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Thanks. I was able to load it into brew boss. I had to make some minor changes and hopefully I did it right. I brewed my first batch of Caribou slobber the other night and it went off without a hitch.
 
I see the new updated version is the same format as the Beta version I was running. It runs good without crashing.

The problem I keep having (last 3 brew sessions) is that when I'm heating to boil with the setpoint at 220 at about 197 it says boiling state has been reached maintaining boil. According to Darin's video boil detect shouldn't even start until over 200. My usual boil temp is 209-211.
I tried deleting the Beta version I had loaded from Darin and loaded the updated app. Still had the same issue. Everything else seems to be working OK. I can edit brew profiles all day long, before I would crash before even starting.
If anyone has any suggestions let me know. I will email Darin this week, not worth bugging him on the weekend I'm not brewing now for a few weeks.

I was having a problem with the lifting hook nut coming loose. I solved that by using a self locking nut.

Occasionally the feet on the COFI filter fall off. I assume the holes are a tad too large, so I'm going to try adding thin washers with a smaller hole on top of the feet.
 
Mine detected boil at 191 on my second wet run so I contacted Darin and he said to make sure my boil detect time is at least 40. Mine was set on 30 so I changed that to 40 and did a wet run on the batch I intended to brew. It detected at 210 so I brewed the batch and it detected properly again. I'm assuming that fixed it but I will be brewing again tonight.
 
ebrooker007 said:
Mine detected boil at 191 on my second wet run so I contacted Darin and he said to make sure my boil detect time is at least 40. Mine was set on 30 so I changed that to 40 and did a wet run on the batch I intended to brew. It detected at 210 so I brewed the batch and it detected properly again. I'm assuming that fixed it but I will be brewing again tonight.
Click to expand...

Mine was also at 30. I set it to 40 we'll see what happens.
Thanks.
 
I did another batch last night and it detected at 211. So the last 3 runs have all detected properly. It automatically loads 30 in the parameters for boil detect when you load the 15 gallon with hops boss.
 
did my second high gravity beer yesterday (westy 12 clone) and am starting to get the feeling that you can't really do hi-grav beers very well with the cofi system. both times the water level didn't cover the grain bed entirely, it was about 2-3" short. I would imagine this is because of the legs needed to hold the grain basket above the heating element. had to add about 2 lbs. of dme to get to the correct gravity. no amount of stirring could possibly have corrected this, you could see that the grains were far to dry. disappointing.
 
itsratso said:
did my second high gravity beer yesterday (westy 12 clone) and am starting to get the feeling that you can't really do hi-grav beers very well with the cofi system. both times the water level didn't cover the grain bed entirely, it was about 2-3" short. I would imagine this is because of the legs needed to hold the grain basket above the heating element. had to add about 2 lbs. of dme to get to the correct gravity. no amount of stirring could possibly have corrected this, you could see that the grains were far to dry. disappointing.
Click to expand...

Try lengthening your boil, this will require more water to start with and hopefully will get your grains covered. If you need to you can recover some of the time by boiling harder at first, then dialing back to your normal power level, obviously it'll take some trials to get that dialed in or you could simply extend your brew day.

Some more useful info on BIAB and high gravity HERE...
 
itsratso said:
hey ebrooker is that a hood/fan setup overhead? could you give us the deets on it?
Click to expand...


It is an m-6 inline duct booster. I bought it on amazon and put a 6" to 4" adapter to increase the velocity. I'm pretty happy with it other than it needs a hood to really do a good job and second it can get pretty loud. I'm still trying to figure out what to do as far as a hood. It is a lot better than nothing. Here is the link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XNNYMU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
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itsratso said:
hey ebrooker is that a hood/fan setup overhead? could you give us the deets on it?
Click to expand...


It is an m-6 inline duct booster. I bought it on amazon and put a 6" to 4" adapter to increase the velocity. I'm pretty happy with it other than it needs a hood to really do a good job and second it can get pretty loud. I'm still trying to figure out what to do as far as a hood. It is a lot better than nothing. Here is the link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XNNYMU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
Last edited by a moderator:
itsratso said:
hey ebrooker is that a hood/fan setup overhead? could you give us the deets on it?
Click to expand...


It is an m-6 inline duct booster. I bought it on amazon and put a 6" to 4" adapter to increase the velocity. I'm pretty happy with it other than it needs a hood to really do a good job and second it can get pretty loud. I'm still trying to figure out what to do as far as a hood. It is a lot better than nothing. Here is the link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005XNNYMU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm new to all grain brewing. I bought the whirlpool attachment but I have an immersion chiller I made. Can you use the whirlpool with the immersion chiller?
 
ebrooker007 said:
I'm new to all grain brewing. I bought the whirlpool attachment but I have an immersion chiller I made. Can you use the whirlpool with the immersion chiller?
Click to expand...

Yes, put the immersion Chiller in and turn on the whirlpool circulation. when it's cool enough, remove the chiller and let the whirlpool finish what it is officially designed for, collecting trub in a pile. Works great for no-stir immersion chilling.
 
itsratso said:
did my second high gravity beer yesterday (westy 12 clone) and am starting to get the feeling that you can't really do hi-grav beers very well with the cofi system. both times the water level didn't cover the grain bed entirely, it was about 2-3" short. I would imagine this is because of the legs needed to hold the grain basket above the heating element. had to add about 2 lbs. of dme to get to the correct gravity. no amount of stirring could possibly have corrected this, you could see that the grains were far to dry. disappointing.
Click to expand...

Ive done high gravity beers no problem biggest thing is adjust you efficiency to 60 % so your water ratio will.adjust...make sure your equipment profile is right ...90 minute mash and 90 minute boil will help too
 
yeastylad said:
So when you say "it isn't the tablet, it's the app" does that mean that my tablet crashing (as in the whole tablet rebooting) is being caused by the app? For me, it's not just the app that stops responding, and I have to restart it, but the whole tablet regularly reboots itself. I've had plenty android tablets in the past, and never seen this before, mind you, none of them were running the Brew Boss app.



I've tried the same version of the app on a kindle Fire HD 6, and haven't seen any reboots yet, which is why I thought the tablet supplied by Brew Boss may also be part of the problem, but I was merely speculating.
Click to expand...


Ok, brewed yesterday with a new tablet, 2012 nexus 7, no crashes or reboots at all. Very stable. I think the tablet that brew boss supplies might be garbage, or at least have done compatibility issues. Anyone else tested another tablet against the supplied one?
 
yeastylad said:
Ok, brewed yesterday with a new tablet, 2012 nexus 7, no crashes or reboots at all. Very stable. I think the tablet that brew boss supplies might be garbage, or at least have done compatibility issues. Anyone else tested another tablet against the supplied one?
Click to expand...

I won't argue with the fact that the included tablet may be garbage but I've been brewing with it for about six months without any problems. It's painfully slow and sometimes flakey but I haven't had it crash once during a brew session.
 
mdime said:
I won't argue with the fact that the included tablet may be garbage but I've been brewing with it for about six months without any problems. It's painfully slow and sometimes flakey but I haven't had it crash once during a brew session.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, and I'm glad not everyone experienced the same pain as me, but I know a few others have. I wonder if Darin consistently uses the same budget tablets, or switches based on supply. I know some of these cheapo tablet manufacturers are flash in the pan type deals. The other issue I had with mine was the touchscreen was fully ****. Never experienced such a bad touchscreen before, I'd sometimes have to push the screen a good half inch away from the icon or button I was trying to select for it to select it. Spent a lot of time "feeling around in the dark" trying to select on screen options during brewing or editing recipes. Really frustrating.

Well, hopefully those days are behind me. Brew on!
 
yeastylad said:
That's interesting, and I'm glad not everyone experienced the same pain as me, but I know a few others have. I wonder if Darin consistently uses the same budget tablets, or switches based on supply. I know some of these cheapo tablet manufacturers are flash in the pan type deals. The other issue I had with mine was the touchscreen was fully ****. Never experienced such a bad touchscreen before, I'd sometimes have to push the screen a good half inch away from the icon or button I was trying to select for it to select it. Spent a lot of time "feeling around in the dark" trying to select on screen options during brewing or editing recipes. Really frustrating.

Well, hopefully those days are behind me. Brew on!
Click to expand...

This is Darin at Brew-Boss.
We no longer offer the budget 7" tablets. We only offer 10" tablets now and sell them at cost ($75). Out purpose is not to be a tablet supplier, but give people a reasonably priced Android tablet option if they don't already have one. We now use the iRULU X1s Lightning 10.1 Inch Google Android 4.4 KitKat Tablet PC, Octa Core, Multi-touch Display model. We have not heard of anyone having issues with these tablets. They are very fast and work really well in our experience. We also run a Brew on Premise where we have 6 Brew-Boss systems operating daily using the iRULU tablets and to date have never experienced a tablet related issue. We offer the tablet as an option, you can always buy your own tablet. We just don't want the cost of the tablet to overpower the cost of the Brew-Boss system.
 
flyingpole said:
This is Darin at Brew-Boss.
We no longer offer the budget 7" tablets. We only offer 10" tablets now and sell them at cost ($75). Out purpose is not to be a tablet supplier, but give people a reasonably priced Android tablet option if they don't already have one. We now use the iRULU X1s Lightning 10.1 Inch Google Android 4.4 KitKat Tablet PC, Octa Core, Multi-touch Display model. We have not heard of anyone having issues with these tablets. They are very fast and work really well in our experience. We also run a Brew on Premise where we have 6 Brew-Boss systems operating daily using the iRULU tablets and to date have never experienced a tablet related issue. We offer the tablet as an option, you can always buy your own tablet. We just don't want the cost of the tablet to overpower the cost of the Brew-Boss system.
Click to expand...

Cheers for the input Darin. I know we had a bit of back and forth over email trying to resolve my issues, and I always had a niggling feeling (based on your responses) that my issues were in the minority, and I was almost certain it was tablet related, and not app or system related, as the tablet would sometimes crash and reboot even when I wasn't using the brew boss app.
 
Schumed said:
Darin is First Class Service all the way. Had a few issues that involved a few shipments back in forth and Darin quickly resolved the issues. Dude stands behind his product 100% for anyone that has any doubts...back in business
Click to expand...

---------/

Agreed. Any question or problem that I've had--going on two years now-- Darin has been at the ready to help.
 
Anyone seen an issue where the current temp isnt refreshing on the software and reading correctly? Probe seems to be functioning based on the controller display but not keeping up on the application
 
Schumed said:
Anyone seen an issue where the current temp isnt refreshing on the software and reading correctly? Probe seems to be functioning based on the controller display but not keeping up on the application
Click to expand...

Yea I had that problem awhile back. After talking to Darin some, I ended up removing all the installed apps off of the tablet I have. I had installed some games and a few miscellaneous apps.

Basically I wiped the tablet (did a factory reset) and only installed the Brew Boss app on it. It seems to work fine for me now. I do view the tablet as solely dedicated to brewing and nothing else.

FYI the tablet I use is this one, it is $39.99 and is the best "cheap" tablet I have found: DigiLand - 7" Tablet - 8GB
 
flyingpole said:
This is Darin at Brew-Boss.
We no longer offer the budget 7" tablets. We only offer 10" tablets now and sell them at cost ($75). Out purpose is not to be a tablet supplier, but give people a reasonably priced Android tablet option if they don't already have one. We now use the iRULU X1s Lightning 10.1 Inch Google Android 4.4 KitKat Tablet PC, Octa Core, Multi-touch Display model. We have not heard of anyone having issues with these tablets. They are very fast and work really well in our experience. We also run a Brew on Premise where we have 6 Brew-Boss systems operating daily using the iRULU tablets and to date have never experienced a tablet related issue. We offer the tablet as an option, you can always buy your own tablet. We just don't want the cost of the tablet to overpower the cost of the Brew-Boss system.
Click to expand...

Thanks Darin, out of curiosity, is there any known issue with stock android 5/5.1? looks like that tablet mfgr now offers a 8GB version with 5.1 for a little less
 
How are you guys cleaning your system? Do you take everything apart or do you leave everything attached and run cleaner through and then water to rinse?

For some reason I find cleaning this to be a little annoying. Nothing to do with the Brew Boss. Just electric system in general. Maybe I deep clean too much. I usually take everything apart (lines, pump, element) to clean them. Clean the pot. Then I fill the pot with Oxi and run it through the pump and CFC. Then I rinse the pot and run water through everything.
 
h22lude said:
How are you guys cleaning your system? Do you take everything apart or do you leave everything attached and run cleaner through and then water to rinse?

For some reason I find cleaning this to be a little annoying. Nothing to do with the Brew Boss. Just electric system in general. Maybe I deep clean too much. I usually take everything apart (lines, pump, element) to clean them. Clean the pot. Then I fill the pot with Oxi and run it through the pump and CFC. Then I rinse the pot and run water through everything.
Click to expand...

Darrin has a video on YouTube of his recommended method. Braü Supply says to fill with PBW solution and circulates for 45 min. You could attach a spray ball to the BB accessory port and circulate, without or after a physical scrub. Lots of options.
 
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H22lude, I feel where you are coming from. My setup is probably even more of a pain to clean but I think after 7 or so brews now I've got a method down that works pretty well. Here's my method:

Fill kettle with enough water to break up trub/ hop cone (about 4 gal) and run it throw the chiller and out into a bucket. Dump bucket.

Refill kettle with 4 gal of water and add pbw. Fire up element and recirc for 10 minutes. This cleans out the chiller and pump. Run into bucket and dump.

Fill one last time with hot water and recirculate out into a bucket.

Disassemble kettle and soak all parts in pbw (chiller runoff). Clean ports with sponge or brush and rinse. Let parts soak over night.
 
That's what I do, I just do it in a different order. I clean everything first then run pbw through and then rinse.

My system isn't tri-clover which makes it more annoying to remove the element and other parts. Just part of home brewing I guess. Take the good with the bad lol
 
FreddyMar3 said:
H22lude, I feel where you are coming from. My setup is probably even more of a pain to clean but I think after 7 or so brews now I've got a method down that works pretty well. Here's my method:
-Fill kettle with enough water to break up trub/ hop cone (about 4 gal) and run it throw the chiller and out into a bucket. Dump bucket.
-Refill kettle with 4 gal of water and add pbw. Fire up element and recirc for 10 minutes. This cleans out the chiller and pump. Run into bucket and dump.
-Fill one last time with hot water and recirculate out into a bucket.
-Disassemble kettle and soak all parts in pbw (chiller runoff). Clean ports with sponge or brush and rinse. Let parts soak over night.
Click to expand...
Did you try attaching a spray ball to your recirculation port? I'm curious how well that would work once the trub has been dumped.
 
h22lude said:
How are you guys cleaning your system? Do you take everything apart or do you leave everything attached and run cleaner through and then water to rinse?

For some reason I find cleaning this to be a little annoying. Nothing to do with the Brew Boss. Just electric system in general. Maybe I deep clean too much. I usually take everything apart (lines, pump, element) to clean them. Clean the pot. Then I fill the pot with Oxi and run it through the pump and CFC. Then I rinse the pot and run water through everything.
Click to expand...

For my plate chiller, I rinse out the leftover wort with hot water for 1 minute. I put a warm solution of PBW and run it for about 10 minutes one direction, and then ten in the other. Rinse out with clean water. Then run Star Sans through it for a few minutes, but don't rinse that out completely, just let it drain naturally. For the kettle: I rinse it out, then fill it with PBW left over from the plate chiller cleaning, just below the temp. probe opening, and let it sit overnight. I then empty and scrub the element with a small brush and rinse. I've been doing this for maybe 20 brews, and have had no problems. The pump is running while I'm cleaning up my brewery after a brew, so it doesn't take that much more time.
 
ebrooker007 said:
Mine detected boil at 191 on my second wet run so I contacted Darin and he said to make sure my boil detect time is at least 40. Mine was set on 30 so I changed that to 40 and did a wet run on the batch I intended to brew. It detected at 210 so I brewed the batch and it detected properly again. I'm assuming that fixed it but I will be brewing again tonight.
Click to expand...

My last brew a week ago had this issue with the early boil detect. I've never had that happen before. I'll have to change my boil detect time too it sounds like.
 
h22lude said:
How are you guys cleaning your system? Do you take everything apart or do you leave everything attached and run cleaner through and then water to rinse?

For some reason I find cleaning this to be a little annoying. Nothing to do with the Brew Boss. Just electric system in general. Maybe I deep clean too much. I usually take everything apart (lines, pump, element) to clean them. Clean the pot. Then I fill the pot with Oxi and run it through the pump and CFC. Then I rinse the pot and run water through everything.
Click to expand...

My cleaning process goes like this.

I dump the grain from the cofi filter in my compost pile as the wort is coming to boil then clean in my sink with a hose knocking off any grain bits. I usually will wipe down with sponge.

I use an immersion chiller to cool...so I collect the first 5-6 gallons in a bucket from the first minutes of chilling because the water is warm...add some pbw. Once wort has been transferred....I unhook the element and probe from the controller. Carry the kettle to my sink and give it a good rinse to get the left over hop trub and wipe down the sides with a scrub sponge. then set back up and recirculate pbw for a few minutes mainly to clean the hose and pump. I empty the pbw back to the bucket. Then carry back to the sink to rinse once more. I dissemble everything at that point. Scub the probe and element clean. soak the hoses and other parts in the bucket of pbw for a few minutes...then rinse those.

Wipe everything down with a towel and set back up for the next brew. Whole process takes about 15-20 minutes.

It really helps to have a sink next to your brew boss for easy access
 

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