KegLand Questions and Answers

[Meddo]

By the way guys we have made some really good advances on the digital pressure gauges. You can see them here:

https://www.kegland.com.au/digital-illuminated-mini-gauge-0-90psi-0-6-2bar.html
If you guys have any last requests on this one just let us know as it's still possible for us to make any small changes otherwise this product will go into production very soon.

Small issue but ideally screw holes on all four corners if there's room, to allow the gauge to be installed in any orientation. Maybe a separate carrier frame to provide an 8mm stem for push-in fittings?

 

[kadmium]

Drop testing is one of the easiest types of testing to do. As much as we do outsource a lot of our testing we always do the drop testing in house as it's a very simple process and requires no particularly complicated equipment so we feel that outsourcing drop testing is simply a waste of money. We did drop tests from 1.5meters with just the bladder and then also in cardboard box. We has some failures on drops above 1.5meters but no failures from below 1.5meters. At 2 meters and above we were starting to see a significant number of failures.

So a couple blokes in the warehouse filled em up with water and dropped them on the floor?

 

[Warwick]

We are also making a number of other small improvements but we would like to hear what you guys think and let us know if you want any additional features. Now is the time to let us know we can include it in the next model.

1) More feet at different levels on the grain basket to allow you to gradually pull up a heavy basket and allow to drain

2) Inbuilt handle on grain basket that collapses to the side when not in use

 

[kadmium]

By the way guys we have made some really good advances on the digital pressure gauges. You can see them here:

https://www.kegland.com.au/digital-illuminated-mini-gauge-0-90psi-0-6-2bar.html
If you guys have any last requests on this one just let us know as it's still possible for us to make any small changes otherwise this product will go into production very soon.

I am super excited for these though. They look the goods!

 

[Cstew]

Maybe you could consider removing the following statement from the bladders page "These bags are priced cheap enough that you can probably just throw them away". Encourage people to reuse them rather than contributing to landfill.

 

[fdsaasdf]

Regarding the IEC plug this is a good point. It will add a small cost but I think this is a good idea. It's good that you bring this up. I will discuss this with the team and we will consider this. It's quite possible that we will have the IEC plug for the 35L and 65L Gen 4 but probably not the 100L Gen 4.

Agree that a modular power plug is a great idea.

I like the sound of a removable, PID-based controller too. I never use any of the features on my BZ other than setting temperature - but would use a remotely monitored and controlled device. Will the controller be available to retrofit to the original BZ units?

 

[Bendymann]

Can you still fit 4 kegs into the Series X in this configuration?

Facing down as in the picture was tight, but if you mount in the same location but from the roof, it fits better. I have also experimented with the unit in the same location as the original picture, but oriented so the ports pointing upwards to the roof, it fits best for maximum clearance.

 

[Meddo]

This has been a point of discussion in our office too. by having the pump inlet right at the bottom with a slightly conical base this will cause any junk to settle in the bottom and will greatly increase the chance of getting a blocked pump. So I would be careful asking for this until you are absolutely sure that this is what you want. I understand that other breweries like the Grainfather g70 seem to be promoting this feature at the moment but we also seem to get customers having a lot of blocking with the Grainfather design too. With the current flat bottom design we really believe it works well, saves blockages and I much rather have 2L left in the boiler that I have to tip the brewery sideways to extract rather than having a blockages half way through a boil.

Would be keen to hear from others too. Would anyone else like to share their thoughts on this issue?

Reasonable point, but doesn't the screen keep anything of size from entering the pump anyway? From my usage it's only a smooth sludge that gets through which I wouldn't have thought would give the pump too much trouble? But if it is a problem, maybe just a small tube insert to position in/on that centre pump inlet that raises the draw point say 20-30mm during brewing, but that can just be plucked out for cleaning? Best of both worlds that way.

 

[Meddo]

No problem. This is easy to do in the software. We will have a PID feature. With that said I personally don't see PID as being a necessary feature especially given that our brewery design has quite low watt density. With that said it's a good selling feature and easy to implement so we will get this done for you guys.

With the pump issue I am not 100% sure what you mean. We will be able to turn on and off the pump in the software and we have a button on the display that turns the pump on and off. Irrespective of what stage the process is in you can use the manual button on the display to turn on/off the pump whenever you like. I have not used the Smart PID unit or Ardbir so I am not really sure of how this compares.

Main benefit for me of the PID is reducing over/undershoot of temperature. I'm temporarily doing biab with one of your digiboil urns and it's not uncommon to overshoot strike temp by 2-3 degrees which is pretty frustrating.

That sounds like the pump implementation would be fine regards my suggestion. In Ardbir (matho's controller) / SmartPID the mashout step disables the pump and there's no way to change this behaviour - incredibly frustrating when you want the unit to hold mashout temp for an extended period (eg overnight mashing). I'm all for automation but I don't personally see any significant benefit to software automation of the pump (outside of speed control and flow rate adjustment which I assume is beyond the scope of the Brewzilla and it's target price point).

Actually, just on that - an exposed speed control knob for the pump (such as your voltage controller unit, assuming the BZ will have an AC pump) would be nice - not essential, but nice. I know the valve on the return already throttles flow but it would be nice not to flog the wort with the pump any more than necessary.

 

[onemorecell]

So a couple blokes in the warehouse filled em up with water and dropped them on the floor?

how else would you drop something

 

[RRising]

Yes this is confusing. The solution technically will last forever if you do not get contamination in the solution. The issue that seems to be the case is when customers do not wash the probe well enough and then sugars from the brewing process end up in the solution. This enables stuff to grow in the solution and then renders the solution useless. So if you are good at cleaning the probe before using the solution then it will probably last forever but if you do not clean well then change the solution every now and then.

So maybe a dumb question but what is the right way of cleaning the probe? can you just run it under cold water and leave to air dry or do you suggest another cleaning method?

Maybe for the ease of the user (especially if they are a novice like me) go back and edit the manual and clear up some details like the use of double distilled buffer solution.

Edit... are you getting Iodophor back in stock? is there any substitute product you suggest?

 

[Bourkie]

Yes this is one of our top priority projects at the moment. I think it's likely that this will be finished toward the end of this year. Some of the changes will include:

1. Wifi controller that links to our internet hub where brewing information is logged and you can control the brewery remotely.
2. The controller will be higher so you do not need to bend down to look at the screen.
3. The pump will be more accessible making it easy to take apart, maintain and clean
4. The controller can be removed with plug so you can more easily wash the brewery down.

We are also making a number of other small improvements but we would like to hear what you guys think and let us know if you want any additional features. Now is the time to let us know we can include it in the next model.

This is brilliant news, thank you!

 

[fdsaasdf]

@KegLand-com-au what's the deal with your 2% surcharge for paypal?

 

[KegLand-com-au]

is there an update on the rapt fridge when thats going to hit the market ?

no pressure just askin the question

I think the first shipment of these RAPT Fermentation Chambers for public sale should arrive to Australia at the end of the year. We were slowed down slightly as we had to make some further small changes to some of the injection moulded parts but we are very close now.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

e deal with y

@KegLand-com-au what's the deal with your 2% surcharge for paypal?

Paypal simply charge more for the transaction and we would prefer customers to use Visa or Mastercard that incur a lower merchant fee. It's not that we like charging a surcharge. I mean one option would be to increase the price of all the goods by a small amount on the website to cover the Paypal additional charges but then this is not fair on the customers who use a lower cost transaction method like Visa, Mastercard or Bank Deposit.

 

[fdsaasdf]

Paypal simply charge more for the transaction and we would prefer customers to use Visa or Mastercard that incur a lower merchant fee. It's not that we like charging a surcharge. I mean one option would be to increase the price of all the goods by a small amount on the website to cover the Paypal additional charges but then this is not fair on the customers who use a lower cost transaction method like Visa, Mastercard or Bank Deposit.

Thanks for the answer. Someone else pointed it out to me and it seemed like an oddity in modern ecommerce. Maybe it is worth you making more of the fact you don't charge fees for credit cards, as it may not be obvious to people accustomed to paying by paypal.

 

[fdsaasdf]

Reasonable point, but doesn't the screen keep anything of size from entering the pump anyway? From my usage it's only a smooth sludge that gets through which I wouldn't have thought would give the pump too much trouble? But if it is a problem, maybe just a small tube insert to position in/on that centre pump inlet that raises the draw point say 20-30mm during brewing, but that can just be plucked out for cleaning? Best of both worlds that way.

100x this suggestion. A bottom-draining vessel, that has a drop-in riser (could have a screen too I guess) for the purpose of keeping the pump draw above the trub would be fantastic. I'd upgrade from my RB/BZ65 in a heartbeat if there was a bottom-draining vessel that could be CIP. The additional cleaning burden of a 1V (one larger, heavier vessel that has to be inverted multiple times) is the biggest drawback of these units. With bottom-draining CIP I'd even consider an 80L+ unit in future.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Small issue but ideally screw holes on all four corners if there's room, to allow the gauge to be installed in any orientation. Maybe a separate carrier frame to provide an 8mm stem for push-in fittings?

I am afraid this is not possible. Due to the size of the electronics we have not been able to fit 4 screw holes. With that said our Blowtie spunding valve, Inline Regulator, and the Core 360 Mini Regulator all have 4 x female screw holes so for all of these products the gauge can be mounted in all orientations anyway.

We totally agree with the 8mm push in stem though. We will make this for you. We have just uploaded some images to the website here with the duotight stem so you can see what it will look like. Is this what you were thinking?

https://www.kegland.com.au/digital-...-0-90psi-0-6-2bar-duotight-8mm-5-16-stem.html

 

[Meddo]

I am afraid this is not possible. Due to the size of the electronics we have not been able to fit 4 screw holes. With that said our Blowtie spunding valve, Inline Regulator, and the Core 360 Mini Regulator all have 4 x female screw holes so for all of these products the gauge can be mounted in all orientations anyway.

We totally agree with the 8mm push in stem though. We will make this for you. We have just uploaded some images to the website here with the duotight stem so you can see what it will look like. Is this what you were thinking?

https://www.kegland.com.au/digital-...-0-90psi-0-6-2bar-duotight-8mm-5-16-stem.html

Ha, I haven't gotten around to dismantling an inline reg yet so didn't realise that there are four holes - request withdrawn!

Re the doutight gauge, that would do the job but I was thinking more of just a simple plastic surround that the standard gauge screws into and adapts the back of the gauge to doutight. Would allow repurposing of a single gauge, but less space efficient. No biggy though given you've already got a reasonable solution planned

 

[KegLand-com-au]

100x this suggestion. A bottom-draining vessel, that has a drop-in riser (could have a screen too I guess) for the purpose of keeping the pump draw above the trub would be fantastic. I'd upgrade from my RB/BZ65 in a heartbeat if there was a bottom-draining vessel that could be CIP. The additional cleaning burden of a 1V (one larger, heavier vessel that has to be inverted multiple times) is the biggest drawback of these units. With bottom-draining CIP I'd even consider an 80L+ unit in future.

Ok let me discuss this with the others. I would agree that having to turn the unit upside down is a bit of a pain and it would be far easier with CIP. let us get back to you guys with something on this.