Monster Bricoletta Project - Page 3

[miKe mcKoffee]

I'd probably argue that ±1F is a pretty wide range. The difference (for example) between Vivace Dolce at 202F and 203F is dramatic. The difference between that same coffee at 202F and 201F... shocking.

And I wouldn't disagree, especially about Vivace Dolce a blend I personally don't care for much. And will admit maybe because last time I tried it I'd only upgraded to the Bric' a very short time.

I would also add that when I said usually less than +/1 1f variance I was being conservative and in reality recent Thermofilter tests shots seldom more than ± 0.5f off target. Maybe ~1f total variance is just too much, but that's about the best consistency I've been able to attain. Truth be told I'm the type who isn't satisfied with my technique being good enough and have worked hard at getting as good at Bric' temp management as I'm humanly possible to achieve.

Besides I don't really see any area of argument. Do see possible differences in what functionality we may find important in a home espresso machine.

[malachi]

The big difference is ease of use.
No need to sacrifice a white chicken.
Grind, dose, distribute, tamp, flush 2oz, insert, pre-infuse, extract, done.
Every time, every coffee.

Terry and I are currently talking about next steps and evaluating results.


In terms of the project - some quick thoughts.

1 - this is not a "bolt on" modification project. It's more like adding a turbo, a new manifold and a front mount intercooler (if you will)
2 - on the other hand, this is a good test of what can be done with such an approach
3 - we're going to learn more about directions to take with modifications than we are about the Briccoletta in general (or this machine in particular)

Finally... as noted before, the idea is "can you turn a home HX machine into something that mimics the user experience of a top commercial HX machine?"

[miKe mcKoffee]

The big difference is ease of use.
No need to sacrifice a white chicken.
Grind, dose, distribute, tamp, flush 2oz, insert, pre-infuse, extract, done.
Every time, every coffee.

Once temperature dialed in via mixing valve for each different every coffee of course.

Finally... as noted before, the idea is "can you turn a home HX machine into something that mimics the user experience of a top commercial HX machine?"

Exactly. With your preponderance of commercial experience a logical direction to go. And achieving this quite a feat! My point is simply that what may work best for commercial enviroment machine usage may not work best for many home users. However the modification lessons that may be learned from this project may well be adaptable for both an easy to use and more flexible machine, possibly as simple as routing the mixing valve externally for easy no cover removal required access as previously mentioned.

[jgriff]

The big difference is ease of use.
No need to sacrifice a white chicken.
Grind, dose, distribute, tamp, flush 2oz, insert, pre-infuse, extract, done.
Every time, every coffee.

Chris, I'm a little surprised that you seem so happy with the new Bric' considering the limited range of brew temps. I know you're very picky about that sort of thing when pulling shots of different types of coffees, and it seems like you change quite frequently. (At least that's what I gather from reading your reviews where you use coffee from Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Hines, Vivace, Victrola, etc.) Are you expecting to change the setting of the water mixing valve quite frequently to dial in different brew temps, or do you thing the range you have will be enough to allow you to use all the different beans?

Also, any idea how hot the group head gets at idle? Obviously, you're keeping it from overheating like it typically would. I'm just wondering if you know what the temp settles at and if it stays put or if it cools of significantly when pulling lots of shots. My e61 GH temp (measured using Eric's thermometer adapter) has a high idle of about 217 with the pstat set about 1.3 bar. It takes a couple of good flushes to bring the GH temp down into the low-200 range, and if I pull shots back to back it ends up being down around 195. I'm trying to figure out what the ideal GH temp is for pulling consistent shots since it seems like having the GH at 195 or 200 or 205 will make a pretty big difference in the temp of the water, regardless of a consistent flush routine.

PS Since you stated the display isn't linked to a controller, but only acts as a display, can you tell us how it's connected? Is there a thermocouple in the boiler, or is it reading temperature on the outside?

[miKe mcKoffee]

crap
o-ring failure.
waiting on replacement to resume testing.

For learning: was it the o-ring pictured at the bottom of the mushroom in E61 group diagram on EPNW? What were the symptoms? Or was an o-ring elsewhere?

[matt]

Chris, I'm a little surprised that you seem so happy with the new Bric' considering the limited range of brew temps.

When I read his blog post, I assumed that the 1-2 degree brew range he was speaking of was the range of temperatures accessible without adjusting the mixing valve. If that is the case, it's nice -- enough room to experiment a bit, but not enough that you'll be wildly off if you flush badly.
If instead he means that the modifications only give 1-2 degrees of possible brew temps, period, then obviously that's a handicap.

I'm looking forward to the final results, definitely. The Monster Bric teaser was one of the things that originally pushed me towards a Bricoletta -- the idea just sounds like a lot of fun. I'm also holding out on Eric's Thermocouple Adapter until I hear about this temperature display. I'm very curious about where they decided to measure temperature, since I don't see a wire going into the grouphead from the front.

I'm curious about the other mod choices too, of course -- keep us posted!

[jgriff]

When I read his blog post, I assumed that the 1-2 degree brew range he was speaking of was the range of temperatures accessible without adjusting the mixing valve. If that is the case, it's nice -- enough room to experiment a bit, but not enough that you'll be wildly off if you flush badly.

Yeah, I understood it the same way. But still, it seems like adjusting the mixing valve requires taking the case off. So unless you leave it off or have some kind of quick-release, it would be a pain if you switched between SOs or blends that have more than a 1-2 degree difference in their ideal brew temp, especially if it's more often than once in a while.

[miKe mcKoffee]

Chris,

Since it seems this may drag on for quite some time more with your and Terry's busy schedule's would it be possible to schedule a few minutes time I could swing by and take a bunch pic's of the new internal plumbing etc. so I can figure it out for myself.

Please PM me. Thanks.

[miKe mcKoffee]

crap
o-ring failure.
waiting on replacement to resume testing.

Maybe waiting for the rubber tree to grow to tap the sap to refine to rubber to make the o-ring...

[miKe mcKoffee]

Crash and burn Glad I didn't wait before tweaking my Bric'...