Robrew Vs Grainfather Video revue

[The Baron]

Something I have seen on Youtube in the last few days. As some of you wil know I have the original Ace microbrewer and have suffered from the bad press mainly put out by some GF owners trying to justify that there item costs twice the price. I have however done 40 plus brews with mine with very little issues but I have just seen the latest David Heath Video without falling asleep and it shows the Robobrew as a real competitor to thr Gf even in his eyes at virtually half the price and competes in all levels apart from the bluetooth control. Worth a view for future purchases, certainly turned my head for when I need to replace my Ace which is still going strong by the way at £280.

 

[yeastinfection]

Same here. No issues with my ace.

 

[Clint]

Can you still get the Ace? Thought I heard they’d stopped trading....

 

[The Baron]

No Clint the Ace is no longer available They where a company called Ace who did catering equipment and went under but they had just rebadged it themselves) the same machine is re-badged as the Klarstein, Angelbrew, Hopcat,Brewdevil, Guten and Beer Torrent plus a few more so the technical answer is yes. As I said I git mine for £280 and its been brilliant apart from a switch problem which I got a replacement under warranty and to buy one was under a fiver. The original has a step mode of I think 5 steps so I can dial in mash, mash out and boil all in one but what I was trying to say is that the new style Robobrew is the leader on price at the moment and nearly as good as the GF

 

[-Bezza-]

This advert springs to mind:

 

[ITMA]

I'm happy enough with the gf but it's clear that Bevie are excellent marketeers and that's where the bulk of the money goes.

There are many flaws in the design of the gf, no doubt.

I would certainly consider getting one, maybe to run parallel brew days?

I've got that bore droning in the background and I'm already losing interest but just looking at this Robobrew, it looks like a more elegant design. I'd be tempted to say it's better than the GF, assuming you're not bothered about the connect controller? (I'm not). It's certainly not hundreds of pounds inferior.

Looks like they're hard to get in the uk at the moment? Do post links if there are any suppliers? I've seen this one at £320 but not much else:

https://brewkegtap.co.uk/collection...rew-v3-all-grain-brewing-system-with-pump-35l

 

[Clint]

Do these systems require more mash water due to the space between the bottom of the malt tube and bottom of the boiler, than say using 2.6 l/kg as I would use in my mash tun/picnic box?

 

[The Baron]

Yes all these systems have a dead space which varies with systems but all pretty similar but you do need more mash water full I use between 18 to 20 litres for mash at about 4.5ltr per kilo ( you can do less)which works for me or you can do a full mash with a minimal sparge its entirely up to you and very adaptable to most peoples style. Sparge is usually about 14ltrs to give 28 to 28.5 for the boil to get 23ltr after the boil

 

[Clint]

I've had a look around ..GF seems to recommend around 3.2 l/kg so this in turn reduces the required sparge amount to reach preboil volume. Makes sense. I was wondering as I seen some vids with people getting the mash too thick and struggling. Some people also seem to have a problem with the double bottom plate and don't use the top plate. What's with this? I wouldn't like to pay for obsolete items. What sort of effect does themash recirc have on the trub volumes in the final boil and how much could you expect in carry over to the fv?

 

[The Baron]

Hi Clint I think I have answered some of these questions in the thread you have just started. The top screen is meant to be used in the mash but i do not use it so that I can stir the mash if I require to do so however I do fit the top p,late to sparge with as it dissipates the water I jug in for my sparge so as not to create channels in the mash. Regards Trub I do recirc but only on the mash cycle and the results are about 1 to 2 ltrs of trub at the end usually about 1ltr most times and a clearer wort. I then no chill by leaving it to drop to 70c in the boil kettle so the trub settles then use the tap at the bottom to fill the FV and my beers are very clear with a couple of weeks unless I dry hop with plenty