I'm going all electric ... but .....

[TimXJR1300]

I've been messing about with gas burners, big pots.. very big pots, home-made mash tuns and a bit of plumbing.
It has all worked really well but its time to get a bit better and though scaling down recipes works OK, I think I will get better results doing full volume 23L brews.

What with the world about to end in a fiery death, I thought using renewables rather than propane would mean that the world will still be here when my beer has conditioned.

I have been looking at robobrew and brewzilla all grain systems which seem very similar to each other and all of those other ones out there so my question is..

For a 30L sized all grain solution, which do you think is the best all grain electric solution (even if different from the two above) and why?

OR

What is the 30L system you have, why do you like it and what would you change about it if you could?

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I'm very happy so far with my brewzilla 35L, though I have only got 1 brew done on it so far.
The main thing I didn't like was that the control and display are right at the bottom, so I was kneeling down quite a bit- next time I'll put it on worktop or similar.
I went for the brewzilla because of cost. I could have got a Grainfather, but the additional benefits did not, for me, justify the extra cost, though I appreciate it does for some.
I hope that helps in some way.

 

[TimXJR1300]

I'm very happy so far with my brewzilla 35L, though I have only got 1 brew done on it so far.
The main thing I didn't like was that the control and display are right at the bottom, so I was kneeling down quite a bit- next time I'll put it on worktop or similar.
I went for the brewzilla because of cost. I could have got a Grainfather, but the additional benefits did not, for me, justify the extra cost, though I appreciate it does for some.
I hope that helps in some way.

Yes it does thank you. I agree with your comment on the grainfather

 

[Alastair70]

I’ve done over 30 brews on a Grainfather.
Pros - dead easy brew day, solid construction, easy clean.
Cons- pricey, filter prone to clogging, silicone O-rings can be a pain in the butt.

I'm very happy with the GF, it's still like new 3 years down the line and I've got to know it's various ways.
If I was buying now, I'd have a proper look at the 40L Brewster Beacon. It's half the price, better capacity and a decent bottom filter.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I have the brewzilla 35L, i have done 6 brews in it no problems for the money it is very well put together, i bought a blanking plug for the mash basket and no longer use the over flow pipe which i find a pita, overall i very happy with this setup, hope this helps

 

[Braufather]

That was my first question when came on here, lots more options available now than there was then. I went for a Braumeister and love it.
I appreciate there are lots more cost effective options on the market now, but as BMs still hold their value Well on second hand market, worth consideration maybe.

 

[Redwulf]

I've done about 30 brews on my Grainfather G30 now and since the G40 came out the price for a G30 has come down significantly to £550 which I think really challenges the Brewzilla when you consider it comes with blue tooth connectivity out of the box and a counterflow chiller.

At the time I went for the Grainfather because it was readily available when other systems were not, but in hindsight I don't regret it and having seen the G40 in action I am still happy. Had they been available I probably would have gone for a Brewzilla.

The best thing about the Grainfather for me is the connectivity I can open the app on my PC, phone or tablet and set up a recipe from a book, webpage or forum post. Then when I want to brew, I just plug the Grainfather in, gather the ingredients and then start a new brew on my phone. It connects to the machine and all the mash steps, sparge details and additions are there....

I quite often brew in the kitchen while I am working in the home office so I can get set up before work and then monitor the progress on my phone and just pop in and out to mash in, sparge etc as required.

There are some design flaws. the gasket on the base plate is absolute pain but you quickly learn the fool proof way to get it in place and you need to be mindful of there the pump filter is when stirring the pot.

 

[Keruso]

I've been messing about with gas burners, big pots.. very big pots, home-made mash tuns and a bit of plumbing.
It has all worked really well but its time to get a bit better and though scaling down recipes works OK, I think I will get better results doing full volume 23L brews.

What with the world about to end in a fiery death, I thought using renewables rather than propane would mean that the world will still be here when my beer has conditioned.

I have been looking at robobrew and brewzilla all grain systems which seem very similar to each other and all of those other ones out there so my question is..

For a 30L sized all grain solution, which do you think is the best all grain electric solution (even if different from the two above) and why?



OR

What is the 30L system you have, why do you like it and what would you change about it if you could?

I have a grainfather G30. I use corny kegs rather than bottles so it’s very useful with 30L systems to be able to brew just enough to fill a keg each time. If you ignore the cost I think most would recommend the grainfather for overall features, decent build quality, excellent chiller, great connectivity and phone/tablet automation software, controls in a good place etc. if the features missing in the competitor’s systems aren’t important then there’s no need to spend the extra money, Personally I would really miss all the features, having done nearly 100 brews with mine.

 

[tigertim]

I've just purchased a GrainFather G30 after a brewing hiatus of several years. The main reason why I stopped brewing was because of time; weekends were full-on and I was office-based during the week. I couldn't afford to take holiday every time I wanted to brew.

But it occurred to me that, as I've now been a home-based worker for over four years, it should be possible to fit a brew around work (I have a flexible employer so any extra time spent on the brew, I can just tag on to the end of the working day).

I watched pretty much all the YouTube videos I could find on the subject and settled on the GF G30 for its tried-and tested design, near universal praise and the automation/bluetooth which would help me to leave it going whilst I was doing other things, but receive push notifications when attention is required.

My first brewday with it was last Wednesday and I'm still reeling from how straightforward it was. I kept thinking I must have forgotten something because I was essentially done and mostly cleared up shortly after lunch time; it ran totally like clockwork.

I had no problem with the pump filter clogging, but I can see how it could be a problem - I may drop £29 on a false bottom for it at some point. I've already accessorised it with the insulating coat and the stainless steel paddle

 

[Keruso]

I've just purchased a GrainFather G30 after a brewing hiatus of several years. The main reason why I stopped brewing was because of time; weekends were full-on and I was office-based during the week. I couldn't afford to take holiday every time I wanted to brew.

But it occurred to me that, as I've now been a home-based worker for over four years, it should be possible to fit a brew around work (I have a flexible employer so any extra time spent on the brew, I can just tag on to the end of the working day).

I watched pretty much all the YouTube videos I could find on the subject and settled on the GF G30 for its tried-and tested design, near universal praise and the automation/bluetooth which would help me to leave it going whilst I was doing other things, but receive push notifications when attention is required.

My first brewday with it was last Wednesday and I'm still reeling from how straightforward it was. I kept thinking I must have forgotten something because I was essentially done and mostly cleared up shortly after lunch time; it ran totally like clockwork.

I had no problem with the pump filter clogging, but I can see how it could be a problem - I may drop £29 on a false bottom for it at some point. I've already accessorised it with the insulating coat and the stainless steel paddle

I’ve never had a problem with the filter clogging but I find when using over 150g hops in the boil it can take ages to pump out and often I had to scrape the top of the filter during pump out. I tried the false Bottom but every brew tripped the element safety switch so I opted for the large mangrove jacks hop spider, works great.

 

[tigertim]

every brew tripped the element safety switch

Interesting and very useful advice; thanks. I'll maybe look at a hop spider before a false bottom!

 

[crowcrow]

I have the Klarstein Maischfest - 30 litre. Very happy for the price, if I had the cash I would have got a grainfather, but I didn't and it has done me proud. Sure more expensive ones are 'better' but I've made beer I'm very happy with. I love the fact I can set a timer for it to come on, and heat up to mash temp - I wake up and pour in the Malt then get up, and can have the mash done by 8am. No pumps etc so nothing to watch.