Looking for advice on electric systems

[SGTSparty]

Hey all,
Having recently welcomed assistant brewer #2 I'm trying to plan for what little brewing time I did have being cut even further. I brewed on my current system (2 8 gallon pots with ball valve spigots, propane burner and a cooler mash tun) on Friday and while it was a successful brew day the amount of moving parts, being outside in the cold and significant clean up effort (I've got burner issues causing way too much soot that gets on everything) have me looking for an electric solution but I know very little about electric systems having never looked at them before so I'm hoping for some advice from the community of electric brewers. Here are my considerations:

• Primarily I'm looking for balance of hands free while not being completely automated. Something with a controller to heat/maintain mash temps and boil but necessarily to the Pico brew level.
• 5 gallon batches
• Ideally a small footprint so either single or two vessel.
• Power is not an issue, I'll likely be setting this up in my laundry room so i have 240v and 120v but space is limited.
• I already own a Jaded Hydra and would prefer to not replace it/relegate it to the closet if possible.
• Price plays a factor but I'm not going to buy something cheap if it doesn't work for me so only to a point, if i can't afford something that works i'll wait/stick with my current system.

I've been mostly looking at the BrewEasy and the Grainfather but both have draw backs.

Grainfather looks great in terms the balance of automation and hands on in the mash/boil, love the programmable start/app and footprint but slightly under-powered (not a deal breaker at all though), the big catch is sparge heating is separate and the process is manual which is very hands on and slow from what I've seen, plus the included chiller is great but it means mine is collecting expensive dust.

The BrewEasy looks great in terms of balance too, the foot print is great, love how mobile it is with the cart, comes in 120 and 240, like the two vessel design for sparge heating and recirc but price is ~double the GF even with the sparge heater and grain coat, there seems to be very little about it on the internet in terms of use and reviews, seems to be less connected/no app that I've seen.

I'm open to other systems but not sure what is out there that people like. Any help would be greatly appreciated (including links to other threads). Thanks!

 

[plazola86]

I have the 240V brew boss and I do single vessel BIAB (no cofi filter) and could not be happier.

Small footprint - Everything literally fits inside the 15 gallon kettle. The controller and all parts! Single vessel easy cleaning.
Great Power - With 240V room temp to mash temp in about 15 minutes, mash to boil in about 10.
Automation - You could be as hands on as you want or you could set it up to be full auto. You control everything through a tablet so you could be as far as the controller wifi signal lets you.
Best bang for your buck - You could do it cheaper if you DIY but for pre built systems I think this is the best value system.
Brew indoors - Do I need to say more?

 

[jlinz]

The Robobrew is an option. Although, hard to get one right now.

 

[SGTSparty]

I have the 240V brew boss and I do single vessel BIAB (no cofi filter) and could not be happier.

Small footprint - Everything literally fits inside the 15 gallon kettle. The controller and all parts! Single vessel easy cleaning.
Great Power - With 240V room temp to mash temp in about 15 minutes, mash to boil in about 10.
Automation - You could be as hands on as you want or you could set it up to be full auto. You control everything through a tablet so you could be as far as the controller wifi signal lets you.
Best bang for your buck - You could do it cheaper if you DIY but for pre built systems I think this is the best value system.
Brew indoors - Do I need to say more?

I have 2 issues with the Brew Boss and that's cost and size. 15 gallons is more than I have the pipeline for. I'm set up for 5 gallon batches so i'd need all new fermentors/chamber, triple the amount of kegs i have now and based on the rate we go through beer, i'd reduce my brew days by a factor of 3 so all that combined with the price makes that one a less than ideal fit.

The Robobrew is an option. Although, hard to get one right now.

I have not checkd out the Robobrew yet but will look into it. Thanks for the tip.

 

[wyowolf]

I have the 240V brew boss and I do single vessel BIAB (no cofi filter) and could not be happier.

Small footprint - Everything literally fits inside the 15 gallon kettle. The controller and all parts! Single vessel easy cleaning.
Great Power - With 240V room temp to mash temp in about 15 minutes, mash to boil in about 10.
Automation - You could be as hands on as you want or you could set it up to be full auto. You control everything through a tablet so you could be as far as the controller wifi signal lets you.
Best bang for your buck - You could do it cheaper if you DIY but for pre built systems I think this is the best value system.
Brew indoors - Do I need to say more?

I went the CBS, I wish i had gone with this one withthe COFI filter...

 

[dkennedy]

I have 2 issues with the Brew Boss and that's cost and size. 15 gallons is more than I have the pipeline for. I'm set up for 5 gallon batches so i'd need all new fermentors/chamber, triple the amount of kegs i have now and based on the rate we go through beer, i'd reduce my brew days by a factor of 3 so all that combined with the price makes that one a less than ideal fit.

You can run 5 gallon batches in the 15 gallon system...doesn't help with the price, but you're not forced to scale everything else up just because the kettle is bigger than you need.

I'm currently planning to go with either the Brew Boss or a Colorado Brewing Systems rig (about the same price point). I also brew 5 gallon batches, but like the option to brew 10 if I want to ferment/finish differently.

 

[dkennedy]

I went the CBS, I wish i had gone with this one withthe COFI filter...

Not to derail the OP, but Why do you wish you'd gone with the Brew Boss? Weighing the two systems for an upgrade next year.

 

[wyowolf]

Not to derail the OP, but Why do you wish you'd gone with the Brew Boss? Weighing the two systems for an upgrade next year.

Ive been having some terrible efficiency problem that I never had when i had the simple setup...
Part of the problem is the design, the basket is entirely SS mesh. I think the wort is going over and around the mash instead of through it. I am going to try to put some AL Foil around the inside of the basket to force it through the mash...

that and I had to buy some things that I felt should have been included when i first bought it... mash distribution manifold, whirlpool arm mainly...

 

[plazola86]

You can run 5 gallon batches in the 15 gallon system...doesn't help with the price, but you're not forced to scale everything else up just because the kettle is bigger than you need.

I'm currently planning to go with either the Brew Boss or a Colorado Brewing Systems rig (about the same price point). I also brew 5 gallon batches, but like the option to brew 10 if I want to ferment/finish differently.

Agree here bigger kettle doesn't mean bigger batches. I've never done anything bigger than 5 gallon batches (6 gallons in the fermenter). I just like to have the option to do bigger batches if i wanted to and I don't have to worry about boil overs (no need to wait for it to boil to make sure everything stays).

 

[BroomVikin]

Just an FYI for size consideration, I've got an 11g kettle for my system and it maxes out right about 18#s of grain and a full volume boil for a 5g batch. Just something to consider if you ever want to do bigger beers w/o a sparge.

 

[plazola86]

I went with BIAB instead of the COFI filter and built my own stand to save money. Not getting the COFI filter and stand saved a good amount of money, honestly I don't think it would make that much of a difference for my efficiency I always hit 70 - 75% . It looks and sounds cool but in actual practice i think the bag does just as good.

 

[SGTSparty]

Just an FYI for size consideration, I've got an 11g kettle for my system and it maxes out right about 18#s of grain and a full volume boil for a 5g batch. Just something to consider if you ever want to do bigger beers w/o a sparge.

That's a good point I hadn't thought about. I really haven't done any big beers yet because 5 gallons of a big beer would sit forever in my kegerator but I did get the Last Straw bottler for my birthday so I could...
IDK if the GF could handle a big beer like that but the BrewEasy does have a 10 gallon set for a 10% price hike which may be fairly cheap future proofing.

 

[BeardedBrews]

I brewed on my current system (2 8 gallon pots with ball valve spigots, propane burner and a cooler mash tun) on Friday.

I'm open to other systems but not sure what is out there that people like. Any help would be greatly appreciated (including links to other threads). Thanks!

Have you considered converting your existing kettle(s) to electric? There are off the shelf systems to do this, or you can pick between pre-made parts and DIY to customize a bit.

For less than the cost of the Brew Boss you could set up a side-by-side BIAB controller so that you could do double batches. I've done more than a few 5.5 gallon batches in my 7.5 gallon pot, topping off before the boil works just fine.

 

[SGTSparty]

Have you considered converting your existing kettle(s) to electric? There are off the shelf systems to do this, or you can pick between pre-made parts and DIY to customize a bit.

For less than the cost of the Brew Boss you could set up a side-by-side BIAB controller so that you could do double batches. I've done more than a few 5.5 gallon batches in my 7.5 gallon pot, topping off before the boil works just fine.

I have thought about it but i've ruled it out for the following reasons: 1) I honestly don't think my kettles are high enough quality to invest that much money in them and 2) I don't trust myself to be able to do it correctly without a lot of time, effort and tools. I know nothing about wiring or metal working and saving time is a huge factor so IDK how that would work with the researching and building. It would probably work out in the long run but cost a lot time up front.

The Brew Boss is probably a great system but its way out of my price range. Even the EasyBrew would probably take me about a year to save up for.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

You don't need many tools or skill or time for DIY. You could build a simple 5500w electric system including a new 10 gallon stainless pot for under $250. Start to finish in one day with everything delivered to your doorstep...wouldn't even have to leave the house

 

[BeardedBrews]

I have thought about it but i've ruled it out for the following reasons: 1) I honestly don't think my kettles are high enough quality to invest that much money in them and 2) I don't trust myself to be able to do it correctly without a lot of time, effort and tools. I know nothing about wiring or metal working and saving time is a huge factor so IDK how that would work with the researching and building. It would probably work out in the long run but cost a lot time up front.

The Brew Boss is probably a great system but its way out of my price range. Even the EasyBrew would probably take me about a year to save up for.

Jonny is right that the process is not difficult, but that certainly doesn't mean you should do it yourself if that's not something you're into.

The RoboBrew looks like a pretty good pick for what you're describing. The Brewer's Edge Mash-n-Boil is neat too: https://www.homebrewing.org/Brewers-Edge-Mash-Boil-All-Grain-Brewing-System_p_7497.html?

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Agreed with Beardedbrew. If you would rather not build your own setup that's more than fine. I'm just saying its not something to be scared of doing if you wanted to do it but were nervous about it.

 

[steveoatley]

maybe something that someone has worked the bugs out....?
Pre built... but not off the shelf ?

https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/for/d/electric-brew-in-bag-beer/6389520722.html

Not my ad
just found it today.

Maybe the seller would teach you how to use it - a lesson on the system
prior to purchase

just an idea

S

 

[aamcle]

A little hint from a GF owner you don't actually need to heat the sparge water, I still manage about 75% brew to brew with cold water. I might get a bit more if I heat the water but it's not convenient so I don't.

atb. aamcle