KegLand Questions and Answers

[Meddo]

The new RAPT Pill Hydrometer should be finished by about March or April next year we hope. We are still doing RF testing, improving software and also making some small changes like changing from micro-usb to usb-type c. We also recently changed the temperature sensor and board design so this set us back too. The physical injection moulded housing is finished and already in stock but it's just the other parts that we are waiting on now.

Is this product going to be tied exclusively to your rapt ecosystem or will it be accessible to other third-party systems like craftbeerpi, brewfather, brewblox etc?

 

[professional_drunk]

Can you also confirm if the RAPT Pill can function completely offline.

 

[RRising]

The new RAPT Pill Hydrometer should be finished by about March or April next year we hope. We are still doing RF testing, improving software and also making some small changes like changing from micro-usb to usb-type c. We also recently changed the temperature sensor and board design so this set us back too. The physical injection moulded housing is finished and already in stock but it's just the other parts that we are waiting on now.

I have a few questions, Is the battery inbuilt or you need a battery similar to the iSpindel? Will the shell hold the unit in place so its at the correct angle no matter what? and will it need to be calibrated like the iSpindel.

Edit...

Also @KegLand-com-au are you getting more of those grain scales or were they a quick and dirty bulk buy and flip item?

 

[onemorecell]

Any chance you can get Eclipse hops in?

 

[The Troll on the Moon]

Is there any chance you can bring this bag to us. We have never seen this happen before and would like to know more about this so we can better understand what happened. I have re-used the bag quite a few times now and still not had a failure. One thing we are considering is an improved cap that has stronger thread. Other than that I have not heard of any that have plastic peeling or has blown yet so it would be good to get it back.

I just store in cardboard box and this works fairly well for me.

I am in brissy but all four have now failed so I can mail the bags, but that might not make the postie too happy.
There also doesn't seem much point as it appears that the cause was an infection with the peeling caused from the expanding gas.
That said storing them four high between cubes on a wire rack it shelving probably wasn't a good idea.
Let me know if want any not so happy snaps

 

[The Troll on the Moon]

FYI this is how I filled them

 

[KegLand-com-au]

FYI this is how I filled them

I will have to give that a go and see if that works for me too. I made up a laser cut piece of wood that works ok but milk crates are much more available.

One thing I will say is that the bladders are rated to 20L. If you overfill the bladder they seem to have an increased chance of bursting. I have filled one up to 30L and although it's possible to do this it might be better to keep them to the rated volume. By the looks of that photo you might find it's getting a bit on the full side. Do you happen to remember how much liquid was put into the bladder?

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Any chance you can get Eclipse hops in?

Yes. Funny you mention this as it was just ordered and should be in stock some time next week. I am pretty keen to give this a go myself.

 

[BrewerBenny]

I wonder at what price point would it be cheaper to buy a chest freezer and retrofit into a keezer?

I spent about $1000 turning a freezer into a keezer. Brand New freezer, Tasmanian Oak collar, 4 taps, 6 port gas manifold, beers lines and stainless steel ball locks. It comfortably holds 6 kegs, but the real issue is you have to lift the keg up over the collar and into the freezer, where as the Series X you open the side door. Way better / easier on your back, especially if you eventually want to hook up a commercial 50L.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

I have a few questions, Is the battery inbuilt or you need a battery similar to the iSpindel? Will the shell hold the unit in place so its at the correct angle no matter what? and will it need to be calibrated like the iSpindel.

Edit...

Also @KegLand-com-au are you getting more of those grain scales or were they a quick and dirty bulk buy and flip item?

1. Yes we are getting more of these grain scales soon. I think this will become a stock item for us as they are pretty useful for keg filling and measuring grain etc.

2. The current images online for the RAPT Pill Hydrometer are not 100% accurate. The board currently shown online is actually the original prototype board. The new board is larger and is a tight fit into the enclosure so we have no movement. We did try the iSpindle and Brew Brain and one thing we did not like was that the boards in these moved within the preform and this had a negative effect on accuracy. So we have made the board a really tight fit into the enclosure.

3. You can use our RAPT Pill Hydrometer straight out of the box and it will give you pretty good results. That being said we have a relatively similar calibration process. It's similar to the iSpindle but it's an easier process than that.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

I spent about $1000 turning a freezer into a keezer. Brand New freezer, Tasmanian Oak collar, 4 taps, 6 port gas manifold, beers lines and stainless steel ball locks. It comfortably holds 6 kegs, but the real issue is you have to lift the keg up over the collar and into the freezer, where as the Series X you open the side door. Way better / easier on your back, especially if you eventually want to hook up a commercial 50L.

We are always trying to get the price to you guys as low as possible. If we are able to move a lot of units into American and Europe the additional scale in manufacturing might enable us to drop the price by another $70 by the end of next year so instead of $769 it will come down to $699. With that said I don't think the price will change that much and you wont find a new kegerator that fits 8 kegs better value than the Series X Plus anywhere in the world. I am sure a lot of customers will also not want to wait 12 months to save just $70 either. As we are still ramping up production the stock is a bit slow to manufacture so the first few shipments will sell out fast. By middle of 2021 I thin the production line should be up to full pace and hopefully we will be able to get more regular shipments booked.

 

[RRising]

I spent about $1000 turning a freezer into a keezer. Brand New freezer, Tasmanian Oak collar, 4 taps, 6 port gas manifold, beers lines and stainless steel ball locks. It comfortably holds 6 kegs, but the real issue is you have to lift the keg up over the collar and into the freezer, where as the Series X you open the side door. Way better / easier on your back, especially if you eventually want to hook up a commercial 50L.

You are still looking at that with the Series X, you only get the fridge, no hardware like taps, fonts etc...

You do make a good point about lifting kegs over the wall for a keezer, my mate has one and he uses a small block and tackle pulley to lift his kegs, it might not work for everyone but it does for him.

 

[sixfignig]

I get that your delivery schedules can drift, and coming into Xmas period things are going to be pretty hectic, but do you have some confidence in the currently advertised date of Dec 10 for the SeriesX+? @KegLand-com-au

 

[RRising]

1. Yes we are getting more of these grain scales soon. I think this will become a stock item for us as they are pretty useful for keg filling and measuring grain etc.

2. The current images online for the RAPT Pill Hydrometer are not 100% accurate. The board currently shown online is actually the original prototype board. The new board is larger and is a tight fit into the enclosure so we have no movement. We did try the iSpindle and Brew Brain and one thing we did not like was that the boards in these moved within the preform and this had a negative effect on accuracy. So we have made the board a really tight fit into the enclosure.

3. You can use our RAPT Pill Hydrometer straight out of the box and it will give you pretty good results. That being said we have a relatively similar calibration process. It's similar to the iSpindle but it's an easier process than that.

Nice, i might pick up a set of those scales when they come in stock, replace my shitty woolies special kitchen scales.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

I get that your delivery schedules can drift, and coming into Xmas period things are going to be pretty hectic, but do you have some confidence in the currently advertised date of Dec 10 for the SeriesX+? @KegLand-com-au

This whole Covid thing has really caused issues in the supply chain so to be frank I do not have confidence in the Dec 10 date but once the goods are loaded onto the boat I will have a lot more confidence and this will hopefully happen next week.

 

[Bark0s]

@KegLand-com-au quite a few fresh wort kits are out of stock at the minute...do you have an expected date for a restock on those please?
Any plans from G&G for a Pacific Ale FWK too?

 

[KegLand-com-au]

@KegLand-com-au quite a few fresh wort kits are out of stock at the minute...do you have an expected date for a restock on those please?
Any plans from G&G for a Pacific Ale FWK too?

This is a good point. The G&G fresh wort kits do sell out frequently. I have just had a talk to the guys looking after purchasing and we are going to increase our float of stock so we do not sell out so frequently in future. I think the G&G fresh wort kits are the best quality ones available. I will send them an email about a Pacific Ale too.

The pacific ale style has a lot to do with dry hopping and late hop additions. Due to how the fresh wort kits are made it's really hard to capture this same flavour and aroma just in fresh wort alone so to really get something similar dry hopping would be necessary. I would recommend that you get this kit here:
https://www.kegland.com.au/artisanale-neipa-bens-lefty-juicy.htmlThen add additional Galaxy hops.

Would be keen to get other thoughts on this from other guys out there. Pacific Ale is a recipe that many other customers are chasing so I am sure other people out there might have something to add to this conversation.

 

[kadmium]

This is a good point. The G&G fresh wort kits do sell out frequently. I have just had a talk to the guys looking after purchasing and we are going to increase our float of stock so we do not sell out so frequently in future. I think the G&G fresh wort kits are the best quality ones available. I will send them an email about a Pacific Ale too.

The pacific ale style has a lot to do with dry hopping and late hop additions. Due to how the fresh wort kits are made it's really hard to capture this same flavour and aroma just in fresh wort alone so to really get something similar dry hopping would be necessary. I would recommend that you get this kit here:
https://www.kegland.com.au/artisanale-neipa-bens-lefty-juicy.htmlThen add additional Galaxy hops.

Would be keen to get other thoughts on this from other guys out there. Pacific Ale is a recipe that many other customers are chasing so I am sure other people out there might have something to add to this conversation.

I bought that exact kit from you guys. Came with yeast and 2 lots of dry hop additions already packaged. Made a good beer. I would love if you got some FWKs in. Use em to put down easy drinking beers for friends etc when I don't have time to brew often.

 

[Schikitar]

Hey @KegLand-com-au - just wondering if/when you might have the marine-ply tables available - Mini Folding/Foldable Summer Picnic Table - 12mm Pine Ply 60cm x 40cm - would love to get the wife one for Christmas..

 

[Bark0s]

This is a good point. The G&G fresh wort kits do sell out frequently. I have just had a talk to the guys looking after purchasing and we are going to increase our float of stock so we do not sell out so frequently in future. I think the G&G fresh wort kits are the best quality ones available. I will send them an email about a Pacific Ale too.

The pacific ale style has a lot to do with dry hopping and late hop additions. Due to how the fresh wort kits are made it's really hard to capture this same flavour and aroma just in fresh wort alone so to really get something similar dry hopping would be necessary. I would recommend that you get this kit here:
https://www.kegland.com.au/artisanale-neipa-bens-lefty-juicy.htmlThen add additional Galaxy hops.

Would be keen to get other thoughts on this from other guys out there. Pacific Ale is a recipe that many other customers are chasing so I am sure other people out there might have something to add to this conversation.

Oh the Juicy NEIPA is your nomination...interesting...I was thinking the summer ale route. I was all set for some reasonable sized dry hop additions, maybe 3 charges of a mixture of Amarillo, Galaxy and Citra...

I've bought the Hop Nation XPA fwk from G&G and it came with 2 pouches of presumably mixed (undisclosed) hops and instructions on when to add each. Turned out really well. I see you stock the same kit but your listing makes no mention of hops that come with it.

In this heat, I may even through kviek at it.

For a curious beginning brewer the Type 1 and Type 2 generic FWKs would be awesome to have available. I think it's a great idea to give people a real leg up on a brew but allow a bit of creativity and experimentation too. I'd love the Type 1 to be made again. Then I can see what impact changing a single variable, like the yeast, has on a batch.

Thanks for increasing stock numbers, I also see the FWK page has been updated to show a delivery expected tomorrow, that's great!