Unboxing Colorado Brewing Systems new Single Vessel System

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

yes that always happens for the first 20 minutes you have to watch it then after conversion happens its free flowing

 

[30Bones]

Under shot my gravity on a RIS but not by much, all in all a good brew session. My element shot the moon during cleaning though. Bummed about that but I have a backup

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I burnt a couple of mine, you can clean the elements off with oven cleaner if its charred, then do a pbw cleanout, should be fine

 

[30Bones]

I burnt a couple of mine, you can clean the elements off with oven cleaner if its charred, then do a pbw cleanout, should be fine

Let me rephrase that, it's burnt up as in no more worky.

I honestly think the solid side basket hinders this whole process and a full mesh basket like before would work better. I guess I need to buy rice hulls in bulk now

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

oh I see, ive done that too, as a matter of fact I melted the plastic insulator just 2 weeks ago and it also melted the foil insulation from too much heat in the pot, had the lid on and the pump disengaged while doing a thorough cleaning, now I don't walk away lol

 

[andrewmaixner]

Let me rephrase that, it's burnt up as in no more worky.

Ouch
I did that on my system also when I was new to it, fortunately I noticed as soon as it turned orange, cut the power, and it appears to have survived (at least according to the basic multi-meter test instructions from a water heater troubleshooting website). It's worked for two large brew sessions since then.

I am tempted to add a float switch at the element level which would disable the SSR when not floating, but that's yet another thing to goof around with and clean.

 

[pretzelb]

Let me rephrase that, it's burnt up as in no more worky.

I honestly think the solid side basket hinders this whole process and a full mesh basket like before would work better. I guess I need to buy rice hulls in bulk now

I'm also looking at rice hulls as a regular part of the brew. My last brew was a monster 5g recipe with wheat and I used 1lb of rice hulls and a 045 crush. I'm going to try another high gravity beer and a 039 crush to see if the rice hulls will still work. Only part that annoys me is trying to rinse them before adding them. I don't want them to absorb water and throw off my calculations.

I also wonder about the solid side basket. Seems too restrictive.

 

[30Bones]

I'm also looking at rice hulls as a regular part of the brew. My last brew was a monster 5g recipe with wheat and I used 1lb of rice hulls and a 045 crush. I'm going to try another high gravity beer and a 039 crush to see if the rice hulls will still work. Only part that annoys me is trying to rinse them before adding them. I don't want them to absorb water and throw off my calculations.

I also wonder about the solid side basket. Seems too restrictive.

All things to keep me wondering. I just don't see the solid sides being a benefit since it's all to be soaking in the recirculating water anyway. Wish I could justify buying a new basket to test this theory, but that's not happening

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

its an efficiency thing, if the grain is in its glue stage the water will flow over the top and out the sides, with solid sides it has to go out the bottom touching more grain on the way

 

[30Bones]

its an efficiency thing, if the grain is in its glue stage the water will flow over the top and out the sides, with solid sides it has to go out the bottom touching more grain on the way

I get the idea in theory, but unsure it's 100% accurate since some seem to be able to run full bore start to finish and some can't. Not knocking the system, just learning how it all works best for me

 

[pretzelb]

I get the idea in theory, but unsure it's 100% accurate since some seem to be able to run full bore start to finish and some can't. Not knocking the system, just learning how it all works best for me

I'm starting to doubt the theory of the solid sided basket. Re-circulation in this system has the main benefit of keeping the temperature uniform and consistent. From the articles I read the only other benefit of re-circulation is clear wort but that is when it is part of a traditional 3 vessel system. I'm not so sure about the concept of improving extraction. What we do know is that BIAB can be beneficial to extraction due to the ability to crush to powder. But that goes out the window when you can't due to the inability to re-circulate. So the benefit of better efficiency from a finer crush are thrown away for no other benefit that I can easily find. I'm going to keep trying though. I'd like to try with another Wilser bag but unless I also get a false bottom shelf over the element it won't work.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

the reason the screen is that fine and possibly causing a slow recirculation is it keeps grain from passing through and depositing on the element, if that happens it can bake and burn as your heating, this is not a theory, Ive gone through everything your going through many times and built many systems, tested many different ways and found that a full open recirculation is not going the change anything, your better off using half open and adjusting your pids for it, its not worth the trouble of constantly watching it

 

[30Bones]

Let me rephrase that, it's burnt up as in no more worky.

I honestly think the solid side basket hinders this whole process and a full mesh basket like before would work better. I guess I need to buy rice hulls in bulk now

Took out the element to wire up it's replacement and water got into the enclosure! Water not wort, very odd since it worked for an entire batch.

The element was not threaded in very tight. May order a new enclosure from Brewers Hardware when I order a T to move my probe to the kettle output.

 

[30Bones]

Brewing a 10 gallon Schwarzbier and it's wide open and going well. The recirc arm rotated and sprayed my walls with wort. This needs a serious fix. So frustrated with this one single aspect of this system.

I may get it welded to the basket the. Add a tangential port on the side for whirlpooling. May kill my no hose change setup is all.

 

[30Bones]

Also I was wondering if anyone is using any type of trub damn or hop spider over the output tube like the Electric Brewery? The pickup sit's so low it just sucks up all the proteins I don't want in the fermenter. I use hop bags and whirlflock/irish moss, but that massive pickup sucks all that crap right back up after a 15 minute rest.

 

[pretzelb]

Also I was wondering if anyone is using any type of trub damn or hop spider over the output tube like the Electric Brewery? The pickup sit's so low it just sucks up all the proteins I don't want in the fermenter. I use hop bags and whirlflock/irish moss, but that massive pickup sucks all that crap right back up after a 15 minute rest.

I think you have a different model than mine. I use a hop spider because of my plate chiller but I plan to change that. But I don't get much junk if I stop before it gets to low. But in not worried about trub in the fermenter which is why I hope to change to an IC. Then I can just drain all the way to the bottom.

 

[30Bones]

Not worried about it in the fermenter, but it just gives false volumes is all.

I use a CF chiller and would rather not run all that slop through it. Not wanting to add a filter post kettle if I can avoid it. Plus I have limited room

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Also I was wondering if anyone is using any type of trub damn or hop spider over the output tube like the Electric Brewery? The pickup sit's so low it just sucks up all the proteins I don't want in the fermenter. I use hop bags and whirlflock/irish moss, but that massive pickup sucks all that crap right back up after a 15 minute rest.

yes I have a clamp on shield that acts as a dam, it helps keep hops out of my pump from Brewhardware.com

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

https://www.brewhardware.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=trubguard

 

[30Bones]

Wonder if that would fit the 1" pick tube on the CO system?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I clamp it on my elbow thats 1 inch, its very tight and can pop off if bumped but works, I think its designed for a street elbow though

 

[30Bones]

Thanks, just thought of this issue, need to see how much room I have with the basket in the pot. May need to trim it down some

 

[usarcher]

Brewing a 10 gallon Schwarzbier and it's wide open and going well. The recirc arm rotated and sprayed my walls with wort. This needs a serious fix. So frustrated with this one single aspect of this system.

I may get it welded to the basket the. Add a tangential port on the side for whirlpooling. May kill my no hose change setup is all.

On the down under version the recirc arm's mounting point is welded onto the basket.

 

[wyowolf]

Brewed my 5th batch. So far I am pretty disappointed. For the two years I previously brewed in my cooler tun I never had an issue hitting my numbers. I have yet to hit my numbers with this. A few other observations, the basket needs to be taller, when your doing ten gal batches you have to raise the basket up otherwise the grain spills over the top. 5 gal batches no problems. The recirc arm is nice, but again, you have to have the basket lowered for it to work. Mine is a year old and I think they mount on top of the kettle now so this may not be an issue.

Overall I am glad I bought it, except for the terrible efficiency I get no matter what I do. It does speed up the brew day which is nice by making everything in one place and easier to clean.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Brewed my 5th batch. So far I am pretty disappointed. For the two years I previously brewed in my cooler tun I never had an issue hitting my numbers. I have yet to hit my numbers with this. A few other observations, the basket needs to be taller, when your doing ten gal batches you have to raise the basket up otherwise the grain spills over the top. 5 gal batches no problems. The recirc arm is nice, but again, you have to have the basket lowered for it to work. Mine is a year old and I think they mount on top of the kettle now so this may not be an issue.

Overall I am glad I bought it, except for the terrible efficiency I get no matter what I do. It does speed up the brew day which is nice by making everything in one place and easier to clean.

What mash efficiency do you get?
Do you do a squeeze and pour-sparge, or just pull and go? those can make a pretty big difference in numbers, if you don't want to just add more grain and call it good.

 

[wyowolf]

I used to get around high 70s, now mid low 60s. I pull the basket up and let it hang for 10 15 min while i start boil, I did try sparging with a gallon or so of hot water to see if that would help rinse the grain, didnt seem to make much of a difference.

 

[30Bones]

Brewed another 10 gallons last night. 7# of wheat malt and rice hulls. 23# total grain bill and 17.7 gallons of water were maxing it out. Mash eff was 76%, brew house was 67%

I am not sold on the solid side basket at all. None of the water between the kettle and basket touches grain until the basket is raised. Is this a big deal? Probably not. I am trying to think up a better option for recirculation, there is a ton of temp stratification in this system from top to bottom. So far my ideas are to order a new full mesh basket or devise some way to recirculate things better.

 

[30Bones]

Anyone think this would be any better or just as crappy as what this system has now? New pmesh basket is $300 so that's out, I need to make what I have work

http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collectio...-circulation-manifold-for-infussion-mash-tuns

 

[rappell]

Brewed another 10 gallons last night. 7# of wheat malt and rice hulls. 23# total grain bill and 17.7 gallons of water were maxing it out. Mash eff was 76%, brew house was 67%

I am not sold on the solid side basket at all. None of the water between the kettle and basket touches grain until the basket is raised. Is this a big deal? Probably not. I am trying to think up a better option for recirculation, there is a ton of temp stratification in this system from top to bottom. So far my ideas are to order a new full mesh basket or devise some way to recirculate things better.

Have you contacted Tim at Colorado Brewing concerning your issues? He ha.s always been very helpful to me...

 

[akthor]

I have just the pot and basket from CO. I picked up the recirculation doo dad that Stout uses for cheap in the for sale section here. I had tri clover fittings welded to the top and bottom of my lid. 1"+ butterfly valve with 1" tubing going up to lid. I'll take pics when its all setup and ready plus tell you how it works. This is a 1bbl system so my pump is a March Nano pump. I hoping flow won't be an issue.