Can't decide B3 or Brew Magic

atgregory said:

I have a B3 20 gallon tippy dump with all the bells and whistles. I brew 20 gallons every week for the past year and love the system. I always hit my temps and og. I got the painted frame and its starting to look tired, everything else is great. If I was to do it again maybe a ss frame and a flat frame. Well worth the money. Costly, but I rather brew than build. Remember get the right tools for the job.

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I am going to order a new system in the next two weeks. I have been comparing the Brew Magic vs the Morebeer 1550. I live pretty close to morebeer in Riverside so I could pick it up...saving me a lot of money in shipping. I was wondering why you would get the flat system vs the tippy dump that you currently own? Also, if anyone has some insight into why I should get a brew magic over the Morebeer I would be interested. Morebeer is having a sale which makes the Brew magic $1500 more. I only get to do this once and will spend the extra money if it is worth it. I haven't been able to justify the additional cost yet in my head. Thanks for the help!

The BM pretty much has one model with almost all the bells and whistles. With the BS, you have lots of options. The touch screen on the BM is cool, but it is also bling and should not be considered when deciding between the two systems. The controllers on the BS should be just fine. A flat system is nice since you do not need to get up on step ladders, and it is practical to use indoors with a vent hood compared to a tired system, but requires more pumps.

Basically, I Love my BM, and a big reason I choose it was I live in Ohio and could pick it up and save the shipping. I felt it was the best deal overall. Had Morebeer offered free shipping, I would probably went with their single tier system, because it would do what I wanted at less cost.

scratchy1971 said:

The BM pretty much has one model with almost all the bells and whistles. With the BS, you have lots of options. The touch screen on the BM is cool, but it is also bling and should not be considered when deciding between the two systems. The controllers on the BS should be just fine. A flat system is nice since you do not need to get up on step ladders, and it is practical to use indoors with a vent hood compared to a tired system, but requires more pumps.

Basically, I Love my BM, and a big reason I choose it was I live in Ohio and could pick it up and save the shipping. I felt it was the best deal overall. Had Morebeer offered free shipping, I would probably went with their single tier system, because it would do what I wanted at less cost.

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Thanks for the advice. This was really helpful. I ended up going with the morebeer system because of the price and I didn't have to pay shipping. Thanks again!

The Pol said:

I vote RIMS in 8 weeks

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I agree with you, in part. The fastest solution is to find a good local welder and draw a picture of what you want. Order a couple of tower of power modules and burners. Had my stand in a week after dropping off my plans. Another couple of hours to get the plumbing done. Did the TOP separately, but it took anther day at the plumber because I didn't want to mess with threading pipe and adding the ASCO vavles, but would have been easy for the plumber to do when they did the original gas piping.

A couple of hours wiring up the TOP controllers and mounting a shelf for them. B3's build times are pretty long. Not sure about BrewMagic. Cost is thousands less for a design it yourself single tier system that you let someone else build. I can't imagine quality is too much better apart from my opting to skip the stainless option. Both of those stand brands is great, but I wouldn't trade my setup for it since it was built around exactly what I knew I needed.

Great idea using the tower of power. Would buy the Brew Magic right this second if it had auto ignitors/burner control and had a single tier version.

fxdude said:

Great idea using the tower of power. Would buy the Brew Magic right this second if it had auto ignitors/burner control and had a single tier version.

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Agree, I like that setup. Do you mind sharing what the total cost was and the total amount of hours you put in?

No problem. These numbers are approximate, but very close. Also, bear in mind that I didn't build this apart from some minor wrench turning. I could have probably done the plumbing myself, but I was eager to spend time brewing instead of working on the stand. Seems in line with the OP's intent.

I'm not including the cost of things like kettles, pump, CFC, and other stuff I already had. But that probably adds on another $1,000 or so. Also, not surprisingly, I went against my own advice learned from my last stand and didn't plan ahead for any possible thing I thought I might ever want to do, i.e. automation. So there was another trip to the welder for a center windscreen and burner mount as well as a return trip to the plumber to add the third burner (and ASCO valves for the TOP as it turned out).

Stand: 2" mild box steel, labor and materials $800
Gas Plumbing and labor: $240
Burners 2x ($75)
Casters: $40
Paint, nuts, bolts, water proof switch box, switch $25.
200 psi 3/4" hose, fittings, and disconnects $100.
Total: $1,280

Automation:

Return trip to the welder for windscreen and center burner mount: $120
Reworking the plumbing, adding 3rd burner and ASCO valves: $200
Another burner $40
CRT TV Mount: $30
Tower of Power Controllers (2x): $1,150

Total: $1,540

Grand Total: $2,820.

Construction time: 1 week from the time I dropped the drawing off with the welder; another two hours at a nearby plumber to have the gas pipe run. About an hour to paint, put on the casters, attach the pump, and wire it to the switch.

Automation changes time: 2 days at the welder for the new burner mount and windscreen (they just worked it in). 1 day at the plumber to rework the plumbing. Probably two hours hooking up the controllers, drilling holes, for the ignitors, mounting the controller stand, etc.

Obviously, if I had welding skills or was comfortable wiring up control panels, I could have done this for less. Not being a welder, I'm have been lucky to find a good local shop. This is my second brewery they have done (sold the first one to a good friend of mine). I don't think I could order a B3 system or Brew Magic and have it in hand such a short period of time either. As with anything, it would have been a bit cheaper if I had just had the center burner mounted from the get go. Hindsight is 20/20. Foresight will save you about $120.