JolietHomeBrew
New Member
Northern Brewer Suppresses Negative Reviews
I am relatively new to Home Brewing so I was kind of raw when it came to finding the right vendor for my home brew stuff. So, I selected one of the biggest names in the business Northern Brewer. After several months of brewing with my make-shift brewery, I decided I would design, engineer and build my own nano-brewery in my basement.
I took a great deal of time reviewing all my options and vendors. I found that Blichmann Engineering manufactured several components I needed for my brewery. So I began ordering my parts.
I needed a means of measuring temperature if my wort after it passed through my plate cooler and Blichmann Engineering had what I was looking for; introducing the Blichmann Engineering ThruMoMeter.
I bought the ThruMometer and installed it in my system only to find that I could not get it to fit properly into my 1/2 stainless steel piping system without leaking. Long story short, I wrote to Blichmann and received nothing but excuses and lies. So I wrote a negative review about the ThruMometer and tried to publish it on the Northern Brewer website (the place where I bought the item) and Northern Brewer refused to publish the review. Instead they choose to protect the vendor, Blichmann Engineering.
My review was not spiteful, rude, inappropriate or ignorant. It simply stated that the product was not suited for all applications.
I contacted Blichmann and their Customer Support was nearly non-existent and totally usless. They lied, then blew me off when I pointed out their lies.
End review: nice product, easy to read temperature indication, fast response, but Blichmann fell way-way short of a good design and their customer assistance fell way-way short of actually assisting.
So, a word of caution to my fellow home brewers: Dont trust the reviews you read on Northern Brewers Website. They only publish what they feel will help their sales and their bottom line. They will not publish a bad review about a product they favor.
I am relatively new to Home Brewing so I was kind of raw when it came to finding the right vendor for my home brew stuff. So, I selected one of the biggest names in the business Northern Brewer. After several months of brewing with my make-shift brewery, I decided I would design, engineer and build my own nano-brewery in my basement.
I took a great deal of time reviewing all my options and vendors. I found that Blichmann Engineering manufactured several components I needed for my brewery. So I began ordering my parts.
I needed a means of measuring temperature if my wort after it passed through my plate cooler and Blichmann Engineering had what I was looking for; introducing the Blichmann Engineering ThruMoMeter.
I bought the ThruMometer and installed it in my system only to find that I could not get it to fit properly into my 1/2 stainless steel piping system without leaking. Long story short, I wrote to Blichmann and received nothing but excuses and lies. So I wrote a negative review about the ThruMometer and tried to publish it on the Northern Brewer website (the place where I bought the item) and Northern Brewer refused to publish the review. Instead they choose to protect the vendor, Blichmann Engineering.
My review was not spiteful, rude, inappropriate or ignorant. It simply stated that the product was not suited for all applications.
My Review:
This product is a very nice concept and works very well with regard to indicating temperature. However, it has bastard connections.
The connections are too big for 3/8" compression fittings and too small for 1/2" compression fittings. So, the option is tubing and hose clamps, right? That's what I ended up trying. However, hose clamps and tubing are not the answer when you have a pump!!
The ThruMometer connections are not serrated and therefore cannot participate in the sealing process.
The very simple solution would be to have made the connections 3/8" or 1/2" OD; then it can adapt to just about any application. Instead, youre forced to use 3/8 ID hose and you cannot have a pump!!
This product is a very nice concept and works very well with regard to indicating temperature. However, it has bastard connections.
The connections are too big for 3/8" compression fittings and too small for 1/2" compression fittings. So, the option is tubing and hose clamps, right? That's what I ended up trying. However, hose clamps and tubing are not the answer when you have a pump!!
The ThruMometer connections are not serrated and therefore cannot participate in the sealing process.
The very simple solution would be to have made the connections 3/8" or 1/2" OD; then it can adapt to just about any application. Instead, youre forced to use 3/8 ID hose and you cannot have a pump!!
I contacted Blichmann and their Customer Support was nearly non-existent and totally usless. They lied, then blew me off when I pointed out their lies.
End review: nice product, easy to read temperature indication, fast response, but Blichmann fell way-way short of a good design and their customer assistance fell way-way short of actually assisting.
So, a word of caution to my fellow home brewers: Dont trust the reviews you read on Northern Brewers Website. They only publish what they feel will help their sales and their bottom line. They will not publish a bad review about a product they favor.
