Sourcing Equipment from China

[StephenP]

My 10 BBL brewhouse and tanks are coming from Brew-Tek, an American owned company based here in China. They manufacture in Ningbo, and the staff of Americans, Brits and Kiwis and Chinese have decades of brewing experience in both design and operation. Yes, it's Chinese made equipment, but the quality and attention to detail made it an easy decision for me and my partners. I also like DME, with their Canadian expertise and engineering (and their hundreds of installations) but the personal level of service provided by Brew-Tek, as well as the ultra attention to detail in welds, materials, design, etc. won the day. Brew-Tek is truly equipment made by brewers for brewers, and you can't always say that in China.

You can contact John Gonzales at Brew-Tek for more specific information. He is based here, speaks fluent Mandarin, and will be happy to help with any questions. jgonzales@brew-tek.com

[TiminOz]

The only system on the Bretek website is very small Nano. Where have they installed a full size system? It seems that until recently their main line was growlers, that's quite a leap.

[StephenP]

Brew-Tek is new, they started with growlers and a 50 liter Nano system, and have now expanded to a 3BBL, 5BBL and 10BBL brewhouse. Their website definitely needs an update, but the equipment is exceptional and the demand has been great. They are installing a 5 BBL at a new and very upscale brewpub in Shenzhen, have another 3 BBL going to Japan and just shipped tanks to India.

[StephenP]

Here are some photos of our new system, which is installing after the Chinese New Year holiday.

[TiminOz]

What is the name of the factory they are made at?

[StephenP]

The Chinese name in Ningbo is Zonghuan. The company previously did only contract work, but last year signed an exclusive agreement for design and marketing (domestic and international) with Brew-Tek. They launched their partnership last year at the Beijing Brew and Beverage show. This is the same partnership arrangement that DME has with Zhongru in Ningbo, and works well. In fact it's the same system Apple uses to build phones and computers here. Brew-Tek have their own people based at the factory, to both oversee QA and give updates.

I realize I'm sounding like a cheerleader for Brew-Tek, but my experience has just been so much better than my previous purchase of a 5 BBL system from Jinan. Unfortunately my experience with ZHbrew was exactly the same as this post. http://discussions.probrewer.com/sho...ighlight=china

Here is another photo of the Brew-Tek system from the show last year.

[TiminOz]

Yes Stephen you do sound like you are in sales for Brewtek. It might be better to use the equipment for 6 months to a year before selling its performance value. Once you have used it successfully for many brews then a reference might mean a bit more.

[StephenP]

Yes Stephen you do sound like you are in sales for Brewtek. It might be better to use the equipment for 6 months to a year before selling its performance value. Once you have used it successfully for many brews then a reference might mean a bit more.

Not sure I agree. First, I have absolutely zero connection to Brew-Tek, outside of being a customer who has used their Nano system for nearly a year. I have also brewed several times on their test system, so I've seen how it responds during a brew, and working with the designer (from New Zealand) we incorporated changes and custom features that both he and I recommended. Just try to find that from your average Chinese supplier.

You don't need 6 months to know good welds from bad. Nor do you need 6 months to appreciate a brewhouse designed by a western brewer with 20 years commercial experience. My order was completed ahead of schedule, and the only delays were on my end in getting our new factory completed (construction in China, that's a whole different conversation). I receive many messages asking for help with sourcing in China, and to find people who are doing it right, the "hands on" way, is not only very rare, it's also refreshing. I can understand you are the skeptical type, but considering the barrage of Chinese equipment suppliers who aggressively advertise here it's hard to know which way to turn.

[Eyepokingstick]

Love it

not sure i agree. First, i have absolutely zero connection to brew-tek, outside of being a customer who has used their nano system for nearly a year. I have also brewed several times on their test system, so i've seen how it responds during a brew, and working with the designer (from new zealand) we incorporated changes and custom features that both he and i recommended. Just try to find that from your average chinese supplier.

You don't need 6 months to know good welds from bad. Nor do you need 6 months to appreciate a brewhouse designed by a western brewer with 20 years commercial experience. My order was completed ahead of schedule, and the only delays were on my end in getting our new factory completed (construction in china, that's a whole different conversation). I receive many messages asking for help with sourcing in china, and to find people who are doing it right, the "hands on" way, is not only very rare, it's also refreshing. I can understand you are the skeptical type, but considering the barrage of chinese equipment suppliers who aggressively advertise here it's hard to know which way to turn.

boooyaaaaa!!!

[StephenP]

[QUOTE=maidilong;156939]

I'm an American brewer living in central China, and have visited many brewery equipment factories in Jinan and Ningbo. The simple answer is there is a huge range of options for design, quality, price and support.

About the quick sale ,if you confirmed the technical detail ,and after market ,they also can provide the service , that's no problem.

welcome to visit our website: www.maidilong.net

I have ZERO connection to this company, but would advise them to learn basic english before trying to sell to the western market. China is a minefield of schemes and deceptive business practices, so do your homework and don't trust email promises or websites with photos of happy customers.

[Jedi]

[QUOTE=StephenP;156991]

I have ZERO connection to this company, but would advise them to learn basic english before trying to sell to the western market. China is a minefield of schemes and deceptive business practices, so do your homework and don't trust email promises or websites with photos of happy customers.

Thanks Stephen. What this thread has taught me is the Chinese beer equipment vendors are like the Chinese eBay stores except in this case you don't have the eBay protection to help you when things go wrong.

I was tempted to go the Chinese route but after this thread I don't want to lose my life's savings gambling on equipment.

[edgars]

Has any one some experience with fillers from china? I have offer from "Shandong HG Machinery Co., Ltd." for HG-CGF6/6/1 type bottle washing filling capping monoblock. Was initially looking at Meheen, but price for china device is really competing.

[dick murton]

I tried to commission a keg line and a bottle filler from this company about 18 months ago. A complete and utter waste of metal. The only thing they are both fit for is scrap. We never got the bottle filler going as the execution of the design was very poor and kept jamming crowns, breaking bottles in the filler and crowner. The CIP was virtually existent, and was totally unsafe. The electrics were unsafe. The company supplied a compressor which ran (trigger points) between 4 and 6.5 bar, which actually meant the air tank dropped to 3 bar or less before the pressure started to build up again, and because the pressure was so high at times, the regulator could not cope and as a result blew seals and helps to smash bottles. The keg line might possibly have worked, but again, a huge compressed air tank and better controlled compressor would have helped immensely. But the detergent tank design was unsafe. No seals, no spares supplied as standard. They sent over an engineer who had never seen the kit, and didn't speak a word of English or French. Ever tried using Google translate for technical stuff?

Based on experience of 18 months ago - don't go there.

I am sure there must be some half decent kit made out there, but this supplier is (or was not then) one of them.

[gitchegumee]

What Dick said.

Yet again. If you must save your money, then don't spend it on garbage equipment. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Well-built equipment is not the cheapest. I've also dealt with garbage equipment several times on behalf of folks who thought they were getting a deal. No more. I won't be fooled again.

[edgars]

Dick, I would appreciate if you could share some quotation docs with filling line that company delivered to you -> edgars@labietis.lv Could you?
I was planing to take Meheen, but then Shandong appeared from nowhere and convinced me. Now seams you are putting me back on track.