Does anyone have experience with this system?

I do, although using one of their BrewBucket instead of the Chronical. That said, I've only used it once for teaching a class with twin induction heaters. Here was the review I sent back to SS:

"Most everyone was really impressed with its design & performance. First, we loved the lack of deadspace in the tun. Second, we loved how insulated the mash tun is, the mash temp stabilized at 152.2...60 minutes later, thermometer read 151.7. We vorlaufed back through the sparge arm, then during sparge used the pump to send wort to the BK while gravity feeding from HLT to sparge arm. We were able to get the flow rate through the false bottom going at a pretty good clip...no slow flow issues at all! Our gravity flow from the HLT was a little slow to the sparge arm so we had to raise the HLT on a milk crate to help the flow rate.

Boil went great...whirlpool went great; folks were impressed with the simple design and efficacy of the whirlpool fitting. After whirlpool, I pumped the hot wort direct into the brew bucket w/FTS system. I filled the mash tun with ice water and began recirculating. This is where folks really couldn’t believe it watching the FTS drop the wort temp in a hurry from 185F. There was so much skepticism that the coils weren’t emerged in the wort enough. I explained the convective current that would set up in there and then people sat there and watched the temp drop. Basically I set that up for 67F and we were able to walk away. When we came back the ice was almost gone and the temp of the wort was 67.3F on the money for pitching the yeast."

I'm sure some people could find faults with the system, but I had trouble...

 

Considering that many professional systems these days are just large homebrew setups, in that sense yes. But if you're talking about a 15 barrel system…then no, that's a bit of a different beast. Being a proficient homebrewer helps with the process, but experience on the system is what is important.
Just met with a pro brewer who started up with a 3.5 barrel system. Long time home brewer, first brew day was a double batch…ended up being like a 36 hour brew day I believe he said.

 

I wonder if they misspelled conical on purpose?

 

I actually just purchased and received the kettle, brew bucket, and mash tun. Hopefully brewing on them in a couple weeks so I don't have a legitimate review of the system, but the quality seems on point and the customer service has been excellent.

 

I've got the Brew Bucket...but that's about as shiny as I get. Just ordered replacement O-rings for $2.95...I'm tapped out

 

One of the many reasons I will likely never go pro.

 

Why ruin a perfectly good hobby!?!

Cheers!

P.S. On a serious note if somebody wants to go pro a 3.5 barrel system is not serious. You need something like a 15 barrel system to be properly efficient.

 

I've been using the 7 gal. Brewmaster Chronical and 10 gal. boil kettle. Both are phenomenal. No complaints whatsoever.

I returned a Blichmann kettle after the handle for the lid fell off, the thermometer was off by a good 8 degrees, and the bottom of the kettle was scorched... after the first use. I purchased the Ss Brewtech kettle for less money and have never turned back.

Also... When did they start making kits???? Pretty cool if you can spend the coin.

 

You could do OK with a 7 or 10bbl system depending on circumstances, e.g. brewpub in a small town with no desire to grow too much. This might be pretty comfortable for a brewer/chef team in a place where the cost of living is not too high. Ultimately, the business plan should tell you what size system you want... but I have a feeling most nano-brewers don't bother with that.

That said, I occasionally daydream about nano-brewing after I retire. If I broke even, made good beer, had fun and got to hang out with cool brewers, that would be OK. Of course, here in VT I can hang out with cool brewers without having to do anything special

 

Excellent.

My only recommendation would be to read some of the info they have on recirculation using their equipment (HERMS/RIMS). While it may not be something you want to do today, I'm guessing you will want to make the conversion in the future.

I'm certain it can be done, and if I'm not mistaken, I think they have even published info on how to do this. Just something worth checking before dropping $2k.

 

Check out the articles listed here: https://ssbrewtech.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/201145455-HERMS-RIMS-RELATED