Robobrew vs Hopcat

[QED]

Hi all,

It's been a while since i've been on the forum however i've been quietly brewing away. I've extract brewed now for years in my Cygnet tea urn which has been brilliant however every so often when i taste a friends beer made from his Braumeister, i can totally tell the difference with the all grain. So......it's time to progress!

Anyway, I've been using the Googlemachine to check out the different options. I'm not spending £1500 on a Braumeister however quite happy to spend up to £400 on something and the two I am looking at are the Robobrew 35l or the Hopcat 45l.

Robobrew seems to have the edge on reviews however the Hopcat is larger and comes with more addons.

Does anyone have experience of both that can give an honest comparison? Where would you put your hard earned?

Thanks

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Bump.

 

[nixhaz]

Can't help you but I all grain brew with my cygnet tea urn and it works brilliantly. I use a coolbox for the mash.

 

[QED]

I use a coolbox for the mash

How do you sustain the temperature of the mash in the coolbox or does it manage to keep to temp? Is this basically what you do?

 

[samale]

Can't help you but I all grain brew with my cygnet tea urn and it works brilliantly. I use a coolbox for the mash.

I use the same but use biab less messing about

 

[cushyno]

How do you sustain the temperature of the mash in the coolbox or does it manage to keep to temp? Is this basically what you do?

I use the same approach, temperature in coolbox drops only 1degree over 60 minutes if I keep the lid closed. I might lose a couple of degrees while stirring twice in that period but it's worth it.

 

[nixhaz]

I use the same but use biab less messing about

Yeah, I'd do that too but I'm a bit of weed so stick to 12L batches for my BIAB!

 

[nixhaz]

How do you sustain the temperature of the mash in the coolbox or does it manage to keep to temp? Is this basically what you do?

I heat it up first with a full kettle of hot water. Once I've put the mash in then I wrap it in a reflective insulating bag. It only drops a degree or so, if it drops more I put a kettle of hot water in to warm it back up.

 

[Rowwwpkeee]

So anyone with experience of the Hopcat?

 

[foxy]

Seeing as the Robobrew was copied off the Hopcat/ Brew Devil/ Klarstein/ Guten etc etc not a lot of difference in the two. The only real thing I don't like with the Robobrew is the 3 feet if it is the same as the Brewzilla. Both do exactly the same not sure if the Robobrew has the recipe memory and hop timer. I have the 40 litre and 50 litre Guten as well as another copy the 60 litre Brau Wolf. None come close to the BM but their is a huge price difference. BM stirs itself every 10 minutes with the pump action, whereas stirring has to be a manual process with the others, would be good for an added extra a mechanical stir on the others and get rid of the whirlpool arm and hopspider.

 

[Rowwwpkeee]

Isn't the recirculation supposed to remove the need to stir?

They seem largely the same, although Hopcat claim their latest model is designed exclusively for them. There seems more positive press about the robobrew too, the feeling I get is that they're a more trusted brand.

 

[foxy]

Isn't the recirculation supposed to remove the need to stir?

They seem largely the same, although Hopcat claim their latest model is designed exclusively for them. There seems more positive press about the robobrew too, the feeling I get is that they're a more trusted brand.

Yes you need to stir, as I mentioned the BM is a set and forget, it stirs itself via the pump breaks.
If you feel the Robobrew is for you then get it, the positive press you are reading are either from retailers or those being paid to give positive feedback. As I mentioned there is no difference in performance, same recirculating pump same circuit boards (although I am not sure if there is memory or hop timer in the Robobrew) the only problem I have found and this is for both the Robobrew Hopcat etc etc etc is if you get a small leak from the tap it can run through where the base joins the main body there is a groove running around the circumference. If the water gets in there it can blow the circuit board. This happened to my first one, a silicone bead would not go astray around the groove, just in case.

 

[QED]

They seem largely the same, although Hopcat claim their latest model is designed exclusively for them. There seems more positive press about the robobrew too, the feeling I get is that they're a more trusted brand.

It's kind of the reason I started the post. Hopcat is better value but Robobrew seems to have a better reputation but i'm not sure if that reputation is purely based on support being more readily available or more people having one.
A mate with a microbrewery replaced his broken Grainfather with a Hopcat which he uses for testing new recipes. He rates it pretty high however said the Grainfather was more robust to the odd ding so sounds like material on the Hopcast is thinner. Is the Robo more robust or the same as the Hopcat, i'm assuming the same as they are basically the same starting point?
Having started the post i think i'm veering towards the Hopcat 65l rather than the 45l, you can always brew less in the 65l but you can't brew more in the 45l... !!
There's still time to change my mind though as I still have to build my new brew shed!

a silicone bead would not go astray around the groove, just in case.

Good advice. Noted.

 

[foxy]

I did have a look at a review of the Brewzilla it doesn't seem to have the hop timer or the recipe memory base which the Guten, Hopcat, etc etc etc has. Whether any one uses them I don't know, not something I have ever used.

 

[Rowwwpkeee]

I went for the 65l Hopcat, I really wanted the smaller one but the 65 was the going to be faster delivery.

I chatted with them a little and got the sense they're a 1 man band. So might have support issues down the line, but that was probably grainfather once upon a time too!

 

[Tuizner]

Have a 35l robobrew and think it’s great. It has replaced my regular setup. It has a 6 step time-temp memory.

 

[Rowwwpkeee]

Oh yeah update, in case anyone stumbles across this thread on the future.

The Hopcat didn't work when it arrived, the thermometer was broken. Took a lot of chasing to get it collected. I ended up going for the robobrew on the end too. Feels sturdier and has worked fine.

 

[Tuizner]

Oh yeah update, in case anyone stumbles across this thread on the future.

The Hopcat didn't work when it arrived, the thermometer was broken. Took a lot of chasing to get it collected. I ended up going for the robobrew on the end too. Feels sturdier and has worked fine.

Am up at about 20 robobrews now Only issue is with hops blocking the pump flow on chiller. Alleviated easily with a spider.

 

[HarryFlatters]

So anyone with experience of the Hopcat?

I've got a 50 litre Hopcat, and it's been good. Had it for over a year and maybe done 10 brews and the only issue is that the pump filter is tiny and clogs immediately. I bought a helix filter from AliExpress and had no issues since.