What system to buy for 2-3K? Tired of tinkering.

[badmajon]

I've been brewing beer for about 6 years.

I started out using the cooler method with batch sparging. I liked the simplicity, but my mash temps were always way off and I always lost a lot of heat.

Then I started doing BIAB in a keggle. Again, easy, but mash temps were all over the place. I manually turned on the gas when the temps got too low, stirred, repeated. Lots of work and again, mash temps were all over the place and my efficiency sucked.

After that I added a low pressure propane solenoid powered by a temperature controller. It works, kind of, except my march pump always gets air bubbles in it and causes constant headaches for me. The biggest downside though is the whole thing is a bit of a mess, with tons of parts to clean and connect and nothing quite works perfectly. It's like every time I brew there's a new issue.

I realise I actually do not like the tinkering part of the hobby anymore. I like building, sure, but once it's built, I'm friggin tired of constantly having to address problems and issues and having to get this part and that part.

I want to be able to focus on the recipies and less on the process. I spend 90% of my brewing time on the process and not on the actual beer recipes or getting to know what makes a beer taste good or bad so I still mainly use AG kits. I also have 4, yes, FOUR, kids and I simply can't spend an entire day poking around in the garage anymore.

There's simply so many newcomers on the market today I need some help finding the right system for me.

So I might have to save my money for a bit, I don't think the wife would appreciate me pulling the trigger on a turnkey rig just yet, but here's what I am looking for:

Must haves:

1) Quality made
2) Doesn't need constant supervision- I am a busy person and when its mashing etc I want to be able to step away and do other things
3) Reliable, repeatable, results.
2) 4 hour brew day (5 max), from start to finish. Minimal cleaning is a necessity.
3) 240v electric

Want to have:

1) Programmable step mashing, mashout, etc.
2) Nice fittings
3) All in one better than multi-vessel, again, less fiddling
4) Automatic hop feeder
5) Some kind of iphone bluetooth or wifi interface with logging data

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Look into electric brew in a bag with some kind of re circulation ability.

 

[kombat]

I mash with a plain old cooler and don't need to babysit it. Make sure you pre-heat the mash tun with some hot water (from the tap is fine) while you're heating up your strike water in your HLT. Stir the mash thoroughly at dough-in, and cover the grain bed with a sheet of aluminum foil (shiny side down) before closing the lid. Mine holds temperatures just fine.

I suspect what's happening is you were not stirring your mash thoroughly, and were getting temperature variations throughout the mash. You checked your temperature in one spot, and it was fine. Then you came back later, checked somewhere else, found it was 5-10° cooler, and concluded that the mash had dropped by that much. In reality, it was probably already 5-10° cooler in that spot all along, because the mash wasn't well-mixed at dough-in.

Just a theory.

 

[jekeane]

http://www.cobrewingsystems.com/col...products/down-under-single-vessel-brew-system

No #4 which at that level of automation I would think you should just buy the beer off the shelf.

No #5 but Im not sure what logging you want to do that can be accomplished with a notebook.

 

[Howhownow]

I am going through a very similar 'dequipping'. Moving from 3 vessel RIMS & propane to E-BIAB. My mantra is just 'less pieces (to break/clean)'. I am building my own system, but it's going to be very simple. For a full off-the-shelf BIAB, especially if automation and app access is on your list, is the brew boss. I am thinking of buying their controller anyway a la carte, but they sell complete systems that are simple, reasonable, and look pretty nice.

 

[MX1]

Brew Boss
Colorado Brewing
High Gravity Brewing

off the top of my head

T

 

[mattoak]

I realise I actually do not like the tinkering part of the hobby anymore. I like building, sure, but once it's built, I'm friggin tired of constantly having to address problems and issues and having to get this part and that part.

Design and build it right, and you won't have to constantly tinker! Just sayin...

 

[badmajon]

That's true. I think part of the problem is my budget was too low, instead of starting from scratch and designing something that was 100% compatible and ideal I just threw together existing pieces and got something of mediocre quality.

 

[mcgimpkins]

I've been pretty happy with my Brew Boss. I think it covers everything you listed. Tablet, full auto, BIAB, camlock/tri clamp fittings, short brew day, minimal cleaning, no tinkering.

I didn't get the auto hop feeder with it. In my opinion it is easier to keep an eye on the tablet (you can carry it around with you), and throw hops in rather than program a hop schedule for every individual beer. However to each his own.

 

[Wreck99]

Here's my setup. Set me back about $1500 - $2000 total (including stand/pumps/kettles). The mashing stage is a little manual and I'd like to figure a way to improve it. Basically have to fire on the burner for like 2 minutes every 15 minutes. Great stand though and rest of the brewing is a breeze. Hope this helps give you an idea. The stand is made by Patriot Brewing Systems. They do excellent work. I think they sell a fully automated version as well.

 

[ViciousFishes]

Sounds like Grainfather might be made for you. And it's less than $1k

 

[jschein]

Look at a Speidel Braumeister http://www.brewuk.co.uk/braumeister-20l.html
I love my Grandfather but if you are looking for full automation it does not have it.

 

[badmajon]

Hey guys, thanks for all the great replies. I have heard a lot of great stuff about the Braumeister, but the 50L version seems like it may be a bit too small to do full 10 gallon batches. Any experience with this?

Aside from that the price is right. The grainfather unfortunately isn't fully auto, and, I have heard its parts are not made too well.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Hey guys, thanks for all the great replies. I have heard a lot of great stuff about the Braumeister, but the 50L version seems like it may be a bit too small to do full 10 gallon batches. Any experience with this?

Aside from that the price is right. The grainfather unfortunately isn't fully auto, and, I have heard its parts are not made too well.

In between the grainfather and BrauMeister price/quality/speed range, there are multiple options, like: Unibräu, Brew-Boss, Colorado Brewing Systems, or DIY.

 

[augiedoggy]

Look at a Speidel Braumeister http://www.brewuk.co.uk/braumeister-20l.html
I love my Grandfather but if you are looking for full automation it does not have it.

I should hope not . The poor guys probably pretty slow by now if hes still around

 

[badmajon]

I should hope not . The poor guys probably pretty slow by now if hes still around

LOL just caught it.

 

[SnowRaven]

Look at a Speidel Braumeister http://www.brewuk.co.uk/braumeister-20l.html
I love my Grandfather but if you are looking for full automation it does not have it.

We have 2 in our club,

They are good to ~1.060 but higher OG than that is difficult, unless you boil or add LME DME

Good system!

 

[badmajon]

We have 2 in our club,

They are good to ~1.060 but higher OG than that is difficult, unless you boil or add LME DME

Good system!

I'd get the 50L if I got any, but does that also mean I'd be running into a 1.060 OG limit when doing 10 gallon batches too?

Seems like this is going back to a DIY solution...noooooo!

I can build it. I have the technology. Give me an empty swimming pool and some plutonium and we'll get started.

 

[akthor]

Had the same issues but I actually don't enjoy Brewing anymore either especially with a bad back. What I enjoy most is drinking and sharing "my" beer. So I ditched my single tier 3 vessel 10 gal all grain propane system. I went big, so I could brew less. So 1 bbl EBIAB system with an electric hoist to do the heavy lifting and a March Nano Brewery pump to pump wort to fermenters and beer to kegs. Brew less lift less = happy back. Plus I was always running out of beer with my 10 gal system hopefully with this one it alleviates that issue.

Didn't have the $$$ to buy a new complete system tho, plus no one had exactly what I wanted. I sold my old system and used that money to buy a 40 gal ebrew pot and stainless mesh basket from Colorado Brewing supply. Then I've just been gathering bits and pieces. A big part of the challenge is sourcing 1\2 barrel kegs and 1bbl fermenters. So it's been slow going. Add to that building a new Brewing area and a new bar (moved to a new State) and a way to store 1\2 bbl kegs and dispense from them downstairs to the bar upstairs.

It's been a process and I'm still a long ways from Brewing but I may actually enjoy brewing again when I'm finished.

I know from dealing with Tim at Colorado Brewing Systems that you can't go wrong with a system from them.

 

[badmajon]

Hi Akthor, I may have to do something similar. I REALLY like the 50L Braumeister, but spending 2300 euros going into something knowing there might be problems down the road- well, I don't like the idea of that. I just emailed the guys at colorado brewing, we'll see what they say.

 

[SnowRaven]

Hi Akthor, I may have to do something similar. I REALLY like the 50L Braumeister, but spending 2300 euros going into something knowing there might be problems down the road- well, I don't like the idea of that. I just emailed the guys at colorado brewing, we'll see what they say.

For an indoor system this is what I plan to buy (a 20L) and I will keep my 20Gallon Gas RIMMS Garage system for larger beers

Club really loves the 20L Braumeister one of our members has 2, its just limited by mash capacity

as the issue with the 20L is the max LBs of grain you can have in it, and it tops out above the 1065+ range (I will see if I can verify the largest he has gone)

just means you buy the 50L to make the high gravity and decrease the batch size to aka 5 gallons

But I am not sure what the stats are on the 50L, might be worth a call to MoreBeer who reps them in the USA

 

[badmajon]

For an indoor system this is what I plan to buy (a 20L) and I will keep my 20Gallon Gas RIMMS Garage system for larger beers

Club really loves the 20L Braumeister one of our members has 2, its just limited by mash capacity

as the issue with the 20L is the max LBs of grain you can have in it, and it tops out above the 1065+ range (I will see if I can verify the largest he has gone)

just means you buy the 50L to make the high gravity and decrease the batch size to aka 5 gallons

But I am not sure what the stats are on the 50L, might be worth a call to MoreBeer who reps them in the USA

This came from the MoreBeer website for the 50L braumeister:

Because of size constraints of the mash tub the largest starting gravity beer you can brew is between 1.060 to 1.065. You can always add DME to the boil for an occasional big beer brew.

Well, I guess the braumeister is out.

Sigh... I'm getting more and more interested in Colorado Brewing's option.

 

[andrewmaixner]

This came from the MoreBeer website for the 50L braumeister:



Well, I guess the braumeister is out.

Sigh... I'm getting more and more interested in Colorado Brewing's option.

Have you seen this thread, it's a semi-custom eBIAB build, combining brew-boss control with a couple pieces of hardware ordered from high-quality homebrew venders (Arbor Fab, Brew Hardware): https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=573718
FreddyMar3 shared all his measurements and parts requirements, it costs less than a braumeister , and is way better -- flexible from 5-15gal, any reasonable gravity. Probably my favorite build idea currently

 

[beernutz]

http://www.cobrewingsystems.com/col...products/down-under-single-vessel-brew-system

No #4 which at that level of automation I would think you should just buy the beer off the shelf.

No #5 but Im not sure what logging you want to do that can be accomplished with a notebook.

OP, I have felt exactly like you do (except I never tried BIAB) and currently I'm using a natural gas HERMS setup I built which sounds similar to your current system including some of the headaches.

I've thought about this issue a lot too and when I retire and move to the beach which is not too far in the future I'm investing in a NANO system from colorado brewing systems if they're still around then. I've never seen one in person but the videos and reviews posted here and elsewhere have convinced me that exact system in the 20 gallon barrel size is the way to go.

 

[brianccarr]

I've been brewing beer for about 6 years.



I started out using the cooler method with batch sparging. I liked the simplicity, but my mash temps were always way off and I always lost a lot of heat.



Then I started doing BIAB in a keggle. Again, easy, but mash temps were all over the place. I manually turned on the gas when the temps got too low, stirred, repeated. Lots of work and again, mash temps were all over the place and my efficiency sucked.



After that I added a low pressure propane solenoid powered by a temperature controller. It works, kind of, except my march pump always gets air bubbles in it and causes constant headaches for me. The biggest downside though is the whole thing is a bit of a mess, with tons of parts to clean and connect and nothing quite works perfectly. It's like every time I brew there's a new issue.



I realise I actually do not like the tinkering part of the hobby anymore. I like building, sure, but once it's built, I'm friggin tired of constantly having to address problems and issues and having to get this part and that part.



I want to be able to focus on the recipies and less on the process. I spend 90% of my brewing time on the process and not on the actual beer recipes or getting to know what makes a beer taste good or bad so I still mainly use AG kits. I also have 4, yes, FOUR, kids and I simply can't spend an entire day poking around in the garage anymore.



There's simply so many newcomers on the market today I need some help finding the right system for me.



So I might have to save my money for a bit, I don't think the wife would appreciate me pulling the trigger on a turnkey rig just yet, but here's what I am looking for:



Must haves:



1) Quality made

2) Doesn't need constant supervision- I am a busy person and when its mashing etc I want to be able to step away and do other things

3) Reliable, repeatable, results.

2) 4 hour brew day (5 max), from start to finish. Minimal cleaning is a necessity.

3) 240v electric



Want to have:



1) Programmable step mashing, mashout, etc.

2) Nice fittings

3) All in one better than multi-vessel, again, less fiddling

4) Automatic hop feeder

5) Some kind of iphone bluetooth or wifi interface with logging data

Curious as to what system you went with. I'm in between the Colorado Nano and the Blichmann Breweasy I'm curious as to to why the Breweasy wasn't mentioned as an option.