SHould I buy a 100L Pilot Brewery From China?

[husky]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for all your input. Since I started this thread I've

Spoken to several customs agents and to import it the costs are:
10% GST
$185 Customs transaction fee
$600 Port charges
$550 Delivery from Sydney port to the property approx 90mins drive north.
All up about $2,500 on top of the purchase price

Spoken to 2 former customers in Australia
I'm pleased to report both were really happy with the rig and it's still working well, 2+ years later.

I'm sitting down with Pete from Wayward Brewing this week
By the sounds of it, they've imported all their kit from China and have a few established contacts already.

Cheers again for the advice fellas. Much appreciated!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Is that based on a 20ft container?

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Good to see that your intended system has good feedback from local users.

Things don't always go so well: I have been working with a local brewery who bought a 25hl turnkey system from China which is basically a dog and has never worked properly.

All the under brewhouse pipework has been rebuilt locally, which has helped, but there is nothing that can be done about some of the more egregious design flaws in the vessels themselves. They are considering selling it and starting again.

Take home lesson: don't rely on the vendor's expertise or advice from randoms on the interwebs (myself included). You really need to rely on your own expertise or that of someone you know and trust.

 

[MetalRooster]

Maybe worthwhile giving Jimmy from Tinshed brewery in Dungog a call. He's got a pretty sweet setup and sourced it from China. Makes a bloody nice beer too!

 

[SimoB]

Thought I'd revive this post - I noticed a mention of my brewery down on Phillip Island, we do have the Spark kit, but using a local supplier isn't always required. China has improved the quality overall, premier stainless, DME and Spark all have their tanks manufactured in China. Premier still construct the brewhouse in the US however.

All of the brewers I deal with have Chinese kit, Dainton, Mornington, Mr banks... list goes on. So don't be afraid of China, just do your homework.

Happy to have a chat with anyone who has questions - in other news, we're selling out Spark kit as a package sometime mid year.

Cheers,
Simon

 

[mxd]

Thought I'd revive this post - I noticed a mention of my brewery down on Phillip Island, we do have the Spark kit, but using a local supplier isn't always required. China has improved the quality overall, premier stainless, DME and Spark all have their tanks manufactured in China. Premier still construct the brewhouse in the US however.

All of the brewers I deal with have Chinese kit, Dainton, Mornington, Mr banks... list goes on. So don't be afraid of China, just do your homework.

Happy to have a chat with anyone who has questions - in other news, we're selling out Spark kit as a package sometime mid year.

Cheers,
Simon

you're going to a bigger system ?

 

[Doogs]

Thanks Simon, your post prompted me to update this thread.

I received the equipment a couple of weeks ago and am heading up to the property this weekend to spark it up!

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I still got completely f&#cked by the shipping agent. It ended up costing me about $5,900 to get the equipment from the Sydney port to my place 90mins north...

You can read the full story here: http://buckettys.com.au/pirates-getting-screwed-shipping-industry/

 

[CJW]

Thanks Simon, your post prompted me to update this thread.

I hope Chicken Man Dave didn't read your post or he might want a piece of the action and charge you $300 per day storage.

 

[Belgrave Brewer]

Thanks Simon, your post prompted me to update this thread.

I received the equipment a couple of weeks ago and am heading up to the property this weekend to spark it up!

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I still got completely f&#cked by the shipping agent. It ended up costing me about $5,900 to get the equipment from the Sydney port to my place 90mins north...

You can read the full story here: http://buckettys.com.au/pirates-getting-screwed-shipping-industry/

Mate, so sorry to hear. That really sucks.

 

[Doogs]

I hope Chicken Man Dave didn't read your post or he might want a piece of the action and charge you $300 per day storage.

Haha yeah. I'm bloody lucky he's helped me out. It would have cost me another $1k to get a truck with a crane to lift it off otherwise.

Now all it'll cost me is a lifetime's supply of beer!

 

[CJW]

Mate, so sorry to hear. That really sucks.

Yeah, it is (I should have added that). The upside is that at least others can learn from his experience.

 

[husky]

Thanks Simon, your post prompted me to update this thread.

I received the equipment a couple of weeks ago and am heading up to the property this weekend to spark it up!

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I still got completely f&#cked by the shipping agent. It ended up costing me about $5,900 to get the equipment from the Sydney port to my place 90mins north...

You can read the full story here: http://buckettys.com.au/pirates-getting-screwed-shipping-industry/

Dude that really sucks!
I have recently ordered some stuff from the land of China and despite the manufacturer telling me that shipping was "free" I was doubtful. I was also put off by how pushy they got when I said I would investigate my own freight options. I was lucky enough to have worked with a company who only deal with importing things on a project recently at work. I contacted them and mentioned I had been offered something too good to be true and wanted a comparison quote. The Aussie quote was a lot more but he then proceeded to explain how these "pirates" are all linked to the stainless manufacturers in China. The manufacturer gets to sprook free shipping(and get a kickback) and the "pirates" get paid because you don't know about their fees until your goods land and you're already too far committed. In fact you don't even know they are a link in the chain till the goods land.

The company I went with provided an estimate inc all freight and duty(plus the other 20 random fees) and their only stipulation was that if it gets called into customs for a random search there is a fee of a few hundred bux.
I went the Aussie option for piece of mind and to have a reliable contact in OZ. Mind you the freight component of the purchase makes up around 30% of the total cost. I'm happy to share the contact if anyone else is planning to bring stuff in. Will wait until end of Feb however once it's all landed to fully endorse but so far they have been great and very informative.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Cripes, sad to hear about all the hassles. What was the end figure? Total?

 

[pat_00]

Yeah this is a common problem with LCL cargo from China. It's a total scam. The industry term is 'Zero Drop Shipping'. Most of the time it is cheaper to get a whole container, at least then you have more control.

I know it's too late in this case, but for anyone else I'd recommend buying FOB or Ex Factory and organising freight from this end through a broker. At least you'll know what you're in for upfront.

 

[SimoB]

you're going to a bigger system ?

Sure are. Just places a deposit on 1500L Brewhouse with 30HL fermenters.

Sorry to hear about your shipping drama. We went FOB for ours and used a logistics company from QLD. We have two 40' containers delivered for just over double that.

Look forward to hearing about the beers you're making though!

Cheers
Simo

 

[Doogs]

We wheeled the equipment into our newly renovated shed this weekend!

I didn't get the warm fuzzy feeling I expected when we cracked open the shipping crate... You can read the full story on my blog: http://buckettys.com.au/the-brewing-equipments-here/

 

[thewobblythong]

If you're not in a hurry the China Brew Expo is on next year, October if I remember right in Shanghai, huge show and you may be able to pick up a bargain and stick it on a vessel in Shanghai Port.

ooh. that sounds like a bit of fun. might have to check that out..

 

[thewobblythong]

We wheeled the equipment into our newly renovated shed this weekend!

I didn't get the warm fuzzy feeling I expected when we cracked open the shipping crate... You can read the full story on my blog: http://buckettys.com.au/the-brewing-equipments-here/

cheers for the detail Doogs. it's something that i'm starting to investigate, so appreciate the information.

 

[lespaul]

Really loving the updates on brewery! keep em coming

 

[Doogs]

I'm pleased to confirm we've just tapped our first beer from the new equipment. And it tastes bloody delicious!

I've blogged about on our site here: http://buckettys.com.au/cracking-first-brew/

Thanks for the support guys. It's been a journey

 

[Nullnvoid]

How funny, I was looking for this thread just the other day as I was wondering how things were ticking along!

Good job!

 

[AlexBrew]

Great website and will be reading the journey! Just starting out in brewing its all very overwhelming and yet exciting at the same time.

 

[lespaul]

Congratulations on your first brew and cheers to many more

 

[Doogs]

We've now been using the equipment for 3 months and churned out quite a few brews from it with mixed results.

I think you get what you pay for with this stuff. It works and does the job, but we've had to fix quite a few things in the process. I've updated our blog with all the trials and tribulations since the first brew.

http://buckettys.com.au/3-months-7-brews-500-tonnes-gravel/

 

[fdsaasdf]

We've now been using the equipment for 3 months and churned out quite a few brews from it with mixed results.

I think you get what you pay for with this stuff. It works and does the job, but we've had to fix quite a few things in the process. I've updated our blog with all the trials and tribulations since the first brew.

http://buckettys.com.au/3-months-7-brews-500-tonnes-gravel/

Thanks for continuing to document your journey.

Have you considered moving to caustic for cleaning?

 

[Doogs]

Thanks for continuing to document your journey.

Have you considered moving to caustic for cleaning?

Yeah I've thought about it, but I figure it's not great for the environment because the waste water isn't treated and just runs into the grass at the back (for now).

 

[fdsaasdf]

Yeah I've thought about it, but I figure it's not great for the environment because the waste water isn't treated and just runs into the grass at the back (for now).

Fair enough, hadn't considered that would be an issue with the 100L setup. I assume water treatment is likely to be a significant factor with the DA for the future brewery.

 

[Abird89]

Keep going mate! And keep up the blogs!

 

[Doogs]

Fair enough, hadn't considered that would be an issue with the 100L setup. I assume water treatment is likely to be a significant factor with the DA for the future brewery.

Absolutely, we're going to need to call in some environmental consultants to come up with a solution. From what I understand it's all very doable, just depends on how much waste water you need to process and how much it'll cost. That part of the process is still 3 or so months away.

 

[fdsaasdf]

Absolutely, we're going to need to call in some environmental consultants to come up with a solution. From what I understand it's all very doable, just depends on how much waste water you need to process and how much it'll cost. That part of the process is still 3 or so months away.

Best of luck with it!

 

[Lionman]

We've now been using the equipment for 3 months and churned out quite a few brews from it with mixed results.

I think you get what you pay for with this stuff. It works and does the job, but we've had to fix quite a few things in the process. I've updated our blog with all the trials and tribulations since the first brew.

http://buckettys.com.au/3-months-7-brews-500-tonnes-gravel/

Love your honest write ups mate. Brewing is always an adventure, and a rollercoaster of lessons and achievements. Some would ague that the best school is the one of hard knocks so keep up the hard work and it will pay off.

Re pressure fermentation, are you using an adjustable spunding valve? I have done a few batches pressure fermented now and they have come out cracking. I'd recommend not going over 1BAR (15PSI). So far my favorite yeasts for pressure fermenting ales are Nottingham and WLP090.