Hi Allââ¬Â¦
I bought the Bulldog Brewer from HBO a couple of week ago! And here are my findingsââ¬Â¦ I ordered it at 14:00 on a Thursday and it was on my kitchen floor at 14:00 the next day! . Thanks Marlon for the recommendationââ¬Â¦ HBO customer service is very good! And a bonus getting the free kit (even thou it may just be ruined: read on)
At first glance out of the box it is nicely made and I was very happy with it, And had to get going as soon as I could! It is incredibly easy to set up plus use and the controls are very simple. After unpacking I cleaned it down, again very easy, there are a few sharp parts on the grain basket and the filter at the bottom is quite sharp. After cleaning I planned on running a boil through to get use to the brewer and test the controls. This however took some time as it kept cutting out/turning off when I was trying to set the temp, this happened serval times but eventually started to workââ¬Â¦ I then connected the pump up! And that too didnââ¬â¢t want to work, but eventually did, after checking this it was the switch just not making a connection properly, so I would recommend a new switch. After this everything seems OK so I got ready to do a brew the next dayââ¬Â¦
Brew day! Everything prepped and ready to goââ¬Â¦ I had the same problem getting the brewer to work, but a little perseverance it again started to work, it got to 64c super-fast and kept it there bang on for 90 mins. I did keep checking this with an extra digital thermometer to make sure. The timer only went to 60 mins so I had to reset it part way though (it might do 90 but I couldnââ¬â¢t get it to 90) then I found that after 60 I had to not only set the extra 30 but also dial in 64c again (I only figured that out after I noticed it showing 82c) Again got to 100 for a 60 min boil nice and quick and everything seems OKââ¬Â¦ after 60 mins it turned its self-off and wouldnââ¬â¢t come back on for around 20 mins. The cooler worked a treat (I did have to buy a load of bits to connect it to a tap) and get the temp down quite efficiently. All in all not a bad jobââ¬Â¦
The brewer power did come back on for cleaning, but I tried a test later in the week and it never came back on! After this I decided to swap it with the Grainfartherââ¬Â¦ (Which is better quality by far) as I had lost a faith in the brewer.
Conclusion: The brewer is a nice bit of kit at what seems a good price. Gets to and keeps temp really well, and will definitely be a great choice (even thou I jibbed out) Could do with a little smoothing out with a file on a few areas, There are definitely a few teething problems (or was with the one I had) The software when working is very nice and easy to control.
I will also add a caveat to this: HBO were very helpful in getting this resolved, And were also very happy to exchange for the grainfarther (another ã200)ââ¬Â¦ Big Thanksââ¬Â¦ they also put me on to the Brewers supplier who were also very helpful. I would say ââ¬ÅGive it a go!!!ââ¬Â