Bulldog brewer

[soupdragon]

Thanks Dean

Cheers. Tom

[alix101]

Yes Andy it was Farnborough I was a long way from home that's all I knew it began with F.
I've still not had a chance to brew yet I'm still trying to prefect my tiny Brew shed which is a far cry from my former 2000sqf brewery, it's now down to about 10 I just need to sort water and my temp fridge out and then I've got a few brews planned ....The festive brewing season is upon us. Kolsch DPA a Bock and a porter ....Think I might have to start with one first and see where I get.
Great write up Dean I've had a bit more time to look at the system, I think I'll upgrade a few things like the pump and sparge plate it's a bit flimsy I can see it not lasting long but ill use what I have for now ...
But the rest looks good to go, it's not the BM I had in mind but it will do, it's what comes out that matters.

[spanspoon]

for any bulldog brewer owner's, how have you found hitting your strike temp? i am thinking of buying one but have noticed with one pot brew systems such as grainfather some people do suffer with temp overshoots.

[deanrpwaacs]

Yes . It only goes to 60 . Will give them a call and update .

I spoke with the tech dept today and the V2 only goes up to 60 mins on the timer . They are looking at developing a V3 with a programmable control unit that can include 5 steps and will go to 90 min + . I also mentioned the temp calibration side to them and they will look at it . It sound like they are moving in the right direction and taking on board new ideas to improve it over time .

[soupdragon]

Cheers Dean, it's good that they intend to support the machine in the future.

Cheers. Tom

[alix101]

OK I brewed on it yesterday pushed it to the max 7.2kg grain bill and I've got beer
The poitives of this kit are the quick boil and good control,Although I found the controllers timer a problem I ended up using a clock (old School).
The malt tube / sparge plate is a waist of time IMO you could easily sparge without it, it simply gets in the way and I can't see the tube not being snapped off at some point as it's flimsy.
The pump worked it look's like a load of crap but did the job nicely.
The wort chiller works as a wort chiller should but I remembered when I was soaking wet why I don't like emersion coils.
The hop filter doesn't work with pellet hops what a task I had running off.
With a few brews the system should get easier it works but it isn't a BM and needs some mods for my style of brewing but nothing major.

[defmeister]

Hi Guys.

I got one of these last week from the place in Farnborough, great service by the way, and I've done two brews so far. Only had one problem, a small blockage in the pump which was quickly resolved by cycling it on and off a couple of times. This was due to pellet hops I hastily tossed in without a hop bag. Other than that it went great, a pilsner and an Irish stout bubbling away like mad, both mash kits from the same shop as the brewer. Looking forward to trying both. So far, I'd certainly recommend the Bulldog Brewer.....

Cheers
Def.

[soupdragon]

Got another question for those who have one of these.......

How big is the malt pipe/basket? I'm wondering if I'd be able to clean it in the kitchen sink between the mash and the boil. Any specific cleaning tips for the unit in general?

Cheers Tom

[spanspoon]

You might struggle to wash the malt pipe in a kitchen sink. It's almost as big as the kettle itself. It depends on the height of your tap.
I tend to brew in the garage and just hose off the malt pipe after washing down with soapy water (I do have a hot water supply in there though).
Cleaning the system itself is a doddle as everything is within easy reach.
I've got a pot of the grainfather cleaner and I circulate the system for 15 mins with 15l of water at 60c. Empty the systems and rinse off with hot clean water. I barely need to scrub at anything.

[soupdragon]

Does the unit need to be filled to brewing levels to clean it properly or just a few litres? I suppose I could clean the basket in the bath

Cheers. Tom

[shepp]

Use a flexi-tub.

[Midlife]

I've just gone for a bulldog.... I like the sparge plate, but also like the pump arrangement. I figured with some disconnects I can hook up my brupaks boiler and use the pump to sparge. I'm not sure I will go for the full boil yet, maybe just use as a good mashing unit and temprature control. I'm still tempted to drop the wart into my old pot an on my 7kw gas ring. Gas is so much easier to control. Will do a full brew though to see what's best.

Certainly a nice piece of kit.

[soupdragon]

Just out of interest
After washing it out can you refit the malt pipe and use as some form of hop basket in the boil or does it hinder the heat circulation?

Cheers. Tom

[Midlife]

Hello, I've got a couple of questions....

At the end of the boil or rather 5 mins from the end, I would stick the chiller in so its sterilised, can you turn the pump on and circulate the wart hence sterilising the pump and line, then as its cooling you circulate the wort to cool evenly? Once you reach ambient/yeast temp you can switch the pump off move the pipe to the FV and then switch the pump on to transfer. Does the pump take the heat ok? I can't find any info on this and it's basically what's done with the grainfather.

Do you need to use the timer? I assume you can just leave it mashing or boiling as long as you want I.e self time... Reason for asking is I normally do longer mashes and boils.

Thanks

Doug

[spanspoon]

i too have thought of this.
i might give it a try.
the only thing i have found with the pump is that it clogs with only the slightest bit of debris, so a hop sock might prove useful.