Which all in one?

[robster62]

You can also do no sparge 20L-30L batches in the 50L which is handy if you are stuck for time. I don’t know what your method is at the moment but “all in one” should actually be “all in 2” because you need something to heat your sparge water. I’m lucky that I upgraded from BIAB so just use my old boiler for my sparge water.

I have the 30L BrewDevil and can’t fault it.

I don't have sparge water heater I use hot water from the tap.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I don't have sparge water heater I use hot water from the tap.

Your tap water is hot enough to sparge with ?!

 

[chopps]

Well finally a decision! :) I’m not so familar with the Brewster Beacon, but you will notice that many of the all in ones look identical. And that’s because they are. The Klarstein Mundschenk, Brewdevil, Royal Catering, Brewmonk, Hopcat, Beertorrent are branded differently, but the same machine. I think the Beacon is one of these too. The 30L ones are marked to the 30L level, but the vessel goes another 5 litres to the brim. Some brands do 50L versions. (The robobrew/brewzilla is slightly different). Shop around. Don’t be swayed by brand.

That sparge heater is also a standard design that everyone brands up. Take a close look at the Grainfather sparge heater photos and spec, then look for Igenix 18L (and others) Spooky :)

This, I believe is the actual all-in-one OEM Foshan Shunde Damai Kitchen Utensils Co., Ltd. - electrical appliance, kitchen utensils

 

[foxy]

so, i'm going all in one....it's decided :)

but which one?!

ok, so, I want to keep the initial budget to £500 all in. From this £500 I'd like to produce 1 batch too.

I'm happy buying used, don't mind a little fettle.

so all, please help me spend my money :)

I have plastic fermenters which I'll use for the time being, I also have kegs and a brew fridge so those items are not required. Purely brew equipment only.

If you have everything else, I presume you must be brewing already. Hang on to your money until next year, I have heard on the grapevine there is a ball tearer of a SVB coming out, with PID temperature control.

 

[Hudson1984]

Well finally a decision! :) I’m not so familar with the Brewster Beacon, but you will notice that many of the all in ones look identical. And that’s because they are. The Klarstein Mundschenk, Brewdevil, Royal Catering, Brewmonk, Hopcat, Beertorrent are branded differently, but the same machine. I think the Beacon is one of these too. The 30L ones are marked to the 30L level, but the vessel goes another 5 litres to the brim. Some brands do 50L versions. (The robobrew/brewzilla is slightly different). Shop around. Don’t be swayed by brand.

That sparge heater is also a standard design that everyone brands up. Take a close look at the Grainfather sparge heater photos and spec, then look for Igenix 18L (and others) Spooky :)

This, I believe is the actual all-in-one OEM Foshan Shunde Damai Kitchen Utensils Co., Ltd. - electrical appliance, kitchen utensils

haha, I actually have your voice - or an imagination of it - in my ear shouting "bloody get on with it!!"

another member of the local brew club has the 70 ltr version, and i'm tempted to go for this one. It blows my budget out of the water but does give alot of flexibility in terms of what size I decide to brew, plus I don't think i'd outgrow it. I like the beacon because of the sight glass to be honest!

I'd rather keep to one brand and get the 65l brewzilla but can't find a uk version anywhere.

I've ordered - the 55l fermzilla starter, the pressure kit, sparge kit, and the digiboiler - yep it's loads more than the igenix but I like the barb connection and it'll be used for coffees and also supplying hot water for cleaning stuff in the garage too so didn't mind spending a little more.

I'm going to wait till next friday to buy the all in one, think there's some black friday deals coming so will see what deal i can get

If you have everything else, I presume you must be brewing already. Hang on to your money until next year, I have heard on the grapevine there is a ball tearer of a SVB coming out, with PID temperature control.

I'm only brewing kits at the moment. So i'm happy to not have the newest gear. If I can get on with something for the next year that'll be cool plus chopps would really take the mick if I said i'm waiting for a year

 

[Clint]

Regards to capacity...how much do you need to brew?

 

[Hudson1984]

is there a "need" when it comes to beer?

 

[Clint]

If you drink 40 pints a month and you brew 30...you either need to brew more or get to Asda.

 

[Hudson1984]

haha this is true, i'm more of a "drink what I have" kinda guy, I do have kits on the go too so there's normally something to drink.

I like the idea of 54ltr batches or there abouts. This means I can put 18l into 3 kegs, and leave it well alone to condition. That's the plan anyway, It'll take a while to get through that lot so I don't intend to brew fortnightly

 

[Polcho]

I think I‘m going around in circles, having been researching all in one systems for a month or so.
I haven’t made an all grain brew as yet, but I’ve been reading as much as I can, videos etc.

So I think I have it down to two systems:
Grainfather & Robobrew/Brewzilla*.

*Can somebody tell me if this is the same model. I see they look the same, but they do have different badges on the front.

I thought I settled on the Grainfather, however, I wonder if the thing about the wort chiller restricting late hopping will be an issue?

I don’t really understand the programming facility either. So I understand that the Grainfather has it programmable on the pc or app and can be transferred via wi fi to the unit. What I can’t grasp is, does the Robobrew/Brewzilla model have this function, but the difference being that the programming has to be done on the unit itself

I also wonder if people think that this programming is worth the while, or if it’s just as well to print the recipe and just follow it?

I have to move forward with this reasonably quickly, (for my own sanity), if anybody has experience with these models, or an opinion as to why I’m barking up the wrong tree altogether, I’d be glad to hear.

 

[trueblue]

I have a Grainfather and compared the two at brew con a couple of years back. they are different. I didn't think I would use the Wi Fi facility much but I'm now surprised how much I do use it. I brew in a cold garage and it's nice in the winter to fill with water the night before then sit in my warm living room and set the time I want it to turn on and the temperature from my phone. As and old fart I like the position of the controller near the top of the unit so much more practical. Late hop additions never a problem.

 

[Flan]

I too have decided to go all in one and this is the one I’ve decided on, I’ve just got to pluck up the courage to push the button. The 45l one with all the extras seems good value to me I think it works out around £415 delivered. 45L Hopcat MK3 Mini MEGA | hopcat

 

[Polcho]

Do you have a review link to the Hopcat?

 

[Leon103]

Do you have a review link to the Hopcat?

Most of the reviews are about delivery time. Deliveries are all advertised on the web site. I don't think hopcat hide the fact that they take a number of pre-orders before they order from China. They order containers of them to bring the price down. I messaged them a couple of weeks ago and they replied within am hour and said they had stock in the UK

 

[trueblue]

As I said the Brew Con event gave me a chance to compare several of the systems virtually side by side and didn't like the general build of the Hop cat compared to the others, looked cheap, but I'm sure people that have bought one will like it.

 

[The Baron]

The build quality of the Hopcat is the same as the AngelBrew, Klarstein, Ace and many more others as it is the same machine rebranded. I have had my Ace over 3 years and never had a problem in 100 plus brews. It does not have any rust issues and to be honest it has the same pump and bonded elements as the Grainfather. The Grainfather has a WiFi controller while the others have a controller that you have to press the buttons on the actual unit but they are capable of step mashes and preset brewing cycles that you input and if you are using one of your already preset cycles it is easy to just press the cycle you want and let it do it for you.
A 35ltr Grainfather will cost you approx £675 with probably some extra's which you may or may not want while a 30/35ltr Hopcat will be less than your 45ltr version you are looking at so if you want to compare you would need to spend even more for a equivalent capacity Grainfather.
So if you want the best for your money go for the Hopcat or a Brewzilla or Robbrew, the Grainfather has lost its way now the competition has caught up and is still well overpriced in comparison IMO
Do not be put off as I have said mine has done over 100 brews in 3 years and its condition is as near new as when I bought it

 

[Hudson1984]

so after living with my Brewzilla for a while, I'm, in general pretty pleased.

hindsight thoughts though:
I wish I'd got something bigger - I get about a keg out of a brewday - that's a hell of a lot of work for 1 keg! something that pumps out 2 or 3 per batch would've been a much better idea.

The garage electrics aren't up to sparge on full AND Brewzilla on max, in fact, Brewzilla on max is a bit much on its own....Going forward I'll be looking for a higher power feed into the garage.

Cleaning is a pain!!!!!!

 

[Polcho]

Thanks guys. This thing about cleaning the all in one. Looking at videos from the likes of the MalmMiller. The Grainfather is easy to clean. In terms of cleaning, are they all about the same?

 

[Hudson1984]

yeah not huge differences between them - in fairness I had a boil over so it was a nightmare getting it all clean again.

 

[Consett26]

hindsight thoughts though:
I wish I'd got something bigger - I get about a keg out of a brewday - that's a hell of a lot of work for 1 keg! something that pumps out 2 or 3 per batch would've been a much better idea.

Yep, agree with this. Go for the biggest that you've got room for/can afford

Cleaning is a pain!!!!!!

I disagree with this. Well, sort of. *Any* cleaning is a pain but the Brewzilla is a lot easier to clean than the multitude of plastic buckets that I had when I was home brewing years ago. Plus it can be done in stages - the malt pipe while the wort is boiling then the rest when its in the fermenter