[Homebrew Shop] HomeBrewWest

[TonyC]

How do you apply the NHC discount?

[Oh Crap]

How do you apply the NHC discount?

All codes can be found in members area....well worth €10 especially Whit a big purchase like this one

[nigel_c]

How do you apply the NHC discount?

You become a member and get access to the members only area which holds all sorts of goodies.

[ianm]

just ordered one online, with the NHC discount the cost is €356, so that works out well.

Fair play to you.  I only have until midnight to avoid taking out my credit card.  Hopefully someone comes on with some feedback and pictures.

[HomeBrewWest]

Demo Report for:
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/bulldog-brewer-all-in-one-brewing-system-444-c.asp

In a word: amazing. Way beyond what we were expecting. Half of them are already sold as I type this.

We did the first brew ever in a production model, so we found features that even the manufacturers may not yet be fully aware of (or are just underselling). The product description doesn't do it justice. So, what can it do that's not on the feature list? This:
- its incredibly fast,
- step mashing (manual),
- hop stands,
- full independent control of power, temperature, and timer . . . so you can do just about anything, although its not fully automated like a Speidel,
- temp monitoring during cooling.

We did a hybrid Pale Ale with American and South African hops, with a number of pleasant surprises:
- at full power,  it got 20 litres of water from 17 oC to 66 oC in record time, lads are saying about 10 minutes although we didn't measure it . . . it was probably at least 20 minutes,
- as grain was stirred in, the temp was maintained within a couple of degrees of the programmed 66 oC, once it got back to 66 oC we reduced power to 700 watts, and set timer for 60 minutes
- it has proper temperature control: at 700 watt power setting to avoid scorching the wort, it maintained temp between 65 and 67 oC outside in breezy conditions (slight breeze) for 60 minutes, then knocked off the element power automatically
- then we raised malt pipe half way and rested (easy, the half way rest is an invaluable feature),
- here we lost about 30 minutres because we had to use a domestic tea kettle to create 10 litres of 78 oC sparge water (we should have had this all ready),
- then we raised malt pipe up full and rested and added sparge water.
- removed malt pipe, hit 1800 watt setting and set temp to 105 oC,
- cleaned malt pipe and replaced it,
- increased power to 2500 watts until 99 oC was quickly reached, reduced to 1800 watts and achieved a good rolling boil,
- added 60 min hops and set timer to 60 mins,
- we used pellets in muslin bags thrown into the malt pipe . . . this keeps the muslin over an inch away from the element,
- added 4 more hop additions, then power shut off at 0 mins,
- chilled very fast to 80 oC, turned off water, and set temp to 80 oC, power to 700 watts, and timer to 30 mins,
- it dropped to 77 oC before rising and stabilizing at 80 oC because of residual cold water in the wort chiller,
- powered off automatically and we turned wort chiller back on,
- took the usual time to get to 25oC, showing temp all the way down (no need for thermometers),
- removed malt pipe and tilted unit to get the last of the wort,
- here we saw pellet debris in the muslin bags, in the malt pipe, and also around the bazooka . . . the wort itself was remarkably clear (no need to whirlpool),
- poured into fermenter, added 2 litres of water and pitched 2 packs S-04.
We didn't measure evaporation, and wound up with 17 approx. litres of wort at 1062 OG from a 5 Kg grain bill approx. including 2 cara malts (don't have the grain / hop bill to hand, will post early next week when I get it off the lads). Another mishap was that we had a leak in pump connection (fixed by tightening the connection) which lost a couple of litres of water at the beginning.

As this was our first brew, we weren't very scientific about times and measurements and I regret that now as the unit is on its way to the UK. However, total brew time was about 4.5 hours but this included 30 mins lost heating sparge water and a 30 hop stand. This hop stand can be done at any temp, or even multiple temps which is really cool because I hate dry hopping.

Missing: a scale to show wort volume but this could be made easily by scoring a steel or wooden spoon at 5 litre intervals and dipping it into the wort.

Overall: over the moon with this unit. The 3 power settings allow you to move quickly between temps (or steps), set low mashing power to avoid scorching the wort, and create the perfect rolling boil inside or in a storm outside. It also enables precise hop stands at any or multiple temps.

[auralabuse]

Can anyone see if the ardbir would add anything to this units functionality?

[HomeBrewWest]

Correct, see: http://processheatingservices.com/water-heating-time-calculator/

I didn't measure it, lads said "about 10 minutes" but that could well be a lot longer, I've added a correction above . . . at least 20 minutes more likely. Damnations. I wish we had it for just one more day to do some proper measurements. Brew day was short though, quicker than a Speidel but then its more powerful, and both mash and boiling times were shorter than we usually do in the Braumeister.

As soon as I get them here, I'll do proper measurements and a full video demo with proper times etc.

[garciaBernal]

I thought you could get 25l into a fermenter. Why so small a brew and topping up with water?

[HomeBrewWest]

4 reasons:
- this is the first time anyone has brewed in the production model, so evaporation may have been more that is estimated in the instructions,
- we didn't have any way of measuring wort volume so we couldn't add water to keep it at 20 litres during the boil,
- we lost a couple of litres at the beginning due to loose pump connection, and
- an excessive amount of hops in 5 additions in muslin bags, I guess we lost at least a litre here (I'll post recipe next week). 

If we were to brew in it again, the first thing we'd do is to mark off a spoon at 5 litre intervals so that we could see wort volume during boiling.

[BrewDorg]

In an earlier post, ye mentioned this one is 'much better' than the Brewcrafter 25. What makes this one so much better? They look almost identical.

[HomeBrewWest]

See product description here:
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/bulldog-brewer-all-in-one-brewing-system-444-c.asp
Essentially:
- Stronger malt basket mesh for up to 9 Kg malt
- Better pump connections
- Controller timer functions
- Other small improvements
  - malt pipe can be lifted in 2 steps . . . . makes it much easier

In addition, read the brew day description above and then look at the videos of the other system. Several issues arise:
- vague about key points in the process,
- temp drops 8 degrees when he adds the malt, and he powers down the system . . . bit like a mash ton, weird?
- looks like controller has some problems?

And of course the price and the fact that we offer a 1 year warranty.

[HomeBrewWest]

Manufacturer offering 12 months, see here:
http://hambletonbard.com/
but I'll see what we can do.

[ianm]

Did anyone take any pics?

[HomeBrewWest]

Some pics already on our facebook page, more to follow. One of the lads will make a "movie" from all the video clips today and we'll post it mid next week on our YouTube channel. I think we also tweeted, but not sure about pics. We've never really invested in social media, but it is handy for these events, so please follow us. We've also got some other super new products today, overshadowed by the Bulldog Brewer: amazing value new yeast strains for beer, cider and wine. First in Europe so no pics or info available yet, we might tweet about these as well if I can persuade the lads to take a few more pics etc.

Btw, we've only 8 of these left now and will have to keep some for other HBS. Next delivery is October, although I may be able to increase our current order if I get in Monday before the UK HBS see the unit. We are probably at least a week ahead of the UK, so should be OK.

[HomeBrewWest]

Thanks guys, we actually sold out of the promo ones a couple of hours before the deadline. The deposit option sold out at about 10 PM and the full pay option sold out at about 11 PM. If anyone tried to buy only to find them all gone, please PM me and I'll see what we can do. We still have 5 left. We'll see if we can get a few more at the promo price, fingers crossed.

We didn't expect such an amazing response. Its been a whirlwind over the past 30 hours. We're all going to have so much fun developing recipes for this machine!

We're away up north for the Ulster final first thing in the AM (who's idea was the 2 PM kickoff?) . . . first time in Clonas for me, and first time in Monaghan for Bianca so we will be off the radar until late Monday.