Brewie

[Nate R]

Hi All,

Did not know there was an active Brewie Community here. I bought my B20 from MoreBeer in the insane deal but have been having trouble with efficiency. I have been active on Facebook Brewie Owner's Group and have got some feedback on improving efficiency. Here is all that I tried:
1) Reduced the grain mill gap to 0.8 from 1.2mm (but the have further suggestion to reduce it to 0.3mm - I will try that for next brew)
2) Put grains in two bags instead of one (I further enhanced upon that by keeping them vertical and separating them so recirc goes through the middle of two bags)
3) Watch mash Ph - check after 15 minutes and if not within 5.2/5.4 adjust with acid.
4) Open up the bags and stir the grains occasionally (clearly defeats the purpose of push button system).

Apart from trying 0.3mm - none of the above improved efficiency to desirable numbers (below 60% still) so I did suggest Brewie team to build a malt-pipe about a month back (on facebook and even did some diagrams of the design). But eventually I could not wait any longer and have started my own build of a "Malt-Cage" - this will have solid staggered perforated false-bottom (I got suggestion for what to get from product designer from MoreBeer), four solid (non-perforated) walls, a screen on top, handle to lift to drain, a removable sparge-arm (and while I am at it - I also decided to add a whirlpool arm for the boil tank). I was hoping to get all this under $200 but raw material itself ended up costing $180 (see pictures and details on few of my posts in Facebook Brewie Owners Group). So at this point I am hoping to get this done below $250. Everything is arriving today and I am hoping to get SS welding, lathe work etc. done within 1 week.

Will post updates on progress and results (hopefully good results) here as well.

Cheers guys.

PS: I am in Walnut Creek, CA

Dude- that is great information! Thank you! I am sorry that nothing you did (steps 1-4 above) worked. BUT- thanks for sharing- you saved me a ton of trial & error! I have heard that a finer grind is a must for BIAB systems. I have yet to get a grain mill (although I see on in the not too distant future) but am going to:
#1- Add rice hulls (0.5-1.0 #) in the bag
#2- Add some DME to the boil (Probably 1-2 #. Will crunch the #"s based on the efficiency/gravity pre-boil)

However- please keep us updated on your home-built Malt Cage! I am in Sacramento (formerly Brentwood- still have family out there. Try to visit MoreBeer on detroit as much as I can!) so if you ever plan on selling your project, let me know!

 

[QueBrau]

Dude- that is great information! Thank you! I am sorry that nothing you did (steps 1-4 above) worked. BUT- thanks for sharing- you saved me a ton of trial & error! I have heard that a finer grind is a must for BIAB systems. I have yet to get a grain mill (although I see on in the not too distant future) but am going to:
#1- Add rice hulls (0.5-1.0 #) in the bag
#2- Add some DME to the boil (Probably 1-2 #. Will crunch the #"s based on the efficiency/gravity pre-boil)

However- please keep us updated on your home-built Malt Cage! I am in Sacramento (formerly Brentwood- still have family out there. Try to visit MoreBeer on detroit as much as I can!) so if you ever plan on selling your project, let me know!

Hi Nate,

Thanks. Yes - I forgot about the post mash efficiency improvements by adding DME/sugars etc. Obviously that will work but I limit that to belgian dubbels/quads where they are officially required. For other beers I want to stick to whole-grain. Anyway improved efficiency will help in either case (and save us money).

BTW - efficiency with Brewie is much bigger issue with larger grain-bills. Many people report good efficiency with smaller grain-bills and are happy. I usually make big beers (1.080+) so this is a show-stopper for me. Clearly my Russian Imperial Stout on Brewie did not come out so well, neither did Weizenbock - Both missed gravity by 20 points.

Point 5 to increase efficiency (missed in original post): Major step mash this also improves fermentability. I used the mash profiles and brewie profile for beersmith posted by a user on Brewie Owner's Group.

 

[BrunDog]

Please remember that there is a point of diminishing returns with reducing crush size. At some point the mash gets “sticky” and the recirculating water will channel vs. flow through the grain.

 

[QueBrau]

Please remember that there is a point of diminishing returns with reducing crush size. At some point the mash gets “sticky” and the recirculating water will channel vs. flow through the grain.

Yep - prior experiences with stuck mash (on my larger all-grain system) - gives me a pause too. But this is a BIAB system with fine mesh bag and the guy put pictures with his mill gap so I am at least going to give it a go as an experiment while I built the malt-cage.

 

[augiedoggy]

I use a 1.03 (credit card) gap on my mill and dont get channeling while recirculating in my 3 kettle system... Not sure what the recirculation flow rate is on a brewie but is there a way to slow it down to say 1.5/2gpm? It works for me.. I average 91% efficiency on my 3 vessel rims this way. The slower flow reduces the chance of channeling.

 

[Nate R]

Hi All,

Did not know there was an active Brewie Community here. I bought my B20 from MoreBeer in the insane deal but have been having trouble with efficiency. I have been active on Facebook Brewie Owner's Group and have got some feedback on improving efficiency. Here is all that I tried:
1) Reduced the grain mill gap to 0.8 from 1.2mm (but the have further suggestion to reduce it to 0.3mm - I will try that for next brew)
2) Put grains in two bags instead of one (I further enhanced upon that by keeping them vertical and separating them so recirc goes through the middle of two bags)
3) Watch mash Ph - check after 15 minutes and if not within 5.2/5.4 adjust with acid.
4) Open up the bags and stir the grains occasionally (clearly defeats the purpose of push button system).

Apart from trying 0.3mm - none of the above improved efficiency to desirable numbers (below 60% still) so I did suggest Brewie team to build a malt-pipe about a month back (on facebook and even did some diagrams of the design). But eventually I could not wait any longer and have started my own build of a "Malt-Cage" - this will have solid staggered perforated false-bottom (I got suggestion for what to get from product designer from MoreBeer), four solid (non-perforated) walls, a screen on top, handle to lift to drain, a removable sparge-arm (and while I am at it - I also decided to add a whirlpool arm for the boil tank). I was hoping to get all this under $200 but raw material itself ended up costing $180 (see pictures and details on few of my posts in Facebook Brewie Owners Group). So at this point I am hoping to get this done below $250. Everything is arriving today and I am hoping to get SS welding, lathe work etc. done within 1 week.

Will post updates on progress and results (hopefully good results) here as well.

Cheers guys.

PS: I am in Walnut Creek, CA

Any luck on the build? I have reached out to Jay at Redding NorCal Brewing as well to see if he can build something like this.

 

[Blazinlow86]

How many batches have you guys successfully done by on your brewies. Not to be a ass but I'd be pretty cautious about investing in anything brewie related at this point. It could just be homebrew talk members all had bad experience so far but that seems kinda far fetched. Cheers

 

[Nate R]

How many batches have you guys successfully done by on your brewies. Not to be a ass but I'd be pretty cautious about investing in anything brewie related at this point. It could just be homebrew talk members all had bad experience so far but that seems kinda far fetched. Cheers

I have done 3 so far, and all with full cleans. My last brew everything ran fine through the brew. However, I did have to power-down and re-boot twice to get it up and running while I was cleaning it. A little scary there! I would recommend you save up for the Brewie+, or wait for the original to go on super clearance sale.

 

[Blazinlow86]

the original model even at 100$ isn't much of a deal if it only works a few times. Not sure spending 2000 on the brewie+ is great advise either at this point as from what I can see the only member here with one has already had it crap out once and possibly twice. I'm unsure what the draw is to this machine but whatever it is there must be other choices out there. I predict brewie is out of business soon. Cheers

 

[Nate R]

the original model even at 100$ isn't much of a deal if it only works a few times. Not sure spending 2000 on the brewie+ is great advise either at this point as from what I can see the only member here with one has already had it crap out once and possibly twice. I'm unsure what the draw is to this machine but whatever it is there must be other choices out there. I predict brewie is out of business soon. Cheers

I dunno man... i say try the Brewie Facebook group. Lots of happy brewrrs there! The "draw" may not be for you- ease of cleaning, ease of brew day. It keeps the water at a set temp. If you use household water it will fill it up automatically (to the amount you set in the control). It adds hops automatically for you. Up to about 8 ounces or so. But yes it's expensive!!!

I like it because i want to focus on ingredients and create my own consistent beer. Just dont have time that much.

What Brewie does need is a way to brew without a bag. Some of us are working on that.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I dunno I find it VERY suspect that none of the brewie Facebook happy customers are members here. On top of that the members here with brewies all reported they crapped out. The few successs stories recently are also coincidently new members on this forum too so that **could** be be considered a little suspect. All the you tube videos are of employees and even then there all from when it first came out. Then the price drop from 2000 to like 300. If it works for you awesome but I'm convinced it's a dud and brewie is behind any hype on Facebook. I think they rushed the first model out and it totally crippled them when they all broke. To try to save the name /company they rushed the brewie + to the same fate. Cheers

 

[Sadu]

I don't own one and have no skin in the game.

I mean, sure, maybe it's a great product and there are 99% glowing reviews. Or maybe Brewie are just deleting the reviews they don't like on Facebook and those customers are coming here to have a voice.

All I'm saying is that the official Facebook page is not even close to being an impartial source of information. It's going to reflect what Brewie want it to reflect.

 

[QueBrau]

Wow - there is ton of negative posts here including throwing accusations of Brewie Facebook page being controlled by Brewie and they are deleting messages etc. etc. It can easily be claimed that people posting negative things about Brewie are ABInBev plants (since ABInBev owns PicoBrew which is closest competitor to Brewie). Anyway - I will stay away from that.

Here are some facts:
1) I am a non-affiliated owner of Brewie
2) I can post happily on Facebook negative and positive and so can others (go there right now - the top post there is MAJOR NEGATIVE about people wanting refund on their orders)
3) I don't believe Facebook forum is controlled by Brewie people; though some brewie employees (who identify themselves as such) do respond there from time to time. Indeed I don't think they like Facebook group very much as there are a lot of negative posts there as well.
4) Yes there are happy owners of Brewie - I myself have done few batches and apart from low efficiency; I do not have a major complaint.
5) Yes there are problems with Brewie but they have been very responsive to me so far. I put too much grain and the false bottom bent - they sent me a new false bottom. My water inlet valve had a rubber piece blow out - they sent me a new water inlet valve. But I can understand frustrations of others having issues that require shipment of entire unit or those that are asking for full refund.
6) Maybe they are struggling financially (who can compete against deep pockets of ABInBev?) but I do hope they survive and succeed.

Again - I hope Brewie pull through this stage and survives and even thrives.

To Nate R - I did receive the raw materials (SS solid plates, tubes and perforated plates) - now I just need to build it. My partner with access to lathe and SS Weld has been busy this week. Hope to have it fabricated soon. After that I will do two identical batches - one with basic system, one with my malt cage/arm and report results.

 

[Sadu]

Wow - there is ton of negative posts here including throwing accusations of Brewie Facebook page being controlled by Brewie and they are deleting messages etc. etc. It can easily be claimed that people posting negative things about Brewie are ABInBev plants (since ABInBev owns PicoBrew which is closest competitor to Brewie). Anyway - I will stay away from that.

I haven't visited the facebook page so I have no idea how they operate it. But fact remains, Brewie are moderating that discussion so by very definition it's not impartial. This doesn't mean it can't still be a good source of information, it just means that what you read has been potentially sanitised of anything negative. I have no idea how Brewie chooses to moderate their discussion. If they genuinely do leave every review in place (except for trolls and abusive posts) then perhaps my tone is out of line.

But if I was looking to buy one and wanted unbiased commentary,reviews and customer stories, I don't think the official pages are the best place to find that. Not just talking about Brewie here, this applies to any product. Places like HBT, where the company has no ability to interfere with the posts, carry more weight in my view. The fact that Brewie hasn't turned up to deal with some of the complaints in this thread in any official capacity (as far as I'm aware) speaks volumes.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I haven't visited the facebook page so I have no idea how they operate it. But fact remains, Brewie are moderating that discussion so by very definition it's not impartial. This doesn't mean it can't still be a good source of information, it just means that what you read has been potentially sanitised of anything negative. I have no idea how Brewie chooses to moderate their discussion. If they genuinely do leave every review in place (except for trolls and abusive posts) then perhaps my tone is out of line.

But if I was looking to buy one and wanted unbiased commentary,reviews and customer stories, I don't think the official pages are the best place to find that. Not just talking about Brewie here, this applies to any product. Places like HBT, where the company has no ability to interfere with the posts, carry more weight in my view. The fact that Brewie hasn't turned up to deal with some of the complaints in this thread in any official capacity (as far as I'm aware) speaks volumes.

Spot on. Sorry brewie. You should have recalled ALL the original units and refunded ALL the purchasers. Went back to the basics and done a complete redesign. Then after testing it thoroughly relaunched. At this point it just a ponzi scheme imho. Cheers

 

[Anyhowe]

Hey

Wow - there is ton of negative posts here including throwing accusations of Brewie Facebook page being controlled by Brewie and they are deleting messages etc. etc. It can easily be claimed that people posting negative things about Brewie are ABInBev plants (since ABInBev owns PicoBrew which is closest competitor to Brewie). Anyway - I will stay away from that.

Here are some facts:
1) I am a non-affiliated owner of Brewie
2) I can post happily on Facebook negative and positive and so can others (go there right now - the top post there is MAJOR NEGATIVE about people wanting refund on their orders)
3) I don't believe Facebook forum is controlled by Brewie people; though some brewie employees (who identify themselves as such) do respond there from time to time. Indeed I don't think they like Facebook group very much as there are a lot of negative posts there as well.
4) Yes there are happy owners of Brewie - I myself have done few batches and apart from low efficiency; I do not have a major complaint.
5) Yes there are problems with Brewie but they have been very responsive to me so far. I put too much grain and the false bottom bent - they sent me a new false bottom. My water inlet valve had a rubber piece blow out - they sent me a new water inlet valve. But I can understand frustrations of others having issues that require shipment of entire unit or those that are asking for full refund.
6) Maybe they are struggling financially (who can compete against deep pockets of ABInBev?) but I do hope they survive and succeed.

Again - I hope Brewie pull through this stage and survives and even thrives.

To Nate R - I did receive the raw materials (SS solid plates, tubes and perforated plates) - now I just need to build it. My partner with access to lathe and SS Weld has been busy this week. Hope to have it fabricated soon. After that I will do two identical batches - one with basic system, one with my malt cage/arm and report results.

and you have been a member here for 1-week. Welcome.

 

[toadyus]

I dunno I find it VERY suspect that none of the brewie Facebook happy customers are members here. On top of that the members here with brewies all reported they crapped out. The few successs stories recently are also coincidently new members on this forum too so that **could** be be considered a little suspect. All the you tube videos are of employees and even then there all from when it first came out. Then the price drop from 2000 to like 300. If it works for you awesome but I'm convinced it's a dud and brewie is behind any hype on Facebook. I think they rushed the first model out and it totally crippled them when they all broke. To try to save the name /company they rushed the brewie + to the same fate. Cheers

Where can I find a Brewie for $300?? I'd love to have the hardware and be able to modify it and get it working with an arduino or something else.

 

[QueBrau]

OK guys - fair criticism. I went back and looked at Brewie Owner's Group in Facebook and it has 4-5 admins which seem not to be related to Brewie but they DO have one Brewie employee as Moderator. Not sure if he has removed any post or members. But yes - having a employee as a moderator is a troublesome now that I know of it.

Fair criticism on me being here only one week - I have been visiting often based on google search results on specific questions and I am pretty sure I have posted on HBT before, but when I tried to login after discovering this Brewie thread, I could not and I had to create a new account.

In any case, I have Brewie and my only interest right now is to make it brew big beers without problems (and to cut down the brew time to as little as possible - that will be next project) and of course I hope that they survive to continue to support my Brewie if needed (and to give some competition to PicoBrew).

Having said that - If you do not own Brewie; I wouldn't recommend to rush out to buy one now. But that is mainly due to low-efficiency problem with Brewie for me (have not encountered any other serious problems). I paid $400 for it - so to me right now it is a project.

 

[Steve Tate]

Morebeer had a pricing mix up and for a few hours one morning the price was discounted to $399. I got this deal but I believe they shipped me a factory refurbished model with only 3 months left on the warranty card. Other than efficiency problems on the first brew the first two brews went well. I will do a third brew this Sunday using a large brew bag and stir the grain to see if that impacts efficiency.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Morebeer had a pricing mix up and for a few hours one morning the price was discounted to $399. I got this deal but I believe they shipped me a factory refurbished model with only 3 months left on the warranty card. Other than efficiency problems on the first brew the first two brews went well. I will do a third brew this Sunday using a large brew bag and stir the grain to see if that impacts efficiency.

I'm not sure if agree it was a "mixup". I believe they wanted to get rid off all the first gen machines that didn't work. Maybe they called it a mixup somewhere to avoid pissing off the customer's that bought the pos at full price?

 

[Nate R]

Wow - there is ton of negative posts here including throwing accusations of Brewie Facebook page being controlled by Brewie and they are deleting messages etc. etc. It can easily be claimed that people posting negative things about Brewie are ABInBev plants (since ABInBev owns PicoBrew which is closest competitor to Brewie). Anyway - I will stay away from that.

Here are some facts:
1) I am a non-affiliated owner of Brewie
2) I can post happily on Facebook negative and positive and so can others (go there right now - the top post there is MAJOR NEGATIVE about people wanting refund on their orders)
3) I don't believe Facebook forum is controlled by Brewie people; though some brewie employees (who identify themselves as such) do respond there from time to time. Indeed I don't think they like Facebook group very much as there are a lot of negative posts there as well.
4) Yes there are happy owners of Brewie - I myself have done few batches and apart from low efficiency; I do not have a major complaint.
5) Yes there are problems with Brewie but they have been very responsive to me so far. I put too much grain and the false bottom bent - they sent me a new false bottom. My water inlet valve had a rubber piece blow out - they sent me a new water inlet valve. But I can understand frustrations of others having issues that require shipment of entire unit or those that are asking for full refund.
6) Maybe they are struggling financially (who can compete against deep pockets of ABInBev?) but I do hope they survive and succeed.

Again - I hope Brewie pull through this stage and survives and even thrives.

To Nate R - I did receive the raw materials (SS solid plates, tubes and perforated plates) - now I just need to build it. My partner with access to lathe and SS Weld has been busy this week. Hope to have it fabricated soon. After that I will do two identical batches - one with basic system, one with my malt cage/arm and report results.

Cool. Let me know. I think i already posted but i am asking Jay of NorCal Brewing in Redding if he can make one too. That guy does some awesome custom work.

Also- note to all here- there are at least TWO facebook groups for brewie. One is corporate, but one is not. I am not on the facebook but used my wifes account to look it up. Honestly i did not find a lot helpful other than there are happy brewie users!!! I think the software sucked at first and that is the biggest issues. I dunno. I will do brew 4 in a few weeks and update.

Agree about efficiency. Hitting about 50-60%. Going to try milling my own grain next and bumping up mash time from 1 hour to 1.5 hours. We will see.

 

[augiedoggy]

You do realize many of you are paying good money to be beta testers while they continuously take the engineering shortfalls and failure you experience on your dime to improve their product... This wouldn't be so bad if you got some sort of deal on the unit or free upgrades.. Way too many issues and complaints it seems with these constantly changing products. Why buy today if they are just going to keep improving and lowering the price? they likely have many returns of older versions they are trying to sell at this point hence the "deals"

 

[Kevin Griffitts]

I just did my 2nd brew on the B+ no problems. Is any one else having good luck too.

 

[Nate R]

I just did my 2nd brew on the B+ no problems. Is any one else having good luck too.

I have done 3 brews so far and love my machine. Working on tweaking recipies for max efficiency.

 

[Ulf Walther]

Guys,
I’m one of the admins for the Brewie owners group Facebook page.

We have deleted very few posts over the past 18 months. Usually us 4 admins talk it over before anything is deleted. Brewie is not included in those deliberations.

But we are happy and greatful that the company is active in the forum. The Brewie-reps do provide some general support, they launch releases and keep us owners up to date through the page.

The forum is there for us owners to exchange knowledge and ideas. We do not want it to be used as a personal support-channel for unhappy customers. Potential buyers are welcome to drop-in as guests to read and ask questions.

Yes, we try to keep a positive tone. Some of the contributors are Brewie ambassadors (I’m not), and they do get perks from the company, but there is no hiding that fact and they know the most about the machine and brewing in general and share that knowledge well.

I was an original backer. I’ve had serveral issues with the original B20, including one recall. I struggle with efficiency on big beers. But the machine works well for me, I’ve brewed some 30 batches. I set it up, press brew and walk away to return 5 hours later to ready-wort. The automatisation that provides for that has probably saved my marriage (or brewing career). I’m really happy I bought one.

Cheers.
Ulf

 

[Blazinlow86]

Guys,
I’m one of the admins for the Brewie owners group Facebook page.

We have deleted very few posts over the past 18 months. Usually us 4 admins talk it over before anything is deleted. Brewie is not included in those deliberations.

But we are happy and greatful that the company is active in the forum. The Brewie-reps do provide some general support, they launch releases and keep us owners up to date through the page.

The forum is there for us owners to exchange knowledge and ideas. We do not want it to be used as a personal support-channel for unhappy customers. Potential buyers are welcome to drop-in as guests to read and ask questions.

Yes, we try to keep a positive tone. Some of the contributors are Brewie ambassadors (I’m not), and they do get perks from the company, but there is no hiding that fact and they know the most about the machine and brewing in general and share that knowledge well.

I was an original backer. I’ve had serveral issues with the original B20, including one recall. I struggle with efficiency on big beers. But the machine works well for me, I’ve brewed some 30 batches. I set it up, press brew and walk away to return 5 hours later to ready-wort. The automatisation that provides for that has probably saved my marriage (or brewing career). I’m really happy I bought one.

Cheers.
Ulf

Hmm so your confirming that you dont want unsatisfied customers posting. Doesn't that go along with the idea the Facebook sites NOT a trustable source?

 

[Ulf Walther]

Hmm so your confirming that you dont want unsatisfied customers posting. Doesn't that go along with the idea the Facebook sites NOT a trustable source?

The purpose of the page is not to enable one to reach out to the Brewie crew on individual support matters. We've also had posts that simply state "I would never buy one" and there are, contrary to what I read above, more complaints then praises on the page. But the FB-forum is not a consumer buyer's guide. What we want more of is people helping eachother with work-arounds and tweeks. Increasing efficiency is one such issue that is frequently discussed. Recepie designing, fit for the Brewie, is another. Requests for coming SW-updates or the app is a third.

And, yes: One should always be careful to trust anything said on the news, on the tele, or on the web. Including this site and including FB. That said in general.

 

[augiedoggy]

Unlike this forum there are a lot of heavily censored forums, I just posted a comment here in another thread about pro brewer doing the same thing deleting entire threads if a complaint about a sponsors product is shared by multiple owners. I belong to the corvette forum and its the same deal there, I was sent a message from a moderator scolding me and suspending me for a period of days for mentioning the stainless sidepipes I bought for $700 new were from the exact same manufacturer as a sponsor was marking up and selling for $1600 as another brand and this was in response to someone asking if there were cheaper options. Its not unusual for websites who profit off vendor contributions to cater to them one of the unique things about this site which helps prevent that is members are often contributors too and deserve the same respect as the vendors..

That said I dont understand the censoring of what should be an independent facebook page for actual brewie owners to not be able to speak their mind... If they really are that bad then the negative complaints need to be shared so the company has more motivation to improve the feedback.. In short your not helping yourselves here.

 

[Jmazzuca222243]

For anyone interested in buying a Brewie, DO NOT BUY ONE! Buy any other brand of home bnrewing. I paid for my Brewie in September 2016 and never received it. I have attempted to receive a refund for almost a year but Brewie determined in Sept 2018 they can not process one. Brewie stated that it is in the terms and conditions that I must first receive the Brewie in order to process a refund. They oddly stated that their finance team talked with a bunch of lawyers and that was the conclusion. The other option they stated is that I can sell the Brewie+ and "make hundreds of dollars of profit" (Brewie's words). I am contacting the FTC to file a complaint and pursing a lawsuit against the company.

This company does not respond to emails, does not provide you updates, and will refuse to refund your money. If you would like to see the hundreds of emails from me, I can send them to you. But I do not want another person buying a Brewie and being scammed by this company.

 

[Blazinlow86]

Unlike this forum there are a lot of heavily censored forums, I just posted a comment here in another thread about pro brewer doing the same thing deleting entire threads if a complaint about a sponsors product is shared by multiple owners. I belong to the corvette forum and its the same deal there, I was sent a message from a moderator scolding me and suspending me for a period of days for mentioning the stainless sidepipes I bought for $700 new were from the exact same manufacturer as a sponsor was marking up and selling for $1600 as another brand and this was in response to someone asking if there were cheaper options. Its not unusual for websites who profit off vendor contributions to cater to them one of the unique things about this site which helps prevent that is members are often contributors too and deserve the same respect as the vendors..

That said I dont understand the censoring of what should be an independent facebook page for actual brewie owners to not be able to speak their mind... If they really are that bad then the negative complaints need to be shared so the company has more motivation to improve the feedback.. In short your not helping yourselves here.

Exactly. Everyone says look at the Facebook page it's all happy campers over there. Then the admin posts they don't want negative things on there? It's only a site for happy user's to chat lol

 

[BrunDog]

For anyone interested in buying a Brewie, DO NOT BUY ONE! Buy any other brand of home bnrewing. I paid for my Brewie in September 2016 and never received it. I have attempted to receive a refund for almost a year but Brewie determined in Sept 2018 they can not process one. Brewie stated that it is in the terms and conditions that I must first receive the Brewie in order to process a refund. They oddly stated that their finance team talked with a bunch of lawyers and that was the conclusion. The other option they stated is that I can sell the Brewie+ and "make hundreds of dollars of profit" (Brewie's words). I am contacting the FTC to file a complaint and pursing a lawsuit against the company.

This company does not respond to emails, does not provide you updates, and will refuse to refund your money. If you would like to see the hundreds of emails from me, I can send them to you. But I do not want another person buying a Brewie and being scammed by this company.

It's too bad the company culture is to take money and not communicate - this is a horrible way to treat customers. You should always do the right thing when dealing with people, let alone customers, a philosphy that brewie has never demonstrated as far as I can tell. Engineering mistakes are forgivable... ignoring customers isn't.

 

[Ulf Walther]

Hang on a sec...
Hardly any posts have been deleted (censored). I have only deleted ONE post, a post where an employee of Brewie was attacked in person. Plain and simple bashing is not what the FB-page is for. Negative things in general are fine to discuss on the FB-page. We do use the forum to discuss troubleshooting (due to issues; ie negative things). Lack of communication has long been addressed in the forum and Brewie admit that they need to work on customer relations.

In MY opinion, deliveries seem almost up to date, most software issues are resolved, the new Brewie+ model seem to have improved the hardware, communication with customers is improving, the long awaited app is soon to be released after a long period of Beta-testing. I think that is why there has been a shift in the tone in the Brewie owners group FB-page. There is no conspiracy controlled by the company. Members are simply starting to use the group for what it was intended for by us backers when we started it 18 months ago.

But don't take my word for it. Join the group. Radom contact an owner on messenger and ask for their opinion.
/Ulf

 

[Nate R]

Hang on a sec...
Hardly any posts have been deleted (censored). I have only deleted ONE post, a post where an employee of Brewie was attacked in person. Plain and simple bashing is not what the FB-page is for. Negative things in general are fine to discuss on the FB-page. We do use the forum to discuss troubleshooting (due to issues; ie negative things). Lack of communication has long been addressed in the forum and Brewie admit that they need to work on customer relations.

In MY opinion, deliveries seem almost up to date, most software issues are resolved, the new Brewie+ model seem to have improved the hardware, communication with customers is improving, the long awaited app is soon to be released after a long period of Beta-testing. I think that is why there has been a shift in the tone in the Brewie owners group FB-page. There is no conspiracy controlled by the company. Members are simply starting to use the group for what it was intended for by us backers when we started it 18 months ago.

But don't take my word for it. Join the group. Radom contact an owner on messenger and ask for their opinion.
/Ulf

I just don't get where the constant negativey (spelling!) Comes from. It does suck that backers got screwed (a la growlerwerks) but there is a good sized community making good beer on the Brewie. I joined the private non-company brewie users group (which means i have to use facebook which is against every fiber of my being. Thank goodness my wife has an account) because all i got here was bashing. On there i get tips for efficency (spelling), notes, ideas, heck i even got a Beersmith profile for free.

That being said i get that if i had spent 2k+ and had to go through the issues first backers did too i would be p@ssed as well. But i also know there is a gamble with thoose sites and i let others make the risk and figure i will pay full price to hedge my bets.

I appreciate the FB page and check in there from time to time for tips. It is still full of problems and issues with the brewie- but instead of just b@tches, it provides soultions as well. I.e. it is for people what want the brewie to work. Not just gripes.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I just don't get where the constant negativey (spelling!) Comes from. It does suck that backers got screwed (a la growlerwerks) but there is a good sized community making good beer on the Brewie. I joined the private non-company brewie users group (which means i have to use facebook which is against every fiber of my being. Thank goodness my wife has an account) because all i got here was bashing. On there i get tips for efficency (spelling), notes, ideas, heck i even got a Beersmith profile for free.

That being said i get that if i had spent 2k+ and had to go through the issues first backers did too i would be p@ssed as well. But i also know there is a gamble with thoose sites and i let others make the risk and figure i will pay full price to hedge my bets.

I appreciate the FB page and check in there from time to time for tips. It is still full of problems and issues with the brewie- but instead of just b@tches, it provides soultions as well. I.e. it is for people what want the brewie to work. Not just gripes.

If you read this post start to finish and can't figure out were all the negatively comes from I don't think anyone can help you. There's no reports of anything positive about the machine. The Facebook page has been admitted to only want positive comments and any issues are moderated. The 2-3 people on here that have claimed the machine works great are all new members that have zero credibility. The members that do have credibility and experience with the machine say it's a turd. Not that hard to figure out. how about you post up some videos with your machine in use start to finish on YouTube? Dont you find it suspect that there's no success stories or even videos showing the thing working anywere? THE FACEBOOK PAGE MEANS NOTHING. Continually saying over and over "but the facebook" doesn't make it better and now the moderator just admitted they don't want negative stuff on there is the nail in the coffin.

 

[Anyhowe]

If you read this post start to finish and can't figure out were all the negatively comes from I don't think anyone can help you. There's no reports of anything positive about the machine. The Facebook page has been admitted to only want positive comments and any issues are moderated. The 2-3 people on here that have claimed the machine works great are all new members that have zero credibility. The members that do have credibility and experience with the machine say it's a turd. Not that hard to figure out. how about you post up some videos with your machine in use start to finish on YouTube? Dont you find it suspect that there's no success stories or even videos showing the thing working anywere? THE FACEBOOK PAGE MEANS NOTHING. Continually saying over and over "but the facebook" doesn't make it better and now the moderator just admitted they don't want negative stuff on there is the nail in the coffin.

+1.

Better yet. How about if a few of these Brewie lovers would open up their house for a few hours so some established members can drop by and watch a brew cycle and maybe for a look and a chat? I can’t imagine any other brewer here that would not do that for what ever system they had. Any takers here in the US or Canada??

 

[Nate R]

+1.

Better yet. How about if a few of these Brewie lovers would open up their house for a few hours so some established members can drop by and watch a brew cycle and maybe for a look and a chat? I can’t imagine any other brewer here that would not do that for what ever system they had. Any takers here in the US or Canada??

Fair enough. To Blazinlo- i did read this thread. From the first post and to the latest post. I spent about 6 months debating do i get into brewing? I love beer. I've built a gorgeous sexy keezer. I waited and waited and waited for thr jump into brewing. I knew my money should go to a good fermenter and temp control. I knew my time is limited. The pico sounded cool but small batch size. Pico c seemed geared to sell pico packs. Brewie was the answer!! But no way $2500!! I watched and watched and grabbed a special deal. Now you can get one for $1400 shipped next day for free (morebeer rocks!). Yes it blows that the first users dealt with some crap. However there is a good sized user pool who is past that and focuse on fine tuning the brewie. Maybe mine will kick the bucket in a few more brews? I dunno. I do know that i always update, calibrate, and follow directions.

To Anyhowe: hit me up. I am in the Sacramento CA area. I would love to brew with you. I will be happy to show you the Brewie.
I had heard brewing was a cool hobby where users supported each other! Most threads here are pretty cool. This one seems to have a lot of hate about a product only a few actually bought. If you hot burned, you have the right.
I dont own a grai father or a robobrew. I wont put then down. Only ask questions about is it right for me? And the new gen at that.

 

[sniperd]

I'll give you guys my take. I am an established member, I've made over 100 homebrew batches with my mash tuns and kettles. Typically 15 gallon batches, sometimes 30. All grain, all day. I've entered competitions and I've won two blue ribbons. I was a very early backer of the Brew on Indiegogo. Here is my timeline of events regarding my experiences with Brewie.

• Placed my order on 10/22/2015 https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/brewie.506703/
• Brewie received on 7/25/17, machine seems solid. Got a few free brewie kits with it since I had to wait so long for it.
• Attempted a brew shortly after, but to be safe ran a few cleaning cycles first. Those were fine. And then it died: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/brewie.506703/page-20
• They were actually pretty nice and usually responded within a day with emails to troubleshoot. I tried numerous things but nothing worked. I'm handy and work with computers, I get it, this stuff is hard. But the reason I'm paying so much for a machine like this is that it is hard. Otherwise I'd just build one. I sent it back (at their cost) but that was a little bit of a hassle. They scheduled a UPS pickup but didn't tell me.
• Day 1 UPS leaves a note. Weird, they never leave a note. They just leave packages, strange. Day 2 I just happen to be home and they guy asks if I have a package for pickup. I tell him no, what package? He says "It's a Brewie machine?". I tell him I don't have it packaged up but I will for tomorrow. I get it ready, he comes back the next day and they take it.
• I follow the tracking number. After about a month, it appears to be lost. I lose my mind. UPS says, "Oh, you'll have to talk to the company that you returned it to, they have to make the claim that is has been lost". Wow...
• I contact Brewie, they say they have it. UPS just didn't track it right?
• 4 months go by
• I get a phone call from somebody in the Southern United States (I'm in New Hampshire). Rose's Repair, or something like that. They want to know my zip code to mail me something. Oh? Uh ok. Here it is.
• 11/17 Repaired Brewie shows up!
• I use the 4 Brewie Pads, yep it brews. Kind of low OG maybe it's the old grain? Maybe how they milled it? Hmm... I use one of my recipes and getting like 50% - 60% efficiency, not good. My gear gets me 85%. There is a cap to how much grain you can load in and I note that during sparge it's not recirculating how I would expect. let's see....
• Version 3.0 of the software fixes that? Cool, uh.. how do I update? It won't update. Several emails with support, very nice, and quick response. Turns out that my repaired brewie doesn't have the serial number in it so it can't update. OK... They can either give me a shipping label and I send it back or they can send me a new SD card with my serial number. I opt for the SD card. (Why can't I just take the card out and edit the file? Nah.. too easy?)
• 7 weeks later... SD card shows up. It's not too hard to swap it out, but you do have to take a lot apart to get to it. If you are going to use an SD card, why not just have a slot on the outside? No idea.. OK, new card, boom updates to version 3 something
• Make my yeast starter but before I load the grain up.. hm.. let's run a full clean... Mash tun side has a HUGE burn ring, the water has all drained out and you can smell burning plastic... FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
• 7/15/18 I email the CEO directly. Politely and firmly request a refund. I do NOT want a repair, this has been enough. He apologizes several times and is very nice. I'm offered a swap for a B+ and another brewie pad, due to the terms of the purchase a refund is not possible.

Honestly, I want this thing to work. I REALLY want it to work. I love brewing. I love making beer and having my friends drink it and seeing that look in their eyes. I love making something that can't be bought at any cost. And what the Brewie is supposed to be should help me get that. Brewing with mash tuns and kettles is fun, but man.. it's a lot of work and when I make 15 gallons of something that is ... meh.. feels like what a waste. I want a way to run a hands off prototype that I can repeat. So, where does that leave me...

• 9/18 UPS says it's coming tomorrow. It will require a signature, I change to pickup.
• I go get it. Package looks nice. Unpack it, looks nice. Seems a little more.. refined? Here goes nothing... do the steps calibrate it, throw a pad in, hook up water, auto cool, etc. It works. It worked exactly like I had hoped. Straight up solid. Good efficiency OG 1.055 for something that is supposed to be 6% when done, so not bad. 6 hours from plug in to cleaned up and put away and I have 4.5 gallons of wort.

So what do I think? If it continues to work how it just did I absolutely love it. We shall have to see....

Now what would I recommend to somebody thinking of buying one? If you have a version 1 Brewie and it works, keep it. Would I straight up buy a Brewie+ right now? I'd wait for somebody like me to rip 10 brews through it and report back.. and I will

 

[Nate R]

I'll give you guys my take. I am an established member, I've made over 100 homebrew batches with my mash tuns and kettles. Typically 15 gallon batches, sometimes 30. All grain, all day. I've entered competitions and I've won two blue ribbons. I was a very early backer of the Brew on Indiegogo. Here is my timeline of events regarding my experiences with Brewie.

• Placed my order on 10/22/2015 https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/brewie.506703/
• Brewie received on 7/25/17, machine seems solid. Got a few free brewie kits with it since I had to wait so long for it.
• Attempted a brew shortly after, but to be safe ran a few cleaning cycles first. Those were fine. And then it died: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/brewie.506703/page-20
• They were actually pretty nice and usually responded within a day with emails to troubleshoot. I tried numerous things but nothing worked. I'm handy and work with computers, I get it, this stuff is hard. But the reason I'm paying so much for a machine like this is that it is hard. Otherwise I'd just build one. I sent it back (at their cost) but that was a little bit of a hassle. They scheduled a UPS pickup but didn't tell me.
• Day 1 UPS leaves a note. Weird, they never leave a note. They just leave packages, strange. Day 2 I just happen to be home and they guy asks if I have a package for pickup. I tell him no, what package? He says "It's a Brewie machine?". I tell him I don't have it packaged up but I will for tomorrow. I get it ready, he comes back the next day and they take it.
• I follow the tracking number. After about a month, it appears to be lost. I lose my mind. UPS says, "Oh, you'll have to talk to the company that you returned it to, they have to make the claim that is has been lost". Wow...
• I contact Brewie, they say they have it. UPS just didn't track it right?
• 4 months go by
• I get a phone call from somebody in the Southern United States (I'm in New Hampshire). Rose's Repair, or something like that. They want to know my zip code to mail me something. Oh? Uh ok. Here it is.
• 11/17 Repaired Brewie shows up!
• I use the 4 Brewie Pads, yep it brews. Kind of low OG maybe it's the old grain? Maybe how they milled it? Hmm... I use one of my recipes and getting like 50% - 60% efficiency, not good. My gear gets me 85%. There is a cap to how much grain you can load in and I note that during sparge it's not recirculating how I would expect. let's see....
• Version 3.0 of the software fixes that? Cool, uh.. how do I update? It won't update. Several emails with support, very nice, and quick response. Turns out that my repaired brewie doesn't have the serial number in it so it can't update. OK... They can either give me a shipping label and I send it back or they can send me a new SD card with my serial number. I opt for the SD card. (Why can't I just take the card out and edit the file? Nah.. too easy?)
• 7 weeks later... SD card shows up. It's not too hard to swap it out, but you do have to take a lot apart to get to it. If you are going to use an SD card, why not just have a slot on the outside? No idea.. OK, new card, boom updates to version 3 something
• Make my yeast starter but before I load the grain up.. hm.. let's run a full clean... Mash tun side has a HUGE burn ring, the water has all drained out and you can smell burning plastic... FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
• 7/15/18 I email the CEO directly. Politely and firmly request a refund. I do NOT want a repair, this has been enough. He apologizes several times and is very nice. I'm offered a swap for a B+ and another brewie pad, due to the terms of the purchase a refund is not possible.

Honestly, I want this thing to work. I REALLY want it to work. I love brewing. I love making beer and having my friends drink it and seeing that look in their eyes. I love making something that can't be bought at any cost. And what the Brewie is supposed to be should help me what that. Brewing with mash tuns and kettles is fun, but man.. it's a lot of work and when I make 15 gallons of something that is ... meh.. feels like what a waste. I want a way to run a hands off prototype that I can repeat. So, where does that leave me...

• 9/18 UPS says it's coming tomorrow. It will require a signature, I change to pickup.
• I go get it. Package looks nice. Unpack it, looks nice. Seems a little more.. refined? Here goes nothing... do the steps calibrate it, throw a pad in, hook up water, auto cool, etc. It works. I worked exactly like I had hoped. Straight up solid. Good efficiency OG 1.055 for something that is supposed to be 6% when done, so not bad. 6 hours from plug in to cleaned up and put away and I have 4.5 gallons of wort.

So what do I think? If it continues to work how it just did I absolutely love it. We shall have to see....

Now what I would recommend. If you have a version 1 Brewie and it works, keep it. Would I straight up buy a Brewie+ right now? I'd wait for somebody like me to rip 10 brews through it and report back.. and I will

Great post. Agree with you- i want focus on crafting recipe and have the brew be consistent- i.e. add more hops next time less malt- brew process is same- what happens?
It IS shame that retailers can ship a b+ tommorrow but warranty/ backers have to wait months...
But....
Thank you for a well thought out post. Not just a b*tch!!

 

[Nate R]

Hi All,

Did not know there was an active Brewie Community here. I bought my B20 from MoreBeer in the insane deal but have been having trouble with efficiency. I have been active on Facebook Brewie Owner's Group and have got some feedback on improving efficiency. Here is all that I tried:
1) Reduced the grain mill gap to 0.8 from 1.2mm (but the have further suggestion to reduce it to 0.3mm - I will try that for next brew)
2) Put grains in two bags instead of one (I further enhanced upon that by keeping them vertical and separating them so recirc goes through the middle of two bags)
3) Watch mash Ph - check after 15 minutes and if not within 5.2/5.4 adjust with acid.
4) Open up the bags and stir the grains occasionally (clearly defeats the purpose of push button system).

Apart from trying 0.3mm - none of the above improved efficiency to desirable numbers (below 60% still) so I did suggest Brewie team to build a malt-pipe about a month back (on facebook and even did some diagrams of the design). But eventually I could not wait any longer and have started my own build of a "Malt-Cage" - this will have solid staggered perforated false-bottom (I got suggestion for what to get from product designer from MoreBeer), four solid (non-perforated) walls, a screen on top, handle to lift to drain, a removable sparge-arm (and while I am at it - I also decided to add a whirlpool arm for the boil tank). I was hoping to get all this under $200 but raw material itself ended up costing $180 (see pictures and details on few of my posts in Facebook Brewie Owners Group). So at this point I am hoping to get this done below $250. Everything is arriving today and I am hoping to get SS welding, lathe work etc. done within 1 week.

Will post updates on progress and results (hopefully good results) here as well.

Cheers guys.

PS: I am in Walnut Creek, CA

Hey any update on this custom build? I am hoping you made a winner here!

 

[golfindia]

Facebook is a garbage propaganda hellhole. Any company who relies wholely or largely on that platform to sell, market, and or support their products is a company that will never receive a dime from me and a growing number of others. Too many new startups use facebook as a curtain to hide behind while scamming the masses.