Ordered a Brewie! Have any good recepies?

[wolfenrook]

I think most people will see it as largely taking away what they enjoy about brewing. Most enjoy the practical aspect aswell as the final product !

It's an expensive system that has a long waiting time after delivery from a company that doesn't seem to have a great reputation. I'd guess it has limited appeal to anyone interested in a hobby rather than just making beer

So this. If you're pouring ingredients into a machine, pressing a button, and walking away, it's not a hobby any more really. So I can't see devices like these really been popular with members on fora like this one. Single pot systems do well as they just combine equipment we already use into a more compact space, eg: timer, recipe databases, recirculation pumps etc, the hobbyist still has to go through a process to produce the beer. I know some hobbyists are in it for cheap beer, but they're not the target demographic here either really on a machine that's so expensive... But then I won't even buy ready built PCs, preferring to build my own.

As to the dishwasher comment (Zymotik, not Secla), it's a rare person who uses one to cook their meal for sure.... My hat goes off to you as a trail blazer in doing so.... j/k

PS. There are already 2 ways to not spend 5+ hours on a brew day. 1) Homebrew kits (yack!), 2) Extract brewing. Plenty of folks who don't have the time or inclination for all grain do enjoy extract brewing, as they still get to craft a beer themselves. Maybe cancel your order and look into this? You could buy a LOT of extract and hops for that...

PPS. I don't own a shed, or a garage, I brew in the kitchen, with my wife helping at various points in the process. It can be a good hobby for couples, as you get to create together AND enjoy the end product together. In fact, my wife came up with the hybrid sparging method that we used right up until I sorted out a recirculation pump, and was always able to get really good efficiency from the sparge when she did the pouring.

[aamcle]

I've read that you can with a little effort make some of the kits produce decent beers so Yack may be over the top, they're easy and quick to do and don't require pockets as deep as a mine shaft to buy.

I have a GF now it's great but at the same time disappointing because it "just works" it's less interesting and requires less interaction than my last home built system.

If I was inclined to buy a "brewing appliance" and had nothing better to spend on I'd want to be sure it worked as it should and very importantly that it was well supported, for instance how long will machine specific parts be available? That's a concern with any device that uses custom parts including custom electronics especially if it's from a small start up company.

Other than massive physical damage to the GF malt pipe or boiler every other bit can be replaced relatively easily with off the shelf components so even if the CF company were to give up tomorrow I could still be brewing for many years to come.


ATB. aamcle

[wolfenrook]

It's my personal opinion bud from making kits, even the best I made didn't really taste like actual beer.... So standing by my statement than in my opinion kits are yack.

I get what you mean about "just works". I've been quite enjoying the process of adding recirculation to my ACE, and am still planning improvements to it. Eventually I'd like to have a go at building a BIAB boiler from a 50L thermopot (even with the ability to keep your mash warm with the element, it's still nice to save energy with good insulation), with recirculation, electric elements etc. Probably get it with the holes already cut though. lol Maybe try to mimic the "anti scorch system" on the Bulldog Master Brewer too, so I can brew a wheat heavy beer without worrying.

[aamcle]

I've not make a kit for a couple of years it was Ok just I wouldn't pour it away but I wouldn't do it again either but some people like them just look at the enthusiastic posts on the HBF.

My BIAB rig, now packed away probably forever, has a 6" low watt density element I never had anything burn onto it.

My final build was a two vessel job my bufallo boiler (exBIAB boiler), a pump and a modified Burco above it like a Blitchamn BrewEasy but the upper vessel was in effect a malt pipe set up like a GF rather than having an Easy Sparge valve.

I liked it but to engineer it to the standard I wanted was too much so when I got the offer of a GF (TGLW) I caved in.


aamcle

[sonicated]

I love this hobby but I also love a nice easy beer. I wouldn't spend the money on a Brewie until it's been proved a good solution but with two young kids the thought of getting my recipe together, pressing a button and ending up with an FV of wort ready for pitching sounds like a dream. It would certainly make for a happier wife.. until she found out the price!!

Maybe a dishwasher is not a great analogy. Probably a breadmaker is better.

[Jambo]

I have a GF now it's great but at the same time disappointing because it "just works" it's less interesting and requires less interaction than my last home built system.

I initially interpreted GF as girlfriend and your post was entirely relateable!

[aamcle]

girlfriend

Too much like hard work and TGLW would object.


aamcle

[wolfenrook]

Maybe a dishwasher is not a great analogy. Probably a breadmaker is better.

Our bread maker used to do a very good job, my wife won't use it now as a load of baby spiders hatched in it and she saw them flooding out of it.... We didn't make bread as a hobby though, or call ourselves brewers, we just liked the bread that came out of it.

I have absolutely no objection to folks using a device like a Brewie, any more than I do people using kits. It's seriously overpriced though, and there are a lot of not so good opinions of it out there. It's also not hobbyist brewing, so I stand by my position that those who brew as a hobby, rather than just to have cheap beer, are unlikely to welcome one with open arms.

I brew enough that "a nice easy beer" is just a case of grabbing one I made earlier. We still buy every now and then too, to taste new styles or to compare one with my attempts.

I think a good compromise would be that if a clique of folks using these machines did form, well a section for them would probably be a good thing. That way anybody who ISN'T interested just doesn't go there. The same argument could be used for threads with Brewie in the subject, but you know what folks are like.

It doesn't help that the various forums are FULL of shill posts for the Brewie, all with the same argumentative/defensive tone. It ups the paranoia to the point where even in the event of a genuine poster folks are going to challenge their veracity and how genuine they are... Much like the hilarious "Barry Scott" forum posts on parenting and house keeping fora, and blog comments on blogs totally unrelated to cleaning, shilling for Cillit Bang. Folks these days know full well that there are agencies out there that sell a service where they post on fora and social media, in order to raise the profile of a product, and to give an artificially positive impression of said product.

[aamcle]

SEO agencies, I considered setting one up but it's too greasy for me.

Even basic service was £300 a month extensive social marketing much more, Brewie may be doing DIY it's time consuming, cheap and effective if done well but I doubt they can afford to pay a real agency. There is a lot of work to do it properly usually you need a team of people, dozens of accounts and on and on.


aamcle

[Zymotik]

Great to have all your feedback, thanks!

Time is my most valuable asset. I enjoy crafting a recipe, I can literally spend hours on it. Then I get all my gear together, excitedly cleaning it all. I'm chuffed if I hit my target temps that BeerSmith suggests when I get to mash, but by the time my wort is emptying into the fermenter I'm pooooooped! Then, four weeks later I taste the brew I've spent hours on and it's not what I'm expecting...... Lately its been: packing the hops too tightly in a hop sock, so I end up with a malty tasting brew, 40 litres of tat beer to drink...! (although I just discovered hop tea, and that's fixed it, phew). Or the latest
issue: finding out my digital thermometer from eBay is 5 degrees out so I get really sweet beer, 6 more hours of brewing wasted... Aarrgghh!

I don't think I'll be so gutted if I haven't wasted half a day on brewing when I taste another one of my naff beers.

It'll probably be a while before I've some real feedback on the machine, no idea when it will come. But when I do, I'll be sure to let you know. I'll try and be as impartial as I can, maybe even doing a video review.

[Kingfisher4]

"Time is my most valuable asset.

I don't think I'll be so gutted if I haven't wasted half a day on brewing when I taste another one of my naff beers."

So, just a thought; I have just started all grain from scratch with no prior brewing experience, a half share of a Grainfather, 3 great fun days brewing and lots of mistakes so far, but the first brew is already more than acceptable, first bottle of second brew tried today and needs more time to condition at a greater temp than my garage has been for the last month but also showing significant promise.

Why not chip in £175 ish each and get a GF, have fun brewing and good beer. Beginners luck that the 1st 2 are not "naff" or maybe the GF and help from books and this fora have found me a lasting, absorbing new hobby??

P.S. I also love cooking and use a dishwasher but can't really see the analogy too clearly. Why ask for brew recipes when they are abundant and easy to look up if you enjoy that process more than brewing itself?

[wolfenrook]

I'd love a Bulldog Masterbrewer to be honest. For all the flaws with the controller, the anti scorch feature and double walls are big selling points for me! The thought of been able to make wheat beers with ZERO chance of scorching on...

On the flip side, a 50 litre Brewdevil, purely because of the ability to either brew more, or produce big beers at a decent volume....

I doubt I will ever own either to be honest though.

[Zymotik]

Why ask for brew recipes when they are abundant and easy to look up if you enjoy that process more than brewing itself?

I'm BIAB, my efficiencies aren't the same as your GF unfortunately. This affects the rest of the recipe. I do find BeerSmith is a good tool though if you haven't used it? I was wondering if it would be the same difference between the GF/BIAB/Brewie. I'd rather start with a good well recommended recipe than wing it.

I'm thinking I'll do a Citra SMASH.

[sonicated]

When does it arrive?

[wolfenrook]

You'd just need to convert them for the efficiency you got with the machine, the same as you do for recipes designed for 3V to make them work on BIAB, and also to calculate the water to use at various times too.

I enjoy the blending of simplicity, with the various stages you still have to perform yourself AND the ability to tweak your equipment (I recently added a recirculation pump to my boiler, and I'm still planning tweaks to this to make it easier to use and more effective) that you get with BIAB.