sabco brew magic

I was discussing my plans to build an electric herms system with another brewer and he offered to sell me his used brew magic system that he started with. I saw it earlier in the day but didn't really pay much attention to it because he hadn't offered to sell it yet. Does anyone know if they are all the same or are there different options? What do you think a fair price would be for one? I think they sell for 5-6,000 new. I think I can buy it for less than what it would cost me to build an electric system. He asked me to make him an offer.

Nothing wrong with a sabco brew magic at all, but you can build a bare bones electric HERMS system for $500 if you aren't interested in a lot of 'bling' and already own the kettles and a copper immersion chiller. Call it $1000 if you want to add lots of options to that base system and make it pretty and all that.

Don't neglect fuel costs either. It costs me $1.25 to worth of electricity to make a 5 gallon batch. If you brew often, electric systems pay for themselves pretty quicky in just fuel costs alone vs propane.

I would prefer to have the electric system. My only thought is that this system is turn key and if I go electric I have alot of work to do. I think I can buy the brew magic for several hundred less than the electric rig will cost and then I can sell off my 2 keggles to help with the purchase. I am already piped into my house propane tank so I am paying less for the propane.

nyer said:

I was discussing my plans to build an electric herms system with another brewer and he offered to sell me his used brew magic system that he started with. I saw it earlier in the day but didn't really pay much attention to it because he hadn't offered to sell it yet. Does anyone know if they are all the same or are there different options? What do you think a fair price would be for one? I think they sell for 5-6,000 new. I think I can buy it for less than what it would cost me to build an electric system. He asked me to make him an offer.

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The Sabco Brew Magic rigs are first class, but IIRC there are a number of different options and the newer versions have some updated/desirable features that the older ones do not, but I don't remember the details. I would go to the Sabco site and compare the features. Find out what model with what options your friend has and how old it is. That should clarify things a bit and allow you to determine a fair price. IIRC, the new models use an electric heat exchanger in addition to the standard propane burners, so the Brew Magic is partially electrified. One of my friends has a Brew Magic that he likes a lot. More than a few micro breweries use a Brew Magic as their pilot system.