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Our brewing setup compared to others
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mcl




Joined: 11 Oct 2011
Posts: 155



PostLink    Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


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I would second all of the recommendations to purchase from Spike. However, I think there is value in assembling the control panel yourself. For the record I did not enjoy this piece of the project. For me it was time consuming and tested my patience. The value is I read and re-read all of the instructions and I am confident I can fix/troubleshoot the panel if there ever is a problem.
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woodenboatguy




Joined: 19 Sep 2012
Posts: 96
Location: Mississauga, ON


PostLink    Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

foomench wrote:
BTW, if you want to try to compare The Electric Brewery to something else that isn't an apples-to-oranges comparison, try this:
http://www.hammacher.com/Product/12157
I wouldn't say it is a perfect comparison, but maybe Granny Smith vs. Rome.


I can't imagine they've ever sold more than one or two of those, if any. That reminds me of when a local Chrysler dealership up north (in an area with the lowest per capital income county in the province) parked a Dodge Viper inside. Lots of silliness but no sell-i-ness. The dealership is now long gone.

Personally I've ordered (and revised and tweaked and probably driven Mike and Kal to distraction) the 50A do-it-yourself panel kit and extras. I am relishing the upcoming build while I work on dragging 28 metres of #6 wiring through conduit in my basement (it's like dancing with an anaconda I've found out).

What I will learn from how Kal has thought this through by putting it together myself will be invaluable.

I can't imagine buying Hammacher's product even if I were the next lottery winner!

Regards,
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huaco




Joined: 05 Apr 2012
Posts: 1506
Location: Burleson Texas


PostLink    Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 2:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did you get the 50A back-to-back kit?
Thats the one I built and I REALLY LIKE IT! I can heat my strike water in my Boil Kettle while leaving my HLT completely full for mashing/sparging. Being built on Keggles that is a REAL nice thing to have because the top of my HERMS coil is just a few inches below my full mark on the HLT.
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JByer323




Joined: 30 Apr 2012
Posts: 14
Location: Noblesville, IN


PostLink    Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 9:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I work at a LHBS that is pretty local to Blichmann, and John and the gang are in on a fairly regular basis. We were one of the first, if not the first, dealers in the country to get a demo Tower of Power system in, I set it up, and have brewed about six twenty gallon batches on it in the last few months.

I think the Tower of Power is an outstanding modular, out of the box system, but ultimately I'll still building an Electric Brewery (and I could get the Blichmann stuff for wholesale).

Why?

Because as far as I'm concerned, the build is part of the fun, electric trumps gas, if I assemble it myself I'm bound to learn something along the way, and the Electric Brewery is everything I have ever wanted in a home brewery all rolled into one.
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woodenboatguy




Joined: 19 Sep 2012
Posts: 96
Location: Mississauga, ON


PostLink    Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

huaco wrote:
Did you get the 50A back-to-back kit?
Thats the one I built and I REALLY LIKE IT! I can heat my strike water in my Boil Kettle while leaving my HLT completely full for mashing/sparging. Being built on Keggles that is a REAL nice thing to have because the top of my HERMS coil is just a few inches below my full mark on the HLT.


I have.

Or rather, I started with asking for a quote on the 30A kit and then some circumstances changed (I sourced a well experienced home brewer's keggles that he was looking to pass along with two 4500 W elements in each of the HTL and Boil Kettle). I had given them the order on 30A already. Kal and Mike were great about rejigging the order and giving me a new quote.

What you describe is exactly why I said "hell yeah!" when I found out how lucky I was going to be to take over a proven setup. Marry that with Kal and Mike's work and it was a no-brainer.

Regards,
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RJensen




Joined: 13 Nov 2012
Posts: 2
Location: Seattle, WA


PostLink    Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 5:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Been reading through the threads, and been making the decision on whether or not to buy a pre-built or the kit. I'm probably going to buy the pre-built, even though I have all the tools already and I do have electrical build experience. The reason why is hinted at in a few of the posts, but it is something to be considered when making the decision. That thing is time. If you are in a hurry, or have severe competition for your available time (for me it's job, remodeling, and kids) then the $700 bump to have something like this simply put together for you is *not* a significant cost factor. Smile

I'd rather spend the time that it would take to build the controller either hanging with my kids, or building my own brewery downstairs in my own basement! Smile

Speaking of- is there a thread going on about brewery layout? I couldn't find one, and I'm trying to put the ideas put forth by John Blichmann on brewery layout (one of the last issues of Brew, I think) and apply them to the Electric Brewery setup. Going to take a stab at a visio drawing soon, I'll post it on the forum.
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mayamountainbrew




Joined: 17 Sep 2013
Posts: 1



PostLink    Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 10:47 pm    Post subject: 45,000 Reply with quote

foomench wrote:
BTW, if you want to try to compare The Electric Brewery to something else that isn't an apples-to-oranges comparison, try this:
http://www.hammacher.com/Product/12157
I wouldn't say it is
Clicked on the link, saw the price did not bother to read or compare. a perfect comparison, but maybe Granny Smith vs. Rome.
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jpalarchio




Joined: 05 Feb 2012
Posts: 10



PostLink    Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 4:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

foomench wrote:
BTW, if you want to try to compare The Electric Brewery to something else that isn't an apples-to-oranges comparison, try this:
http://www.hammacher.com/Product/12157
I wouldn't say it is a perfect comparison, but maybe Granny Smith vs. Rome.


Quite a bit of that thing seems to be Photoshopped. Try to follow the plumbing, it just doesn't make sense. ...and where'd the handle for the left vessel lid go?

For Personalized Service on this item please call 1-800-227-3528 and our Product Specialists will gladly answer all questions and provide additional information.

I'd love for someone to call for more information. I'm sure their "specialists" would be able to answer any question you may have.
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Vesteroid




Joined: 02 Sep 2015
Posts: 57



PostLink    Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I learned long ago about researching, and buying once, vs buy and upgrade forever. That being said, I still did that with brewing. I started for one entire batch with extract. But, I bought a Blichmann kettle and Blichmann burner to do my extract. After that batch I was hooked and wanted to go all grain. Since I saw a 20% off sale at Midwest, I went with the mega pot all grain system and another burner, and a chugger pump.

Got three more batches under my belt, built a keezer to hold my beer, built a fermentation chamber for my brew pots, and decided I hated lugging all that from my garage outside and back each time.

I found Kal on Homebrew and then bought the book. I read it through on a weekend and then bought the entire kit. It all just made instant sense to me. It took out the things i didn't like about brewing (moving things, being outside in the winter, and constantly buying propane tanks) and kept in all the control I enjoyed doing.

I looked at several pre done systems and even though I could afford them, went with this system. I wanted to build it myself. I initially bought the 30 a but after thinking it through, I ran a 50a service. Kal was kind enough to upgrade me halfway through to a 50a back to back.

I am staying with 5 gallon for now as I really enjoy doing lots of different types of beers, and a 5 gallon batch is all I can drink in a reasonable amount of time.

I suppose one day I may upgrade again to ten gallons and conicals and glycol, you know all the toys, but I have to have something to work for don't I?

Anyway, I believe this kit is a solid value that is well though out and from what I have read, performs extremely well.

The off the shelf parts was the key to me. I also have a coffee roasting habit and I started with a roaster that had all proprietary parts. I quickly learned that was a mistake. My current roaster, even though it's from China, I can buy most all the parts here from general industrial suppliers.
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