KegLand Questions and Answers

[KegLand-com-au]

Hi KL I'm new here I stumbled across this thread by accident researching the Robo. I've just retired and am getting back into brewing, I'm happy that BIAB systems (which is basically what robo etc all are) have finally taken off but absolutely amazed at what people are charging for them. Now I'm a bit new to forums so I'm not sure about the protocols to follow re: naming other peoples systems, and having read this thread from the beginning there are some people here that seriously need to talk to their GP and get their med's changed, alternatively don their shiny armour, mount their snowy steed and ride it off the nearest ******g cliff, having got that off my chest allow me to return to the point of this query, Grainfather $1,300.00 ish WTF!!! it's a tin can with an stc 1000 (or similar) an element and a pump fer christs sake how do they justify that? Which leads me to my question, why is the 65ltr Robo double the price of the 35ltr? if $800 is correct for the 65 then the 35 should be about $600, conversely if the 35 @ $400 is correct the 65 should be more like $600, or am I missing something? Also is the pump a magnetic drive type, and is the heating element replaceable, thanks in advance, good web site and great You tube content, cheers G

Thanks for the enquiry. Great to get back to the reason for this thread. The Robobrew 65L currently has a price online that is a bit of a guess. When we price up our goods we factor in several things:

1. Raw cost of manufacture
2. Tooling cost
3. Complicance and certificatoin costs
4. Expected Turnover
5. What the competition is doing.

So what you have said is correct. The 1. Raw material cost is similar in the 65L and 35L. The cost will be about $90 extra in that respect.

2. The tooling cost is more as the jigs, punches and other equipment is more expensive.

3. The certification cost is the same

4. The expected turnover is significantly less (about half or less than that of the 35L model) this is probably the largest part of the difference in price. With less turnover we have to split costs 2 and 3 over significantly less units.

5. At $800 it would still be the best value brewery by a significant margin in this size making it already very competitive.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

+1 I'd buy a couple if the cost was reasonable

If we can get this to +200 we can start engineering something.

 

[mashmaniac]

If we can get this to +200 we can start engineering something.

So ..... an EOI thread??? ... I'm feeling pretty confident!

 

[KegLand-com-au]

So ..... an EOI thread??? ... I'm feeling pretty confident!

Oh dear. What have we got ourselves into. What is an EOI thread?

 

[S.E]

Oh dear. What have we got ourselves into. What is an EOI thread?

Expressions of interest I believe.

I already have an engine and don’t need another but know others would like an affordable one. You would probably need a ball park figure before getting expressions of interest though.

 

[koshari]

They really are not that complicated. Especially the bits surrounding the engine.
I could knock most of one up relatively easily other than the 2 glass chambers. The teflon blocks and the piston.

The 2 ball joints and the john guest fittings are pretty much generic as are the hoses.
It would be easy to substitute the porcelain handle with a turned up piece of hardwood.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Expressions of interest I believe.

I already have an engine and don’t need another but know others would like an affordable one. You would probably need a ball park figure before getting expressions of interest though.

Ok seeing as this discussion has begun:
1. It's hard to say what the cost would be but on a small production run I think we would be able to make them for $150-200
2. If we got to 200 EOI we would at least start the engineering process so we can get a firm price. Then we could get back to you guys.

I dont want to be negative but the likelihood of getting 200 people waning these is probably slim.

 

[S.E]

They really are not that complicated. Especially the bits surrounding the engine.
I could knock most of one up relatively easily other than the 2 glass chambers. The teflon blocks and the piston.

The 2 ball joints and the john guest fittings are pretty much generic as are the hoses.
It would be easy to substitute the porcelain handle with a turned up piece of hardwood.

A lift pump is not complicated that’s why I was suggesting that it may be worthwhile for KL to look in to having a simple lift pump/beer engine designed for the HB market here. It wouldn’t need to be precision and calibratable for weights and measures like UK pub engines.

Ex pub engines can be picked up second hand on UK ebay and such but postage and parts if needed depending on the condition when they arrive here can be expensive.

I remember WEAL built and posted pictures of his DIY engine a few years ago, perhaps he could help design one?

(Oh bugger, sorry WEAL I can’t find the flame suit emoticon).

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

Hi KL.

ETA for 100mm Stainless Shanks to be back in stock?

Thanks.

Bump

 

[Quokka42]

I don't want to link back to your previous reply, but thank you.
There are still some nice people working at KK and I am a strong believer in supporting any LHBS - not so long ago I had to travel across the river to get grain I wanted at a reasonable price.
That said, I am very excited to hear you opening a shop in Dandenong and you can count on me being one of the first through the door. I might be able to put you onto some suppliers of laboratory glassware when you get to that point.

 

[Grmblz]

Hi KL, thank you for the explanation about the 35ltr/65ltr costing it all makes sense now, a couple of questions though, are the heating elements replaceable 35ltr/65ltr ? are the pumps magnetic drive ? and is the barley tube handle going to be similar on the 65ltr, I'm wondering just how heavy the 65ltr tube will be when it's full of wet grains after a big beer and if some sort of lifting device (winch) will be necessary for the sparge? I'm leaning toward the 65ltr as my feeling is you can brew a small batch in a big system but you can't brew a big batch in a small one. Cheers G

 

[Ashton Komar]

Thanks for pointing that out. It's actually a typo. Should be H3PO4. Very much appreciated. We are just chasing up the MSDS now and will upload soon.

Hello again,

Have you had any luck chasing up the SDS?

Thank you

 

[dblunn]

Hi KL,
I was looking at your 58L kegmenter and it mentions a ball lock post lid for pressure fermenting (KL05890) but I can't find it on your site. Can you tell me about that product?
Regards, Dave

 

[fungrel]

Can you please examine your packaging process?

I got a nasty surprise after I opened the package sent to me. It contained 96% phosphoric acid and wasn't packaged separately. Most other businesses will put stuff like this in a ziploc bag.

The image below is how it arrived, the whole package was wet with all the bits and pieces soaked in phosphoric.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Bump

They should be back in stock 15th June. You can sign up for notifications so you get an alert when they come back into stock. To sign up for notifications just go here then click on the "sign up to get notified" link below the part number
https://www.kegland.com.au/100mm-stainless-long-shank-w-nut-tail-collar.html

Sorry about the long wait guys.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

I don't want to link back to your previous reply, but thank you.
There are still some nice people working at KK and I am a strong believer in supporting any LHBS - not so long ago I had to travel across the river to get grain I wanted at a reasonable price.
That said, I am very excited to hear you opening a shop in Dandenong and you can count on me being one of the first through the door. I might be able to put you onto some suppliers of laboratory glassware when you get to that point.

That sounds great. If you have any ideas of suppliers of glassware please send them through to [email protected]

Thanks for that.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Hi KL, thank you for the explanation about the 35ltr/65ltr costing it all makes sense now, a couple of questions though, are the heating elements replaceable 35ltr/65ltr ? are the pumps magnetic drive ? and is the barley tube handle going to be similar on the 65ltr, I'm wondering just how heavy the 65ltr tube will be when it's full of wet grains after a big beer and if some sort of lifting device (winch) will be necessary for the sparge? I'm leaning toward the 65ltr as my feeling is you can brew a small batch in a big system but you can't brew a big batch in a small one. Cheers G

No worries at all. Both models will have magnetic drive pumps, Yes the handle on the 65L unit is very similar and the larger unit will include a pulley so you can lift the malt pipe out.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Hi KL,
I was looking at your 58L kegmenter and it mentions a ball lock post lid for pressure fermenting (KL05890) but I can't find it on your site. Can you tell me about that product?
Regards, Dave

Yes we are still making some small changes to the KL05890. In the past this was with a stainless dip tube but this had two issues:

1. It was awkward to send out
2. It meant that the dip tube needed to be different lengths for the different kegmenters that we sold.

So in the future this part is getting manufactured with silicon flexible dip tube with float (similar to what we have made in the past with the fermentasaurus.). As we have not got this new model in stock we have not had a chance to take photos and put it up online. We will have this finished soon though and we will put photos and description up online probably second week of june.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Can you please examine your packaging process?

I got a nasty surprise after I opened the package sent to me. It contained 96% phosphoric acid and wasn't packaged separately. Most other businesses will put stuff like this in a ziploc bag.

The image below is how it arrived, the whole package was wet with all the bits and pieces soaked in phosphoric.

View attachment 112597

This is a reasonable concern and we will look into this. I should say we have change the packaging considerably and you will also notice that the lids now use a seal that is induction sealed onto the top so it's quite difficuult for the bottle to leak. Under a number of drop tests we have found this new seal to be quite good and resistant to any leakage.

With that said it's not difficult to put this product into a separate bag so I am discussing getting this done in future. We appreciate you giving us the heads up on this.

 

[brewgasm]

This is a reasonable concern and we will look into this. I should say we have change the packaging considerably and you will also notice that the lids now use a seal that is induction sealed onto the top so it's quite difficuult for the bottle to leak. Under a number of drop tests we have found this new seal to be quite good and resistant to any leakage.

With that said it's not difficult to put this product into a separate bag so I am discussing getting this done in future. We appreciate you giving us the heads up on this.

The same two products arrived today, thanks for the prompt delivery. I thought that they were both underfills so while encouraging the liquid out of the measuring reservoir back in to the main part of the bottle (volumes were fine btw) I noticed that there was dampness under both caps of both bottles. It seems to me that there may be a few possible causes for the leakers.

1 the product is dissolving the glue under the foil seal

2 the neck finish might not be clean, that is that there might be what is called feathering or flashing on the neck (caused by the blow moulder using clapped out cutting rings)

3 mould alignment

Are you doing leak tests by laying bottles on there side? Drop testing is usually used to ensure that the bottle won't burst.

You might want to take a close look at the caps they seem like they may be slightly oversized.