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  • Colorado brewing equipment reviews

    I'm looking to hear opinions from others on the brewing equipment from these guys. The equipment quality, the service, timelyness of delivering the equipment as projected, etc.

    Their larger bbl systems the sell seem quite interesting.

  • #2
    Colorado brewing equipment reviews

    Re-radaring this post. Also looking for any reports/experiences on their 4 bbl system. Looks pretty awesome.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    • #3
      I do not recommend this company at all.

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      • #4
        Any specifics as to why?


        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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        • #5
          Quote process was good and friendly. The owner was very amicable when dealing with issues.

          Delivery dates were well beyond expectations, quality was mixed, quality control was terrible, design to actual was incomplete, communication weakened over time.

          In the end Tim is a nice guy but the company seems to be a one man show and lacks the resources, focus and company structure to be a player in the market.

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          • #6
            It seems the company support is less than stellar due to one-man-show possibly? How about brewing with the system itself? any feedback? What interested us was the implied flexibility of running side by side brew batches. Can you comment?

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            • #7
              Any other comments positive or negative other than jedi?

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              • #8
                i went out to ft collins to have a look. these guys seemed to have just moved into a larger space, and added a few bodies in the fabrication area. but i still think they're not able to keep up with demand, as our system took about 4 weeks longer than initially estimated. the phone was ringing and ringing when i visited.

                from what i saw at their shop, the build quality seems decent for what you get- a nice little electric BIAB system (or two vessel) for a home or nano type environment. its not amazing, and you could probly match the build quality if you were a really good welder, but for the vast majority of folks, buying the system from these guys probly makes more sense. and they can do UL listing on the control panel-- so thats a big plus for folks in the nano game who are trying to go professional.


                as for the actual unit operation, ours has just been delivered but is not yet installed so i cant speak to that yet.

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                • #9
                  Any Update

                  Originally posted by brain medicine View Post
                  i went out to ft collins to have a look. these guys seemed to have just moved into a larger space, and added a few bodies in the fabrication area. but i still think they're not able to keep up with demand, as our system took about 4 weeks longer than initially estimated. the phone was ringing and ringing when i visited.

                  from what i saw at their shop, the build quality seems decent for what you get- a nice little electric BIAB system (or two vessel) for a home or nano type environment. its not amazing, and you could probly match the build quality if you were a really good welder, but for the vast majority of folks, buying the system from these guys probly makes more sense. and they can do UL listing on the control panel-- so thats a big plus for folks in the nano game who are trying to go professional.


                  as for the actual unit operation, ours has just been delivered but is not yet installed so i cant speak to that yet.
                  Any update on how this system works?

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                  • #10
                    unfortunately no. the delivery of the system was delayed, but our tanks were even more delayed- 2.5 months. long story short, we focused all our energy on getting the bar and restaurant open first to generate some cash. grand opening was last week.

                    now the crew is focusing back onto the brewery so hope to have it built out and in operation in 4-6 weeks. i'll try and remember to post once we get it up and running. feel free to bump thread or ping me if i forget.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by brain medicine View Post
                      unfortunately no. the delivery of the system was delayed, but our tanks were even more delayed- 2.5 months. long story short, we focused all our energy on getting the bar and restaurant open first to generate some cash. grand opening was last week.

                      now the crew is focusing back onto the brewery so hope to have it built out and in operation in 4-6 weeks. i'll try and remember to post once we get it up and running. feel free to bump thread or ping me if i forget.
                      Brain Medicine,

                      Any updates on the CBS set up? Thanks.

                      Paul

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                      • #12
                        We Have Nano Dual 100

                        We are now in our 4th batch using this system... I will say that yes, it was a process to get this from start to finish. First frame showed up VERY warped but Tim sent another entire frame out a couple of weeks later. There are some design flaws (the site glasses never fit correct) which Tim I believe has addressed. The learning curve was not too bad and we did some things to our system to create more ease of use but a couple of things you should know...
                        1) The Nano Dual 100 does not brew 100 gallons! Our IPA's generally are 7% which allows us at most to start with 38 gallons in each kettle for a total after boil of maybe 60-62 gallons. Its a matter of how close you want the water to be to the top of the ketlle while mashing. With 70lb of grain in each basket you can only have 38 gallons to start with.
                        2) The pickup tube gets every last drop, but even with whirlpooling, if you are hop heavy you pick up a ton of crap in your transfer. I have modified and used some SS scrub pads as well as a hop back and wort strainer.
                        3) Kettle quality was OK but not great. I had to passivize with citric acid about 3 times before we stopped seeing rust.
                        4) nothing is level really which was explained to us as "pulling" from the welding.

                        Bottom line is this though... when something did not fit, Tim sent us a replacement. When I asked a question, it was answered. Would I buy this system again... Yes, but I would have gone with the Nano Dual 200 instead as my fermenters are all 3 bbl.

                        Luke SevigneyClick image for larger version

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                        Theory Brewing Company
                        Wells, Maine

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                        • #13
                          cooling?

                          THanks for the feedback... what about the wort cooling? Have you found the included wort chillers are adequate for the size? What sort of mash efficiency numbers are you getting?

                          Art

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                          • #14
                            I actually don't use them really now... They took too long to cool the wort to pitching temp (and I am in Maine where the ground water is COLD) so instead I pump through a larger 42 plate plate filter I had bought from Sabco. I think they could work if you have the time to wait during the whirlpool. This is how my system works... Kettle to small included pumps to a larger chugger MAX pump to hopback to wort strainer to chiller through a oxygenation tube to the fermenter. Lots of moving parts (and cleaning time afterwards) but works like a charm as long as I don't have a clog in the hopback or strainer.
                            My efficiency has been off the charts at over 85%. If you use a lot of flaked wheat, rye or oats you do need to stir once in a while to keep recirculation even...

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Luke7e View Post
                              My efficiency has been off the charts at over 85%. If you use a lot of flaked wheat, rye or oats you do need to stir once in a while to keep recirculation even...
                              We've just started brewing on the 200 Nano Dual and I've actually had a bit of hard time dialing in efficiency. It seems like there is a fine line between good efficiency grain crush, and clogged sparge on this system. We do have flaked adjuncts in several of our beers, and have noticed many efficiencies in the 60's. I often find that I have to run the circulation VERY low, otherwise it seems to clog up. We do use a couple lbs of rice hulls to try and help this, but we still seem to have issues. We've gone back and forth on a few grain crush settings, but noticing the crush we need for a higher efficiency seems to always lead to a very long and slow sparge. Also, i'm wondering if water to grist ratio may be a culprit for us as well. It seems as if there is about 18 gal of water under the basket before water touches any grain. I'm wondering if this is throwing off our water calcs, and causing a lower efficiency.

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