All in one systems

[2Beers]

The 16 amp electrical requirements for the brewzilla 65 spoiled it for me when I was looking for a bigger system.

FYI my brewdevil 70 is brimmed at 70 litres, the markers on the side stop at 65 litres. Really its capacity is 65l for the boil. It more or less fills 2 x 30l fermentors. I tend to end up with 2 & 2/3 corny kegs, the 2/3 being a blend of the two fermentors, which isn't always going to be a good thing depending on how the batch is split.

 

[foxy]

I want to move to a set of kit that will alow me to brew larger volumes. I have in mind two systems:
The Grainfather S40 at £449
or
The 50Ltr Brewdevil at £469
Price is similar so quality, ease of use and reliability are the things that will sway me.
I am leaning toward the Brewdevil at the moment. What do you all think?

The 50 litre is a none starter, it has been dropped over here. 70 or 40 litre. I have both and brew with the 40 litre for variety, 70 litre for brewing my staple bitter.

 

[foxy]

I don't know if I have already mentioned there is a microwave brewery on the horizon, giving accurate temperature throughout the mash. Throughout not only means the time, but no hot or cold spots, an even temperature throughout.

 

[Eskimo John]

What exactly is wrong with the 50 ltr?

 

[foxy]

What exactly is wrong with the 50 ltr?

It isn't a forty, nor a seventy. It wasn't a good idea to raise the bar by 10 litres. The next should be 100 litres.

 

[Eskimo John]

50 suits my brewing. If that is all that wrong with it then that's not a issue with me.

 

[fgoulding]

I was wondering the same thing myself. For my next system, I want to be able to produce 2 kegs (38L) and so a 50L sounds perfect to me.

It’s probably just me but I think of things in terms of keg production. Therefore 30L, 50L and 70L would give you ample headroom for 1, 2, and 3 kegs.

 

[foxy]

I was wondering the same thing myself. For my next system, I want to be able to produce 2 kegs (38L) and so a 50L sounds perfect to me.

It’s probably just me but I think of things in terms of keg production. Therefore 30L, 50L and 70L would give you ample headroom for 1, 2, and 3 kegs.

I had the 40, still got it. The 50 came out, got that but found it only gave a fraction more than the 40. The 50's over here are selling at half the price as what they are in the UK. They just want rid of them, wasn't a smart move to keep to stock a 50 after the 70's were released. I do full volume no sparge so i do 42 litre brews. I got rid of my 50, its not like you can fill 2 fermenters with them. Then there is the problem of handling a fermenter with 30 + litres in it.

 

[fgoulding]

Ah, the age old problem of product definition not matching the actual name. I’ve always wondered why manufacturers don’t just name their products inline with the real volume.

 

[Eskimo John]

The reason I am looking at 50ltr systems is because I am totally keg driven. I don't ever bottle.
Currently I use separates and want to move to an all in one system and be able to fill 2 kegs at a time, but still be able to do a single keg brew if I want to.
I already have two Ss Brewtech fermenters which I can run side by side for a single brew, or run two brews together for smaller one keg batches.
So I am trying to figure out which system would be best for me to achieve this within budget. 70+ ltrs seems to big to me, 40 ltrs to small.
I do sparge and already have a electric vessel to heat up to 20 ltrs for that purpose.

 

[Dorst]

Kegs tend to be 5 gallon (18.9 litres) so wouldn't a 40 liter system be enough to fill 2 kegs?

 

[stripeyjoe]

Griffo tried a 40l batch in the G40...

 

[Dorst]

Griffo tried a 40l batch in the G40...

I see that many of the 40 liter systems are actually 40 liters boil volume (same for the very sexy looking Brewtools B40pro).

I use a Braumeister 20 liters which is exactly that: more or less 20 liters get into my fermenter and I have enough to fill 1 keg. Perhaps that expectation was a bit naive.

 

[Eskimo John]

Kegs tend to be 5 gallon (18.9 litres) so wouldn't a 40 liter system be enough to fill 2 kegs?

You would think so wouldn't you, at least in theory.
However practically, allowing for some headroom to prevent spillage/boilover etc and to allow for a margin, 40ltrs is just pushing the boundaries. Also btter to have a little wort over than to be short.

 

[stripeyjoe]

I see that many of the 40 liter systems are actually 40 liters boil volume

The G40 (and I think the S40 as well) it is the estimated post boil batch size, the G40 is 46 or so litres up to the ring that supports the mash pipe, so if you lose 4l in boil off plus a couple of litres of trub/chiller loss then you should get 40l into the fermenter. With all of them you can of course top up during or after the boil to get as much as you want into the fermenter, I used to do this with my old 27l Burco to get 25l batches into my FV.

 

[foxy]

The reason I am looking at 50ltr systems is because I am totally keg driven. I don't ever bottle.
Currently I use separates and want to move to an all in one system and be able to fill 2 kegs at a time, but still be able to do a single keg brew if I want to.
I already have two Ss Brewtech fermenters which I can run side by side for a single brew, or run two brews together for smaller one keg batches.
So I am trying to figure out which system would be best for me to achieve this within budget. 70+ ltrs seems to big to me, 40 ltrs to small.
I do sparge and already have a electric vessel to heat up to 20 ltrs for that purpose.

I think if you ever get into the joy and ease of full volume mashing with no sparge then bigger is better, plus the added bonus of making a better beer. Might cost a bit more for the added grain bu t worth it. Just out of interest what is the difference in price of the 50 and 70 litre units?

 

[stripeyjoe]

Gash runs through water volumes in the G40 here, I've set it to start just where he fills it right up, he measured 50l up to the support ring with around another 5l headroom above...

 

[Eskimo John]

The Brewdevil price difference is about £50.
The 50 and the 70 Brewdevil will both do 23 ltr one keg brews, what is not clear is if the 70 will do a 2 keg brew as well as the max 3 keg brew.
There is another aspect I haven't thought of and that is to do an additional half keg brew. I don't mean a half keg (9 ltrs) on its own, but a 1.5 keg or 2.5 keg brew. I only consider this as I have a 9tlr keg I use to serve beer away from home.

 

[2Beers]

Whether you ferment in one large fermentor or two smaller ones affects how many kegs you fill.

 

[devexwarrior]

I'm not clear on one spec of these systems. Most AG recipes give a mash and sparge volume. With these, do you just put the whole lot in together or add in stages?