kmar92 Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 OK all you all grain brewers, what thoughts do you have on the various microbreweries available here in Aus? Guten, Grainfather, BrewZilla, Braumeister and others. Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyBrew2 Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 I have the brewzilla. Great bit of kit. And a lot more economical than the others in terms of price and functionality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Captain!! Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Honestly I think it comes down to budget and features. What are you willing to pay for, what are you will to go without. There are many many options out there. If I was to start again, it would probably have been the grainfather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Baron Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Brewtools B40 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Having bought a Grainfather I now wish I had got the Brewzilla or the Guten. The app and controller that comes with the Grainfather is its biggest selling point. However, the app is as buggy as. In five sessions I have not had an incident free brew day so far. I suppose I should harden up. You blokes with BIAB urns and the like have to manually do everything. My Grainfather with the dodgy app is about equivalent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiekraut Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 I am so looking forward to firing up the Guten. Yet, I'm scared as hell taking the plunge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyBrew2 Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Nah you’ll get used to it mate. The first brew is always the worst as you don’t want to feck things up. I’ve just done my fifth brew on the brewzilla and each brew day gets smoother and smoother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said: Having bought a Grainfather I now wish I had got the Brewzilla or the Guten. The app and controller that comes with the Grainfather is its biggest selling point. However, the app is as buggy as. In five sessions I have not had an incident free brew day so far. I suppose I should harden up. You blokes with BIAB urns and the like have to manually do everything. My Grainfather with the dodgy app is about equivalent. I have the original controller. No app; manual application. Never had a problem with it and still going strong. They should have just stuck with that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 29 minutes ago, Hairy said: I have the original controller. No app; manual application. Never had a problem with it and still going strong. They should have just stuck with that one. I would probably be happier if I just went manual with mine too. Except I am too disorganised. It sounds like there was an earlier app that worked really well, but that was changed a while ago and has never performed to the same standard as the old one. The app has had at least as many updates as I have done brews with it and each time the issue has been different. When it has worked though, it has made me feel much more in control of the brew day. If it worked well through the whole process it would have been worth every cent of the extra cost for it. Overcomes a lot of that nervous excitement that @PaddyBrew2 and @Aussiekraut refer to. Just wish it worked better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeastyBoy Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 On 11/9/2019 at 9:42 PM, kmar92 said: OK all you all grain brewers, what thoughts do you have on the various microbreweries available here in Aus? Guten, Grainfather, BrewZilla, Braumeister and others. Any recommendations? Horses for courses, what are trying to achieve in terms of home brewing? What are you doing now and what to you hope to achieve by using a all grain microbrewery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmar92 Posted November 10, 2019 Author Share Posted November 10, 2019 KnK but I would like to do more to allow me greater control and more consistent results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 I have a crown urn and do BIAB. Simple, doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the other units but still produces great beer if good process is used. Re the grainfather thing, it reminds me of work. They keep bringing in all these "upgrades" and "improvements" but all they've achieved is to make things less enjoyable and more difficult. Should have just left things the way they were. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Captain!! Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 I love my urn too. Easy, simply, only got one dial to not work. The older I’m getting the more I look at stuff that has moving parts or lcd or flash things that probably aren’t needed but “make it easier” and I think, that’s just more stuff to go wrong with it that I can’t fix myself. The urn is super simple, it does have some drawbacks such as higher gravity brews but your still in control of the whole process. For higher gravity IPAs I’ve dropped the batch size which means I can get up to 7% easily. The hop absorption does get up there in these types of brews though and struggle to fill a 19lt keg. Now that I’ve had my urn for a number of years I’m going to be getting a 3v system. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeastyBoy Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 9 hours ago, kmar92 said: KnK but I would like to do more to allow me greater control and more consistent results. Go low tech (Big Pot/Urn, Esky & a few other bits) to understand the all grain brewing process. You don't need much & might help you with your decision making process to buy a micro?? Let us know how you go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Biggest I've done in my urn was the 8.5% stout. I used a reiterated mash on it though. So it can be done, just have to modify the process a bit. I doubt I'll be making many of those however Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Captain!! Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Yeah my porter was just under that as a reiterated mash. Long brew day but you get the end result. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 My RIS was something like 12.5% BUT that included a kilo of sugar and a fair bit of fighting - ALL DAY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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