Looking for feedback on Spike Solo. What size to buy and general experience.

[andrewg802]

I am about ready to pull the trigger on an electric system. After doing a ton of research, I think I have settled on a Spike Solo system. I am looking for a little feedback.

1) I mostly brew 5 gallon batches but occasionally I brew with family and want to brew 10 gallons. Because of this I was leaning towards the 20 gallon system. They say that system can brew batches from 5-10 gallons. I am wondering if anyone has an experience brewing 5 gallons on the 20 gallon system.

2) What are your general experiences on the Spike solo system? Do you like it? Are you happy with the purchase? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Iowa Brewer]

I’m curious about this too!

 

[NewJersey]

I just put 9 gallons of water in my 15 gallon solo+ kettle and inserted the basket. (Prepping for a brew tomorrow)
It LOOKS like there's not enough water for 15lbs of grain (for 6 gallons into the fermenter)
I added my salts and a crushed campden and closed it up.
I'm gonna find out tomorrow I suppose.
The 9 gallons was based on the beersmith profile for the 15 solo and I adjusted it to 6 gallon batch size.
I imagine the 20 gallon would look even more odd in the same situation, but who knows.

 

[NewJersey]

I'm using it as I post. It's so easy and the basket is not tearable or able to come off the pot.
The solo has also been totally easy and spot on. I've checked the temp of the mash and over an hour it's been pretty consistently 2⁰F lower than what the probe reads. So, set it 2 degrees higher than desired mash temp.
The controller doesn't read to tenths of a degree and so far I've found I like that so I don't drive myself nuts watching it.

 

[Biggz1313]

I am about ready to pull the trigger on an electric system. After doing a ton of research, I think I have settled on a Spike Solo system. I am looking for a little feedback.

1) I mostly brew 5 gallon batches but occasionally I brew with family and want to brew 10 gallons. Because of this I was leaning towards the 20 gallon system. They say that system can brew batches from 5-10 gallons. I am wondering if anyone has an experience brewing 5 gallons on the 20 gallon system.

2) What are your general experiences on the Spike solo system? Do you like it? Are you happy with the purchase? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I have the 15g Solo+ and have considered doing a 10g batch on it. It seems like it will work out without having to sparge for a medium to small beer, but a 10g batch for a large grain bill will likely need sparge. With the steam hat, my boil off is about 1g per hour and I lose about 0.6-0.7g to trub and my CFC. So as long as you can get a pre boil volume of 11.5-12g a 10g batch should be doable.

Also, here is a link to some of the Spike Solo threads that has lots of discussion about out real people using these systems:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/spike-solo-owners-thread.683267/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/spike-solo-real-reviews.685411/
Personally, I love the system, but have had some problems during the brew process that can be read about (along with others views/experiences) in the first link I provided.

Cheers!