Spike's upcoming eBIAB system

[Bobby_M]

It's dissappointing/unfortunate that they went with a 4 wire plug as opposed to the 3 wire 220v w/ a separate 120v circuit like the SSbrewtech controller. I thought the original controller was 3 wire. This definitely takes this system off my list. (Of course maybe the controller could just be rewired to accommodate those type of connections.)

The thing is, no one will ever be happy with the way they do it. I sell a lot of brew commanders and a good one in 4 or 5 units are ordered with our optional 4-wire conversion that changes the separate L6-30P and 5-15P circuits into a single 14-30P. Folks having a new circuit put in hate being forced to setting up two different circuits when a single 4-wire will do.

 

[IceChisel]

Why not just put both a 4 wire and a 120v with a switch to take the 120v from the 4 wire or from the 120v. Then label the neutral on the 4 wire as optional because it can now be wired as either 3 or 4 wire. Aside from a little additional cost it opens the market for the device to those with only 3 wire 220v. Forcing either side, 3 or 4, just doesn't make sense.

 

[Rubberband]

It's dissappointing/unfortunate that they went with a 4 wire plug as opposed to the 3 wire 220v w/ a separate 120v circuit like the SSbrewtech controller. I thought the original controller was 3 wire. This definitely takes this system off my list. (Of course maybe the controller could just be rewired to accommodate those type of connections.)

It is a problem if your wire pulled in the house is only two hots and ground but I like the convenience of having two 120V outlets right on my controller that the 4-wire plug allows. I don't need to connect another extension cord and a separate GFCI for the 120V, it's covered in with the breaker from my fuse box to the main plug. I seriously considered the SS Brewtech system but their temp probe is proprietary and looks like a PIA. It's tough to get exactly what you want without building it yourself.

I'm brewing my first 10 gal. batch this week, I hope it goes as well as Punx. I appreciate the heads up on the pump speed for re circulation BTW.

 

[IceChisel]

You could still have that four wire convenience with the solution provided above.

Catering to one crowd and not the other in a time when a simple solution provides both and is available for very little extra cost - doesn't add up.

 

[Rubberband]

Spike Solo First Batch Update:

Brewed first batch of beer yesterday and it was full of adventure. It's amazing how a few differences in process can make you feel uncomfortable. I am a long time 5 gallon AG brewer using three vessels (gas) and no controls. I normally hit my numbers no questions asked and the day follows like clockwork. I must have added 10 trips up and down my stairs to the basement to retrieve a key piece needed for the BIAB process. I never felt confident in what I was doing during the entire brew day.

The Spike Solo functions very well. I did recirculate over the top of the grain with the short hose as recommended and had to pull the hose out. The hose kept falling off of the pot ledge into the mash which didn't look to be optimal to me. I will probably rig something up to return flow more evenly over the top of the grain bed. I don't know if I need it but it's what I know works from my cooler, I'm sure it won't hurt. The wort was very clear at the end of the mash, so something went right. Overall the temp. held steady at 152, the controller worked as advertised. I hit my pre-boil gravity of 1.055 at the right volume, so conversion went well which made me happy.

The Spike element heated the wort from 152 to boiling in 20 minutes and I had nearly 13 gallons of wort. It is powerful! I think this aspect of going electric will keep me away from the smaller gas system. I boiled at 67% power on the element and it was what I considered a good boil. I finished the boil at 1.060, which is just below target at 1.062. All things considered, I'm happy. Here is where the fun started, chilling, whirlpool and collecting wort was a cluster. I needed 20 minutes to sort out the hoses, it seems so much easier on a single tier working right to left. The chiller flow rate on the wort was an issue, it took 20 minutes to cool to 75 with a Shirron chiller plate (new kit for me). It worked but the hassle of cleaning and connecting the thing makes me think I want to go back to the immersion chiller which has worked for 10 years now.

The biggest disappointment was the unknown of system losses. I used a download in BeerSmith as the baseline for the recipe but I need to bump up the kettle and line loss from 1 gal. to 2 gal. I wanted to collect 11 gallons because I'm using a new 15 gal. Speidel fermenter and I'm not sure how much I'll lose there. It's better to have too much vs. too little. I was just short of 10 gallons in the fermenter which is disappointing because I'll probably get about 8.5 gallons after loss to trub in the fermenter.

I need to work on the wort collection from the kettle and my whirlpool process for sure. The size of everything was a bit intimidating, it doesn't fit in the wash tub like the 10 gallon kettle/mash-tun. I will most certainly be splitting batches as well, the smaller fermenters are much easier to clean and handle. Overall, I am pleased with the Spike Solo and I think the benefits of going electric have enough appeal to keep me working on it. Well, that is my first experience with the Spike Solo, I hope this was helpful to someone.

 

[Punx Clever]

...
I did recirculate over the top of the grain with the short hose as recommended and had to pull the hose out. The hose kept falling off of the pot ledge into the mash which didn't look to be optimal to me. I will probably rig something up to return flow more evenly over the top of the grain bed. I don't know if I need it but it's what I know works from my cooler, I'm sure it won't hurt.
...

I didn't like the floating tube either. Just got this (well, the stainless bits, the lock-line is from my old mash tun) in the mail:

Might even try using my autosparge to prevent overrunning the mash...

 

[Noob_Brewer]

Knocked out my first batch on the Solo today. 11 gallon batch of a 1.034 OG Light American Lager. Planned for 75% efficiency and hit it right on the nose. Couple notes:

I'm using a Hop Stopper to keep junk out of a plate chiller, so no whirlpool for me. I used the whirlpool port for mash recirculation, and on the next batch I'm going to just attach the butterfly valve directly to the kettle.

When recirculating, my flow rate was too high at first. I was pumping wort back into the basket faster than it would drain out the bottom. Make sure you keep an eye on that, especially with smaller batches. It would be easy to pump enough wort out of the main kettle and dry-fire the element or overflow the basket.

I don't like the silicone tube for recirculation. I'm switching things around to be able to use lock-line. A pass-though 1.5" TC / 1/2" NPT fitting with a male ball-lock QD on the outside will do the trick.

Lifting the basket at the end of the mash surprised me. I'm glad I had a hoist. Took quite a while for all the wort to drain through the grain bed, so the basket was pretty dang heavy. I could see someone throwing out their back if they tried to lift the basket on a big batch by themselves.

Don't mind how the hoses are hooked up... they are just there so they aren't flopping around.

So the hop stopper fit well under the element? I figured because of the basket, the element would be lower and not allow for something like the hop stopper to fit. Got a picture of it? Glad this setup worked well for ya though.

 

[Punx Clever]

Yup. Element touches the hop stopper, but doesn't crush it. You'll need Spikes "shorty" pickup tube. "Side" pickup tube that ships with the solo does not go out far enough or down far enough.

 

[Rubberband]

Yup. Element touches the hop stopper, but doesn't crush it. You'll need Spikes "shorty" pickup tube. "Side" pickup tube that ships with the solo does not go out far enough or down far enough.

This looks interesting, I did have a lot of trub in the first wort out of the kettle after a 15 minute whirlpool and 20 minute rest. Would you still whirlpool with the hop stopper in place or just drain the kettle directly?

 

[Punx Clever]

This looks interesting, I did have a lot of trub in the first wort out of the kettle after a 15 minute whirlpool and 20 minute rest. Would you still whirlpool with the hop stopper in place or just drain the kettle directly?

The folks that make the hop stoppers do not reccomend recirculating/whirlpooling through the filter, and for draining/sanitizing chillers they reccomend a maximum of 1 GPM. Apparently too high of a suction can collapse the filter, and cold break will block it too.

Still, it keeps large gunk from getting into a plate chiller, and one pass at 1 gpm through the plate chiller is significantly faster chilling than an immersion or counterflow with whirlpool. As for cold break in the fermenter, it gets dumped out the bottom of the cone.

I've got one brew with one of these things, but like it so far.

 

[RichardU]

My first brew day was greatly simplified compared to previous Grainfather brews (no fiddly silicone rings, pump filter, or pipe coming up through the center of my grains).

I love the Spike system. I'm also glad I set up a pulley system so the basket could drain throughout the boil. My efficiency seems to be 71%.

I didn't like the floating tube either.

FWIW, I used a tube 24" long and it never dropped off the ledge.

 

[NewJersey]

Spike Solo First Batch Update:

Brewed first batch of beer yesterday and it was full of adventure. It's amazing how a few differences in process can make you feel uncomfortable. I am a long time 5 gallon AG brewer using three vessels (gas) and no controls. I normally hit my numbers no questions asked and the day follows like clockwork. I must have added 10 trips up and down my stairs to the basement to retrieve a key piece needed for the BIAB process. I never felt confident in what I was doing during the entire brew day.

The Spike Solo functions very well. I did recirculate over the top of the grain with the short hose as recommended and had to pull the hose out. The hose kept falling off of the pot ledge into the mash which didn't look to be optimal to me. I will probably rig something up to return flow more evenly over the top of the grain bed. I don't know if I need it but it's what I know works from my cooler, I'm sure it won't hurt. The wort was very clear at the end of the mash, so something went right. Overall the temp. held steady at 152, the controller worked as advertised. I hit my pre-boil gravity of 1.055 at the right volume, so conversion went well which made me happy.

The Spike element heated the wort from 152 to boiling in 20 minutes and I had nearly 13 gallons of wort. It is powerful! I think this aspect of going electric will keep me away from the smaller gas system. I boiled at 67% power on the element and it was what I considered a good boil. I finished the boil at 1.060, which is just below target at 1.062. All things considered, I'm happy. Here is where the fun started, chilling, whirlpool and collecting wort was a cluster. I needed 20 minutes to sort out the hoses, it seems so much easier on a single tier working right to left. The chiller flow rate on the wort was an issue, it took 20 minutes to cool to 75 with a Shirron chiller plate (new kit for me). It worked but the hassle of cleaning and connecting the thing makes me think I want to go back to the immersion chiller which has worked for 10 years now.

The biggest disappointment was the unknown of system losses. I used a download in BeerSmith as the baseline for the recipe but I need to bump up the kettle and line loss from 1 gal. to 2 gal. I wanted to collect 11 gallons because I'm using a new 15 gal. Speidel fermenter and I'm not sure how much I'll lose there. It's better to have too much vs. too little. I was just short of 10 gallons in the fermenter which is disappointing because I'll probably get about 8.5 gallons after loss to trub in the fermenter.

I need to work on the wort collection from the kettle and my whirlpool process for sure. The size of everything was a bit intimidating, it doesn't fit in the wash tub like the 10 gallon kettle/mash-tun. I will most certainly be splitting batches as well, the smaller fermenters are much easier to clean and handle. Overall, I am pleased with the Spike Solo and I think the benefits of going electric have enough appeal to keep me working on it. Well, that is my first experience with the Spike Solo, I hope this was helpful to someone.

You'll get used to the new workflow and pumps and lines. I've gone through too many chiller setups to count anymore and I'm currently using a SS counterflow chiller and am pretty sure I'm gonna stick with it. I had a plate chiller too and it was least favorite to work with. You have to put in a ton of work to keep hops out and even then it can/will still clog. It slows flow even more than a CFC. The only thing they're best at is speed and they barely beat a good CFC and can probably lose in a drag race against a new school IC like a hydra.
ICs however impeded a good whirlpool and hop cone. I currently brew on an SS brewtech 1V with a bag and I really like everything about it EXCEPT for the omron PID which simply doesn't work correctly. I've been going back and forth on whether or not I want to sell it and grab the 15 gallon Solo when it comes out. Price will settle that for me I suppose.
Do you think you'll stick with it?

 

[RichardU]

I created a Spike Solo owner's thread here.

 

[pdcm]

Spike just announced upcoming pre-ordering for the 10g & 15g units for 10am CDT on Wednesday, October 14, 2020. While I've since built my own little electric vessel, I'm still curious to see where the pricing falls for these smaller units.

 

[alexrock]

Spike just announced upcoming pre-ordering for the 10g & 15g units for 10am CDT on Wednesday, October 14, 2020. While I've since built my own little electric vessel, I'm still curious to see where the pricing falls for these smaller units.

Where did you see that date/time posted?

I am almost certainly going to purchase one, and will send a first-brew report on the owner's thread.

 

[pdcm]

Where did you see that date/time posted?

I am almost certainly going to purchase one, and will send a first-brew report on the owner's thread.

At one point I signed up for some alerts so it actually came in an email. I don't know if there's anything on the site or not. FYI, it also included this:

• Orders placed during the presale starting on October 14, will start shipping in early November 2020.

 

[IanMC]

Same here. There were several emails about signing up for an update mailing list, and also a link on the website, but I think it's been removed now.

I'm excited for the 10 gal basket, as I already have a kettle, and am using an induction burner instead of immersion. I'm really anxious to see what the price will be for that one. Guess we'll find out tomorrow!