SSBrewTech - SVBS

[bike2brew]

Thanks for the prompt reply. I saw the graph last night and that prompted my question. Overall my brew went well procedurally but I have other stuff to learn going to AG from extract. Attenuation is currently sitting @ 94% so perhaps an infection? Want to pull the plug on that batch but thinking I need to stay the course for the full learning experience.

 

[passedpawn]

I bought the casters for the SVBS (they sell them). GREAT improvement for me. I was worried it would all become unstable during a brewing session, but it was completely solid. Having wheels makes it much easier for me to move it around, obviously. You can see the wheel locks on all four. Very solid wheels and locks. Quite happy with this.

 

[passedpawn]

Anyone thinking about this AIO should have a look at the Black Friday sales sheet. Pretty good savings there. I bought the SVBS, the immersion chiller, and the casters for it. I would do it again, too!

https://www.ssbrewtech.com/pages/bfcm

 

[rritchey]

Anyone thinking about this AIO should have a look at the Black Friday sales sheet. Pretty good savings there. I bought the SVBS, the immersion chiller, and the casters for it. I would do it again, too!

https://www.ssbrewtech.com/pages/bfcm

I received the email today and am considering the purchase. Are folks here still happy with the SVBS experience?

 

[passedpawn]

I received the email today and am considering the purchase. Are folks here still happy with the SVBS experience?

You know how I feel

I would also use their hop spider, but I don't think it will fit into the kettle at the same time as the chiller, which is a problem with my process. However, if you're considering using an external chiller (e.g. plate chiller) then it looks like a good design.

 

[rritchey]

You know how I feel

I would also use their hop spider, but I don't think it will fit into the kettle at the same time as the chiller, which is a problem with my process. However, if you're considering using an external chiller (e.g. plate chiller) then it looks like a good design.

I’d likely use an external chiller and a spike steam condenser, which I hear doesn’t fit great. I had been leaning towards the spike solo, but the SS BF deal is hard to pass on.

 

[passedpawn]

I see. I brew outside, so that combination never crossed my mind.

If you got the SVBS would you also get their cube and arm to set it on?

 

[passedpawn]

 

[Broothru]

Saw this in my email feed. If I wasn’t so far ‘in the tank’ for Braumeister, I’d pounce on this bad boy.

 

[bike2brew]

Thumbs up on SVBS. Yes to the brew cube, casters on the legs, etc. Hop spider and chiller work great to. Just purchased another 7gal brew bucket to facilitate back to back 5 gal batches.

 

[passedpawn]

Is it possible to use the chiller and hop basket at the same time? Looks like an interference issue.

If not, I guess you remove the hop basket before adding the chiller? Then leave the chiller in there for a few minutes to sterilize?

Thumbs up on SVBS. Yes to the brew cube, casters on the legs, etc. Hop spider and chiller work great to. Just purchased another 7gal brew bucket to facilitate back to back 5 gal batches.View attachment 834773

 

[Lebowski509]

Is it possible to use the chiller and hop basket at the same time? Looks like an interference issue.

If not, I guess you remove the hop basket before adding the chiller? Then leave the chiller in there for a few minutes to sterilize?

I’ve been wondering about this process as well. I’ve been using another kind of a hop spider that I kind of hang off the chiller but it seems a bit lower quality and I was wondering if the brewtech one would fit right inside, and kind of use those supports to sit on top of the chiller so you can hop stand.

 

[ranman]

Haven't seen any mention of difficulty (or not) in cleaning the SVBS' halo element after the brew day. Given that I'm still an induction burner brewer, how challenging is it to clean up any mash or hop residue that may be baked onto the element? The site says "easy to clean," but I wanted to hear from an actual system user...

 

[passedpawn]

Haven't seen any mention of difficulty (or not) in cleaning the SVBS' halo element after the brew day. Given that I'm still an induction burner brewer, how challenging is it to clean up any mash or hop residue that may be baked onto the element? The site says "easy to clean," but I wanted to hear from an actual system user...

I've brewed on it a bunch of times. It cleans up great with PBW and hot water. I think there was one brew that I had to reach in there and scrub the element. That was a pain. I can't remember why that session was different. Might have been when I was tossing loose hops into the kettle. I stopped doing that.

 

[Lebowski509]

I've brewed on it a bunch of times. It cleans up great with PBW and hot water. I think there was one brew that I had to reach in there and scrub the element. That was a pain. I can't remember why that session was different. Might have been when I was tossing loose hops into the kettle. I stopped doing that.

Yeah, I second that. I have had stuff gunk on there, but after a few minutes, soaking in some hot PBW, and very easily wipes off

 

[boralyl]

I was able to brew with the SVBS for the first time about a week ago.

I have to say the process was so much easier than using a separate mash tun and a pump to move things around between the kettle. I'm not going to go to much into my thoughts as I want to do a 2nd batch where I don't make a critical error.

So as a warning to others, be very careful with the Controller. Since this was my first time using the unit, I had the controller just sitting on a shelf near the SVBS. When I was walking to grab the 10 minute hop addition I tripped over the cord and it tugged on the wires at the controller such that it would no longer operate. I had to quickly transfer the wort to my old kettle to finish boiling, whirlpooling and chilling.

I was somewhat surprised that such a small trip made the unit completely unusable. I did try pushing the wires back in and wrapping it in some electric tape, but it still wouldn't power on. I reached out to SS Brewtech and as I expected there is no way to repair this and the only option was to purchase a new controller. So it's good to know you can buy parts when needed (at least the controller), but it's quite the expensive mistake. The replacement was $299.00 USD.

 

[passedpawn]

I used the included velcro strap with the brewcube stand. Hopefully avoid the same.

 

[boralyl]

I used the included velcro strap with the brewcube stand. Hopefully avoid the same.

View attachment 837596

I had looked into that, but they haven't had the brewcube in stock since black friday. That's the way to do it though to avoid the tripping hazard!

 

[kevin58]

I had looked into that, but they haven't had the brewcube in stock since black friday. That's the way to do it though to avoid the tripping hazard!

I bought a one man scaffold at Home Depot for about $100. It has a flip out paint tray that I clamp my SVBS controller onto. Pic was taken with my previous AIO now long gone. The whole scaffold folds up flat when not in use.

 

[bike2brew]

Yes brew cube is way to go. Make sure you order the casters also when its back in stock. Found out that it really is useful for moving it around once the brewday is over and for cleaning up afterwards.

 

[boralyl]

I got my replacement controller and had my first full brew day with the SVBS. According to the Brew Day timer, it took just under 4 hours from heating up the mash water to pumping the beer into the unitank. I probably had another 1-1.5 hours of cleaning afterwards, but honestly a lot of that time was just letting the SVBS soak.

So I'm very pleased with the results, as it would take me about 8 hours (plus a few hours the next day to put everything back together) with my previous system.

Even though I couldn't finish the boil on my first use, I did make note of my mash efficiency and it improved from low 60% to low 70% when I double milled the grain at the LHBS on this brew day. I didn't have any issues with a stuck sparge and the wort ran very clear into the fermenter.

Looking forward to brewing more batches in the near future!

 

[passedpawn]

I got my replacement controller and had my first full brew day with the SVBS. According to the Brew Day timer, it took just under 4 hours from heating up the mash water to pumping the beer into the unitank. I probably had another 1-1.5 hours of cleaning afterwards, but honestly a lot of that time was just letting the SVBS soak.

Did you see my post #102 above? If you have a dishwasher big enough to accommodate the grain basket, it cleans up great in there. Use PBW! I have done this at least 5 or 6 times and it saves me a bunch of time.

 

[jcech]

You know how I feel

I would also use their hop spider, but I don't think it will fit into the kettle at the same time as the chiller, which is a problem with my process. However, if you're considering using an external chiller (e.g. plate chiller) then it looks like a good design.

I saw this sale and after researching this went for the full Monty - SVBS with cube, Unitank 2.0 (7 gal), glycol chiller and various starter sets. Just got the 220 put in last week, cleaned everything and water tested it. First batch this weekend. Love ALL the comments and suggestions from everyone. Will save me a lot of learning curve. More time for BEER!

 

[passedpawn]

I saw this sale and after researching this went for the full Monty - SVBS with cube, Unitank 2.0 (7 gal), glycol chiller and various starter sets. Just got the 220 put in last week, cleaned everything and water tested it. First batch this weekend. Love ALL the comments and suggestions from everyone. Will save me a lot of learning curve. More time for BEER!

Wow, fully monty indeed. Good luck with it and I hope the first batch goes smoothly. Please come back and let us know how it went.

 

[jcech]

My set up

 

[wepeeler]

My set up

Glycol for 1 Uni lol. Need 2 more!

 

[passedpawn]

My set up

And welcome to the forum. Looks like you've been lurking for a while, glad you've joined us.

 

[jcech]

Glycol for 1 Uni lol. Need 2 more!

Got it to dabble in Lagers. Also plan to use it to help get to pitching temp faster. Anyone have experience doing this with a chiller? I have an immersion chiller to get me down to 120 or so and then use this to take it to 65 fast

 

[passedpawn]

Got it to dabble in Lagers. Also plan to use it to help get to pitching temp faster. Anyone have experience doing this with a chiller? I have an immersion chiller to get me down to 120 or so and then use this to take it to 65 fast

I don't see the IC in your pic. ?

I admit I'm in no hurry to get to pitching temperatures. I do chill at the end of the boil, but I can only get to pool temps (I use my pool water as the chilling water). In the winter, 65F, in the summer, 90F. So in the summer, I just put my fermentor into my chest freezer and wait until the morning to pitch the yeast. That delay, in my opinion, has no negatives.

 

[jcech]

I don't see the IC in your pic. ?

I admit I'm in no hurry to get to pitching temperatures. I do chill at the end of the boil, but I can only get to pool temps (I use my pool water as the chilling water). In the winter, 65F, in the summer, 90F. So in the summer, I just put my fermentor into my chest freezer and wait until the morning to pitch the yeast. That delay, in my opinion, has no negatives.

The IC is a std coil SS sells and for this pic it is put away. The other driver for me to get the chiller is to brew in the summer. I have used a cooler with ice water that I had circulated through my original IC but on a hot day in the summer it was impossible to get the temp down in any reasonable time. They holding it there while fermenting was even more impossible so I stop brewing in the summer.

A heat belt and insulated box made my unheated garage brewhouse doable even when its below freezing. Getting a freezer for the summer was too rube goldberg. I finally concluded that if I was going to do this and expand into every type of beer I was interested in then I simply needed to bite the bullet and do the equipment right.