The Bulldog Brewer

[Davemc]

I was in my local home brewshop yesterday, while getting some other stuff I as admiring the grainfather but mentioned the price put me off. I was shown a leaflet for these which are currently on pre-order to arrive in August. Has anyone pre-ordered one and what are people's thoughts? BTW I am not in anyway connected with them, so hope the link is ok. At this price it seems very attractive.

http://bulldogbrews.co.uk/products/bulldog-brewer.html

 

[Davemc]

Does nobody have an opinion on whether this looks good for the price?

 

[pete71]

Looks like a bargain at £400 if I didn't have a grainfather already then I would buy one. Its like all new equipment every body waits for someone else to take the plunge and review it. only issues I can see is the controls are at the bottom and how would they fair if you had a boil over and there's no top mesh for the malt tube although it can be used as a hop spider which I thought was a good idea.

 

[Zephyr259]

I was getting the sales pitch on this too last time I was in my LBS. I had been thinking of getting an ACE boiler for £100, but this seems to come with all the extras to do a recirculating mash which the folks of the ACE thread are doing themselves, I don't have the time nor expertise to build it myself and was going to modify a coolbox for mashing. Starting to feel a bit tempted by this.

 

[Davemc]

I was getting the sales pitch on this too last time I was in my LBS. I had been thinking of getting an ACE boiler for �£100, but this seems to come with all the extras to do a recirculating mash which the folks of the ACE thread are doing themselves, I don't have the time nor expertise to build it myself and was going to modify a coolbox for mashing. Starting to feel a bit tempted by this.

Me too, haven't been in the shop since to have a look at one. I could probably build my own, but like you don't have the time, an off the shelf solution seems to tick the boxes. Would love to hear some feedback before making the jump, but if nobody on hear gets one soon I might have to save up for one and take the plunge.

 

[copperconker]

i got one of these bulldog brewers and had my first brew day yesterday,did a stepped mash 50,65,68,78 20min rest in between, used irish minch malt and columbus and produced a 1 gallon smash, and done the popular 'no chill method' .

 

[Davemc]

i got one of these bulldog brewers and had my first brew day yesterday,did a stepped mash 50,65,68,78 20min rest in between, used irish minch malt and columbus and produced a 1 gallon smash, and done the popular 'no chill method' .

How did you find it to use?

Are you happy with it? I thought thy came with a wort chiller?

 

[copperconker]

nice bit of kit, build quality good does what it says on the box, because it was a gallon batch i pumped it into a no chill cube and left overnight no issues this brewer is for experimenting, it does not have anything like a strainer that sits on the grainbed while recirculating the mash,the old tin foil method as a diy fix helps, wort chiller will use on future larger batches.

 

[Zephyr259]

Good to hear that it worked with such a small batch, I'd been curious about that as sometimes equipment doesn't like being scaled down.

Thanks for posting your experiences Copperconker.

 

[Personal91]

nice bit of kit, build quality good does what it says on the box, because it was a gallon batch i pumped it into a no chill cube and left overnight no issues this brewer is for experimenting, it does not have anything like a strainer that sits on the grainbed while recirculating the mash,the old tin foil method as a diy fix helps, wort chiller will use on future larger batches.

may be a stupid question - but was it easy to clean the inside after ?

 

[marlon]

I bought a Bulldog Brewer two weeks ago from Home Brew Online in York. (Chose HBO because they offer an AG kit for 1p to start you off). I tried it out with just water but, unfortunately, the electronic timer/temperature unit didn't work... but it did look like a good piece of kit at the value end of the choices. Got onto John at Home Brew Online and there was no problem. He offered me a replacement or an upgrade to a Brewster at no extra cost. To be fair, the Brewster was the last of the present model and a new model is due out soon apparently. I opted for the Brewster which arrived last Wednesday. If it had worked, the Bulldog would have suited me and the electronics are more comprehensive than the Brewster. But, I can never resist a bargain. I have nothing but praise for John and Home Brew Online and I would urge anyone to consider shopping there. I found them very understanding and helpful. My problem was sorted without any quibbling or fuss. I'll be shopping there again just as soon as I need something else.

 

[copperconker]

hi,
yes it is easy to clean, i find rinsing the maltpipe in the power shower, and dry down with kitchen roll.

 

[Jigg]

Hi All…
I bought the Bulldog Brewer from HBO a couple of week ago! And here are my findings… 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 recommendation… 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 work… I then connected the pump up! And that too didn’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 day…
Brew day! Everything prepped and ready to go… 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 couldn’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 OK… after 60 mins it turned its self-off and wouldn’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 job…
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 Grainfarther… (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 £200)… Big Thanks… they also put me on to the Brewers supplier who were also very helpful. I would say “Give it a go!!!”

 

[Covrich]

These came up on Get er brewed now

Seen another review elsewhere which said they had a mare with it.. Doesn't fill me with confidence. (and after buying an ace boiler which was very dodgy I would personally want something to work and not have to fiddle with loose switches)

Not sure whether I will or not but have had half an eye on a grainfather.. And from the reviews so far make me think the extra £200 is more than worth it..

 

[Jigg]

Well I'm very pleased with the GF, just finished a brew today and it was perfect! In every way. ... I think if they get a few things sorted on the bulldog brewer it will be a great thing... Very simple, much cheaper and did a good job... Before it packed up!

 

[Linalmeemow]

I've got one of the second batch to come in - it has a revised design grain basket and sparge plate. I've only done an extract brew with it so far (had all the ingredients in and it seemed like a good way to get used to the controls) but it went really well. Just hope there are no issues with it as it goes on...

 

[defmeister]

@Linalmeemow, where did you get the V2 from?, I've been trying to track one down...........
Cheers
Gordon

 

[Linalmeemow]

@Linalmeemow, where did you get the V2 from?, I've been trying to track one down...........
Cheers
Gordon

The homebrew hop shop in Plymouth (I think). I ordered it when it was on offer and they told me it'd gone out of stock and the next shipment would be in in September if I didn't mind waiting. I didn't, and when it arrived it had the revised bits (and maybe a slightly different controller - I assumed it would be identical to the one on the Brewcrafter 25 but it isn't).

 

[Dandy_Brew]

For those who own the Bulldog Brewer whats the best method for whirlpool of hop pellets as I've read you can't just throw the hop pellets in I would be using a hop spider.

 

[MoBlo]

Ah, old topic. Never mind!