The Bulldog Brewer

[Fal]

Thanks for that. I used to just up the grain and go no sparge or little sparge in my last set up. Hence the struggle.

[TonyC]

Great, I am brewing tomorrow and going to use 33l

Sent from my ONE E1003 using Tapatalk

[Damofto]

No problem, you should save a lot of grain by using the Bulldog so.

[krockett]

Fantastic customer service there by HBW. They are looking after their customers with this - will be swapping out my unit (seems like its faulty- I was unlucky).

[TonyC]

Another video. Just realised my one doesnt have the pipe up the middle. Will have to test how quick it gets up to mash temp too. Mine took over 30 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiDgIf5iL1A

[krockett]

My new one went to mash temp in about 20 minutes. Went from that to 100 in 15! I was ready to start cooling down in just over 3 hours yesterday.

One tip: don't set your target temp at 102. Mine was hitting that and cutting off the boiler before it hit full rolling boil. When I set the target temp to 104 it took off properly. Maybe this is because I had too much wort in it (30 liters) - it was at 102 at the sensor but not all the way to the top.

My efficiency still is poor, despite using 20 liters for the mash, stirring grain well as it was added etc. Seems to be lots of threads on the grainfather on how to get proper efficiency from these systems - need to do some readingup.

[Leann ull]

Looking at that he has that wrong that sparging plate should be used aka the grainfather one for distribution of the returning wort as otherwise you are going to get channeling down the side where the flow is.
HSA is in theory a myth for homebrewing, but a length of silicone just so that it sits on the top and isn't splashing in aka again like the GF would be good.
Boiling with lid on is a no no as well
His boil wasn't great so you are probably right needs to be at 103/4 for a rolling boil.
Still think for the money it's a great bit of kit!!

[Leann ull]

My efficiency still is poor, despite using 20 liters for the mash, stirring grain well as it was added etc. Seems to be lots of threads on the grainfather on how to get proper efficiency from these systems - need to do some readingup.

Biggest suspect is grain crush size and exposure of grain, if you have no mash plate like the guy in the vid you need to stir 3-4 times throughout the mash to ensure you are exposing all the grain

[krockett]

Thanks CH. I was using the sparge plate but not at a high flow - will increase that next time. I'm buying a grain mill aswell so I can have the grain size Skibeagle talked about.

What I'm finding with the brewer is you need to learn how to use all the different parts of it - its like starting brewing all over again when I knew my old setup inside out. When you dial it in though its a beast - I brought mine up to 2500 w to try and burn off some of the wort and you should have seen it take off!

Hopefully Hamilton Bard figure out how they're going to support it though, affordable repairs or replacement components. Even at this price you would expect to get a few years out of it. 

[Damofto]

I've been boiling at 102 no problems, I don't leave the malt pipe in when boiling though not sure if that makes any difference. 

I agree with CH on the silicone hose, mine is the V1 version so I have no mash plate. On my first brew the wort stopped recirculating halfway through and I put this down to channelling, since then I've been attaching a silicone hose to the end of the pump tube inside the lid and that sits on top of the mash. I've had no problems since and great efficiency.

They really are a great piece of kit.

[auralabuse]

I'm the same as damofto, done leave the malt pipe in for the boil. I use the hop spider. The channelling is something I have not encountered but probably out of sheer luck

[ianm]

On my first brew the wort stopped recirculating halfway through and I put this down to channelling, since then I've been attaching a silicone hose to the end of the pump tube inside the lid and that sits on top of the mash. I've had no problems since and great efficiency.

Are you saying that using a pipe extension resting on the grainbed will prevent re-circulation problems?  I too have V1 and during the mash the wort stopped circulating.   I can't quite figure out what went wrong or how to prevent it next time.  I had to stop the pump.  When I lifted the grain basket the wort barely trickled out.  I ended up dropping the basket back in and stirring up the grains to try and get a flow it was far from ideal.  They sank to the bottom and the same thing happened again.  I thought it might be to do with the grain crush. The grains came from HBC.

[darren996]

On my first brew the wort stopped recirculating halfway through and I put this down to channelling, since then I've been attaching a silicone hose to the end of the pump tube inside the lid and that sits on top of the mash. I've had no problems since and great efficiency.

Are you saying that using a pipe extension resting on the grainbed will prevent re-circulation problems?  I too have V1 and during the mash the wort stopped circulating.   I can't quite figure out what went wrong or how to prevent it next time.  I had to stop the pump.  When I lifted the grain basket the wort barely trickled out.  I ended up dropping the basket back in and stirring up the grains to try and get a flow it was far from ideal.  They sank to the bottom and the same thing happened again.  I thought it might be to do with the grain crush. The grains came from HBC.

The grain bed compacted and wort couldn't flow through, this is why the grainfather has an overflow. Use oat husks in your mash next time, this should prevent this happening, I use 250 - 300 grams especially if doing a wheat beer

[Motorbikeman]

I though the bulldog had an overflow as well???

WOuld the thing not burn out unless it had ?

[Damofto]

I've used Oat Husks before to good effect as well, the problem with the V1 Bulldog is the pump tube just slots into the lid and the wort flows directly down onto the mash from a height causing it to compact. Even when you reduce the flow at the tap it seems a bit strong to me.

I will pick up the mash plate whenever they become available but for now the silicone hose allows me to recirculate the wort more gently and it's working great.