the temp/time control features Brewie offers, but will try some of my old recipes without tweaking I guess, I did the Pads first to avoid compounding problems by not being experienced with the machine, so far it has been nothing but pure pleasure not having to hoist keggles and heavy fermenters, propane tanks etc etc around and then spending hours cleaning etc....

 

[Still Brewn]

Thanks for the feedback, will take a look at those, my main interest was in using the temp/time control features Brewie offers, but will try some of my old recipes without tweaking I guess, I did the Pads first to avoid compounding problems by not being experienced with the machine, so far it has been nothing but pure pleasure not having to hoist keggles and heavy fermenters, propane tanks etc etc around and then spending hours cleaning etc....

I know what you mean about cleaning and lifting... The lifting part is the main reason I got the machine but falling asleep while I'm doing things is a very close second. I got tired of only getting to brew when I had a babysitter. I probably would have tried the pads if I had gotten any with my machine but I didn't and I had enough recipes that I had some kind of experience with so I had an idea of what to expect.
One of those I posted is a multi step mash so it should give your machine a good workout. I think that is why my last brew didn't produce the numbers I was expecting. Completely my fault, I was in a hurry so i dropped a step. I needed to get it finished so I could help man a volunteer drive for the flooding mess we have going on here. They also posted the recipes for the pads on their website if there were any you wanted to try but didn't. I think it was a PDF download. The few I looked at were over hopped for my taste so I haven't tried making any of them yet.

 

[Still Brewn]

Edited above to add another dry yeast.

 

[Still Brewn]

Good news the "Fermentation" tab will be back on the next version (3.1.2) of the software. I'm not sure if it will be on both the app and machine but at least we will be able to work with is again.

 

[Still Brewn]

Seems like this thread is dying out.... either everyone is having perfect brew sessions with their Brewie or nobody is brewing. For me, perfect brew session while have a couple of brews with a friend. He was flabbergasted by how easy it was to use the machine but then asked me if it took the "fun" out of brewing. My answer of course was "hell no! I can finally brew without help and I can brew while doing something else, like drinking this fine brew from the keg you keep running to." I brewed a scotch ale last night and things went so smoothly that I forgot to take my og.
Only issue I had was that I had the machine do a full clean before I brewed and linked in with my tablet so I could keep an eye on it while I was doing something else. After that was finished and I ran the short clean and flushed all the lines to make sure there was no soap residue then started my brew. Only problem was that I couldn't connect to the Brewie with my phone. It was not a big deal for me but should have probably restarted the machine when switching from the tablet to the phone.

the next day when I tried it again my GFCI outlet was tripped and had to be reset.

Did you get your outlet replaced?

 

[Blazinlow86]

I can't imagine brewie is still making these and or retailers would still be selling them . Considering there was only 3-4 users on this forum using them and there having issues getting more people in the convos is pretty unlikely. It's unfortunate for the people that got taken and couldn't get there money back but imo it's for the best the word brewie becomes forgotten about forever. It failed miserably. Cheers

 

[c06u]

Yes I followed the problems, in the Aviation world which I come from we call it 'Teething" as with anything, and then you have the "technophobic" types that honestly could not change a tire on their own car, they will have problems with the machine, (it's not a keurig) and honestly if you are not into experimentation and tinkering you should be getting your beer at the A&P, so far smooth sailing for my Brewie (B20) pulled off the ultimate last weekend Brew+BBQ Ribs all in the same afternoon, a feat never tried in the pre Brewie/Instant pot days, no more lugging keggeles and propane bottles around, endless hours of cleaning etc etc, did it all just about right from the couch! I did have to go light the Barbie to brown up those super tender Ribs out of the instant pot but all else was on auto-pilot

 

[c06u]

Seems like this thread is dying out.... either everyone is having perfect brew sessions with their Brewie or nobody is brewing. For me, perfect brew session while have a couple of brews with a friend. He was flabbergasted by how easy it was to use the machine but then asked me if it took the "fun" out of brewing. My answer of course was "hell no! I can finally brew without help and I can brew while doing something else, like drinking this fine brew from the keg you keep running to." I brewed a scotch ale last night and things went so smoothly that I forgot to take my og.
Only issue I had was that I had the machine do a full clean before I brewed and linked in with my tablet so I could keep an eye on it while I was doing something else. After that was finished and I ran the short clean and flushed all the lines to make sure there was no soap residue then started my brew. Only problem was that I couldn't connect to the Brewie with my phone. It was not a big deal for me but should have probably restarted the machine when switching from the tablet to the phone.



Did you get your outlet replaced?

Keep me in mind for recipes...have two kegged here and two in the fermenters, will go another brew round next weekend

 

[Still Brewn]

I can't imagine brewie is still making these and or retailers would still be selling them . Considering there was only 3-4 users on this forum using them and there having issues getting more people in the convos is pretty unlikely. It's unfortunate for the people that got taken and couldn't get there money back but imo it's for the best the word brewie becomes forgotten about forever. It failed miserably. Cheers

Like every new product with this level of automation there are bound to be hiccups, but overall this machine performs beautifully. Anyone that didn't like their machine could very easily return it for a refund. The Brewie is still being made and still available at the retailers that have had them all along except when they were sold out. https://www.morebeer.com/products/brewie-fully-automated-brewing-system.html
And on Amazon.
Not forgotten and definitely not a failure.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Yes I followed the problems, in the Aviation world which I come from we call it 'Teething" as with anything, and then you have the "technophobic" types that honestly could not change a tire on their own car, they will have problems with the machine, (it's not a keurig) and honestly if you are not into experimentation and tinkering you should be getting your beer at the A&P, so far smooth sailing for my Brewie (B20) pulled off the ultimate last weekend Brew+BBQ Ribs all in the same afternoon, a feat never tried in the pre Brewie/Instant pot days, no more lugging keggeles and propane bottles around, endless hours of cleaning etc etc, did it all just about right from the couch! I did have to go light the Barbie to brown up those super tender Ribs out of the instant pot but all else was on auto-pilot

Keep fighting the good fight on there behalf. It's ironic that there were literally ads on Facebook that it's the kurig of homebrewing perfect for people tired of tinkering with equipment rofl. It was the whole point lol. cheers

 

[Still Brewn]

Keep me in mind for recipes...have two kegged here and two in the fermenters, will go another brew round next weekend

I didn't forget, I have 2 in fermenters and 1 in keg, the kegged on is too lite on the hops in my opinion but otherwise a very tasty light beer, it is posted above somewhere as 3 Squared. Very high efficiency and will satisfy most BMC drinkers. I haven't tranfered my German wit yet I have been too busy. As soon as I do I will post it if it is worth a damn. On a side note it is much easier to use the app and enter recipes with a tablet than on the Brewie screen just when you enter or change anything make sure that you back out of the screen using the arrow in the upper left all the way back to the recipes screen to save your work because they have not added a save button yet and you will lose your changes if you don't.

 

[cubsfan16]

Not sure why some people need to stop in to troll a thread. I’m 5 batches in, no issues. So far liking it better than my Zymatic. They just need to continue to refine the recipe crafter....the new Z/Zymatic crafter is better....I just use BeerSmith so it’s not that big of a deal.

 

[Blazinlow86]

It's not purposely trolling it's just the situation is so ridiculously hilarious that describing it aloud comes off trollish to the few that defend the companys epic failure the "brewie". If your happy with the system great. Cheers