GUTEN

[rude]

OK, turned off at mains and left it for 10mins, now seems to be reading correctly, puzzling and concerning but will see how it goes tomorrow.

I did email Sandy so will see what she says.

The old reset fixes a lot of comp probs

 

[nosco]

I just got a quote for $243US + $30US for the chiller + $163US for delivery. Western Union money transfer to avoid the %6 PayPal charge.

$586AU according to my exchange app. I might have to watch the AU a bit before ordering.

 

[Leyther]

Not good news on the element, I managed to get my brew on but I still a bit concerned about the temperature sensor, I think its either a bad connection or an issue on the PCB, hopefully just the connection or wire.

I did email Sandy and she replied very promptly asking me to take a video of the issue and send to her, if it does it again I will do so, does show though that they will be there for after sales service. If it happens again I may ask her if they will send me new sensor and PCB.

What I have noticed with the element is when doing a brew I only use 2500w to heat the strike water, after that its too much and can make the machine go over temperature too much, hence when mashing I am only using 1500W I find that allows it to have a more stable temperature.

 

[andyt23]

Hi everyone.

I was about to pull the trigger on a robobrew yesterday when I came across this thread, and have read a few others mentioning this product as well. I'm sure this question has been answered so I apologise but I just couldn't really find a clear answer anywhere here.

Why would I buy one of these instead of a robobrew? Is it true that the robobrew isn't programmable and this one is? are there any other big differences? I have done extract brewing for a year and am looking to get into all grain, I suppose the attraction of a Robobrew is that there is more support due to more owners and I can get it at the LHBS. The price point looks about the same, the Guten being about $50 cheaper than the robo with pump.

I also viewed this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob_W310qoUQ is this exactly the same as the Guten you guys are getting? are any of these problems of great concern?

Thanks very much and again sorry if this has been covered before.

Andy

 

[Leyther]

Its the same machine, you can program upto 6 steps on it. Its quite simple to setup and use and if all going well it works very well.

I've been happy with mine when using it, only issue I have had is with the temp sensor which seems to have settled down now. The hop bazooka can block if your putting hops straight into the machine, my 2nd brew I used a hop spider so it didn't block at all, first time blocked with hop residue.

I've never used a Robobrew but I was at Keg king the other day so I looked at one, it seems much smaller than the guten and doesn't look as good or of similar quality to the Guten IMO.

As he alludes to the setting of the programmer is a little klunky but you soon learn to make sure you get the steps correct. I also don't see an issue with the program going straight into the next step as you really should be watching the machine when at the end of the mash. I've not had any issues with boiling, my machine reaches 100c without issue.

I also dont have any issues with the malt pipe falling in.

 

[andyt23]

Thanks Leyther. One other question to add, is the chiller very good? I already have a 20 plate chiller that I can get my temps down with pretty quickly (with cold tassie water) so I'm wondering if I should bother with the immersion chiller, keeping it simple inside the vessel, or not bother with it and just run through the plate chiller. A decision I probably need to make myself but just wondering if anyone has any insight.

Thanks

 

[Leyther]

I used it on my first brew and ran it with the pump on, chilled down to 28c in about 30mins which I was happy with but I have nothing to compare against. For extra $18 bucks it was a no brainer for me given I didn't have anything else to chill with, I hot cubed the latest one but only because I was time constrained. I spent almost as much on the connectors though as it doesn't come with garden hose attachment had to get two step up adapters to get to a garden hose connection.

Its an easy machine to use and I'm happy with it but I guess the longevity is still unknown, the company in China are quick to respond to questions but not sure how you would go about getting something fixed if it broke, if thats a major concern then you would probably be better going for the robo or if you can afford it the GF as you will get better local support.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Sorry Leyther didn't see your question regarding the amount of water I used with that last brew, checked my notes but hadn't wrote it in, believe it was 24 litres. The problem you had has cropped up before in the Grainfather thread where the wire had disengaged, but glad it wasn't anything more serious.
The problem with the element has crossed my mind before, but I am absolutely sure the warranty would be honoured no matter where it was bought from, its good to see the response from Ace when they had a warranty claim.
The same element problem has occurred with the element across all three models, Grainfather, Robobrew and Ace/Guten, but I did read on the Ace thread that the built in knock off switch is also built into the Ace/Guten as with the Grainfather which I wasn't aware of.l will be probably ordering the spring filters this week, had quite a few quotes, will also be fitting one into my Braumeister, the easiest way to provide for those who have a bigger dia base in the kettle is to use 2 spring filters.

 

[Leyther]

I think I need to fiddle with the beersmith setup, it told me to mash with 15l but that was way too stiff so ended up using 17l. I sparged with 17l , did a 15m mash out and a 90m boil, I had about 200g of hop in the spider which did absorb a lot but I was aiming for 20l in the fermenter and ended up with about 16l, meant my gravity reading was very high indicating ending up with about approx 12% abv when was aiming for 8.8%.

I think boil off rate might need advising.

 

[Leyther]

Anyone using Beersmith, this is the setup from Magic Pancake in the UK, I'm gonna update mine to these, hopefully will help with next brewday.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNTrfxo-GpJyF-JRNdRXu56CUjXxxkvtjkXLphlDVTe3Iog_Z_CHonB1i6z0PL2Rg?key=SjZHU0w1NWRlSWlNSWQ0cGlTd1NrblNUT3d4aFJB

 

[nosco]

Every time i look at ordering one the AU keeps going down I might just send an email tonight.

 

[Leyther]

Every time i look at ordering one the AU keeps going down I might just send an email tonight.

Haha, sorry mate, down down deeper and down for me, I have cash in the UK I need to bring over, ready to pull the trigger any moment!!! Once I've done that then Up, Up, Up

 

[Lionman]

Haha, sorry mate, down down deeper and down for me, I have cash in the UK I need to bring over, ready to pull the trigger any moment!!! Once I've done that then Up, Up, Up

Good ol' Murphy...

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Every time i look at ordering one the AU keeps going down I might just send an email tonight.

Haha, sorry mate, down down deeper and down for me, I have cash in the UK I need to bring over, ready to pull the trigger any moment!!! Once I've done that then Up, Up, Up

I've been enjoying the drop in the pound sterling, fishing season for me now so have ordered quite a bit of gear over the last couple of months.
As much as I advocate strongly, spend money cautiously, invest money wisely, even in the unlikely event the AUD went up to 80 cents against the USD the saving isn't all that much, and gambling that there would be that much movement is just not worth it. Better off biting the bullet and buying, no matter what it is.

 

[nosco]

I was ready to push the button this week but unfortunately I had rates and a few other bills come around so I will have have to wait for a little longer.

Edit: and the price difference has been about $10 at the most so its really not worth waiting for a miracle/disaster.

 

[nosco]

Does the Guten have a timer to heat mash water in the morning when you wake up?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

You won't need one nosco, water would be heated up by the time you've had a horse's breakfast. You will be needing a helix filter I have ordered a couple of spare so if you are going down the track of a Grainfather, Robobrew or Guten let me know.

 

[Leyther]

No timer mate but as weal said not a big issue the 2500w heats very quickly, turn on go make a cuppa and breaky and she'll be apples!!

 

[nosco]

OK so the AU is a bit better and I emailed Sandy and the delivery is a bit cheaper too. According to my app which is probably wrong it will be about $578AU with a immersion chiller. Ive never used a chiller before so I'll check it out.

She sent me the details for a Western Union transfer but theres not much info at all. The form I got from the PO needs a whole lot more info. For example bank code for the Bank of China? All she gave me is First name, last name, bank (Bank of China), account No. and telephone number.

Will AusPost help me with this?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I don't know much about Western Union, I am sure there are plenty of Nigerians who could help. Just ask at Western Union agency they could put you on the right track, but bear in mind through Western Union once that money is gone it stays gone.