BassoonBrew
Supporter
OK, confession time - I have a Brewie. I went into the early offering of the machine at a price somewhat lower than the current "list" price. I had to wait a fair time for it to turn up, but eventually it did - none the worse for wear and actually pretty well packaged. I suspect most of the damages reported are the result of the shippers being heavy-handed - it's a very heavy package, but mine appeared adequately protected subject to normal treatment. It has two tanks that contain in excess of 20l, so it's also quite large.
I've done five brews so far, one using the pre-packaged Brewie Pad shipped with the machine, the rest using my own recipes. I've stepped up from kit brewing (as commented above), and been very happy with the results so far. You can plumb the machine directly into your water supply (I don't) for complete automation as far as cooled wort, although the mechanism for measuring the quantity of water to use is sensitive to initial calibration and how you have the machine sited (mine hasn't moved since day 1). The recent update to the machine is intended improved this mechanism - the Brewie+
Yes, it's a bit like the brewing equivalent of a bread maker, although I do get to choose exactly what ingredients I use. I don't have a kitchen that's suited to even simple BIAB brewing, and this sits in the garage and only needs a power supply (I manually add water).
It has a limit for the amount of grains you can use, so for making a high strength beer I added malt extract to the boil stage - the resulting barley wine is tasting great.
The software is being continually updated. Some have had issues with earlier versions, personally I have had no significant ones. It is also a sign that perhaps they hadn't completed development when they first shipped. We're still waiting for a full remote control capability from iPhone or Android, for example.
At at the time I was looking I was lucky enough to have a work bonus, the price was right, and I wasn't in a hurry to receive it since I always intended to re-start brewing with some kits to make sure I had fermentation under control. It still meets my needs, and I'm not much of a mechanically minded DIYer to spend time making my own, or adapting something less complete. So a definite maybe. I'd looked at alternatives (including the PicoBrew Zymatic (still going, US-based) and the Brewbot (failed to deliver)), but the Brewie still leaves enough control for "messing around" - you can open it up while it's running, for example. There are others, which mostly use pre-packed ingredients and their business model is to make money selling these, so they are usually significantly more expensive than the raw ingredients. With a mixture of kit brews and AG brews on the Brewie, I'm below £4 a pint already so while it's not the cheapest brewing, the ongoing cost is just as a normal AG approach.
Would I buy it again? Yes, but not an unqualified one. I've been following the Grainfather threads with interest, and I suspect if I were choosing completely from scratch today that's where I'd start. All of the original owners had an offer to buy an (additional) Brewie+ at a big discount, but I've turned down that offer. If someone really fancied a secondhand Brewie I'd consider the offer and sell on my existing machine, but I don't think the offer lasts forever - and I live in West London.
Sorry for the long ramble, the net is I'm making beer I enjoy (my friends too!), with flexibility of recipe and minimal effort.
I've done five brews so far, one using the pre-packaged Brewie Pad shipped with the machine, the rest using my own recipes. I've stepped up from kit brewing (as commented above), and been very happy with the results so far. You can plumb the machine directly into your water supply (I don't) for complete automation as far as cooled wort, although the mechanism for measuring the quantity of water to use is sensitive to initial calibration and how you have the machine sited (mine hasn't moved since day 1). The recent update to the machine is intended improved this mechanism - the Brewie+
Yes, it's a bit like the brewing equivalent of a bread maker, although I do get to choose exactly what ingredients I use. I don't have a kitchen that's suited to even simple BIAB brewing, and this sits in the garage and only needs a power supply (I manually add water).
It has a limit for the amount of grains you can use, so for making a high strength beer I added malt extract to the boil stage - the resulting barley wine is tasting great.
The software is being continually updated. Some have had issues with earlier versions, personally I have had no significant ones. It is also a sign that perhaps they hadn't completed development when they first shipped. We're still waiting for a full remote control capability from iPhone or Android, for example.
At at the time I was looking I was lucky enough to have a work bonus, the price was right, and I wasn't in a hurry to receive it since I always intended to re-start brewing with some kits to make sure I had fermentation under control. It still meets my needs, and I'm not much of a mechanically minded DIYer to spend time making my own, or adapting something less complete. So a definite maybe. I'd looked at alternatives (including the PicoBrew Zymatic (still going, US-based) and the Brewbot (failed to deliver)), but the Brewie still leaves enough control for "messing around" - you can open it up while it's running, for example. There are others, which mostly use pre-packed ingredients and their business model is to make money selling these, so they are usually significantly more expensive than the raw ingredients. With a mixture of kit brews and AG brews on the Brewie, I'm below £4 a pint already so while it's not the cheapest brewing, the ongoing cost is just as a normal AG approach.
Would I buy it again? Yes, but not an unqualified one. I've been following the Grainfather threads with interest, and I suspect if I were choosing completely from scratch today that's where I'd start. All of the original owners had an offer to buy an (additional) Brewie+ at a big discount, but I've turned down that offer. If someone really fancied a secondhand Brewie I'd consider the offer and sell on my existing machine, but I don't think the offer lasts forever - and I live in West London.
Sorry for the long ramble, the net is I'm making beer I enjoy (my friends too!), with flexibility of recipe and minimal effort.
