What was your average heat up time from room temp to mash? Then from Mash to boil? Even with the insulation wrap and covered boil, were you able to achieve a nice rolling boil? They make it sound like the element produces a weak boil.
Clawhammer Supply BIAB
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What was your average heat up time from room temp to mash? Then from Mash to boil? Even with the insulation wrap and covered boil, were you able to achieve a nice rolling boil? They make it sound like the element produces a weak boil.
Thanks for sharing! How many pounds of grain do you think the basket can accommodate?
smbdyshero
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My plan is to set the mash temp and go work on other projects then come back about an hour and a half later. It may take longer to heat up to mash temp, but I won't be sitting on my thumb waiting for it to heat up so that's not a big deal. Did it come with the insulation package or did you wrap it yourself?
I'm planning on trying out Brulosophy's 30 minute mash and doing a double mash for my bigger beers if the grain bill won't fit into the basket.
smbdyshero
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Did you do full volume mash? I am putting together a recipe and its calling for 8.6 gallons of water. Sounds a bit much considering .75 gallon in grain and about .5 gallon boil off. I thought Id start with about 6.5 or 6.75 gallons.
smbdyshero
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I just got my CHS system all set up and ready to brew. I will be taking a metric ton of pictures tonight when I brew a brown ale. I will also start a new thread and link it here. Any questions or things you'd like to see during the brew session just let me know and I'll be sure to include it in the review.
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Seafoxskipper
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@smbdyshero I look forward to seeing your results! I am still on the fence regarding the 120v system and am anxiously awaiting the 220v version.
Thanks for the heads up and congrats on the new system. My biggest questions would be on timing. More specifically: 1) How long to heat from ground to strike, 2) how long to heat from strike to boil 3) And Overall time for a complete brew day from start to cleanup 4) Does the 1650w Element produce enough heat for a nice roll even without a covered boil and insulated lid? 5) How much grain could the basket hold?
smbdyshero
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I brewed on the system last night and wrote up a quick overall review. I posted the link below for the review. Let me know if there's anything I missed. Thanks
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/clawhammer-supply-biab-review.644250/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/clawhammer-supply-biab-review.644250/
Sam Gilchrist
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Hi everyone.
New home brewer here. After a reasonable amount of research I have settled on the Clawhammer 120V system, as it suits my purposes almost ideally.
While I appreciate the myriad of variables that go into optimizing, for those of you with the 120V, what have you calculated for your boil off rate? The beer smith profile seems aggressive in terms of how much the 1650W will actually boil off. Currently running a series of boils and will post my results.
Thanks for any input.
EDIT: After an n=3 experiments, I've calculated a boil-off rate of 2.202 +/- 155mL/hr. Just in the event that anyone else lives at 500m elevation and can use these numbers.
New home brewer here. After a reasonable amount of research I have settled on the Clawhammer 120V system, as it suits my purposes almost ideally.
While I appreciate the myriad of variables that go into optimizing, for those of you with the 120V, what have you calculated for your boil off rate? The beer smith profile seems aggressive in terms of how much the 1650W will actually boil off. Currently running a series of boils and will post my results.
Thanks for any input.
EDIT: After an n=3 experiments, I've calculated a boil-off rate of 2.202 +/- 155mL/hr. Just in the event that anyone else lives at 500m elevation and can use these numbers.
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brew703
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I have a High Gravity 120v with a 2200 watt boil coil element.
I start with 7.25-7.5 gal mash water and it takes 1 hr to get to mash Temps. Depending on your water temp it could take less or more time but for me 1 hr is the norm.
Clawhammer uses a 1600 watt element i believe so it will take longer than 35 min or 2 beers to get to mash temp.
Depending on your budget check out Unibrau. I think they have a 120v version.
I bought the High Gravity system used and it comes with a 10.5 gal pot. I believe it is all assembled except for attaching the hoses. Check them out so you can compare. Sometimes HG offers 10% off plus it comes with a better element and larger than the Clawhammer.
I start with 7.25-7.5 gal mash water and it takes 1 hr to get to mash Temps. Depending on your water temp it could take less or more time but for me 1 hr is the norm.
Clawhammer uses a 1600 watt element i believe so it will take longer than 35 min or 2 beers to get to mash temp.
Depending on your budget check out Unibrau. I think they have a 120v version.
I bought the High Gravity system used and it comes with a 10.5 gal pot. I believe it is all assembled except for attaching the hoses. Check them out so you can compare. Sometimes HG offers 10% off plus it comes with a better element and larger than the Clawhammer.
joaoking
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Clawhammer's element maybe a lower wattage at 1650 watt element but it is low density preventing any scorching. As an owner of the clawhammer system and having done 20+ beers on it I can say that it produces great beer and since brew days are generally planned ahead getting your water to strike temp is never really an issue as you can be doing any chores or whatever during that time. Both High Gravity and Unibrau both make excellent systems though so whatever route you decide to go you will be happy I am sure. End result is beer.
Sam Gilchrist
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Thanks mate. Indeed, I have the Clawhammer 120V. I looked into Unibrau too, especially since they are more local, but decided on the Clawhammer system in the end. I was only asking this group to see what others have found for boil off rates, but my experiments are reproducible, so I'm happy. I'm comfortable with the heating times to reach strike conditions, as well as the boil, and the 1650W element is reasonably gentle which may perhaps mitigate any boil over. Will post how I get on with my first brew -- as soon as winter decides its had enough.
joaoking
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Based on my results, it’s been about .5 gallon boil off in an hour boil. Forgot to add that in the reply. Happy brewing!
Sam Gilchrist
Member
Great. My experiments yielded a boil off of 0.58 +/- 0.04 gal/hr, so well aligned. Just noticed my post above quoted mL instead of L... oops.
Sam Gilchrist
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Quick update here after wrapping up my first brew day with the Clawhammer 120V system. The system performed very well, and overall I am very pleased. I missed my numbers by a bit, with an overall brewhouse efficiency of 60% vs. the published 70% value. This appears to not be influenced much by roller settings on my mill as my new IPA is showing similar efficiencies, so I'll roll with 60% for now. The only thing that I found cumbersome about the system is the elevation of the grain basket when solo-brewing, so I installed a heavy bag bracket that can swing out of the way, and this helps tremendously. Quick snapshot of my current set up for anyone interested.
