Beermkr

[bucknut60]

Yes, the Beermkr makes really good stouts, porters, but I'm still trying to get a good ipa. The hop bitterness comes through, but flavor and aroma don't so much. I will say it's alot of fun though trying to figure it out and I'm enjoying brewing with it.

 

[medvitz]

I have two Pico Cs, so my appetite for this machine isn't that high. However, the Steam Hops looks interesting, and look like they could take the boil step out of my process. That would give me more time for a muti-step mash, with longer rest times, which might improve my efficiency. If I did that and like the results, I'd likely consider buying small volume grains from them, although they don't have near everything I normally use. Maybe that little bit could help keep them viable for a longer term.

 

[rpastor]

I've been brewing for 35 years. Started out with a couple of buckets and a pot doing extracts. Worked my way up to a KRIMS system with temp controlled conical fermenter. I do not drink as much beer as I used to so 5 gal kegs were a bit much. I started making 3 gal batches, but that was a lot of work for 3 gallons. Enter BEERMKR. I didn't purchase one during the Kickstarter campaign but got one several months ago. I brew a 1.5-gallon batch every couple of weeks. So far, I have only had one failed batch, due to a faulty BeerTap. I now put them into 1.6 gal kegs. Steam hops are, by far, the easiest to use. You can easily make your own version by brewing a hop tea. It is the length of time boiled that brings out the various hops characteristics. When it is about time to pitch the yeast, remove the waste bag, dump it into a small pot, bring it to a boil and add hops according to your schedule. Reattach the waste bag (sanitation is key here), cool the tea, crack the lid, add it to your brew along with your yeast. My brew day now takes all of 30 minutes, with a couple of 5-minute steps along the way. I transfer to keg and start a new batch at the same time. I've made all of the lighter kits (I don't care for dark brews), which came out great, and now create my own recipes. The Excel app scales down very well. I recently made a session IPA that tasted so good, I immediately made a 5-gallon batch. It tasted pretty much the same. Using the kit costs about $16 per 12-pack. By DIY'ing it, my batches only cost me about $9-$10, and are as good, if not better, than the craft beers sold in stores for $12/sixpack. I have also had no problems reusing the bags. I replace them after every 5 or 6 brews.

 

[stealthfixr]

Had my BEERMKR since last August. As a long-time all grain brewer, I was interested in small batch experimentation, and the ease of doing so. All in all, after 7 batches, I overall would give the BEERMKR (machine that brews) an 9 out of 10 and the BEERTAP (machine that dispenses beer) a 4 out of 10. The BL is that it can very easily make really good beer; one of the best Tripels I made was a MKRKIT (BEERMKR brand kit). In fact, I am making a DIY batch right now, an Ordinary Bitter, for a club competition. The Kegland 1.5L mini-kegs are an easy and natural way to serve the fantastic results, and much less fuss than the BEERTAP. Love my BEERMKR!

 

[madscientist451]

Sorry to be a naysayer, but I really can't justify spending $650 for an appliance that makes such a small amount of beer. I can brew small BIAB batches on my stove top and then use 3 gallon corny kegs (about $75) for serving the beer. I don't need special hops and my ingredient costs are about 3-4/gallon. I'm staying low-tech and hands on for now.

 

[bucknut60]

Sorry to be a naysayer, but I really can't justify spending $650 for an appliance that makes such a small amount of beer. I can brew small BIAB batches on my stove top and then use 3 gallon corny kegs (about $75) for serving the beer. I don't need special hops and my ingredient costs are about 3-4/gallon. I'm staying low-tech and hands on for now.

You mean you can make a typical 5 gal batch for 15-20 dollars? That's a bit of a stretch but possible I guess if brewing low abv beers, but I see where your coming from. Don't forget though to factor in your time, my cost using the beermkr using diy recipe beers is about 10-15 dollars a batch (1.15gal), and I spend about 30min total brewing, oh and that's using reg hops (no special hops needed). I do still occasionally spend a Saturday afternoon in the garage brewing the traditional way (biab) and make 2.5 gal batches, but thats like a 5+ hour day.

 

[madscientist451]

You mean you can make a typical 5 gal batch for 15-20 dollars? That's a bit of a stretch but possible I guess if brewing low abv beers, but I see where your coming from. Don't forget though to factor in your time, my cost using the beermkr using diy recipe beers is about 10-15 dollars a batch (1.15gal),

10 lb of grain of 2 row at More Beer is about $15, but I can get better deals buying by the sack or from other vendors now and then.
Add some specialty malt and hops and $20 for 5 gallons is a reasonable target. If you are making a high ABV IPA with a lot of trendy hops, its going to be more, but nowhere near $10-15/gal. My 3 gallon BIAB batches take about 3.5 hours, but once I hit strike temp and get the mash going, I can do something else for an hour and also during the boil, so the time isn't 100% spent on "brewing".

 

[bucknut60]

10 lb of grain of 2 row at More Beer is about $15, but I can get better deals buying by the sack or from other vendors now and then.
Add some specialty malt and hops and $20 for 5 gallons is a reasonable target. If you are making a high ABV IPA with a lot of trendy hops, its going to be more, but nowhere near $10-15/gal. My 3 gallon BIAB batches take about 3.5 hours, but once I hit strike temp and get the mash going, I can do something else for an hour and also during the boil, so the time isn't 100% spent on "brewing".

Yea, it's not for everyone. It's cost per gallon is going to be a little higher than other methods, simple because of the automation/time saved and I can see were the initial cost of the machine is a bit high to some, but it makes really great beer and is another tool in my toolbox.

 

[Bad DNA]

I was just gifted one this past xmas. I'm not a pro like most of you guys -- haven't yet done a real mash, but I have done maybe 100 kits, extracts and my own recipes.

I'm really enjoying playing with the BEERmkr thus far. Haven't broken it, so that's a good thing.

I have managed to break the picnic tap that comes with their dispenser. The top lever has some thin vulnerable plastic tabs that bend or sheer. As the company went with a non-common nipple size (1/8 rather than the more common 3/16-1/4"), it took a while for me to realize the same company makes both - so I could unscrew the top valve assembly from a 1/4" one and thread it on to the 1/8" nipple body. Beer flow restored.

Sure, it's a bit pricey. The capitalization for the engineering probably wasn't free -- even if the founders laid the groundwork for the controllers. But they seem to continue with some firmware updates.

Where they could really shine would be to open up the software a bit. Presently, both the BEERmkr and the phone app have to call home to interact. That requires an internet connection for both -- so those of us who sometimes find ourselves vacationing off-grid would be SOL for a batch. Will they evolve the software to work solely on a LAN, perhaps with the phone app or a desktop app to hold recipe libraries and manage the BEERmkr device locally remains to be seen.

Thus far (only two batches in), it's a fun small-batch solution.

 

[bucknut60]

I was just gifted one this past xmas. I'm not a pro like most of you guys -- haven't yet done a real mash, but I have done maybe 100 kits, extracts and my own recipes.

I'm really enjoying playing with the BEERmkr thus far. Haven't broken it, so that's a good thing.

I have managed to break the picnic tap that comes with their dispenser. The top lever has some thin vulnerable plastic tabs that bend or sheer. As the company went with a non-common nipple size (1/8 rather than the more common 3/16-1/4"), it took a while for me to realize the same company makes both - so I could unscrew the top valve assembly from a 1/4" one and thread it on to the 1/8" nipple body. Beer flow restored.

Sure, it's a bit pricey. The capitalization for the engineering probably wasn't free -- even if the founders laid the groundwork for the controllers. But they seem to continue with some firmware updates.

Where they could really shine would be to open up the software a bit. Presently, both the BEERmkr and the phone app have to call home to interact. That requires an internet connection for both -- so those of us who sometimes find ourselves vacationing off-grid would be SOL for a batch. Will they evolve the software to work solely on a LAN, perhaps with the phone app or a desktop app to hold recipe libraries and manage the BEERmkr device locally remains to be seen.

Thus far (only two batches in), it's a fun small-batch solution.

I've been brewing with mine for a year and half now and love it, I agree with the comment about the app. Wish they would open it up more for customization, If I had to guess they are keeping it locked down so everyone is fairly sussesful with their beers and we get comfortable with brewing with it. I haven't seen much love/intrest for it in this community, or else were for that fact, which is a shame....becuase it makes DAMM good beer. Cheers

 

[Bad DNA]

I've been brewing with mine for a year and half now and love it, I agree with the comment about the app. Wish they would open it up more for customization, If I had to guess they are keeping it locked down so everyone is fairly sussesful with their beers and we get comfortable with brewing with it. I haven't seen much love/intrest for it in this community, or else were for that fact, which is a shame....becuase it makes DAMM good beer. Cheers

I've been emailing the poor guy in tech support (Joe) with about a question a week. He is amazingly responsive and patient (with me). He sent me for free a spare picnic tap to replace the one I managed to torture (I discovered the part swap option before his snailmail gift arrived).

I've been asking about the backend of this software solution, and suggested they could sell more units if people knew it was more in the users hands and not a locked-down system. Creating open-source options for working with their equipment would be awesome.

I mean, if they go under and I have a $600 door stopper, I could buy some RaspberryPi kits, dissect the poor beastie, and figure out how to bluetooth together (or better yet, LAN-accessible) a programmable manager for the heating, cooling and jiggling bits. I'm not a huge programmer, but it can be done.

 

[Bad DNA]

Out of curiosity, I put a power meter on my last batch with the BEERmkr (Chubby Stout). 240 hrs start/finish. About $1.25 in power cost (ours is $0.12/kwh). During operation, it averaged about 95W during heat or cool cycles. When it's idling, draws about 5W.

 

[Bad DNA]

I've been brewing with mine for a year and half now and love it, I agree with the comment about the app. Wish they would open it up more for customization, If I had to guess they are keeping it locked down so everyone is fairly sussesful with their beers and we get comfortable with brewing with it. I haven't seen much love/intrest for it in this community, or else were for that fact, which is a shame....becuase it makes DAMM good beer. Cheers

This is the first forum I've found discussing the BEERmkr. I asked their tech support if they were going to set up a forum on their website -- no plans at present. They directed me to a Facebook group and a Reddit thread. I no longer use Facebook and see no reason to feed Zuckerberg my data further. Nor am I on Reddit enough. I prefer curated forums like this to have grown up discussions.

 

[Bad DNA]

Sound abatement challenges -- my BEERmkr makes an impressive amount of noise during the stage when its vibrating to drive trub down from the brew bag to the waste bag. I brew in a storage closet off of our attached garage. The other side of the room's rear wall is common with my home office. My internal walls do have sound insulation, but the vibration sound was substantially notable.

For the second batch, I tried to solve the issue by putting the BEERmkr atop a drip/spillage tray, and the tray sat on 1/2" carpet padding atop the workbench. Vibration on the table is way, way down -- but the sound is still significant. I'll have to try dampening methods (wall blankets, maybe sound tuning the room with some other absorbers. What is everyone else doing to resolve the vibration sung from their BEERmkr?

BTW -- I found a terrific drip/leak tray at Wallyworld: Robot or human?

Sitting the BEERmkr on little squares of wood gives me over 7L of spill volume -- so that's a complete batch mess up covered.

 

[Bad DNA]

Does anyone have a spare set of white valves? I'd like to be able to have one batch brewing while drinking the prior batch. White valves seem to be hard to come by.

 

[Bad DNA]

Has anyone reused their brew bags? Seems a waste to continue with one-time-use plastic if these could be rinsed sufficiently for safe repeat use.

 

[bucknut60]

Has anyone reused their brew bags? Seems a waste to continue with one-time-use plastic if these could be rinsed sufficiently for safe repeat use.

I don't but others have, I wouldn't chance it more than 2 to 3 brews. I'd use something like pbw and rinse well, no need to sanitize as the brew temp will kill any bugs.

 

[Greg R]

I love my BEERMKR also. I love my Picobrew Zymatic and its larger batches but this keeps me brewing when time is tight and I don't have time to hook up my temperature management stuff for my traditional fermenters. My last half-dozen or so brews I have done have been with it and it's produced good results, even with beers that have languished in it for extra weeks... or months... while carving out time to get my kegerator up and running. Just kegged a Wee Heavy, and have a Belgian Tripel brewing in it right now (added the yeast about 5 minutes ago, actually!).

I'm planning a couple mods in the coming weeks. First is a drip tray. In my garage, on my wood brew bench, it produced enough condensation during my last brew to actually get a bit of wet-wood mold going on which I was able to clear up and dry out. But to avoid future issues I'll be using a "full sheet" aluminum cooking pan under it, and putting some self-adhesive rubber feet from amazon under the unit itself to get adequate clearance for the door to open while sitting inn this tray.

@Bad DNA... email the support team asking for new valves and they'll send you an invoice and once paid, they'll ship the new valves to you. You might want to pick up a couple kits too, to get over the free shipping minimum. I accidentally threw my first set away like an idiot after my 2nd or 3rd brew... the bag "kicked" and I just popped it out of the tap and tossed it with the valves, which I didn't realize until my next brew. They let me buy two sets at once which got be back in business and allowed me to do exactly what you want to do. I haven't reused the bags yet but they are advertised as reusable. When I use up my current supply of MKRkits I'll be trying the reuse thing with my planned custom batches.

I like the form factor of the BEERTAP but kegging is just so much easier with my setup. I haven't used my BEERTAP in several batches so it may be headed to the classified section on here before too long.

 

[Bad DNA]

email the support team asking for new valves and they'll send you an invoice and once paid, they'll ship the new valves to you.

Thx -- I've been pestering Joe in their customer support for some weeks now. Asking why some things in the shop show up on the phone app but not the website and vis-a-vis. He let me know they are having supply constraints -- white valves aren't yet restocked, but the greys just came in.

I've also hunted eBay and Craigslist for parts/pieces. I guess the BEERmkr isn't yet long enough in the tooth for folks to be parting them out.

One solution is to drink faster, right? My college daughter is trying to help -- she's discovered the BEERtap in my office mini-frig and is helping to empty it as she can. But this only highlights the problem: I'll be in-between batches while I wait for the next one to process. Oh white valves, where art thou?

 

[Bad DNA]

I accidentally threw my first set away like an idiot after my 2nd or 3rd brew... the bag "kicked" and I just popped it out of the tap and tossed it with the valves, which I didn't realize until my next brew.

Oh -- I came so close to doing this on my very first batch! Luckily, I'm slow to dump my brewing closet refuse can. Starting prepping for the second batch, realized there aren't white valves included in the brown paper sack for a mkrkit, and gently schooled myself over accounting for parts before putting a batch together.

 

[Bad DNA]

I don't but others have, I wouldn't chance it more than 2 to 3 brews. I'd use something like pbw and rinse well, no need to sanitize as the brew temp will kill any bugs.

What gives you pause? The bags mechanically failing or biological contamination in some appendix-like nook corner. As you mentioned, a good sterile rinse *should* kill the nasties, but life tends to find a way particularly when we don't want it to.

 

[bucknut60]

What gives you pause? The bags mechanically failing or biological contamination in some appendix-like nook corner. As you mentioned, a good sterile rinse *should* kill the nasties, but life tends to find a way particularly when we don't want it to.

The bags failing, I hate wasting beer.

 

[Bad DNA]

Just started a Festivus kit for the BEERmkr. I know, I'm like 7 months early, but it was on my shelf and I'm still just learning with this gadget.

 

[stealthfixr]

Does anyone have a spare set of white valves? I'd like to be able to have one batch brewing while drinking the prior batch. White valves seem to be hard to come by.

I contacted BEERMKR and was able to get invoiced for a few extra sets of white and grey/black valves, even though it was not available on their website. Came in no problem and at a reasonable cost. If I remember right, they mentioned in the future the valves would be on the website, once production caught up with demand more.

And, just me, but I would never reuse a bag--just not worth it to lose a batch. I already had one bag fail on me going into the BEERTAP (at a seam under pressure), and luckily I had a 1.5L mini-keg to dump the batch into and save. BTW, I love the Kegland 1.5L mini-kegs for BEERMKR use.

 

[Bad DNA]

I contacted BEERMKR and was able to get invoiced for a few extra sets of white and grey/black valves, even though it was not available on their website. Came in no problem and at a reasonable cost. If I remember right, they mentioned in the future the valves would be on the website, once production caught up with demand more.

And, just me, but I would never reuse a bag--just not worth it to lose a batch. I already had one bag fail on me going into the BEERTAP (at a seam under pressure), and luckily I had a 1.5L mini-keg to dump the batch into and save. BTW, I love the Kegland 1.5L mini-kegs for BEERMKR use.

I reached out to Joe in their customer care - he told me they haven't received restock of the white valves, but recently got greys in. I didn't think to ask about getting invoiced for pre-stock, thanks!

 

[Bad DNA]

Just started a Chubby Stout. I gravitate to the darker side of the force when drinking. Last batch of something lighter ended in near disaster. Transferring the beer bladder to the BeerTap, a leak started where one of the white valve females welded to the bag began to leak at its seam. Luckily found it before threading in the CO2 cart. But had to quickly xfer what I could salvage to some swingtops sitting to the side. Saved maybe 2/3 of the bladder.

This is my second leak experience with the BeerMKR. The very first batch was my fault -- too fearful of tightening the white valve to the bladder bag, and it leaked during fermentation. Just a drop at a time, but the puddle meant I lost half the batch by the end. Learning curve.

So this time, I'm wondering did I score the bag or overstresss the white valve when I snugged it up during xfer to the BeerTap? This system is lovely, but takes some finesse to use.

 

[Greg R]

Just started a Chubby Stout. I gravitate to the darker side of the force when drinking. Last batch of something lighter ended in near disaster. Transferring the beer bladder to the BeerTap, a leak started where one of the white valve females welded to the bag began to leak at its seam. Luckily found it before threading in the CO2 cart. But had to quickly xfer what I could salvage to some swingtops sitting to the side. Saved maybe 2/3 of the bladder.

This is my second leak experience with the BeerMKR. The very first batch was my fault -- too fearful of tightening the white valve to the bladder bag, and it leaked during fermentation. Just a drop at a time, but the puddle meant I lost half the batch by the end. Learning curve.

So this time, I'm wondering did I score the bag or overstresss the white valve when I snugged it up during xfer to the BeerTap? This system is lovely, but takes some finesse to use.

I don't think you overstressed or scored anything. In my experience you have to have perfectly clean surfaces and really crank down on the valves to get a leakproof seal. I mean, to the point where you think you're going to break something or tear the bag. Had a similar experience on my first batch with a slow drip, retorqued with it hanging in the machine and all was okay after that. Next several batches cranked down hard and was leak free for the whole brew. The sealing aspect of these valves isn't the best IMHO, so it takes what seems like a lot of torque to get a good seal, especially since there aren't nice gripping surfaces on them. The gray valves seem much better, maybe just a different type of seal.

 

[Bad DNA]

I don't think you overstressed or scored anything. In my experience you have to have perfectly clean surfaces and really crank down on the valves to get a leakproof seal. I mean, to the point where you think you're going to break something or tear the bag. Had a similar experience on my first batch with a slow drip, retorqued with it hanging in the machine and all was okay after that.

Your description is spot on for my first leak The second one, 'though, was a creased area a few millimeters long at the base of the bag's female flange. The drips came from that tiny tear. So -- finesse. Not my strongest suit but I'm learning.

 

[Bad DNA]

Bummed to have a batch fail from a siezed gray valve. Valve for output got stuck, never opened fully. Stupid me -- didn't test for gravity flow before pressurizing. There is no elegant way to depressurize the system if the field tap can't do it. Lost much of the beer. Discovered the gray valve push button broken (see pict). Sad.

 

[stealthfixr]

My 10-month old BEERMKR cooling system just failed. It is being replaced under warranty, but bummed that it happened, and there seem to be more than a few cooling system failures listed on the BEERMKR Facebook group. Beginning to wonder how reliable a Peltier cooling system is in this use case.