Spike vs SS vs Stout vs... others?

[BassBabiesBeer]

I'm in the process of designing a 1 bbl electric brewhouse setup and wanted folks' opinions on different brands and results and pricing.

Short of buying a used pilot system, I'm looking at brand new options just to get a top-end budget option.

I was leaning SS, but was impressed by Spike's customer service and informational references. The folks at Stout Tanks are great too...

Needless to say I could use some guidance. Any personal experiences and feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[k-os]

The unreleased Spike Nano setup looks really nice. However I would guess it will be the most costly of the options you would have.
https://spikebrewing.com/pages/nano

 

[augiedoggy]

Bottom drains are a huge advantage to all the bigger electric brewing systems... stout / affordable distilling or going through the manufacturer (sungood ) directly are the only ones that offers them in the 1bbl configuration. For that reason they have my vote.. I currently use them in my 3bbl setup and going back to repurposed soup kettles would not be fun after being spoiled. Just my opinion though, they all make quality stuff.

 

[SpikeBrewing]

I'm in the process of designing a 1 bbl electric brewhouse setup and wanted folks' opinions on different brands and results and pricing.

Short of buying a used pilot system, I'm looking at brand new options just to get a top-end budget option.

I was leaning SS, but was impressed by Spike's customer service and informational references. The folks at Stout Tanks are great too...

Needless to say I could use some guidance. Any personal experiences and feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for considering us! Our pre-sale is currently going on now with national launch come early September. The pre-sale is going really well but we probably won't have people up and brewing on Nano's until later in Sept. We do have a few pre-production models that some local guys will be picking up so we could possibly connect you with them once they are up and brewing if you're looking for some first hand customer feedback. Our Brewing Engineer, John, also owns New Barons Brewing here in Milwaukee and probably has 25+ brews under his belt from development testing. We'd be happy to jump on the phone and walk you through any process or product questions you might have!

With features like the steam condenser, full length drip tray, up to 27,000w of power from a UL listed panel, double batch panel option as well as being half batch (1/2bbl) capable we believe our new 1bbl Nano stands out above the rest. And to top it off the Nano is 85% US manufactured; how can you go wrong!?

 

[BassBabiesBeer]

The unreleased Spike Nano setup looks really nice. However I would guess it will be the most costly of the options you would have.
https://spikebrewing.com/pages/nano

yah it does sound awesome. their fermentation options look way cheaper until you calculate in the tc100 package, etc. FWIW, their nano setup with double batch capability is the same price as the 1bbl SS setup.

We just ran some more numbers and are probably going to go with a 2 or 3 bbl setup... Colorado Brewing Systems is very attractive in their setups especially for the price. Cellaring options are going to be the most interesting thing to figure out.

 

[augiedoggy]

yah it does sound awesome. their fermentation options look way cheaper until you calculate in the tc100 package, etc. FWIW, their nano setup with double batch capability is the same price as the 1bbl SS setup.

We just ran some more numbers and are probably going to go with a 2 or 3 bbl setup... Colorado Brewing Systems is very attractive in their setups especially for the price. Cellaring options are going to be the most interesting thing to figure out.

You can do it on a budget. All Our kettles with hardware cost us about $7500 with customs and shipping for our 3 bbl setup from the company that manufactures them for stout. everything on this platform including the special rims you dont see and the sabco plate chiller and control panel which controls another panel in or fermenter room for glycol and heat cost us about 10-11k total.

When we were first planning our brewery My business partner wanted to go with a 1.5barrel system. Every single nano I went to over the years where I got the chance to talk with the owner advised me to go with the largest system I can afford some had only been open months and were already waiting for larger systems because they were sick of brewing multiple times a day to keep up.
If I had to do it all over again I would possibly go with a 5 bbl but the 3bbl setup is doing well for us right now. We also dont have enough beer to sell growlers or anything to go at this point. but due to other jobs we only brew on sundays at the present time. Did I mention our maximum capacity is only 40 people? I think a 1 barrel system works in those unique situations were the beer is supplementing something else or its a pilot system but otherwise it a lot of work for just 1 keg of beer..

lots of economical ways to ferment lagers too, we picked up a used micromatic 1/3hp chiller which has no issues controlling temps on all four of our 110gallon plastic conicals... I use the heat cord you would normally put in your gutter on your house wrapped around the outside of the conicals as a gentle heating system to bring the beers up in temp for the rest period. it works well but we only bring them down to 50 degrees, anything lower than that we do after they are transferred to the stout brite tanks we bought used. That said we are upgrading to jacketed stainless unitanks

 

[CodeSection]

@augiedoggy, nice website! What a great name for a beer ~ canal water! What is your best selling on tap?

 

[augiedoggy]

@augiedoggy, nice website! What a great name for a beer ~ canal water! What is your best selling on tap?

It actually depends on the night of the week but our IPAs and our lightest beer we happen to have on tap are usually the #1 sellers... right now the raspberry pils and kolsch.. We do change it up by brewing different things.

 

[CodeSection]

It actually depends on the night of the week but our IPAs and our lightest beer we happen to have on tap are usually the #1 sellers... right now the raspberry pils and kolsch.. We do change it up by brewing different things.

You certainly have a nice selection there.

 

[BassBabiesBeer]

You can do it on a budget. All Our kettles with hardware cost us about $7500 with customs and shipping for our 3 bbl setup from the company that manufactures them for stout. everything on this platform including the special rims you dont see and the sabco plate chiller and control panel which controls another panel in or fermenter room for glycol and heat cost us about 10-11k total.View attachment 638409
When we were first planning our brewery My business partner wanted to go with a 1.5barrel system. Every single nano I went to over the years where I got the chance to talk with the owner advised me to go with the largest system I can afford some had only been open months and were already waiting for larger systems because they were sick of brewing multiple times a day to keep up.
If I had to do it all over again I would possibly go with a 5 bbl but the 3bbl setup is doing well for us right now. We also dont have enough beer to sell growlers or anything to go at this point. but due to other jobs we only brew on sundays at the present time. Did I mention our maximum capacity is only 40 people? I think a 1 barrel system works in those unique situations were the beer is supplementing something else or its a pilot system but otherwise it a lot of work for just 1 keg of beer..

lots of economical ways to ferment lagers too, we picked up a used micromatic 1/3hp chiller which has no issues controlling temps on all four of our 110gallon plastic conicals... I use the heat cord you would normally put in your gutter on your house wrapped around the outside of the conicals as a gentle heating system to bring the beers up in temp for the rest period. it works well but we only bring them down to 50 degrees, anything lower than that we do after they are transferred to the stout brite tanks we bought used. That said we are upgrading to jacketed stainless unitanks

Oh totally. I'm seeing the budget options and drooling. This is great info, man. I'd love to visit your brewery sometime.