Brewie

[kh54s10]

$250 is not a horrible price for:

2 SS kettles, 2 boil elements, 2 brew pumps, 1 heat exchanger (CFC), and 6 solenoids. If I could use it with another controller like CraftbeerPi it'd be worth it for me.

You probably could if you had knowledge of electronics. Who knows how much it would cost to connect. Then you would have to program it to work. That is something that Brewie never solved. If you can't do those yourself you would have to pay experts to do the engineering, building and a programmer.......

 

[117thBrewer]

That is all true and not to mention how much time tinkering with it is worth it. I might give it a go. I do electronics for a living and am familiar with most of these processes.

 

[Nate R]

Only point of contention i have is that Brewie did indeed "solve it". I've done 14 batches now on the machine. Last Saturday i did two different 5 gallon batches and a whole bunch of other stuff in between.

But... i think the best use of a "dead" brewie at this point is to incorporate manual "switches" if you will for pumps. I.e. add water manually. Start a switch for mash. Use an external temp probe to monitor both tanks. Turn a pump on for mash circulation. Etc etc.

 

[Still Brewn]

So which brave soul is going to take the $249 ebay brewie plunge?

If it was the brewie+ I would do it in a heartbeat. I have been very happy with mine and now that I have a little knowledge about it repairs are not so difficult. ! Of course I have a knack for keeping my things working well. I have a leaf blower that's more than 23 years old and still starts on the first or second pull. I took it in to have it serviced for the second time since I bought it and the guy was amazed at how old it was, it still looks like it is only a year or two old.

 

[c06u]

The B20's on eBay are great for spares, an unlimited parts gold mine for me, cannibalize units for spares, my B20 has been flawless for 14 brews so far so with a couple of the eBay units I will be set, easy to work on and now with the manuals generously supplied by a member and also the knowledge base we have from all the members I don't see a problem without tech help the kids at Brewie...BTW I still see no advantage to the B20+ they screwed up by jumping to the B20+ before having the B20 fully up to speed, fine tuning the production QC after development and testing is the key to a reliable product

 

[Nate R]

The B20's on eBay are great for spares, an unlimited parts gold mine for me, cannibalize units for spares, my B20 has been flawless for 14 brews so far so with a couple of the eBay units I will be set, easy to work on and now with the manuals generously supplied by a member and also the knowledge base we have from all the members I don't see a problem without tech help the kids at Brewie...BTW I still see no advantage to the B20+ they screwed up by jumping to the B20+ before having the B20 fully up to speed, fine tuning the production QC after development and testing is the key to a reliable product

Rock on! Us "OG" Brewie B20 owners band together!
Lol!!

 

[Mayday99]

The B20's on eBay are great for spares, an unlimited parts gold mine for me, cannibalize units for spares, my B20 has been flawless for 14 brews so far so with a couple of the eBay units I will be set, easy to work on and now with the manuals generously supplied by a member and also the knowledge base we have from all the members I don't see a problem without tech help the kids at Brewie...BTW I still see no advantage to the B20+ they screwed up by jumping to the B20+ before having the B20 fully up to speed, fine tuning the production QC after development and testing is the key to a reliable product

Nice! So are you grabbing one of these off ebay? I sent the seller a message asking if all accessories were included, but have not heard back. Will post back if I get anymore info.

 

[RMW]

Hi all,
Sorry for a long intro post...
I followed this thread as I ordered a Brewie+ last year and felt that although the machine was clearly still being developed that most of the issues were 120v and many of those had been solved. I got my machine last October and did a few faultless brews (I should have added to the thread then i know...) before one of the hop tank valves broke. The support was ok if sometime slow and i got replacements, and returned to brewing. Another valve broke, this time the one that goes from boil to mash tank, during boil, causing a very messy overspill. Everything dried out, changed valve and began to brew again but then the boil element or something nearby went wrong. At that point the support really slowed, I contacted Marcel who usually replied but by early summer even that was done and i (with hindsight) made the error of telling them to take the machine back and properly fix it before returning. I am in Europe so not to bad to send back but it took them over a month to arrange the pick up (by this time Mate had gone i think). And finally the machine was collected early August. Which on the assumption they have gone to the wall means my machine must have reached their place just as the shutters came down. I only realised this on return from vacation and my chase emails bounced back.
So....if any of the wonderful contributors on here has any direct contact with the company with a means to at least prevent my machine being noted as "not the company's" in the firesale that would be great. The various resources so many have contributed makes me feel I can at least work to keep using the machine in the near to medium term...if i can get it back.
Thanks in advance and apologies my post is such a long plea.

 

[Tim H]

RWM,

Welcome to the community. Sorry to hear about your situation....that must really sting. Are you part of the Facebook group “Brewie Owners Group”? It is another excellent resource for company information and repair/diy walkthroughs. There are a few posts scattered on both forums that speak to the legal process of bankruptcy and litigation. Unfortunately (from my novice understanding) it seems that you are dead in the water until Brewie/parent company resurfaces or files bankruptcy. I don’t think anybody has successfully been in contact with any of the team members.

I know it is not the most ideal course of action, but you might want to consider buying one of the EBay Brewies so you at least have a machine to fix up.

If Brewie has indeed closed shop and start selling assets not legally under their control, I imagine a class-action lawsuit is the next course of action. Do some research on legal actions against companies in Denmark. I would love to be 100% wrong and see Brewie emerge from the ashes under a new brand and take this awesome machine across the finish line.

 

[c06u]

Nice! So are you grabbing one of these off ebay? I sent the seller a message asking if all accessories were included, but have not heard back. Will post back if I get anymore info.

I tried the contact route also but the seller does not respond at all, so went for one and will see what I get should be here next week, one good sign is he paid shipping for 93 lbs and that's about what the complete unit in shipping box weight is, parts is parts is the bottom line so for $250.00 it gives you some support without the factory

 

[Hamboner]

I bought one from eBay also (B20 owner here). I sent one to this place back in January and brewie just me me another new one after about 3 months. The rma instructions said not to ship the accessories so I happen to have a full second set. If the unit I bought also has them, I will probably buy another for a friend. I guess we'll see....

Ebay said fast and free shipping and I expected it to be here today, but ups tracking just shows label created since about Tuesday. Sometimes that can be a glitch but it's still not here....maybe they saw the shipping costs and are reconsidering.

Regarding software, I'm pretty sure I have 3.1.2. I thought there was a beta past that, but maybe not. I'll be opening mine and pulling that image in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Colin Kaminski]

I'm pretty sure I have 3.1.2. I thought there was a beta past that, but maybe not. I'll be opening mine and pulling that image in the next couple of weeks.

I requested access to the Facebook Brewie Group but I have not been accepted. I have been told there is some information there. Is there an online place to consolidate Brewie information?

 

[Blazinlow86]

The B20's on eBay are great for spares, an unlimited parts gold mine for me, cannibalize units for spares, my B20 has been flawless for 14 brews so far so with a couple of the eBay units I will be set, easy to work on and now with the manuals generously supplied by a member and also the knowledge base we have from all the members I don't see a problem without tech help the kids at Brewie...BTW I still see no advantage to the B20+ they screwed up by jumping to the B20+ before having the B20 fully up to speed, fine tuning the production QC after development and testing is the key to a reliable product

They screwed up right from the start. Instead of literally ceasing production and recalling all the b20s that were plagued from the start they replaced it with the b20+ which turned out to be arguably just as bad if not worse. My guess is once they got the funding and realized the machines just plain out wouldn't work as designed it was too late and shipped them anyways and it was a ship taking on water ever since. Cheers

 

[CircleGetSquare]

Hey all,

I've been tracking this thread for some time and finally joined the forum. Bummed but not shocked that it seems like Brewie is done-for, but feeling grateful that there's a community out there to keep our machines up and brewing. Thanks so much to everybody for sharing their experiences and resources.

In the short term - I have an original B20 and need to replace a section of the internal clear tubing. Does anybody know the specific sizing, or has anybody successfully replaced a section? Seems like 1/2" ID, but a little bit less than 3/4" OD. I'm guessing it may be a metric size? I've tried unsuccessfully to find anything in the documentation or in this thread.

More generally, I'm a UX designer with some front-end dev experience. The dev heavy-lifting would be beyond me, but I'd be happy to help in any way I can if an effort starts to re-engineer or re-imagine the Brewie software.

 

[BrunDog]

The software to make this run is possible. The hardware on the other hand... may get tricky to source parts.

 

[CircleGetSquare]

The software to make this run is possible. The hardware on the other hand... may get tricky to source parts.

Agreed - I'm thinking of picking up one of the eBay units for parts. Will be interested to hear how it pans out for those who already pulled the trigger. Actually looking forward to hacking on/modding the machine a bit, now that any notion of a warranty is out the window.

 

[c06u]

Hey all,

I've been tracking this thread for some time and finally joined the forum. Bummed but not shocked that it seems like Brewie is done-for, but feeling grateful that there's a community out there to keep our machines up and brewing. Thanks so much to everybody for sharing their experiences and resources.

In the short term - I have an original B20 and need to replace a section of the internal clear tubing. Does anybody know the specific sizing, or has anybody successfully replaced a section? Seems like 1/2" ID, but a little bit less than 3/4" OD. I'm guessing it may be a metric size? I've tried unsuccessfully to find anything in the documentation or in this thread.

More generally, I'm a UX designer with some front-end dev experience. The dev heavy-lifting would be beyond me, but I'd be happy to help in any way I can if an effort starts to re-engineer or re-imagine the Brewie software.

On tubing brew shops have various size silicone tubing
https://www.austinhomebrew.com/search.asp?keyword=silicone&search=

Another note on tubing, my water department has been working on lines and jacked the pressure sky high, this morning my machine started leaking when filling so I pulled the bottom off and found no damages or loose tubing, as it turned out the pressure was too high causing the leak, the silicone lines with clamps can only handle so much pressure, as my turning the valve on the supply line down metering the pressure cured the problem, another wise move Brewie should have made was a little metering fitting in the fill port, or at least advise the customer of max pressure the machine is limited to...off to home depot to see what I can find in the way of regulators

 

[RMW]

RWM,

Welcome to the community. Sorry to hear about your situation....that must really sting. Are you part of the Facebook group “Brewie Owners Group”? It is another excellent resource for company information and repair/diy walkthroughs. There are a few posts scattered on both forums that speak to the legal process of bankruptcy and litigation. Unfortunately (from my novice understanding) it seems that you are dead in the water until Brewie/parent company resurfaces or files bankruptcy. I don’t think anybody has successfully been in contact with any of the team members.

I know it is not the most ideal course of action, but you might want to consider buying one of the EBay Brewies so you at least have a machine to fix up.

If Brewie has indeed closed shop and start selling assets not legally under their control, I imagine a class-action lawsuit is the next course of action. Do some research on legal actions against companies in Denmark. I would love to be 100% wrong and see Brewie emerge from the ashes under a new brand and take this awesome machine across the finish line.

Thanks Tim, much appreciated

 

[Colinsk]

I have replaced all of the tubing in the B20. It’s a metric size and I had to order it from Europe. I work at MoreBeer and have access to all the US sizes. I don’t remember the size I used unfortunately. I measured the fittings and went to the slightly smaller size. The job is not too hard.

 

[Brian H.]

Its alive!!! Took the front panel off, disconnected the wires, took the battery out for good measure, replaced everything and it turns on!

Also ordered me one of the eBay units...just for good measure.

Does anyone know or have an idea on how many Brewies (B20 or B+) are out there in the wild? Just curious...

 

[Colinsk]

A wild guess is a couple of thousand in the US.

 

[beerier]

In one of the last advertising emails from brewie they mentioned something like "...more than 2000 happy brewers world wide...". So I assume it is in the 2000 (+) range. Whereas for instance I have 2x (a B20 and a B20+) but I guess they mean the number of units sold. This sounds realistic for me.

 

[applescrap]

2000 x 1800 is 3.6 million.

 

[c06u]

Brewed Saturday and today, a low carbohydrate ale and a new castle brown ale clone, the B20 is still performing well after 16 brews, I go for full cleans after each session, also add one cup of vinegar per tank in the clean cycle, and a sani cycle if the machine has been down for a couple of weeks before brewing, I think you will end up with stuck together lines in the pinch valves and fouled pumps if you don't keep these beast super clean....

 

[Nate R]

Brewed Saturday and today, a low carbohydrate ale and a new castle brown ale clone, the B20 is still performing well after 16 brews, I go for full cleans after each session, also add one cup of vinegar per tank in the clean cycle, and a sani cycle if the machine has been down for a couple of weeks before brewing, I think you will end up with stuck together lines in the pinch valves and fouled pumps if you don't keep these beast super clean....

Vinegar huh? Do you use cleaning tablets or pbw?
I also do a full a clean after each brew day. Agree the hoses need to be cleaned.

 

[c06u]

Tabs an

Vinegar huh? Do you use cleaning tablets or pbw?
I also do a full a clean after each brew day. Agree the hoses need to be cleaned.

Tabs and vinegar, also if you want spotless glass out of your dish washer 1 cup of vinegar works wonders!

 

[Blazinlow86]

In one of the last advertising emails from brewie they mentioned something like "...more than 2000 happy brewers world wide...". So I assume it is in the 2000 (+) range. Whereas for instance I have 2x (a B20 and a B20+) but I guess they mean the number of units sold. This sounds realistic for me.

I highly doubt that 2000 people purchased a brewie. That's alot of homebrewers who never post anything or brewday videos etc. There's what maybe 10 people on this sites single brewie thread with one and the Facebook page doesn't have many actual active users either. Maybe they shipped 2000 but I'd be surprised if there was even 500 out in the actual wild. Cheers

 

[c06u]

I highly doubt that 2000 people purchased a brewie. That's alot of homebrewers who never post anything or brewday videos etc. There's what maybe 10 people on this sites single brewie thread with one and the Facebook page doesn't have many actual active users either. Maybe they shipped 2000 but I'd be surprised if there was even 500 out in the actual wild. Cheers

Yes the 500 seems more like it although the eBay used units totaled 89 which were at just one of their repair facilities, would think Zymatics sold even less units but they seem to have loads of the pacific northwest techie cash to burn, as for Facebook I wouldn't put to much faith in many people going there in numbers that reflect a large segment of owners , in my circles even the grand-kids are ditching that little advertising agencies scams.....

 

[Tim H]

The website is back up......

 

[Nate R]

The website is back up......

By krackie it is!!!

I wonder if:
They sold
They were on vacation
Someone just forgot to pay their internet bill?

 

[Hamboner]

It does look like brewie has been resurrected.

I'm wondering if anyone who ordered an ebay brewie B20 actually got theirs shipped. Mine is still in 'label created'. I noticed there was one brewie+ from the same seller that had feedback 'item as described' indicating that at least someone received one. I'm wondering if this means that the ebay seller will be pulling those remaining listings in the near future. As much as a cheap spare would be nice, it is certainly better to have a functioning company backing these things.

This is all good news.

 

[Tim H]

It does look like brewie has been resurrected.

As much as a cheap spare would be nice, it is certainly better to have a functioning company backing these things.

This is all good news.

I am really interested to hear what Brewie will say about the last 5 weeks. As their consumer base, it would be in their best interests to keep us up to speed and happy.

I think it was a buy out.....or new investors... just my thoughts.

 

[Nate R]

I am really interested to hear what Brewie will say about the last 5 weeks. As their consumer base, it would be in their best interests to keep us up to speed and happy.

I think it was a buy out.....or new investors... just my thoughts.

Agree- some sort of debt restructuring deal.

 

[Tim H]

I’m still keeping my machine offline until I can clone my firmware...... if the website is back, but the official servers are still down, who knows what is going on.

 

[c06u]

It does look like brewie has been resurrected.

I'm wondering if anyone who ordered an ebay brewie B20 actually got theirs shipped. Mine is still in 'label created'. I noticed there was one brewie+ from the same seller that had feedback 'item as described' indicating that at least someone received one. I'm wondering if this means that the ebay seller will be pulling those remaining listings in the near future. As much as a cheap spare would be nice, it is certainly better to have a functioning company backing these things.

This is all good news.

Yes, mine just in this morning, it is a new unit with very light shipping damage, I took the bottom off to inspect and played around some with the boil pump as it was noisy on test simple pull apart and it must have had a peace of machining in (plastic etc) it, reassembled and WaLa runs perfect, no accessories as expected but no big deal, you can get stainless pre-punched just add some standoffs for the false bottom and it might even be better then the original one, also for hop cages just use tea balls you can get at the grocery store, walmart etc they fit perfectly (I used them all the time when brewing before Brewie)
Will give her a complete run through tomorrow....I ordered another one Saturday, as much as I have gotten inside these beast I find the Design good, it's the "Chinese spin on low quality that screwed them up, they were very naive if they left the Chinese without a Brewie company employee monitoring the manufacturing operation, also this so called ambassador program with it's focus on everything but the technical side was a mistake, first machines should have been handed over to people that can find mechanical flaws, a good Flight test program so to speak

 

[Tim H]

And the website is down again

 

[Nate R]

Lol.... wow. Maybe it's just been bad IT the whole time? Hence no emails etc.
I am so glad i signed up for the brewie pads membership club today!! I saved 10% by pre-paying for a year in advance!!

 

[Still Brewn]

I got a gateway timed out error.... wondering if they got hacked and that is the reason for all of this. A 504 error. So we know at least some of their computers are up and running just not the ones that the website relies on for stuff

 

[Still Brewn]

Telefon: +36 (20) 598-1312
Found a contact phone number

And what looks like their foreign language website....
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/45648960

I was able to get to it from the Cordis website it is now up

 

[Rob Rowald]

Hi all. It is starting to feel like Brewie is no more....
I am not on the Facebook but the Mrs. is. Here is a link to google drive files if it helps.

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1j9mOcCxB7-MXzB_tXSvPzIhbrXfQQ3bi?usp=sharing

Man, you could have at least given me attribution while sharing out my google drive.
Anyway, This will be going dark in the next couple of days, as I move it someplace with more space. I've used up pretty much all my space on Gdrive with these files. I will post a linkwhen they are moved