Rise Of The Brewing Machines - Craft Beer Lovers, Don't Be Afraid&

[chrisluki]

Nobody has a brewie yet as they haven't started shipping them. Just sayin'.

Yeah, I asked them yesterday what their planned ship date was?

 

[chrisluki]

Not sure if anyone is following this thread still, but I remember someone asking to be kept on the loop.

I have been speaking with the guys in Belgium and it looks like I will be getting one of the first run of the machines!

A few things to work out, but I am pretty happy!

Now for me to work out some video ideas for my YT channel.

 

[peteru]

Go over the top on the vidz. Unboxing, set-up, first run, etc.

Often it's good to see the newbie mistakes from other people so that you don't have to make them yourself, so don't worry if the videos show you struggling with something.

 

[chrisluki]

Go over the top on the vidz. Unboxing, set-up, first run, etc.

Often it's good to see the newbie mistakes from other people so that you don't have to make them yourself, so don't worry if the videos show you struggling with something.

Even an unboxing video? Would people watch that?

 

[peteru]

Different people care about different things. Considering that this item will travel half way around the world (or further) to get to you, it may be interesting to see how well it is packaged. I guess it doesn't have to be a video, you could just mention that aspect in one of your articles. Again, some people are very visual and will get more from being able to see what's what, but creating videos is more work...

 

[chrisluki]

Different people care about different things. Considering that this item will travel half way around the world (or further) to get to you, it may be interesting to see how well it is packaged. I guess it doesn't have to be a video, you could just mention that aspect in one of your articles. Again, some people are very visual and will get more from being able to see what's what, but creating videos is more work...

Yeah, good call.
Happy to make a video...i quite like making them!

 

[P!N20]

So roughly how much is one of these bad boys landed? As someone trying to squeeze in brewing between family commitments and procrastinating on the internet, I definitely see some advantages.

 

[chrisluki]

So roughly how much is one of these bad boys landed? As someone trying to squeeze in brewing between family commitments and procrastinating on the internet, I definitely see some advantages.

Don't expect any change from $2k!!!

 

[cliffo]

Don't expect any change from $2k!!!

That actually seems quite reasonable to me.

Will be very interested to see how you find it.

 

[chrisluki]

UPDATE: Heard from Brewie this weekend...THIS IS HAPPENING!

Looking very likely that I will have fresh brewed beer form my Brewie for Xmas day!!!

 

[Devhay]

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing how it goes for you

 

[Weizguy]

Even an unboxing video? Would people watch that?

I reckon they would. I watched some Youtube video of some Brit bloke de-packaging his Ss Brew Bucket, and then he went on show you the bits and pieces that came with it, to clean it (iirc) and put some wort in and ferment it out and bottle it.
Was good to be able to see what to expect in the box. Maybe it fely like I was vicariously unpacking the new toy.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

UPDATE: Heard from Brewie this weekend...THIS IS HAPPENING!

Looking very likely that I will have fresh brewed beer form my Brewie for Xmas day!!!

What's the ETA on it, Chris?

I am wondering when the app will launch? Very intrigued by this machine and the control of brewing with it (apparently).

 

[chrisluki]

it is done...I just paid for one of these.
Should be here in about 2 weeks!

 

[cliffo]

Should be here in about 2 weeks!

Is it weird that I'm a little excited by your purchase?

Will be checking this thread every few minutes for reports on how it goes.

 

[peteru]

Yay! Good on you for giving it a go.

I pulled the trigger on a Grainfather two days ago and did a double batch brew last night. Cleaning took a lot longer than anticipated. It'll be interesting to hear how cleaning goes in one of these babies.

 

[SBOB]

Cleaning took a lot longer than anticipated.

any reason why (as someone who has a grainfather on his potential wish list)

 

[peteru]

Coming from brewing kits, extract and steeping / partial mash with a stainless steel pot on the kitchen stove, cleanup is simple because you can just hose everything in the backyard, or chuck it in the bath tub. An ice cream container of warm sodium percarbonate and a sponge, a bit of wipe here and there, then hose and leave in the sun to dry. Done in 10-15 minutes tops.

With the GF, you can't point a hose at the thing without care. You also need to clean the perforated plates, plumbing, pump and chiller. After a double batch, I had a bit of burnt on residue over the element, so that took a little while to clean. I was thinking I'll be finished with cleaning in 1/2 hour. It was closer to 2 hours.

The extra time required for cleanup is not really a GF specific issue. Any system that is more complex than a simple stainless steel pot (without any plumbing) will require more work. Once you throw in electricals, you also have to be more careful with your cleaning approach, hosing things down indiscriminately is not an option.

 

[BKBrews]

Coming from brewing kits, extract and steeping / partial mash with a stainless steel pot on the kitchen stove, cleanup is simple because you can just hose everything in the backyard, or chuck it in the bath tub. An ice cream container of warm sodium percarbonate and a sponge, a bit of wipe here and there, then hose and leave in the sun to dry. Done in 10-15 minutes tops.

With the GF, you can't point a hose at the thing without care. You also need to clean the perforated plates, plumbing, pump and chiller. After a double batch, I had a bit of burnt on residue over the element, so that took a little while to clean. I was thinking I'll be finished with cleaning in 1/2 hour. It was closer to 2 hours.

The extra time required for cleanup is not really a GF specific issue. Any system that is more complex than a simple stainless steel pot (without any plumbing) will require more work. Once you throw in electricals, you also have to be more careful with your cleaning approach, hosing things down indiscriminately is not an option.

I find a garden spray hose works really well for the plates and stuff like that. I normally empty and clean the Malt pipe while I wait for the grainfather to actually come to a boil - that way at the other end I just have to remove all of the hops and trub from the grainfather and then recirc the cleaner through everything and I'm done.

It would have been REALLY handy if you could disconnect the pump and heating cords, as I find they really get in the way when cleaning and transporting the GF. Even if they were a bit longer, so you could tuck the plugs up over the controller seat or something.

 

[Coldspace]

I use my gf in my rear carport. While the boil is on, I rinse the malt pipe and gear in my plastic tub that has abit of perc in it. Throw in tub, pour in some hot water that I heated to 45 in the gf urn. Leave all these soak while I get my hops weighed out.
While I wait for secondary and last hop additions I give malt pipe and accessories a bit of a scrub with nylon scourer. Then rinse and put away. After my boil, I fill my 2 cubes as I double batch usually .

I tilt the gf on its side on top of my milk crate stand. Then hose the bugger out. Stand up, fill with water to brim with perc. Run pump and recirc thru for 15 mins. I usually fill gf up with 50 degree water from the urn. This speeds up the perc.

Drain out, tilit over rinse and wipe outside down with nylon scourer.

Sounds like a lot of work, but most all grain systems need abit of attention.

End clean up takes me 15-20 mins.

Other cleaning is done during boil time.

Yes, it takes abit , would be a bitch if you couldn't do it outside and use a garden hose.

One reason I double batch , so I only run this every 2-3 weeks but I really am looking at trying to get a bigger system to punch out 4 cubes instead of 2. As I'm time poor.

I do like the gf, but I've put shitloads through it but if the came out with a 60 ltr gf then same work/time with double volume.

What to upgrade to .....???