the electric brewery guide 20G system vs Spike 20G system

general_jah · Joined: 05 Jun 2017 Posts: 21 Location: Austin, TX

Hey guys, I was hoping to get some input/opinions to help me make a decision. I've been researching building my system using the electric brewery ebook vs just purchasing the spike 20G system. I come to find out spike actually helps manufacture certain parts for the electric brewery which made this choice even more confusing for me.

My question is this. How do you feel the system outlined by Kal in his book compares to the Spike 20G system?

I priced out my cost to build vs theirs and it is about the same price vs the time saved to have spike build it. I love brewing but am no so endeared with the engineering side of things. I don't have a ton of time and building my own system isn't a great use of it, I'd rather be brewing.

That being said hopefully you guys can give me your opinion on the spike system vs the one outlined in the book as it looks really similar to me as the one outlined by Kal aside from the hop stopper filter screen - which looks really nice.

Thank you in advance!

RyanTheSimp · Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:55 pm Post subject:

Well I have not used the spike system so I can't comment on it but I'm sure it works great. I have just completed my control panel and have brewed on it once. But man do I love it. I love to talk about it, show it off, and even have pride in the fact that I built it. It makes brew day even more awesome watching that thing work. Mug

**kal** · Last edited by kal on Tue Jun 06, 2017 1:21 am; edited 6 times in total

Welcome the forum!

There’s no relation between our manufacturer (Spike Innovations) and copycat systems offered by places such as Spike Brewing. The similarity in name is unfortunate and can/will cause confusion. Lately I've been editing posts to make sure people use the whole "Spike Innovations" name to avoid any confusion. Wink

Many companies have come and gone since we first featured free build instructions on our site back in 2009. We give away information for free so many have built and sold regardless of their pass experience in electronics or electrical work. None of these places asked for our permission to copy our design nor have we been involved in any way in designing/selling their setups.

Many at first glance appear similar to ours or copies based on our design, but many of these other sites will use less expensive components (and less components) to keep the price down.

Please be aware too that we can’t assist with the assembly of control panels from kits bought elsewhere nor can we repair control panels built by others. We get asked quite often to repair pre-built panels built by others. Unfortunately this is also not a service we can offer.

Some of the other sellers also seem unable to ship in the promised timeframe. Lately we’ve had some orders from people who cancelled at other sellers after months of waiting to receive their panels after their ship dates kept slipping...

I've sent you an email.

Kal

mjo2125 · Joined: 27 Feb 2017 Posts: 248 Location: Dayton, OH

I built a 50 amp back-to-back control panel based on Kal's schematics. I've looked into the Spike set-up, but I prefer Kal's control instruments - the PIDs and Timer seem to be more user friendly and intuitive.

slightly off topic, but...Spike advertises that they can custom-make your kettles, but when asked to punch a 9/16" hole (for Kal's Boil Kettle temp probe) they wouldn't do it saying that they didn't have the tooling (hmmm...). They also declined to punch a hole capable of accepting a different heating element (Blickmann's Boil Coil) - guess it's understandable since they want you to use their heating coil. Basically, they won't custom-make kettles that don't accept their accessories.

Having said that, Spike does have an interesting heating coil set-up - a stainless steel element with an electric quick disconnect if you ever need to move the kettle without the cord tagging along. I've yet to order the kettles and I may use a combination of Spike and Blickmann. My system will probably be a hybrid of Kal's design and others for the kettles and pumps.

**kal** · Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 12:53 am Post subject:

For what it's worth, many seem to offer shiny 304/316 stainless heating elements. Many are not UL listed either.

We prefer and sell only Camco heating elements that are UL listed and where the heating rods are made from the highest Grade Nickel and Chromium Incoloy (804 stainless steel) which is high temperature and corrosion resistant. It is essentially a mix of premium grade nickel and stainless steel. Incoloy is about 8 times more expensive, lighter, and more corrosion resistant than standard 304/316 stainless steel. High temperature resistance allows the heating element to resist damage in the event that it is fired dry (not in water) by accident.

More info: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/stainless-steel-heating-elements

Kal

RyanTheSimp

Anticlimaddox · Joined: 05 Feb 2016 Posts: 85 Location: Harrisonburg, VA

When building my system I heavily researched Spike's and Kal's. Honestly price was less of a concern for me than having a reliable place to get help and answers from. Spike (at least at the time and maybe still) had no phone number and only connected through email which I found odd. At least with Kal's setup I can connect by phone to any of the vendors that have supplied hardware and this forum alone has saved me a lot of time with advice from brewers with familiar setups. I decided ultimately to build my system exactly as mapped here so any issues could be narrowed down without any wildcard changes I might have made or that were sourced from random third parties.

I literally *just* completed my system and could not be happier, I've only run a wet test through so far and brew day 1 is in 2 weeks. Zero regrets.

mjo2125 · Joined: 27 Feb 2017 Posts: 248 Location: Dayton, OH

I wonder if the Camco heating elements are compatible with Spike's electrical quick disconnect.

**kal** · Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 2:59 am Post subject:

Camco does not make heating elements with integrated male plugs. Less connection points is safer, and there's no chance of water ingress. That's what I prefer.

Designs setup properly and you'll never need to disconnect your BK or HLT heating elements (I don't).

Kal

johnpbuckles · Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 11:56 pm Post subject:

Kal, sorry to revive this topic, but it looks like it's been a few years. The Spike Brewing (Milwaukee company) 3-vessel system sold today would at first glance appear to have your control panel https://spikebrewing.com/collections/spike-system-npt/products/spike-system-20-gallon. However, upon closer inspection, one notices the logo is different than yours, and says powered by "Electric Brewing", not "The Electric Brewery". It looks like Electric Brewing Supply out of Chassell, Michigan is selling an extreme copy-cat design of your control panel https://ebrewsupply.com/collections/pid-controlled-diy! You can see the similarities in this customer's YouTube review video https://youtu.be/LJXOu7uKrTg. He even mistakenly says "this is made by the Electric Brewery" and references your website!

I'm just very curious - was there any permission/knowledge/collaboration with your brewery/business to create this product with Electric Brewing Supply and/or Spike Brewing? If not, and it's truly a pure copy-cat, I apologize and commend you for your selfless dedication to the art over the profit!

Cheers!

**kal** · Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 12:19 am Post subject:

johnpbuckles · Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 1:06 am Post subject:

Wow, that's crazy. I'm sorry if I brought up a sore subject here, but I again applaud your transparency and free knowledge sharing. Good on ya. Shame on these rip-offs.

I'm just starting to get deeper into electric brewing, so I'm a bit new to the scene. I must admit; I was fooled about this copy-cat situation for the better part of the day. Luckily, I'm fairly detail-oriented (like yourself, it would seem!) so I was initially suspicious even just considering that your business collaborated with a company like Spike Brewing! Didn't seem your style. Full disclosure, I happened across some of the amazing basement build photos featured on this forum through various google searches (many were your own basement!). I was immediately in awe, but couldn't piece together the source or other details for quite some time. I actually discovered your website accidentally through that YouTube reviewer's mistaken comment! That's when I thought "hey, wait a minute..." haha.

Your detail, dedication and passion for the craft are immediately apparent, even after only a few days of binge-reading your website and this forum. You instantly made me a follower/customer for years!

My wife and I currently live in a rented apartment in downtown Denver, and last year I almost bought a COTS 3-vessel electric system from Spike Brewing or SS Brewtech. Knowing what I do now, and having discovered your website, I'm so glad I did not. I ended up buying the 'ol Grainfather, which gets the job done fine for now in my guest bathroom haha. We are probably buying our first home next year, so I can't wait to design my own setup based on your guides! Unfinished basements are suddenly a higher priority for me Smile

Happy brewing!

**kal** · Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 2:59 am Post subject:

Thanks John, and happy brewing! Brewing is definitely a passion for me. First and foremost was always to make the best quality beer possible so after 20+ years of extract and kit brewing when I decided to take full control and go all-grain, I dove in pretty deep in for more than a year or so to apply my engineering background into the process control required to do this as well as possible and also build something that would be easy and simple to use, maintain, and clean over time. I decided to document *exactly* how I did that through this website, and the rest came later. At the time I frankly didn't think anyone would care enough to follow in my footsteps but I guess I was wrong!

P.S. Thanks for signing up as a forum club member - it's appreciated!

Kal