I’m saving up for an electric brewing system, i have my eyes on the sabco electric brew magic 20 gallon system, i originally was looking at the more beer system with the tippy mash tun but its not electric and half the volume of the sabco at a very similar price, there are so many systems to choose from, i want a system that is as close as you can get to a pro brewery, i know it will not make me a better brewer but just want a cool system that will last a long time, does anyone have any recommendations? if anyone has a brew magic electric system would love to hear about it cheers
The Brew Easy system from Blichmann is really good and easy to use.
Ya know, there are a lot of advantages to brewing like a homebrewer, not a commercial brewer. Just sayin’…
sure there is advantages, but my #1 goal in my brewing is consistency, brewing the same beer exactly every time,some people enjoy surprises i am not one of those people, i am aware that malts,hops differ from crop to crop so adjustments must be made on the recipe side to create consistency but having a automated system would keep things consistent on the wort production side and i think its just cool to have a crazy wacky system, i know its not necessary
Thinking it’s cool is the best reason. There are a lot of other ways to consistency, though, if that’s the main objective.
If consistency is your goal, how about this? https://picobrew.com/Store/products/z.cshtml
I’m tracking. Cost as an independent variable.
I am also on a mission of consistency. I measure everything from mill gap (crush repeatability), pump output valve gap (flow repeatability), mash thickness, power input for mash, power input for boil, fermenter temp settings, and anything else I can control.
I look at brewing not as one continuous process, but as individual tasks that have control and decision points. I setup and perform those steps the same way each time to attempt to reach consistency.
Homebrewers and pros all have to address each of those intrinsic, individual tasks that make up the brewing process itself. On an industrial scale, it is virtually impossible to accomplish any of them without mechanized and automated systems. On the homebrew scale, many can easily be accomplished without anything more elaborate than Charlie’s wooden spoon. But each piece of equipment introduced to the process will bring with it its own operational and maintenance tasks, that is, additional tasks not intrinsic to the brewing process proper. This is one aspect of what Denny refers to as the advantages of brewing like a homebrewer. Another aspect is that mechanization/automation will not necessarily accomplish any given task better than a “by hand” procedure. In fact it may do it worse. (Pumps introduce undesirable shear, for example.) Pros might in many cases prefer to use homebrew-like hand methods (as did their predecessors not so long ago) if they only could.
BrewBama’s breakdown of the process into individually evaluated goals could be applied to designing your whole system. Only automate steps that will result in sufficiently greater efficiency or consistency to make the necessary additional ancillary tasks (and overall cost) worthwhile. IOW, it’s not an all or nothing choice between coolers, pitchers, pots and spoons or an all-in-one automatic electric system. I remain in the first camp and experience extremely high efficiency and consistency and a very simple brew day. The best PID controller ever constructed is between your ears.
I’ve always wondered if a typical inexpensive homebrew set-up (think Denny’s cheap=and=easy) is truly any less consistent than a much more expensive system. My guess that the answer lies in the person operating the equipment rather than the equipment itself. I think the idea of repeatability is a great marketing term to sell equipment for those of us that want shiny expensive toys to play with.
you know Robert, i am a silly stupid man but every time i hear one of your replies or posts i get smarter, thank you champ seriously 
One problem I have is bouncing efficiency. I think one cause is using different brands of malt from batch to batch. Pros tend to use the same brand over and over.
I own and brew on both types of systems. I can tell you that my cooler system is at least as consistent as any of the fancy systems. I have proven it to myself over and over again. For my last brew I went completely back to my old school systems and got better results than I do on any of the fancy systems.
Yes, that’s a major factor. A good reason to buy malt by the bag if you can.
Good to hear a candid review.
EB needs to get a sponsorship from Coleman! ;D
hey Denny, i’m curious what kind of electric system do you have?
No Coleman here…it’s Rubbermaid!
A Zymatic, 2 Picos, a Grainfather and a Mash and Boil.