Robobrew Again

[beerman75]

Looking at maybe buying one soon. Wondering if the pump model has big advantages over the non pump. Looks too me all it does is circulate the wort during mashing. Is that a big deal?

New to all grain brewing.

 

[rossi46]

It will recirculate helping mash temperatures to stay even, you can whirpool, you could pump through a chiller, and you can pump your wort out to your fermenter. Worth while in my opinion.

 

[Sadu]

I haven't used one, but way I see it is that you either buy the pump model, or the normal model plus an external pump. Recirculating the mash is worth doing to keep temps stable, and recirculating while chilling makes the chilling go much faster. If you are budget conscious buy the normal model plus a $20 brown pump from aliexpress.

 

[augiedoggy]

^ ebay and amazon has the tan pumps too as well as the robobrew..

 

[beerman75]

Thanks all. One is ordered and on the way.

 

[beerman75]

It arrived today and is a thing of beauty with one problem. The handle can't be removed after lowering the malt tube. Apparently a design flaw easily remedied by grinding the ends of the handle.

 

[madscientist451]

Let us know how you like it. I'm wondering how long it takes to get a boil going.

 

[chezhed]

Just an FYI....there's a link at the bottom comparing the newer version of the Robobrew to the older.

https://www.robobrew.com.au/robobrew-vs-grainfather/

To me this thing looks like something you would wish in a year that you had done better
It's flimsier than a GF. It is one year warranty vs 2 on GF now (retroactive to any purchases in the past year by the way). It lacks connections for the IC and is not nearly as efficient as the GF CFC. The pump is underneath and therefore will require some serious cleaning and purging to avoid sediment/remaining liquid. You cannot reset it if the overload trips. It's not controllable via bluetooth connection nor programmable for step mash, etc.

Interested to hear how it works for you!

 

[beerman75]

Thanks for all the good news! Doesn't seem flimsy to me. I'm not a professional brewer, maybe 3-4 brews a year so I think it will be fine.

 

[mxstar21]

Let us know how you like it. I'm wondering how long it takes to get a boil going.

I just got one and tested it the other day with water. It took almost exactly 1.5 hours to reach a boil from cold tap water. I think that is pretty good considering it's 120 volt. It has a timer you can set for up to 23 hours so you can set it up and have it ready to mash when you wake up.

I think it's going to be pretty good and a lot easier to use than my HERMS setup. Should make for a lot quicker brew day. The chiller is the only downside to me. I don't care about the bluetooth personally. I have a counter flow chiller already, so I can switch to it depending on how long the immersion chiller takes.

Dying to get my first brew in with it!

 

[mxstar21]

^ ebay and amazon has the tan pumps too as well as the robobrew..

I have seen a bunch of your posts advocating those pumps and had a question. Will they handle the temp at flameout in order to sanitize them? I was planning on doing a whirlpool with the Robobrew and want to kick the pump on right at flame out in order to sanitize the recirculating tubing. Just a little worried about the temp.

I haven't taken the bottom to check the pump on the Robobrew, but I would assume it's similiar to the tan ones.

Thanks!!!

 

[augiedoggy]

I have seen a bunch of your posts advocating those pumps and had a question. Will they handle the temp at flameout in order to sanitize them? I was planning on doing a whirlpool with the Robobrew and want to kick the pump on right at flame out in order to sanitize the recirculating tubing. Just a little worried about the temp.

I haven't taken the bottom to check the pump on the Robobrew, but I would assume it's similiar to the tan ones.

Thanks!!!

yes they are good at boiling temps but I did sieze one once leaving it run for 45 mins recirculating boiling pbw which was dumb..

there no reason to really have to pump boiling liquid in homebrewing that I know of but I use them to recirc through my plate chiller for the last couple mins of the boil or at flameout and never had an issue

 

[mxstar21]

yes they are good at boiling temps but I did sieze one once leaving it run for 45 mins recirculating boiling pbw which was dumb..

there no reason to really have to pump boiling liquid in homebrewing that I know of but I use them to recirc through my plate chiller for the last couple mins of the boil or at flameout and never had an issue

I am might have worded it wrong. I don't intend to recirculate boiling wort, just recirculate at flameout for a few minutes to sanitize the recirculation pipe and whirlpool.

 

[augiedoggy]

I am might have worded it wrong. I don't intend to recirculate boiling wort, just recirculate at flameout for a few minutes to sanitize the recirculation pipe and whirlpool.

no I just misread your original statement.

 

[acommonsoul]

I am thinking of purchasing one, but I keep seeing videos of people's pumps seizing. Is this an issue to be concerned with? or just get one without the pump?

 

[schlagle]

I am thinking of purchasing one, but I keep seeing videos of people's pumps seizing. Is this an issue to be concerned with? or just get one without the pump?

When in the process are they seizing? I only use my Robobrew as an expensive mash tun and haven't had any issues after 3 batches. 2 of them were multi step and had fairly large grain bills. I have a post about this in this forum.

I did see one video of a clogged pump but it was because of hops, if I remember correctly.

 

[acommonsoul]

When in the process are they seizing? I only use my Robobrew as an expensive mash tun and haven't had any issues after 3 batches. 2 of them were multi step and had fairly large grain bills. I have a post about this in this forum.

I did see one video of a clogged pump but it was because of hops, if I remember correctly.

The pump seized right after the boil. It was an actual issue with the pump though. I spoke with Keg King and they stated that a seized pump can occur because of the extreme heat of the boil. I am wondering if I should get the pump version or go with the non-pump and use a Riptide or similar pump, since there wouldn't be much of a price difference. Just not sure how to run the re circulation hosing then....The pipe makes it look nice and clean versus a hose running up the side.

 

[jlinz]

Flameout is the time to take post boil OG. Did it through the pump without a problem, and that sanitizes the recirculation arm.

Besides, it just occurred to me that I run the pump when chilling which sanitizes it. No problem with the pump.

Are you referring to the short circuited brewing demo video? He replaced the pump, and it's been fine since. Appears to have just been a defect.

 

[augiedoggy]

The pump seized right after the boil. It was an actual issue with the pump though. I spoke with Keg King and they stated that a seized pump can occur because of the extreme heat of the boil. I am wondering if I should get the pump version or go with the non-pump and use a Riptide or similar pump, since there wouldn't be much of a price difference. Just not sure how to run the re circulation hosing then....The pipe makes it look nice and clean versus a hose running up the side.

Or as mentioned above another good compact option is you could use a tan pump (about $30 with power supply) ... They handle boiling temps fine, you just dont want to be pumping while boiling... I used to recirculate through my plate chiller with one for the last couple mins of the boil and it never hurt it. Now I usually wait till flameout but in just about 4 years I only seized the pump that I literally ran boiling pbw through and forgot about for almost an hr.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Does anyone know if there will be a single phase 240V, 60Hz Robobrew system available for the US market at any time in the near future?

 

[Cain]

Or as mentioned above another good compact option is you could use a tan pump (about $30 with power supply) ... They handle boiling temps fine, you just dont want to be pumping while boiling... I used to recirculate through my plate chiller with one for the last couple mins of the boil and it never hurt it. Now I usually wait till flameout but in just about 4 years I only seized the pump that I literally ran boiling pbw through and forgot about for almost an hr.

Any chance you could supply a link to the tan pump you are talking about? I checked Amazon, and I'm not seeing it...

 

[augiedoggy]

Any chance you could supply a link to the tan pump you are talking about? I checked Amazon, and I'm not seeing it...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWORE6E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y4MRHGY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
They are cheaper on ebay. Some sellers package them with a power supply.

 

[Cain]

Thank you!!! I appreciate your help.