SHould I buy a 100L Pilot Brewery From China?

[labels]

I would certainly get a broker to bring it in for you. A customs services agent sorts out things you have never even heard of leave alone know about. You can do some stuff yourself but you're limited. I am talking from experience - not bringing brewering equipment in but commercial printing machinery and a decent broker will save you time and one whopping headache. They do charge of course but you will still come ouit of it cheaper in the end run.

 

[malt junkie]

I"d chat with Wayward in Sydney, they got their 40hl from china. Quality kit, fab was flexible., and price must have been in the ballpark because 4 other micros ordered the same kit (differing batch sizes though).

 

[Jase]

Any hints on where rural outskirts of Sydney is Doogs?

 

[mxd]

There's a brewery in Philip island who bought from China

I think it's a 4 or 500 size they bought last year if you reach out they may be able to point you to some issues they had

 

[Mardoo]

The Phillips Island brewery on the main drag, Ocean Reach, went with Spark, IIRC. Spark does have their equipment produced in China AFAIK, but they do all their own engineering.

http://www.sparkbrew.com/

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Didn't The Flying Horse at Warrnambool get theirs from China and spent nearly as much getting it fitted, going back a few years, I am sure it is better quality now.
+ 1 for the Agent, used to be 7% when I was there may be cheaper now all the expats are out of the game and the Chinese agents are undercutting each other as they do.

 

[husky]

Didn't The Flying Horse at Warrnambool get theirs from China and spent nearly as much getting it fitted, going back a few years, I am sure it is better quality now.
+ 1 for the Agent, used to be 7% when I was there may be cheaper now all the expats are out of the game and the Chinese agents are undercutting each other as they do.

Yep and never could get it to run so canned that idea and now get it brewed off site.
I know a couple who have ordered Chinese breweries and have turned out ok. At the end of the day you're going to get what you pay for to a large degree. Even the best of the Chinese breweries stuff up the simple things. Usually nothing major so as long as you budget some local rework. Having said that for 100L I wouldn't be going to China. For a micro sized I would consider going to them for the tanks and then doing the pipework and electrical locally.

 

[manticle]

Surely point 5 in the guarantee section is the clincher?

 

[Doogs]

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.

 

[Mardoo]

Yeah, do report back!

 

[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.