Anyone used the Brewster By Brewolution system?

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Notlaw

Dubbel Dragon
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The Grainfather interests me despite the price, but looking at all the videos, reviews and blurb... to be honest, I think I prefer the look of the Brewster system. I know the GF does more and is only a hundred quid more, but I think the Brewster fits what I would want better. It also is a bit more of a friendly size for in the house. I think the GF sits a bit high if it's on a worktop.

Anyone got any experience of them of heard any detrimental information on them?

I'm a long way of buying something like this, but I like to do my homework in plenty of time so I know exactly what I'm doing.
 
Brewster looks really cheap and low quality to me. I looked across the range of the Brewster, to GF, and the BM.

I went for the BM in the end. And glad I did. But that's just me. But I know my BM would seriously last forever. The GF and decent amount of time. The Brewster....... Not long.
 
Brewster looks really cheap and low quality to me. I looked across the range of the Brewster, to GF, and the BM.

I went for the BM in the end. And glad I did. But that's just me. But I know my BM would seriously last forever. The GF and decent amount of time. The Brewster....... Not long.

I have to say, I disagree slightly. I think the Brewster looks ****; that big sticker on the front looks awful, but the simple pipework is part of the appeal to me. It's all stuff that you can replace easily for next to nowt, you aren't reliant on proprietary spares and paying through the nose for accessories. All of those hoses and connectors could be replaced for around 15 quid. The build quality of the heater/mash bucket thing is pretty solid.

I have no doubt that the Braumeister is a far superior product, but for the price of it, it bloody well should be!!

Having said all this, I have been digging about and you could make your own equivalent of the Brewster for about 250 quid if you have a waft of technical ability. Although it would be using an immersion chiller rather than a counterflow.
 
I've bought a Brewster, and my first experience was mixed to say the least. clean up was easy, control was excellent and chilling was efficient. The problem I found was the three way valve. There needs to be a blank fitting supplied, as when you change over from recirc to chill to drain wort dribbles everywhere. You also need to have the wort flow reduced to half when chilling for it to be fully effective. Having the valve half open means the other side of the valve leaking! I'm going to do another brew this weekend, with some mods. Also the volume is pretty poor at 20L, little grizzles but all conspire to a poor brewing experience.
 
I've bought a Brewster, and my first experience was mixed to say the least. clean up was easy, control was excellent and chilling was efficient.

The problem I found was the three way valve.

There needs to be a blank fitting supplied, as when you change over from recirc to chill to drain, wort dribbles everywhere.

You also need to have the wort flow reduced to half when chilling for it to be fully effective.

Having the valve half open means the other side of the valve leaking!

I'm going to do another brew this weekend, with some mods. Also the volume is pretty poor at 20L, little grizzles but all conspire to a poor brewing experience.

As there are some alternatives to the GF at the moment, would you care to expand on your views? e.g. following your next experiment?

Always very interesting developments.
 
Brewster looks really cheap and low quality to me. I looked across the range of the Brewster, to GF, and the BM.

I went for the BM in the end. And glad I did. But that's just me. But I know my BM would seriously last forever. The GF and decent amount of time. The Brewster....... Not long.
Hmmm I now have the feeling you also drive a Volvo :whistle:
 
Hmmm I now have the feeling you also drive a Volvo :whistle:



[emoji23][emoji23] good guess but not right.

I am an engineer though so I appreciate the uncompromising quality and design of the BM.

And I love mine because it allows me to brew during the day so I can "work from home" and "look after my kids" and "brew" all at the same time during the day because of the easy and flexibility of the piece of kit.

Pays for itself in my book.


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I use a Brewster. I find it easy to use and very easy to clean. The external tubes are a bit 'Heath Robinson' but easy to take apart for cleaning. Controller in good and easy to use and the counterflow chiller works fantastically well. Temperature drops from near boiling to pitching temp in the time it takes to flow from the boiler to the FV and without the pump. The biggest issue for me, is the bent handles that clip under the grain basket for sparging, they can be tricky at first, lifting a full and heavy grain bill out of the boiler.

After the first couple of brews I swopped the plastic tubes for copper. It's a straight swop for 12mm bendy copper. And I got used to manoeuvring the full grain basket.

I never used a G/F or a Braumeister so can't compare, but from what I see, I think the Brewster is good value.

I did have a Bulldog brewer briefly, but the controller was faulty from new so had to go back.
 
I have one and made 1brew so far. Like the simplicity and size. I have changed the pioework to underfloor heating barrier pipe and this helps. Also the seals on the valve are weak and split easily so have replaced with o rings. Have ordered the ss brewtech manifold to replace the supplied setup

IMG_1244.jpg
 
I have the BM and the Ace, as stated previously, the BM will outlast anything else on the market, but as comparing the Ace with the GF, and considering they are both from the same stable I would go for the Ace. Between those two the only real difference is the GF's marketing, quality of build is the same but with a better finish on the Ace.
 
[emoji23][emoji23] good guess but not right.

I am an engineer though so I appreciate the uncompromising quality and design of the BM.

And I love mine because it allows me to brew during the day so I can "work from home" and "look after my kids" and "brew" all at the same time during the day because of the easy and flexibility of the piece of kit.

Pays for itself in my book.


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Lucky sod, it sounds like you have a great work set up :thumb:
I got a Grainfather after a very long lay off from brewing and having a tax rebate burning a hole in my pocket, I was so close to getting a BM but I just couldn't bring myself to go the whole hog for the BM just in case I did a couple of brews and lost interest! I wouldn't say I regret not getting a BM as the Grainfather is excellent but there is something that is so enticing about a BM, I think if the pound ever gets better against the euro I might just be temped get a 10L BM
 
I have the BM and the Ace, as stated previously, the BM will outlast anything else on the market, but as comparing the Ace with the GF, and considering they are both from the same stable I would go for the Ace. Between those two the only real difference is the GF's marketing, quality of build is the same but with a better finish on the Ace.

I agree with you about the BM, but I very much doubt you can provide any evidence that the GF and ACE are from the same stable because they are not.
Also the GF is a better and more reliable system than the ACE, as it should be.
 
I have one and made 1brew so far. Like the simplicity and size. I have changed the pioework to underfloor heating barrier pipe and this helps. Also the seals on the valve are weak and split easily so have replaced with o rings. Have ordered the ss brewtech manifold to replace the supplied setup

Think you & I are the only ones on the forum with one of these. :-?
 
I agree with you about the BM, but I very much doubt you can provide any evidence that the GF and ACE are from the same stable because they are not.
Also the GF is a better and more reliable system than the ACE, as it should be.

And I very much doubt you can prove otherwise.:)
They are both manufactured by Zhongshan Jinchu Manufacturing Co Ltd
Both have the same warranty and both have had the same issues, one is no more reliable than the other, just because a punter has paid more money for the Grainfather is no reason to to say 'it should be more reliable' a big chunk of the Grainfather's cost goes towards marketing.
 
And I very much doubt you can prove otherwise.:)
They are both manufactured by Zhongshan Jinchu Manufacturing Co Ltd
Both have the same warranty and both have had the same issues, one is no more reliable than the other, just because a punter has paid more money for the Grainfather is no reason to to say 'it should be more reliable' a big chunk of the Grainfather's cost goes towards marketing.

Can you prove that Zhongshan Jinchu Manufacturing Co Ltd make the Grainfather?
If you made the statement then you must have some kind of proof.

Also I have seen more issues with the ACE such as faulty elements, dodgy switches and rusting. Considering there have been less sold, I would say they are less reliable.
I agree money is spent on marketing, but then more money goes into customer support and innovation.
The programming system where you can transport recipes from Beersmith is way ahead of the ACE.
 
I've got a Brewolution Brewster, made, ,maybe, 18 brews on it altogether. I've now upgraded to a 100ltr three tier system, but still use the Brewolution Brewster to do small runs, or new recipes.

I made a milk stout and an APA last weekend on it.

I use the counterflow chiller from it on my big brew system as well.

The only thing with mine is i have the white one, not the lovely stainless.

The only thing I forget to do is turn the valve to close when I'm filling it up, so I always leak a litre of water before heating up.
 
I have now upgraded the recirculation with a ss brewtech manifold. Works absolutely fine and will give a much better flow across the grains. Doing a brew tomorrow and will post some pics.


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