Brewie

[BrunDog]

Getting closer. Was it a running demo? If not that would concern me a bit. They could be running water in it as a minimum.

 

[tiputus]

Hi guys,

I attended the Braubeviale in Nuremberg on Wednesday...

Thanks for your report on this one! Appreciate it!

About the beer. Do you think that it was only OK because of
a) serving temperature?
b) recipe / ingredient / something else in brewing process (i.e fermentation temperature control)?
c) what kind of beer Brewie does?

 

[sunnyville]

Concerning the running demo: the machine was not running a brewing cycle. They've never done that at a show. I would guess for pure logistical reasons and because you'd probably need to fullfill certain health and safety requirements at such a show. On that note - not one machine there was running anything but a simulated cycle. Even the big professional ones.

I have however been a ta brew day a while back which I reported on in this thread somewhere, where we used a beta version of the Brewie. Even though the cycle was still not perfect (the recipe needed tinkering as well as the interface) the machine was impressive.




As regards to the beer I tasted: it could be any number of reasons. I reckon temperature was key. It tasted fine. But taste is subjective. I like really hoppy ales if I go for that style of beer. They also had a sour beer which my better half enjoyed very much!

 

[squared]

thanks for the update. I know I'm excited about this machine and its potential.

 

[tiputus]

Thanks for Sunnyville for supplementary answer.

Can't wait to see some reviews made by a neutral third party. If Brewie works as promised, the efficiency is in the range that Brewie has announced (80-85) and the final product is at least as good as the ones brewed with other systems, I'll be very happy.

If I'd know beforehand receiving my machine (info from reliable neutral party) that there's something wrong with it, I'd ask for refund and purchase the Grainfather with new controller. Lot more manual work + time consuming brewing (which isn't perfect for my situation), but it's 1000€ cheaper and has been on market for a while + proven to make good beer.

If I only had the crystal ball...

 

[waynemil]

Dear Friend of Brewie,




This is Marcell speaking. If you don’t know me what you need to know about me is that I am one of co-founders, CEO and the one who works on Brewie the longest time – since November 2013. As at the beginning I was the one who also handled all communication at Brewie I’m sure many of you already got to know me either when exchanging emails, talking on the phone or meeting at one of the exhibitions.

It has been a long time since you’ve heard from me personally and today I am here to share with you the great news that we all have been waiting for:

We are shipping!

Today we have entered the last phase of our journey, shipping. The first Brewies will be delivered next Monday and countinously everyone will receive theirs.

It has been a long journey – a lot longer than we thought at the beginning. Developing such a complex product as Brewie from zero was probably the hardest thing we ever did in our whole life.




Since our fully functioning prototype – the one you can see in the first video below – we have made great improvements to Brewie. The list is very long but just to mention some of the main changes:
- We upgraded Brewie from 2 to 4 hop additions to boost your brewing playground.
- We developed a unique food grade valve that makes the system more reliable and cleaning simpler.
- We built a cooling system that chills the wort in less than 15 minutes.
- We redesigned the tanks and the tube system to minimize wort loss and the chance of infection – also making cleaning easier.
- We added many new features to the machine according to your feedback – for example we added the option of sedimentation that lets the wort settle after the brewing process in order to make the wort much cleaner.
- We changed to a new sensor design and by that we reached +/- 0.75 C accuracy on an absolute scale which is the best ever achieved on any homebrewing kit.
- We gave new tops for Brewie to increase safety.
- We designed a new circulation system to avoid oxidation during mashing and seperate beer protein from the wort.
- We made sure that every single bit stored on the machine can be updated easily through our On-The-Air Update interface.
- We created several test machines to make sure that all functions of Brewie are tested before shipping.
- We improved Brewie’s design a lot since our first version which not only makes cleaning easier but also looking better than ever before.

By coping with all these challenges you are about to receive the most advanced homebrewing device on the market.
We’d like to THANK YOU all again for your trust, patience and enthusiasm. Without your continuous support we would have never made it. Soon there will be hundreds and thousands of brewers who can enjoy making, tasting and sharing their own beer in more than 30 countries all around the world. This is a huge dream come true and the beginning of a great new chapter in homebrewing.

Let’s take a look back where we came from:
Watch our first campaign video here.

And let’s take a look where we are now.

It is amazing to finally arrive to this last stage. We are going to notify everyone about the exact shipping date and send the tracking IDs once we received them. We are sending hundreds of products to hundreds of locations and depending on your location shipping time can vary.

Some of the machines will be delivered by us to say thank you in person as well. Unfortunately we can only meet a few of you but hopefully later on we will manage to meet more of you at one of the future Brewie events. The ones that were chosen for personal delivery will be notified in advance.

I kindly ask everyone who haven’t filled out our shipping form to please do so as we are only able to deliver your Brewie if your shipping address is confirmed. Also please make sure to give a phone number where the shipping company will be able to reach you if necessary.

This period was probably the most challenging and amazing time of our life and we are really looking forward to what more we can achieve together.

 

[sniperd]

Dear Friend of Brewie,

....

This period was probably the most challenging and amazing time of our life and we are really looking forward to what more we can achieve together.

Beat me to it! I've attached a few of the pictures from the email.

 

[BrunDog]

I think it is unrealistic to expect >80% efficiency with a mixed sparge. It really doesn't matter though... grain is cheap, especially compared to the commitment you are making with a machine of this sort. As long as it makes good beer, and I don't see any reason it shouldn't, unless you are a LODO guy.

 

[ccbadd]

Sure would be nice if they get here before Christmas!

 

[tiputus]

I think it is unrealistic to expect >80% efficiency with a mixed sparge. It really doesn't matter though... grain is cheap, especially compared to the commitment you are making with a machine of this sort. As long as it makes good beer, and I don't see any reason it shouldn't, unless you are a LODO guy.

I'm not concerned about the efficiency cost wisely! Still, I'd like to be able to brew high gravity beers with big enough batch size for my fermenter. Ss Brewtech conical's FTSs cooling system doesn't work if there isn't enough wort in vessel.

 

[tiputus]

I asked about the efficiency from Brewie. They still say it's 80-85℅. I also asked what's the highest gravity for for example 20l batch. They said 1.081. Used Brewer's Friend's brewhouse efficiency calculator. 20l - 1.081 - 8kg pale ale 2-row. Calculator gives brewhouse efficiency 65℅. Don't know what formula they use at Brewie to determine the brewhouse efficiency, but we're not talking about the same thing!
Well, It's ok. I can brew 20l of 1.081 and boil off about 4 litres. Then I get about 16l of 1.1 wort.

 

[BrunDog]

Remember that mash and brewhouse efficiency are two different measurements. Brewhouse is grain to fermenter, and getting 80+% will be voodoo math.

That said, these machines (grainfather, picobrew, etc.) aren't made to do super high gravity beer. You can boil down or add DME to get there.

 

[Anyhowe]

Crazy. People will ***** about anything ,(everything) If the Brewie is only half as good as the zymatic i would still buy it over a conventional system.

 

[tiputus]

Crazy. People will ***** about anything ,(everything) If the Brewie is only half as good as the zymatic i would still buy it over a conventional system.

I'm not bitching about it!!!! Just wondering what math they use to calculate as they're talking about brewhouse efficiency 80-85.

I have freedom to choose between different brewing systems! Time is more important for me than spent grain or efficiency, so I still prefer Brewie's automation over other systems higher brewhouse efficiency!

Just confused... not bitching! As I said, I can use boil-off or adding extract when brewing very high gravity beer!

Very exited that shipping has started, can't wait for first Youtube reviews...

 

[Ethanfox]

Don't forget their engineers brilliantly figured out they could remove the mesh bag of spent grain, add another into the mashtun and conduct another mash cycle to magically increase the gravity...

 

[ccbadd]

Anyone received a shipping notice/tracking number yet? Today is the day they said shipping will start.

 

[carlk47]

Been following this thread for almost 2 years now. Eagerly anticipating hearing peoples feedback on this system once they receive them and start playing with them. Haven't purchased one myself but if it turns out to be as good as I hope it will be...

 

[tiputus]

Anyone received a shipping notice/tracking number yet? Today is the day they said shipping will start.

Yeah, I did.... not. Just kidding. By the announcement/ comments at their FB-site, yesterday (monday) was the day when first machines were delivered personally by Brewie team. Weird that no one has yet reported anything about receiving machine! I'd definitely shout it out loud immediately if I was one of the first ones receiving Brewie. They also said that they will send update with information about shipping steps this week and send tracking IDs as soon as they have them. Also weird if they don't have any tracking IDs yet if the shipping started last week. Usually you get the tracking number before the shipment is even picked up by courier. Information about VAT-question is also promised to be shared in this weeks update. We will see!

 

[tiputus]

Been following this thread for almost 2 years now. Eagerly anticipating hearing peoples feedback on this system once they receive them and start playing with them. Haven't purchased one myself but if it turns out to be as good as I hope it will be...

I have and can't wait to receive mine. I'll for sure let you know how it works once I've received it! BTW... nBrewie just published pics of the first customer receiving his machine, so I guess you don't have to wait long to start seeing user reviews! Greatgreatgreat!!!

 

[AlpacaBrew]

The first Brewie HAS been delivered!

 

[badgerfan79]

Can't wait to hear the reviews.

 

[Thorrak]

The first Brewie HAS been delivered!

To you, or someone else?

 

[njs170]

If you go to Brewie's Facebook page you will see the post and pictures

 

[AlpacaBrew]

Someone else but it was an Amber Ale and I hope it is a great beer.

 

[JamieP]

I'm gonna go on record to say it's six more months before one hits your doorstep.

Fastest six months of our lives ;-)

 

[pagrider]

hope not watching this closely. Its such a small market for a product like this that is my worry can they last and support it.

 

[BrunDog]

Fastest six months of our lives ;-)

Since you took the time to raise this, you should go back and look at my other predictions.... IIRC, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. That said, still no confirmation on here anyone received one.

 

[BrunDog]

hope not watching this closely. Its such a small market for a product like this that is my worry can they last and support it.

I disagree. The market for automated appliances is growing. The last wave for homebrewers was electric... the next step is process facilitation. Once you brew a beer a few times, the thrill of burning 3-5 hours hunkered over a pot wanes. Automation/robotics/man-machine intersection is the next big thing this century.

The only thing that will hold brewie back is cost. Not many willing to drop that kind of loot. But, if you look at coffee, a pretty penny is often dropped by aficionados.

 

[pagrider]

How big is the market? You also have stiff competition from established companies like Picobrew which realized the market for a $2000 Zymatic was small and focused their efforts on Pico in which you need to buy pico packs. Its a niche market you will need deep pockets to outlast the big $ pico brew has. I am keeping a watchful eye on the Brewie but don't want to blow $2000 if they bust. I bet I am not alone, I am rooting for them but will stay on the sidelines for now

Its not really an automated appliance since you still need to control temperature, ferment and either keg or bottle your beer as we all know this involves lots of time

 

[lschiavo]

I disagree. The market for automated appliances is growing. The last wave for homebrewers was electric... the next step is process facilitation. Once you brew a beer a few times, the thrill of burning 3-5 hours hunkered over a pot wanes. Automation/robotics/man-machine intersection is the next big thing this century.

The only thing that will hold brewie back is cost. Not many willing to drop that kind of loot. But, if you look at coffee, a pretty penny is often dropped by aficionados.

I have to agree. Something like this could even create a new market. Late night infomercials...

 

[BrunDog]

How big is the market? You also have stiff competition from established companies like Picobrew which realized the market for a $2000 Zymatic was small and focused their efforts on Pico in which you need to buy pico packs. Its a niche market you will need deep pockets to outlast the big $ pico brew has. I am keeping a watchful eye on the Brewie but don't want to blow $2000 if they bust. I bet I am not alone, I am rooting for them but will stay on the sidelines for now

Its not really an automated appliance since you still need to control temperature, ferment and either keg or bottle your beer as we all know this involves lots of time

I honestly can't make a market size claim at this time. I will say that homebrewers are a cheap... er, frugal bunch, so the population willing to drop a couple G's is a fraction. But its a fraction of a large group. Not to mention there are plenty where 2k is a penance for cool tech like this.

Not sure your comments about the zymatic... seems a good bunch on this forum bought one. The pico definitely expands the reach due to lower cost, and gets them in the consumables side. Razors and razor blades.

Anyway, we'll see! I am an automation fan, so I am rooting for them!

 

[tiputus]

I wonder the absence of team Brewie at this forum! Last post from them here was made about 2 months ago... maybe they don't consider HBT that important communication channel! It's great that they delivered the first machine to someone... who is anonymous. Good start! But can that be considered as the start of shipping? In my opinion not! You deliver 1 machine to someone personally (could be a friend of someone from the team), but no confirmation of tracking IDs delivered to anyone here, FB or anywhere else...
9 days ago Brewie announced that they are shipping... by now first people receiving their machine should have received some tracking IDs. Hopefully this week's update will clear the situation to everyone.

 

[AlpacaBrew]

If you look around at the brewing setups people have put together, most have spent more than $2000. Maybe not all at once but piece by piece good equipment is expensive. Now add on all the electronics and the price goes up even more and at the end of the day it is not self cleaning. I really don't think the Brewie is too expensive for most serious brewers.

 

[BrunDog]

If you look around at the brewing setups people have put together, most have spent more than $2000. Maybe not all at once but piece by piece good equipment is expensive. Now add on all the electronics and the price goes up even more and at the end of the day it is not self cleaning. I really don't think the Brewie is too expensive for most serious brewers.

Excellent point. Not to mention the time commitment that everyone puts in selecting, buying, tweaking. That's some of the fun of course, but you are way right - 2k is easily spent by many.

 

[badgerfan79]

If you look around at the brewing setups people have put together, most have spent more than $2000. Maybe not all at once but piece by piece good equipment is expensive. Now add on all the electronics and the price goes up even more and at the end of the day it is not self cleaning. I really don't think the Brewie is too expensive for most serious brewers.

That is correct, but most that will build there custom brewery will build it to brew batches larger than 5 gallons.

 

[AlpacaBrew]

I think of it as a custom brewery in my home. Five gallon batches are just fine for me.

 

[njs170]

I think of it as a custom brewery in my home. Five gallon batches are just fine for me.

I agree. I normally want a change after drinking 5 gallons of a beer. (yes I know get more taps.... I have three now.)

 

[carlk47]

I actually think I would do smaller batches (2.5-3 gal) with a brewie since it would be so easy to brew more often and experiment more. Maybe 5 gals for the tried and true recipes that I know will go fast

 

[Goblism]

I actually think I would do smaller batches (2.5-3 gal) with a brewie since it would be so easy to brew more often and experiment more. Maybe 5 gals for the tried and true recipes that I know will go fast

That is my exact thought process! I have a hard time investing several hours into 2-3 gallon batches right now when the same effort would make 5-10. Less effort means doing the smaller batches are more worthwhile.

 

[steelsnow]

New email sent from Brewie today - won't repost it here due to length - thought the item most worth sharing here is the User Guide / Quick Start Guide was linked in the email. Includes more details then previously shared, but does require a download of a PDF (Just FYI).