Robobrew V3 vs Guten

[devoutharpist]

do you need a 10amp or 15amp power outlet for the Guten 50l system ?

I am brewing with a grainfather but I need a 50l system. I am happy with the grainfather I love the system and the controller plus app.

cheers
stefan

YMMV, but i managed to get mine up to 2600W on a 10amp outlet for the boil without tripping the circuit. I have an unused 15amp on the board though, need to get that hooked back up for full power/not worrying about tripping everything.

 

[Lionman]

It just means you are overloading the circuit if you try to draw more than that.
Which leads to lots of heat being generated in the wiring and probably your circuit breakers tripping

On a standard house GPO circuit, the wiring can take a lot more than 10A.

The function of the breaker is to protect the wiring. Most GPO circuits will have a 16A or 20A breaker because there is more than one outlet on each circuit. You will usually find you can run two 10A loads on circuit, at least for a limited time, and not have any issues. If you plug a third load in though then you may trip the breaker (quicker).

Do you ever boil your kettle for a coffee and toast your bread for breakfast at the same time? Do the ironing and run the dryer at the same time? That would probably be close to 20A draw from one double 10A outlet or at least one circuit. Given, this will likely be only for a few mins, not an hour like a boil of a brew but its also potentially a higher amp draw than a Guten.

The Gutun 50L plug does fit in a 10A outlet. This is probably illegal? Not sure. The wiring itself will be fine, and its protected by a breaker. 10A and 15A sockets are actually identical apart from the size for the earth pin slot. The cabling used for 10A and 15A circuits is also the same. The risk is pretty much zero.

If it was a legitimate concern then I doubt Keg King would be importing them with 10A compatible plugs. I have a feeling if there was an issue though, they may find themselves in legal hot water (or is it hot wort?)... Their explanation about getting the unit modified to only run at 2400w max if you intend to use it on a 10A socket is just a half arsed attempted to cover their butts. Legally it should really be set to only run at 2400w max out of the box and you should need to get it modified to run at higher power by an electrician (like a small internal wiring change and a new plug). I have a feeling they are riding the area between what's legal and what's safe and it's a bit of a gamble on their part.

Assess the risk for yourself. If you're not comfortable, get an electrician to set you up with an appropriate socket or just set the unit to run at 2400W. I've run mine fine at full power for 4 batches now and it has been fine.

 

[jackmarshall77]

Robobrew owner and I have to say it works great as I am sure the Guten does. The advantage of these things is that once you get your settings figured they work great. The programmed controller is fantastic. I know my heat up times now and have them included in the program as additional steps. It runs like clockwork. I am more interested in minimum batch, more variety, more often. Have brewed down to 12 litres. Chuck my hops straight in and only blocked the pump twice, quick back flush from the kitchen tap and all sorted.

 

[Truman42]

Interesting read guys. I’m still trying to decide if I should buy a guten or an RB3 and have to admit this thread hasn’t really helped me decide.. still seems to be a 50/50 split with both units.

5 months on from the last post how are the guten and RB3 owners feeling about their units?

 

[Milhouse]

Interesting read guys. I’m still trying to decide if I should buy a guten or an RB3 and have to admit this thread hasn’t really helped me decide.. still seems to be a 50/50 split with both units.

5 months on from the last post how are the guten and RB3 owners feeling about their units?

I think it's going to to be very unlikely you will get an objective answer to that question. Especially from someone who has done several brews on both and has no boas.

My advice would be to get whichever you think looks like the better unit. If the unit you choose let's you down in a big way you're within your rights to return it. Australian consumer law is weighted in the favour of the consumer.

 

[chesl73]

Yes, unbiased views on this topic are hard to come by! For what it's worth, I bought the Guten when it first came out, main attraction at the time was the introductory price which was a bargain. I've done quite a few brews on it since and its been great, coming from stove top BIAB which was a bit messy and painful it's been great having a 1V system and my Guten has worked a treat. Trying to think of any negatives but I don't have any. The bottom screen does feel a little flimsy but it never let's through any grain so all good.

 

[Truman42]

Well im going from a 3v herms back to one of these. I’ve tried BIAB again but want something a bit more automated. I think I’ll get a guten as the posts on here about them are positive.

 

[ABG]

Both the R3 and the Guten will serve you well - they're both capable units at a bargain basement price. Neither is as good as the Grainfather, but you would expect that for the price difference.
I've recently upgraded to the Brewzilla 65L and it's a substantially better unit than my old R3. In fact, I reckon it's more robust than the Grainfather and has the bonus of being able to do double batches. That's a big statement given it costs far less than the GF. The only advantage the GF has over the BZ is the Connect. As I prefer to brew manually, that's of no concern to me.
If you're in Sydney and would like to see a Brewzilla side by side with a Robobrew 3, drop me a PM. I might even be able to get a mate to bring his Grainfather over.
I reckon the Brewzilla is the bang for buck champion at the moment. I'm sure the team at Guten will respond with something that ups the ante, but right now the Brewzilla holds the crown. It's not the cheapest, but what you get for the money is awesome. If money is no object, the king of the hill is the new Brewtools unit. Nothing else comes close.

 

[Truman42]

Both the R3 and the Guten will serve you well - they're both capable units at a bargain basement price. Neither is as good as the Grainfather, but you would expect that for the price difference.
I've recently upgraded to the Brewzilla 65L and it's a substantially better unit than my old R3. In fact, I reckon it's more robust than the Grainfather and has the bonus of being able to do double batches. That's a big statement given it costs far less than the GF. The only advantage the GF has over the BZ is the Connect. As I prefer to brew manually, that's of no concern to me.
If you're in Sydney and would like to see a Brewzilla side by side with a Robobrew 3, drop me a PM. I might even be able to get a mate to bring his Grainfather over.
I reckon the Brewzilla is the bang for buck champion at the moment. I'm sure the team at Guten will respond with something that ups the ante, but right now the Brewzilla holds the crown. It's not the cheapest, but what you get for the money is awesome. If money is no object, the king of the hill is the new Brewtools unit. Nothing else comes close.

I’m in Melbourne but thanks for the offer. So I thought brewzilla was the same thing as the Robobrew? I’m only interested in the smaller unit so does brewzilla do a 35 litre version?

 

[ABG]

Brewzilla is a bigger version of the R3, but it's substantially beefed up. It's worth the extra coin if you can stretch your budget that far.

 

[Truman42]

So has the guten had a new version in the last 6 months or is the current model the same one that’s been around for a bit now?

 

[Truman42]

Brewzilla is a bigger version of the R3, but it's substantially beefed up. It's worth the extra coin if you can stretch your budget that far.

I don’t really want something that will brew batches that size. I’m currently only brewing 15 litre batches most of the time.

 

[beer gut]

Brewzilla is a bigger version of the R3, but it's substantially beefed up. It's worth the extra coin if you can stretch your budget that far.

Kegland has rebranded the Robobrew to Brewzilla and is now selling 35 and 65 litre units with Brewzilla badging.

 

[brewermp]

Interesting read guys. I’m still trying to decide if I should buy a guten or an RB3 and have to admit this thread hasn’t really helped me decide.. still seems to be a 50/50 split with both units.

5 months on from the last post how are the guten and RB3 owners feeling about their units?

True that it is hard to pick.

What would tip you to one side or the other? Anything you would want to know?

I was worried when I purchased the RB3 as there was a lot of misinformation on these forums but I’m super happy with it now.

 

[Truman42]

True that it is hard to pick.

What would tip you to one side or the other? Anything you would want to know?

I was worried when I purchased the RB3 as there was a lot of misinformation on these forums but I’m super happy with it now.

Well Ive managed to score a second hand guten for a good price so looks like I’m going to be a guten owner.

 

[Cian Doyle]

I was in the situation as the OP, I read the Guten thread from start to finish, I took no notice of the advertising spin from those who were given free Robobrew's. I checked the social media from users of both and it seems the more problems were being created by the Robobrew, on Reddit one guy had a fire start when he left his Robobrew on overnight so he could dough in first thing in the morning. It isn't the appearance or the build of these appliances, as it has been pointed out on this forum before it is the circuit board which should come more into consideration.
But on the other hand, if the OP is happy with making 15 litre batches then I would choose neither.

I have been in Melbourne since Wednesday for a conference, I called in at Keg King to pick up some gear and Trong Nguyen (an inventor) was giving a demonstration on brewing on one of his 15 litre units. I was so impressed I stayed and watched the whole thing. We were drinking beer on Saturday which the yeast had been pitched the Monday prior! The unit is all good quality stainless steel, the mash, boil and ferment are all done in the same 15 litre vessel ( a custom made pressure cooker) they are $290 US for the 15 litre complete with a Spundit, spunding valve, floating dip tubes, thermowell, thermometer, and gas and liquid posts.

 

[Mya]

I only have the Guten and never used the Robobrew before, so not really a comparison as such.

We've done around 10 brews in the Guten so far and it has been great. Electronic temperature control trumps gas any day IMO as long as you are willing to wait the extra heat up time.

Had no real issues with it, as is always the case with Chinese stuff, the interface is always lacking. The control faceplate is tricky to use and confusing, but it's probably the same for the Robobrew.

Construction seems relatively robust to me although I've not seen a GF in person to compare it to, I'm not worried about many of the components except that the lip where the false screen sits always worries me (it is just needlessly small and thin, I don't really understand why, it would cost nothing to make that lip bigger). People get worried about how thin the false screen itself is but steel is a lot tougher than people give it credit for and that mesh is fine IMO, sure other manufacturers might use thicker mesh but it doesn't bother me.

The only other things that worry me is the circuit board (the fabrication of the Guten circuit board is a lot better than the Robobrew purportedly), how long that will last, potential water ingress into the control box (seal failure), and the longevity of the pump. These things will only become apparent after a couple years I would imagine.

 

[Truman42]

I only have the Guten and never used the Robobrew before, so not really a comparison as such.

We've done around 10 brews in the Guten so far and it has been great. Electronic temperature control trumps gas any day IMO as long as you are willing to wait the extra heat up time.

Had no real issues with it, as is always the case with Chinese stuff, the interface is always lacking. The control faceplate is tricky to use and confusing, but it's probably the same for the Robobrew.

Construction seems relatively robust to me although I've not seen a GF in person to compare it to, I'm not worried about many of the components except that the lip where the false screen sits always worries me (it is just needlessly small and thin, I don't really understand why, it would cost nothing to make that lip bigger). People get worried about how thin the false screen itself is but steel is a lot tougher than people give it credit for and that mesh is fine IMO, sure other manufacturers might use thicker mesh but it doesn't bother me.

The only other things that worry me is the circuit board (the fabrication of the Guten circuit board is a lot better than the Robobrew purportedly), how long that will last, potential water ingress into the control box (seal failure), and the longevity of the pump. These things will only become apparent after a couple years I would imagine.

Thanks for the detailed review on the guten Mya. Im picking one up tonight from a guy who is selling one. Its 6 months old and hes only done 4 brews on it so should be ok.
Certainly looks ok in the photos.

 

[Truman42]

Picked up my Guten last night and looking forward to trying it out over easter. I see some of you are using the helix coil instead of the bazooka. But if we are using the hop spider is the helix coil really necessary?

 

[Mya]

We started off using the normal bazooka, this blocked within a few minutes of draining even after doing a whirlpool and using a hop spider. I ended up having to keep scraping the bazooka filter just to get flow going which inevitably disturbed the mesh and pushed some particles in. Wasn't fun, bought the helix coil straight away and after doing a whirlpool the top 10mm or so of the helix cool is uncovered and allows rapid draining from the guten.

Theres still loads of protein and other crap from the grain that causes quite a decent trub in the kettle even using a hop spider that settles out during cooling.

In short yes I'd thoroughly recommend the helix coil.