Looking for a single vessel electric brewing system

[doug33]

I'm tired of brewing outside on propane. Time to get an electric all in 1 system, 5 gallon batches. Kettle w/ heater, controller, pump.
I like the price point from brau supply, but it seems to be a small company and I can't find many reviews. Lots of reviews for grainfather, a few for high gravity. Figured I'd see what everyone on here recommends, ideally I wouldnt spend more that a thousand bucks. 120v or 240v, I've got access to both

 

[ShaLaH]

I'm in the same boat. The Grainfather has a huge online presence which is nice, knowing that many people have already figured out its weaknesses and created work arounds. I like the idea of Brau Supply but there seems to be only a handful of people that are active online. Love the Brew Boss but it's quite pricey.

 

[brewbama]

?.."figured out its weaknesses and created work arounds."...

I think they're all kinda pricey to have to have work arounds. ...but if you have the cash and this is key to your pursuit a happiness go for it. It's only money.

 

[cegan09]

No consideration for building your own?

I'm in the same boat of moving from propane BIAB to electric so I can be inside. I'm just taking my setup, adding a RIMS tube, boil elements, and a controller. (you don't need a RIMS tube, you can just fire one of the boil elements while recirculating) All said and done I think i'll have spent under $300 to do the upgrade, plus whatever the stand costs ($25-$50 for material + my time)

This is the stand i'm designing.

 

[Powercat]

No consideration for building your own?

I'm in the same boat of moving from propane BIAB to electric so I can be inside. I'm just taking my setup, adding a RIMS tube, boil elements, and a controller. (you don't need a RIMS tube, you can just fire one of the boil elements while recirculating) All said and done I think i'll have spent under $300 to do the upgrade, plus whatever the stand costs ($25-$50 for material + my time)

This is the stand i'm designing.

I did a similar setup but used a boil coil for a heat source and recirculated.

 

[whovous]

I've been very happy with Brau Supply. Shipping from Vancouver to DC can take a long time though.

 

[ShaLaH]

Considering I only have a cheap 5 gallon kettle, I want to replace it with a 10-15 gallon kettle with ports for a heating element, temperature probe, a port for liquid out and liquid in and a copper tube for recirc. I'd also need a metal/mesh basket, a PID or something similar for temp control, a counterflow or plate chiller, a recirc pump, hoses, valves, clamps, etc. I can't imagine I can piece this together any cheaper than the price of a Grainfather. So, it's not that money is no object or that I like overpaying for gear, I just don't see how I can get a comparable set-up any cheaper, minus my time sourcing parts + shipping and manually putting it all together. If I'm wrong let me know, i'd love to save some $$.

 

[Elkobrewer]

The Grainfather hands down. I have been using it for over a year with no problems. Best money I have Ever spent on brewing equipment.

 

[andrewmaixner]

I spent months researching them.

If you are on a tight budget but can afford to go 240V, Unibrau seems the best tradeoff for price v. performance

Cheepest is grainfather, but you pay for it later in low voltage and therefor more time wasted on brew days.

I had some money to throw at it, and went with a BrewBoss controller plus custom recirculating 20gal setup.
The BB is nice, but it definitely has a learning curve that wouldn't be an issue with a regular "set it and set a timer" PID controller.

 

[TNugent]

Considering I only have a cheap 5 gallon kettle, I want to replace it with a 10-15 gallon kettle with ports for a heating element, temperature probe, a port for liquid out and liquid in and a copper tube for recirc. I'd also need a metal/mesh basket, a PID or something similar for temp control, a counterflow or plate chiller, a recirc pump, hoses, valves, clamps, etc. I can't imagine I can piece this together any cheaper than the price of a Grainfather. So, it's not that money is no object or that I like overpaying for gear, I just don't see how I can get a comparable set-up any cheaper, minus my time sourcing parts + shipping and manually putting it all together. If I'm wrong let me know, i'd love to save some $$.

Well you don't "need" all that stuff but I understand what you are saying. I went down that route as you can see by the build link in my sig. But now I brew on a single vessel eBIAB I put together myself. Recirc is nice but I think its unnecessary for temp control, especially with a couple layers of insulation, a sleeping bag or welding blanket thrown over the kettle once at temp. And if you are doing BIAB then recirc isn't necessary for your mash efficiency either as you will be mashing with the full volume of water and you can adjust accordingly.

You can do what I did with my new setup. Grab a 10-15 gallon vessel off Ebay/Amazon for ~$100. Get a couple no-weld bulkheads from brewhardware.com, one for a tri-clover and 1 for a ball valve as well as the plug integrated 5500w SS heating element. Get a couple BIAB bags from Wilser Brewer, a Spa Panel from Home Depot, and a copper/SS immersion chiller. I go without any heat control myself, flipping the spa panel breaker off when I'm at mash temp and since I am doing 10 gallon batches I go full power for a vigerous boil, if you're looking at 5 gallon batches then I would definitely look around here for a simple PID or PWM setup to dial down the heating element.

I put all that together for around $600 and I bought a 20 gallon Megapot from Midwest which was around $200 on sale alone. With a cheaper/smaller kettle I would say this would easily be done for right around $500. Personally if you have access to a 30a 240v outlet somewhere I think it ends up being a much more versatile system than the Grainfather and I was really close to getting one myself.

 

[doug33]

Does anyone have the high gravity biab 120v system? It has the boil coil and they claim it will do a 5 gallon batch. Curious if it will boil that much wort on a single 20amp circuit

 

[Bailey_Brew]

The November issue of Brew Your Own has an article that compares a large collection of compact electric brew systems. It includes photos, prices, and a comparison of features. There is quite a range out there.

 

[TexasWine]

I'm a Brau Supply owner. Every so often I get asked why I chose them over others, so I sit down and compare the offerings to see if my decision would still be the same today. The answer is yes, I'd totally buy the Brau Supply system over the other offerings out there.

In my opinion, the Brau Supply systems are the best value out there. An apples to apples comparable system from BS is over $200 cheaper than the Grainfather, and it has lots of advantages like more wattage, the ability to no sparge, off the shelf parts you can work on yourself, and it is truly a single vessel system (you need something to hold sparge water with the GF). All that, and Steven is fantastic to do business with.

While the GF is a perfectly capable system, and lots of folks are happy with their purchase, I never understood the fascination with it given the limitations and price. It's expensive for the functionality and features.

My two cents.

 

[Horseflesh]

The BB is nice, but it definitely has a learning curve that wouldn't be an issue with a regular "set it and set a timer" PID controller.

I cannot imagine upgrading to electric and omitting PID control! I just used my own new single vessel PID rig the first time a few days ago and only wish I had bought one sooner.

 

[zgja2]

Does anyone have the high gravity biab 120v system? It has the boil coil and they claim it will do a 5 gallon batch. Curious if it will boil that much wort on a single 20amp circuit

I own the high gravity 220v system and love it. All off the shelf parts so you can adapt and upgrade at will. I swapped in a 5500w ss element and it is fast. I would suggest going 220v. It is worth the investment to save lots of time on brew day.

 

[Powercat]

I own the high gravity 220v system and love it. All off the shelf parts so you can adapt and upgrade at will. I swapped in a 5500w ss element and it is fast. I would suggest going 220v. It is worth the investment to save lots of time on brew day.

agree 100%

 

[RichBenn]

Yes by all means go with higher voltage if you have it. 6 plus gallons is pushing it on a 120 volt system.

You can also add a heat stick to a 120V system to get a faster/stronger boil, but you have to plug into a different circuit.

 

[TexasWine]

I would suggest going 220v. It is worth the investment to save lots of time on brew day.

5500 watts at 220v versus 2x1500 120v shaves about 11 minutes off a brew day with a 7.5 gallon boil. It saves some time, but I wouldn't say lots.

 

[doug33]

Yeah I've been pricing out the individual components of a 120v system similar to brau supply, and it doesn't look like there's much of a savings

 

[doug33]

Unless I was able to build my own controller, which I'm not

 

[andrewmaixner]

I cannot imagine upgrading to electric and omitting PID control! I just used my own new single vessel PID rig the first time a few days ago and only wish I had bought one sooner.

It uses the PID algorithm, it just is a lot more complex and configurable and therefore takes more learning

 

[akgator]

I have Colorado Brewing Systems' Nano Home brewery. It's a 220v, 20 gallon system. I have brewed one 5 gallon and one 10 gallon batch so far. The system works well and I'm happy with my choice.

 

[doug33]

Well depending what system you get brau supply has a discount of 100 bucks off for black friday. Couldn't pass that up so went ahead and bought one

 

[jsmoon888]

Brewha rocks. Not cheap but top of the line equipment. I love my medium BIAC

 

[applescrap]

I'm tired of brewing outside on propane. Time to get an electric all in 1 system, 5 gallon batches. Kettle w/ heater, controller, pump.
I like the price point from brau supply, but it seems to be a small company and I can't find many reviews. Lots of reviews for grainfather, a few for high gravity. Figured I'd see what everyone on here recommends, ideally I wouldnt spend more that a thousand bucks. 120v or 240v, I've got access to both

Awesome thread to read. A lot depends on you. If you are doing better than most and want the best then it wont be hard to find. In my process i talked to darin (?) The brew boss guy, the kind folks at high gravity, and tim from my home town who makes colorado brewing. All 3 were awesome people. From my eyes the colorado brew systems looks solid. I know there are even nicer custom builds out there. From there it just goes down until you are in your kitchen with a couple heat sticks you made at home depot or whatever and you are kicking azz for 40 bucks. People seem to like their grainfathers. I chose cheap easy and quick and to forgo recirculating. I brew ten gallons in 3 hrs 10 minutes or so and am always considering going larger. Unfortunately jagger bush the guy i bought my controller from died, but some still exist. Auber inst who makes the parts have cheap easy ready to go controllers to. Good luck finding your system the journey is fun.

 

[Kampenken]

I chose the Grainfather and am quite pleased. Folks are getting them for 700 now with a solid EBay retailer, I paid 800 a yr ago. If you have no concern with a limit of 6-7g max batch (pushing it) or 5g of a high gravity, then this works fine, boil is fine too. Advantages over others, simple sparge with lock in place, no pulley system, CFC, good controller, 120v. Beyond batch capability as a potential downside, the integrated heating element could be a concern if crapped out after warranty.

Do look at the BYO review issue from a couple months back.

 

[ATLJack]

I chose the Grainfather and am quite pleased. Folks are getting them for 700 now with a solid EBay retailer, I paid 800 a yr ago. If you have no concern with a limit of 6-7g max batch (pushing it) or 5g of a high gravity, then this works fine, boil is fine too. Advantages over others, simple sparge with lock in place, no pulley system, CFC, good controller, 120v. Beyond batch capability as a potential downside, the integrated heating element could be a concern if crapped out after warranty.

Do look at the BYO review issue from a couple months back.

Where do you see them for $700?

 

[Kampenken]

Where do you see them for $700?

eBay seller igobru. offer 700. very reputable and good to work with seller.

 

[pocketmon]

Unless I was able to build my own controller, which I'm not

Interesting. I built my own controller, but I don't know how to handle those stainless, fittings, and etc.

I ended up buying a GrainFather, a year ago. I don't have to modify anything to use my controller but just replaced original one. I keep it as a backup.

The key point for me to choose GF is the grain basket. I might be wrong, but I think the solid side of the grain basket might help to form grain bed for a clearer wort.

 

[stevedasleeve]

I sold my igloo cooler mash tun with all the pots I use, heat sticks I made, tubing, induction burner etc to buy a high gravity 10 gal electric biab rig. Seems like a perfect system for me with enough control and small footprint. Apparently I'm good for 5 and 10 gallon batches $999 seems reasonable.

Checking out YouTube videos helped me decide. I need no more complexity in my life, and cleaning/sanitizing looks easy.

My old rig was great for 200+ batches but storing and cleaning all those bits pieces was getting old