I have been brewing partial mash and extract for 7 years and finally I decided to go to the pros to all grain! I am willing to spend up to 4000, the best system I have found was brewboss system for 2000. I already have stainless fermenters and a fermentation chamber! Any suggestions on the best all grain micro home brew system to purchase? I do plan on going BIG in a few years (even if I have to work at a brewery for a bit first), thanks and cheers!
Your question is probably best answered at probrewer.com for expertise from the brewers who have already been thru your progression of equipment upgrades.
if you're planning on possibly going to work at a brewery, I suggest going for a 3 vessel system (Kettle, MT & HLT). There are several out there, but I have to throw out, how do you feel about building your own?
Before you go all out, I suggest you get a few all grain batches under your belt with a traditional igloo cooler system. this is just my opinion but after 20+ years of homebrewing and 10 years of looking after one particular area of pro beer systems I have an opinion. these are just a few reasons if you have never completed an all grain brew, it is kind of hard to discuss the nuances of a manufactured system. even if we tell you our opinion, how would you know? a manufactured system is not just bigger, I also incorporates many more little pieces of equipment that make brewing easier but not necessarily different. what do you know about sanitary tri-clamps for example? a 5 gallon homebrewing set up is in some ways more challenging to use than a big system, mostly because of the reasons above. you will be forced to understand the process, and that is the most important thing to know. a tri clamp is irrelevant at home, but important on a big system and one more item to know about. pro systems / automated systems, even a small 3 bbl system, make a lot of beer. way more than you want for yourself. and a homebrewer can't sell it. and you have to buy the ingredients. and if you screw up a brew, which you will, you have that much more screwy beer. pro systems are not designed for us. as mentioned, homebrewing, and small pro brewing, requires a very good mechanical ability. you need to know a good amount of electrical, plumbing, welding, refrigeration plus a thousand other details (how to size hose barbs, what type of tube to use, sanitation technique and on and on). most all pro brewers learn the details as they go. the mechanized systems require a fair bit more knowledge of things other than brewing. starting out on a professional turn key system is a bad idea for someone who has zero previous experience. the good news is that you can get real good on an all grain system fairly quickly and they are cheap compared to a full size pro set up. to directly answer your question, go to www.brewmagic.com the brewmagic system from Sabco is quite nice. there are others too. Sam C has his face plastered on the product so it must be good. Cheers.
