As some of you may know I’m getting back into homebrewing again after 10 years of brewing Pro. I have another gig on the horizon but in the mean time I’m looking at ramping up some beers at the house. I also turn 50 this year and so, being an old guy now (but still handsome AF), I decided to go for more automation. Plus I want to do multiple step mashes again (feel free to argue about that :-*)
I don’t need to brew more than 4-5 gallons now. 18 lbs max grain bill would get me for whatever I need. 110V plug in will allow me to brew indoors when I want.
Anyone care to share their thoughts on this system? It looks pretty damn sweet to me. I’m temped to spring for the 220V system but then I’d have to brew in the garage or have something professionally installed so, nah, probably not.
When the Robobrew first came out there were quality problems. I am not sure if those have been solved or not.
You probably know this already but there are two main competitors: Grainfather and the new Anvil Foundry.
I have the Grainfather. I think these type systems are pretty effective. It’s very easy to control mash temp since the controller does that for you. The recirculation is nice. The main way to sparge is to separately heat water and then use a measuring cup to pour 1-2 cups of water at a time over the top perforated plate. This isn’t the most elegant solution but it is effective. Many people have built stands to leverage gravity during sparge. I prefer the measuring cup. Too simple to drive me to build more equipment.
Heating time: it’s slow but it works. I have a Brewhardware heat stick. It helps a lot when heating 5 gallon batches to boil.
Efficiency is fine. Not better not worse than other systems.
GF chilling is decent (via included CFC) but you can only do so much with Alabama ground water. I don’t like cleaning the CFC though. I think a good immersion chiller is just as fast and easier to clean. The Robobrew comes with a pretty wimpy looking immersion chiller. My guess is you would want something better.
Cleanup: I hate cleaning. Any system with a pump sucks to clean. But, pumps are too useful to avoid.
Taste of the beer: in my experience excellent. Some brewers criticize the systems because they are not low oxygen brewing friendly.
I don’t own one but as far as I can tell, I think the question is how interactive do you want to be. Some of these all-in-ones are basically coffee urn-based BIAB with a pump so the brewer is still actively engaged. But some of these things are impressively automated. Tommy set his up, left for lunch at a brewery with his family and came back to a completed brew day. Man, this home brewing is tough. The coffee urn-based systems can distill, too. You know, for brewing water. [emoji2958]
BTW: I heard Blue Pants is closing. You guys should hook up, open a Biergarten, hire someone to cook Panierte Hähnchenschnitzel oder Jägerschnitzel und Kartoffel Salat mit Brötchen …and attach a well stocked retail homebrew supply. [emoji41]
I still miss sitting under that Pecan tree in the backyard of the old place. It’s too hard for SWMBO to get in and out of now so we haven’t been back. The pizza place at the new one is easier so we go there.
Just to be clear, I am not endorsing Grainfather over the other brands of these systems. GF is twice the price of the competition. That’s a lot to stomach.
I do think these types of systems are good and I like my GF.
I do not have any of those systems. I think 110W is fine since in residential building you do not have to pay electric demand fee to your power company.
I purchased the robobrew 110 a couple of months ago. Used twice so far, incidentally my first and only all grain brews to date. It has done everything it claims to do. I’ve had no issues programming steps, holding accurate temp, bringing to a rolling boil or achieving target OG. I like some of the GF bells and whistles with the app based programming but being a new brewer had a hard time justifying the cost difference.
I have recently retired from pro brewing and am getting back into home brewing. I have ordered a 65L BrewZilla and 35L DigiBoil for sparging. My research seems to indicate than most of the all-in-one units are made in the same place with very slight differences. With the Grainfather it is mostly the controller/interface and the fact is uses a braid filter for mashing vs the plate in the BrewZilla.
David Heath has put together a series of youtube videos comparing them.
You may also fine it fun to look through Aussie Home Brewer to look back on the development of the systems and some of the politics :
