Pacific Brewery System info

[brewrench52]

Hello,
im looking into PBST brewhouse & fermenters. Does anyone have any experience or comments about their equipment. I would appreciate any feedback. email to: wrenchin52@hotmail.com

Thanks,
brewrench52

[YSBrewer]

I've placed an order for a 7bbl direct fire kettle. Frank has been pretty good to work with to this point.

[timroberts]

We bought two 7 BBL fermenters recently which arrived approximately three months behind schedule. They're fine, but the situation was a nightmare to deal with.

[BrewinLou]

Frank is a good communicator. Do not count on any of their gaskets, they are loose and small silicone. I replaced all within 3 months. The tank I got works like a champ.

[yap]

kettle

Currently getting a 7 BBL direct fire kettle up and running. I have been having a lot of issues but Frank has been good so far in resolving them. All I can say is make sure your local authorities don't care about UL listing on the burner or source a domestic one and get a good welder on retainer "in case" you have any issues with the welds....

[Mills]

Our kettle is dish bottomed and only has a 1.5" dump opening.

[kbills]

We just got two 7 bbl fermenters from them. They came quicker than I expected. The shipping company made a couple mistakes, but the tanks are great.

[Helltown]

We have two 30bbl fermenters from them, they work great, but as someone else said, the gaskets will need replaced. And the tri-clamps are on the small side as well but work. All in all I'd buy from them again, service has been great, delivery was quick, so no real complaints.

And my sanitary welder thought the welds were very well done.

[yap]

We have two 30bbl fermenters from them, they work great, but as someone else said, the gaskets will need replaced. And the tri-clamps are on the small side as well but work. All in all I'd buy from them again, service has been great, delivery was quick, so no real complaints.

And my sanitary welder thought the welds were very well done.

Some of my welds are good. Others, not so much.... So far Frank is taking care of it though. Still, I'm falling farther behind my launch date due to the delays...

[rage323machine]

I worked with frank in the past (with good results), as of recent I've seen and heard about Franks neglect and attention to details. As a matter of fact we just took delivery of 3 15bbl Uni-Tanks. As he claims to be a custom manufacture, we were very specific about what we wanted, we paid extra for the work. 4 months go by, he suggest if we change the plans to double blow-offs, and longer drain pipes, all at 2inch for free. I nicely declined. If anyone wants to see the full email thread, id be happy to FW to see how he's dealing with these issues, not to mentioned he'll not reply until you email him 100 times.. He's blaming me for any changes, but he suggested them and I declined. STAY AWAY! Anyone need more details, I'd be happy to share. email me tommy at ravennabrewing. the below is just a sample of the mess. I guess I
m stuck.

Aug 10th -Hi Tommy:

Sorry, I don't know what went wrong. I still don't understand the
issues.

I talked with the factory, they said that they followed the drawing.

Please consider making any adjustments and modifications.

Thanks.

Frank Ma

Heres my reply

Here are the issues

"We can make the same design as last order (see attached drawing).
The Drawing is what I wanted, see your email. Like you said, as my last order is perfect. thanks

Or we can make some improvement at no extra charge: 1. larger hop port
increase from 4" to 6".I Said no to this, see email, i said I'd like the same tanks as before due to space confinement.
2. Second blow-off arm, the last tank has only one arm (CIP arm)
Also said no to this, due to space confinement, see my email
3. Longer drain pipe for easy reach. Some brewers prefer short L drain
pipe for strict sanitary reason, the drain pipe isn't refrigerated.
Also said no to this, due to space confinement, see my email

Please let me know what you think."


This is what I said

Thanks franks. We'd like the same design as last time. Just one modification. We don’t want any 2inch welds on the face of the tanks. All 1.5 inch please. The top 2inch for the blowOff is fine. But we’ll stick to 4inch hop port” as all our gaskets and claps are that size. Thank you. I like small drain pipes. No modifications please





That's the issue frank, these tanks require more space on both sides, are taller, and require 2'' reducers. Means we need to change out the hose everytime we want to clean the tanks. All these are big issues. Space is a premium. I specifically said the same as last tanks, and that wasn't met. I hope you dont think im being unreasonable, but I just wanted what I paid for. How can we make this right?

I have 20 emails going back and forth saying he's not gonna do anything. So bummed this is happening. I hate that I have to write this.
Stay away! He does not reply to my emails, suggested I do all the modifications myself, doesn't want to speak to me, Has gone dark for 3 months now not one peep!

His last email was this
The factory told me that they made the tank according to the drawing.
And they will not responsibly for any late changes. These were changes he suggested and I said no to!!!