Long time off, again. Brewie finally recalled my first unit and sent me a brand new second unit that lasted two full brewing sessions, and then broke on the third one with a scorched mash tun. They promised me a new and improved Brewie+ if I waited. Many more months of waiting and I finally received the new unit a few weeks. Unfortunately the third unit broke going through the startup process and I had to send it back. I am waiting for the repaired unit to be sent to me. The two brewing sessions that did work were next to flawless, however the efficiency was very low (right around 50%, which is terrible in my opinion).
In the meantime, I went out and bought a Robobrew V3 from morebeer and their Pliny recipe. The machine worked perfectly right out of the box. It is a really slick setup. It is not an automatic brewing machine by any stretch, but it is a very easy to use single vessel mashing and boiling machine. I am hard pressed to find another machine that offers more bang for your buck for easy all-grain brewing. I highly recommend the unit and will likely keep mine around even if my Brewie ever works consistently.
For the sake of posterity, here is a recap:
Brewie 1st Brew-Call Me Grainy Brewie Pad-ABV was supposed to come out at 6%, but I ended up around 4.75% because of the poor efficiency. Beer was watery and I wouldn't buy the pad (it was free with the Brewie).
Brewie 2nd Brew-Hopus Pocus Brewie Pad-ABV was supposed to come out at 6%, but I again ended up around 4.75% because of the poor efficiency. Beer was rather unremarkable and I wouldn't buy the pad (it was free with the Brewie). I think Brewie used too much water in their calculations for the machine. The grain bags are very tight and likely end up with a lot of dough balls.
Brewie 3rd Brew-Rusty Rex Brewie Pad-Fail, smelled burning during the mash and had to shut down and dump the brew. The mash tun element scorched. Brewie recalled the unit and replaced it.
Robobrew V3 Brew Day - Pliny the Elder (Morebeer recipe)
13# 2-row
1# carapils
6 oz C40
1# corn sugar added 10 mins remaining
2oz whole Cascade into mash; mashed into 4.25 gallons for 75 mins at 150, 170 mashout
2oz Magnum at 90
1oz Simcoe at 45
1oz Columbus at 30
1/2 tablet whirlfloc at 5 mins
2oz Centennial at flameout
1oz Simcoe at flameout
2 packs US-05 dry yeast
Dry hop-3oz Columbus, 1oz Centennial, 1oz Simcoe
Results-efficiency was low at around 63% because I mashed too thick. I sparged with 4 gallons of water and hit my intended volume of 6.6 gallons perfectly, but was low on gravity at 1.051. 90 min post boil volume was 5.28 gallons at 1.068, not bad.
Long time off, again. Brewie finally recalled my first unit and sent me a brand new second unit that lasted two full brewing sessions, and then broke on the third one with a scorched mash tun. They promised me a new and improved Brewie+ if I waited. Many more months of waiting and I finally received the new unit a few weeks. Unfortunately the third unit broke going through the startup process and I had to send it back. I am waiting for the repaired unit to be sent to me. The two brewing sessions that did work were next to flawless, however the efficiency was very low (right around 50%, which is terrible in my opinion).
Brewie 3rd Brew-Rusty Rex Brewie Pad-Fail, smelled burning during the mash and had to shut down and dump the brew. The mash tun element scorched. Brewie recalled the unit and replaced it.
I decided to brew two easy summer beers and settled on a Kolsch and the Raspberry Wheat that I made last year. I went with extract for the time saving and knocked out both brews at the same time. My little guy woke up at 5:23am so he got to help. It was a really easy morning brew.
Raspberry Wheat