Recent content by BarleyPopBrewer

Has anyone else seen the uneven gap issue with their new mill? I saw THIS thread in the SS user group today. One person has the mill gap vary by over .050" from one side to the other! Definitely not acceptable for a $800 premium mill.

There are scratches, rust and polishing flaws. If the customer could go and inspect the product (like you do with a house or car) I guarantee he wouldn't have bought that kettle.

Lol so when I buy a car that has a sales promotion I should assume and accept flaws? I don't think that's how it works. There was standard inventory items (not blemished items) listed on sale. The customer received sub par goods and they gave him money back because they items should have been...

You're not going to get a good kettle (thick stainless, actual 304SS material, welded fittings, etc) for $100 but the Concord is a good entry level kettle.

I'm in the SS Facebook user group (LINK). Since they sold out to Middleby I've seen countless threads about poor product quality as well as shoddy customer support. I think SS has moved on from the home brew market. Their new $800 grain mill which is touted as a nano brewery mill is more...

What size system are you looking at? Blichmann's US made kettles are only 5, 10 and 15 gallon if I remember correctly. Spike welds the fittings on in Milwaukee and a lot of their accessories are US made too. I know they are advertising their new Nano as 85% US made whereas the larger Blichmann...

I'd go with Spike hands down for a couple reasons. 1) Welded fittings. They offer both NPT and tri-clamp. Welded fittings are 10x better than weld-less fittings. That would be enough for me right there. 2) Spike control panel/electrical requirement. The Spike panel is a more industrial design...

For sale: I bought a couple heat exchanges for a pilot brewing system. After a little trial and error I found the right size. I'm selling this as it won't fit my needs. It will chill up to 1bbl of wort in under 30 mins. I used it one time with water testing. Very similar to THIS exchanger but...

For sale: I bought a couple heat exchanges for a pilot brewing system. After a little trial and error I found the right size. I'm selling this as it won't fit my needs. It will chill up to 1bbl of wort in under 30 mins. I used it one time with water testing. Very similar to THIS exchanger but...

I bought a new Spike Flex and haven't looked back. https://spikebrewing.com/products/flex. There is nothing that compares to fermenting in stainless.

I'm seeing a weld seam that was not properly finished. I'm also seeing a pretty good pit mark which could be the source of the issue. I've been watching a thread in Ss Facebook user group about some rust/welding issues as well. It seems like they might be dealing with some big quality issues...

Nobody? The FB thread hasn't had a response either.

I just saw the below image posted on the Ss Facebook user group. I was half looking at these as I move my brewing inside/to electric. A few others commented that their kettles are rusting around the bottom weld seam. A couple specs of rust doesn't scare me but this looks like a major...

I would say rusting and a hairline crack would not be a good thing in a fermentation vessel. This is there welded on lid model correct? That would be really hard to clean IMO. Worst case scenario is the weld area is weak and when you pressurize it something bad happens...

Yes, those are conicals but they don't have any accessories that are purpose built. Racking arm, temp control, insulated jacket, casters, bracing shelf, etc (all the fun toys). I know you're a big DIY guy but personally I'd rather buy purpose built accessories rather than cobbling something...