Keg King ROBOBREW 35L SINGLE VESSEL BREWERY

[pokolbinguy]

Looks like a cool little piece of gear.

I spent lots of time and $$ setting up my 3V system, which has been used only a hand full of times.

If only something simple and cost effective like this was available as an "off the shelf" option when I was setting up I would have jumped on it.

None the less, my current setups is not getting used and is better for larger volumes (40-50L) and when I prefer to have multiple beers on the run at a time a smaller setup would be handy.

Might splash out and grab one of these. Already have a march pump and plumbing to sort out a re-circ

Pok

 

[sluggerdog]

Do they sell the malt pipe separately? I couldn't see it on the website.

I'm wondering if it would be a suitable malt pipe for a crown urn depending on dimensions.

 

[pokolbinguy]

Has anyone seen any of these in stock in HBS's in Newcastle?

 

[SBOB]

Has anyone seen any of these in stock in HBS's in Newcastle?

I vaguely remember seeing either a unit or a poster for it at Country Brewer in East Maitland (but probably best to call them to check if I am being delusional or not)

 

[quadbox]

I'm vaguely considering the idea of getting one of these and just running a separate pump and return to add recirculation / sparge water. one of the cheapy $80 pumps with a ballvalve and hoses, put a male camlock to 1/2" bspf fitting on the ballvalve this comes with, and rig something up at the top of the malt pipe to take the liquor/wort return.

Anyone got any thoughts about this? Motivation is it's still going to come in a good $600 less than the grainfather, as much as it's not as complete a unit if I ever decide to get a grainfather down the track I can use this as a temp controlled HLT

 

[Elz]

That's what I'm doing and reckon I am on a winner. To date no issues, albeit testing the system solely on extract brews.

As you mentioned saved a fair wack of money compared to purchasing a Grainfather.

However also purchased a Williamswarn too. A great investment also, which has not missed a beat and is turning out consistently good beers to boot!

I have yet to see photos or videos of a recirculating pump in action. It will be interesting to see what mods work most effectively
Cheers
Elz

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

What is the thought process on recirculating pumps? Coming from extract brewing I'm fairly new to this. My understanding so far is that:

1. You can feed a magnetic drive pump off the outlet of the Robo Brew and pump wort back to the top rather than doing it with a jug.
2. All you would need is a pump, some sections of hose, and something in the malt pipe to diffuse the wort being pumped back in so that it does not disturb the grain bed.
3. I assume this would be some sort of screen that sits on top of the grain and allows wort to seep up or down
4. Then there would only be the issue of overflow which the grainfather handles through a centre tube that drains back down to the bottom - how are people approaching this with the Robo Brew?

Does the above sound right? My initial thoughts are that I could plumb up a temporary pump setup and sort of clip the hose to the top of the malt pipe so that you can angle to flow across the top. Then create a screen using stainless steel or food grade plastic and some sort of mesh.

Anything I haven't thought of?

 

[sting999au]

Hey SBOB and Pokolbinguy, It's Crackle from Country Brewer at East Maitland. We unfortunately don't have the Robobrew in stock as yet. He have a backorder with Keg King and should hopefully have some soon.... Will update post when we get them. We have been told that the 65 litre version shouldn't be too far away either !!!! Cheers

 

[bingggo]

I have only tried BIAB for 5L small batch brews. While I like the look of this for bigger brews, would there be any problem (and solutions) in doing 5-10L brews in it as well?

I am also going to do the occasional 50L brew. I suppose if it's a light ale or something I could do a concentrated batch in this and dilute, and otherwise just do two batches...

 

[Elz]

Whilst it may not be problem, the dead space below the tap is 3lt
Cheers
Elz

 

[jeremy]

For those of you looking at recirc as an addition to this and are keen to do it on the cheap, don't disregard this little fella:

http://kegking.com.au/brewery-equipment/brewing/high-temp-micro-12v-direct-drive-brown-pump.html

I have one in my brewery and for $25 it has been doing the job for a couple of years now. Flow rate is well beyond what I need it for.

 

[quadbox]

Does anyone know what the actual volume of the maltpipe is? I wish to hell they'd just put technical drawings up

Whilst it may not be problem, the dead space below the tap is 3lt
Cheers
Elz

I'm imagining given it's a standard ballvalve it should be possible to retrofit a pickup tube and hopscreen down there...

What is the thought process on recirculating pumps? Coming from extract brewing I'm fairly new to this. My understanding so far is that:

1. You can feed a magnetic drive pump off the outlet of the Robo Brew and pump wort back to the top rather than doing it with a jug.
2. All you would need is a pump, some sections of hose, and something in the malt pipe to diffuse the wort being pumped back in so that it does not disturb the grain bed.
3. I assume this would be some sort of screen that sits on top of the grain and allows wort to seep up or down
4. Then there would only be the issue of overflow which the grainfather handles through a centre tube that drains back down to the bottom - how are people approaching this with the Robo Brew?

Does the above sound right? My initial thoughts are that I could plumb up a temporary pump setup and sort of clip the hose to the top of the malt pipe so that you can angle to flow across the top. Then create a screen using stainless steel or food grade plastic and some sort of mesh.

Anything I haven't thought of?

You've got it in essense yet, though a screen's not really necessary. Overflow you'd handle just through flow control (you need a ballvalve on the outlet of the pump, and the pump kinda needs to be magnetic drive). Overflow's just about watching it

 

[dropbear85]

Does anyone know what the actual volume of the maltpipe is? I wish to hell they'd just put technical drawings up


I'm imagining given it's a standard ballvalve it should be possible to retrofit a pickup tube and hopscreen down there...


You've got it in essense yet, though a screen's not really necessary. Overflow you'd handle just through flow control (you need a ballvalve on the outlet of the pump, and the pump kinda needs to be magnetic drive). Overflow's just about watching it

actually I don't think there is enough room for a hop screen or pickup tube. the malt pipe sits lower than the outlet and there isn't enough room between the urn and malt pie to fit much. I just use hop socks and tilt the pot at the end to get the last bit of wort.
I'm thinking of putting a second ball valve a bit lower and on the side for my pump

 

[bingggo]

This may be a silly question, but I assume you could use this as you would a urn + voile bag setup? The instructions talk about sparging, but you could simply choose not to at the cost of some efficiency?

Also, has anyone tried no-chilling in the Robobrew and draining to fermenter the next day? I have done this in my pot on the stove with a snug lid and gladwrap to seal out air, and assume I could on this too - depending how much crap gathers on the bottom and gets through the tap.

 

[pist]

Why risk losing all that effort/time invested for the sake of not sanitizing a no chill cube? Takes little effort, pour some water in then add sanitizer, swish it around, empty, done. Never something I'd advocate, but each to their own

 

[dropbear85]

hey I did a little video of my brew session using the Robobrew with a pump. it works quite well but I accidentally selected my wrong equipment profile in Brewers friend and ended up with way too much water. seems my other system has more losses than this one and I ended up with 26l of wort at 1.044 instead of 22 at 1.054 so I guess it's going to be a session ale.

My camera also ran out of space so the video was cut short but I thought I would upload it anyway as there were a few people interested in seeing the Robobrew running with a pump.

IMHO for the price of these thing they are great value for money so if anyone was sitting on the fence I would say go for it

http://youtu.be/K_fTD0ezZBM

 

[Elz]

Thanks dropbear for your video. The recirculating seems to work a treat. I also measured that the it holds 34 litres, not 35.
Cheers
Elz

 

[sparkatron]

It's interesting that you ended up with too much water because my two brews I've done so far have had fairly large loss.Both brews I've done, I aimed for 22L and ended up with around 19L. The gravity on both has been close to target so I'm not too fussed.

This is my first foray into all grain, so I figured it's just down to refinement over time.

PS. I'm using a pump. Set up is almost identical to yours.

 

[dropbear85]

It's interesting that you ended up with too much water because my two brews I've done so far have had fairly large loss.Both brews I've done, I aimed for 22L and ended up with around 19L. The gravity on both has been close to target so I'm not too fussed.

This is my first foray into all grain, so I figured it's just down to refinement over time.

PS. I'm using a pump. Set up is almost identical to yours.

how big was your water and grain bill?

 

[DU99]

is the wort chiller anygood.