National Homebrew Club Ireland

Brewing Discussions => Equipment & Chemicals => Topic started by: Phil.cork on April 26, 2019, 05:43:20 PM

Title: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: Phil.cork on April 26, 2019, 05:43:20 PM
Just saw and purchased this unit there. Seems good value but will give a review when it's up and running
https://www.hifi-tower.ie/Home-Living/Large-Household-Appliances/Beer-dispenser/Mundschenk-XXL-Mash-Kettle-Beer-Brewing-System-3000W-50l-304-Stainless-Steel-hifi-tower-1.html
Title: Re: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: mick02 on April 26, 2019, 09:58:23 PM
Quote from: Phil.cork on April 26, 2019, 05:43:20 PM
Just saw and purchased this unit there. Seems good value but will give a review when it's up and running
https://www.hifi-tower.ie/Home-Living/Large-Household-Appliances/Beer-dispenser/Mundschenk-XXL-Mash-Kettle-Beer-Brewing-System-3000W-50l-304-Stainless-Steel-hifi-tower-1.html
I've been considering a bigger vessel for a while now. I only have limited space so an all in one is on my radar. Looking forward to your review
Title: Re: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: Phil.cork on April 27, 2019, 08:13:45 PM
Will keep you posted
Title: Re: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: mac2k on May 01, 2019, 02:04:24 PM
looks like a nice piece of Kit. I have been looking at the Hopcat 50l, which seems very similar to the one you purchased....  Will be very interested in the review.
Title: Re: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: Phil.cork on May 13, 2019, 12:08:53 PM
So brewed with this unit on yesterday and very pleased overall with it.
Very easy assembly and intuitive to use. I bought this as B stock from the website and I really can't see any cosmetic defects with it at all.
Started with about 32l of water at 11c and heated to strike temp in a little over 40minutes (I had it wrapped in a duvet to see if I can save energy waste, may wrap reflectix on it at some stage)
Mashed in about 5Kg of grain for a Red ale without any difficulties the cap over the centre post makes this very easy.
Set the mash temp to 67.5 (reduced power to 1500w) and went to take the dog for a walk. Temp held very well (+/- .4c) and the recirculation pump worked very well had lovely clear wort coming out by the end of the hour. Decided to Mash out because I could and it took maybe 8-10 minutes to get to 75c and then I lifted the basket up and out.
Heavy enough lifting and I scratched the inside of the unit very slightly but it sits very stable on the support bars and by the time I had the wort up to boil it was dry.
Hit my pre boil gravity on the nose and had an overall efficiency into the fermenter of 75% which is the same as on my old BIAB gas fired Keggle.
used the full 3000w to get to a boil fairly quick and then reduced to 1600w which held a nice gentle boil. about 2l boil off over the hour.
Chilled and drained to fermenter.
I let it sit for 10 mins after whirlpooling it and got very clear wort out (now there was only 35g of hop addition so not too much either way) I have the supplied bazooka screen fitted but I may get rid of it going forward as I don't really see it as necessary.
Took a break to play with the kids and then cleaned up .
From turning on to last item put away cleaned and dried was 5 hours. Compared to the Keggle this is an hour less and I was not being particularly time efficient.
Very happy with the system overall.

unfortunately I grabbed my mash spoon to stir while chilling and only realised after it was all in the fermenter I never sanitised it so if the beer is infected I won't be surprised, but very happy with the system.

Next brew I plan on working out exactly how much non recoverable dead space there is to get the numbers right into Beersmith which should increase my brewhouse efficiency and decrease waste. Also I will brew under the pulley I set up for BIAB to make lifting the basket easier.

I'm pretty sure this is the (almost exact) same unit as the hopcat 50l which I have been looking at for >1 year so very happy with the price.
Title: Re: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: mick02 on May 13, 2019, 12:47:50 PM
Hey Phil,

Thanks for the review. Sounds like the unit is up to the job. Might take the plunge on one myself.

Mick
Title: Re: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: Pereubu on May 13, 2019, 01:16:17 PM
Dont you have work to do, Phil!? Seriously though, thats a great review, especially for anyone sitting on the fence about the Klarstein stuff. I got a 30L mash/boiler from them and its very good also, they look nice too!
Title: Re: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: Phil.cork on May 15, 2019, 09:15:31 PM
Era I work from time to time. This seemed more urgent  :D
NOte to people buying though calibrate the temp before you run it. Mine was reading about 3c low so instead of mashing at 68c I have mashed at about 71-72c. Starting to think my FG of 1.018 is probably as good as I'm going to get.
Title: Re: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: mac2k on June 05, 2019, 09:24:44 PM
nice write up, thanks for taking the time...... Looks like an excellent buy. I still haven't take the plunge, might do shortly.
Title: Re: 50l electric all in one unit
Post by: DEMPSEY on June 05, 2019, 10:52:44 PM
+1on the write up. Remembering that work is the curse of the drinking class.  >:D