Bulldog brewer V3 or something else ?

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pvt_ak

Budding Brewer !
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Just browsing all in one systems - really like the convenience of them.

The Bulldog looks slick in videos and seems very affordable. What's it competitor, does anyone have experience of using or should I be looking at something else ?

Yours truly - AG apprentice Pvt_AK [emoji106]


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I've looked at the features of the Bulldog, and in IMO I'd consider adding the Grainfather to your list of options.

Pros

- High quality onboard pump (6 watts magnetic)
- Counterflow chiller included, can start transfer to FV within seconds of boil finishing
- The hop filter is excellent, no need for use muslin bags


Cons

- Lack of element control compared to the Bulldog which seems to have analogue style control
- I've found extra time taken to counterflow chill out of kettle can mess with IBU calculations
- Price
 
I've looked at the features of the Bulldog, and in IMO I'd consider adding the Grainfather to your list of options.

Pros

- High quality onboard pump (6 watts magnetic)
- Counterflow chiller included, can start transfer to FV within seconds of boil finishing
- The hop filter is excellent, no need for use muslin bags
- Can be used to distill spirit

Cons

- Lack of element control compared to the Bulldog which seems to have analogue style control
- I've found extra time taken to counterflow chill out of kettle can mess with IBU calculations
- Price



Nice one - thanks for that. Will look into that one, first thoughts is the obvious price difference and justifying the spend to SWMBO, me being an apprentice brewer and all.

Will research !


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it will depend on how big your pocket is which one you go for
I have the ace microbrewery which is nice and easy to use
which sale for about £345 on ebay
 
I've got the Bulldog Brewer and I'm very happy with it. That said, pretty much everyone with a Bulldog, ACE, Grainfather or Braumeister, is happy about the system, so I don't think you can go wrong whichever route you go down.
 
The Bulldog looks slick in videos and seems very affordable. What's it competitor, does anyone have experience of using or should I be looking at something else ?

Just throwing this out there...

I noticed in another thread you've just started with BIAB.

Rather than an all-in-one RIMS system, which is quite a big outlay at this stage, you might want to consider a basic cooler-box mash tun as your next piece of equipment.

For the price tag of a RIMS, you could get yourself a mash tun and enough ingredients for another 10-15 all grain batches. And if you're just getting into all grain, I would suggest that the experience learned from another dozen or so batches will, in the long run, be far more valuable than the ease of having a pump and a fancy digital screen.

It will give you chance to learn about different grain bills, design your own recipes, experiment with mash temperature, water profiles etc. and generally get your process dialled in - something that can then be transferred to pretty much any brewing setup.
 
Just throwing this out there...



I noticed in another thread you've just started with BIAB.



Rather than an all-in-one RIMS system, which is quite a big outlay at this stage, you might want to consider a basic cooler-box mash tun as your next piece of equipment.



For the price tag of a RIMS, you could get yourself a mash tun and enough ingredients for another 10-15 all grain batches. And if you're just getting into all grain, I would suggest that the experience learned from another dozen or so batches will, in the long run, be far more valuable than the ease of having a pump and a fancy digital screen.



It will give you chance to learn about different grain bills, design your own recipes, experiment with mash temperature, water profiles etc. and generally get your process dialled in - something that can then be transferred to pretty much any brewing setup.



It's food for thought - I am one for knowing the detail and getting to grips with the mechanics and intricacies of stuff.

But I'm also a right gadget freak and they do look kind of sexy.

It's all exciting stuff this, same as wine and cider I only started back end of last year. It's fascinating, and I cant for the life of me understand why I didn't start doing this earlier !!


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Just throwing this out there...

I noticed in another thread you've just started with BIAB.

Rather than an all-in-one RIMS system, which is quite a big outlay at this stage, you might want to consider a basic cooler-box mash tun as your next piece of equipment.

For the price tag of a RIMS, you could get yourself a mash tun and enough ingredients for another 10-15 all grain batches. And if you're just getting into all grain, I would suggest that the experience learned from another dozen or so batches will, in the long run, be far more valuable than the ease of having a pump and a fancy digital screen.

It will give you chance to learn about different grain bills, design your own recipes, experiment with mash temperature, water profiles etc. and generally get your process dialled in - something that can then be transferred to pretty much any brewing setup.

I'm not sure I follow, maybe because I jumped from BIAB to all-in-one. What experience does a cooler box give that can't be had with either of the other two? Different grain bill, designing recipes, water chemistry, different mash temperature, stepped mashes, even decoction mashes, the effect of crush size, these are all possible with an all-in-one.
 
I'm not sure I follow, maybe because I jumped from BIAB to all-in-one. What experience does a cooler box give that can't be had with either of the other two? Different grain bill, designing recipes, water chemistry, different mash temperature, stepped mashes, even decoction mashes, the effect of crush size, these are all possible with an all-in-one.

That's not quite what I meant, apologies if that wasn't clear!

I wasn't claiming those things are only possible with a mash tun, but that after only a handful of BIABs there still might be a learning curve that the simple addition of a cheap mash tun could benefit.

I also wasn't claiming that going directly from BIAB to an all-in-one is necessarily bad idea, or that it's "too hard". It's just that some of the new processes involved when moving up from BIAB (vorlaufing, batch/fly sparging, calculations for sparge volumes, mash thickness etc.) could be learned from a smaller and cheaper investment in a cooler box then applied to fancier kit later - the rest of the money saved being spent on actually brewing and learning (and drinking!)
 
I went for a Brewolution Brewster. I think I'm the only one on this forum that did. I initially ordered a Bulldog, but when it turned up it didn't work. The great looking electrics panel was faulty. The supplier offered me a next day replacement or a Brewster as a straight swop.

I was worried about reliability of the Bulldog so opted for a Brewster. It looks a bit 'Heath-Robinson' but it works really well. The counterflow chiller allows me to chill the wort to pitch temperature and pour straight into the FV, in a few minutes. All the tubes, being external, can be easily removed for cleaning/sterilizing. All good, with one minor exception. The grain basket is lifted out and propped up for draining & sparging on two bent brackets that are a bit tricky to place. That's the one advantage the Bulldog has, the grainbasket lifts out in a similar way to the GF.

At more than £100 cheaper than the Grainfather it may be worth a look.
 
I'v got a grainfather and I think its an excellent bit of kit, not bashing the cheaper alternatives like the ACE etc but the grainfather is better - counter flow chiller, bluetooth connectivity, IOS/Android app, weather its worth the extra £'s is debatable of course !!
 
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