Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

I have just finished my first mash using the robobrew, I would like to share my thoughts on the unit and my experience using it, hopefully I will be able to fine tune use for making AG whisky. I am keeping this simple no steps, just mash in and sparge.
Out of the box, it seems to be reasonably well made as far as standard HBS stuff goes, it hasnt fallen apart or stopped working after first use :handgestures-thumbupleft: Its easy to set up, heats up quick and the temp seems to be reasonably accurate.

My first mash was as follows,

5.96kg Pale Malt(this is my first time using this grain, so I have nothing to compare too)
18L strike water @ 72'
rest at 65' for 90mins, starch test @ 60min showed full conversion
10L sparge water @ 75'
Ended up with 22L @1.057
Added another 5L @75' for a final rinse to start the next batch with.

Second mash is happening now, just a bit more water to start with.

Overall Im happy with it so far, Ill update as I get to know it a bit better. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Tips so far
Dont trust the measurements on it, use your own.
Make sure you dont set it up too high unless you have a helper, lifting the malt pipe one handed while placing the stand in the right spot is a PITA
I wouldnt use more than 6kg of grain in this unit, add it very slowly, stirring constantly then once all the grain is in put a few liters of mash back over it and give it a good stir(im going to order a pump today)

Up to mash no 3, in addition to the first tips I would like to add the following:
Coarse Cracked you grain, to fine and the pipe clogs.
Use a few more liters of strike water than normal, i.e I normally would strike with 18L for 6kg, with this I will use 20L at least from now on.
I have 80kg of grain to get through in the next few weeks, hopefully by the end I will have this thing sorted. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Great work Tas :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Perfect thread for someone starting out with one.

Ill keep it going for the next while, so far so good :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Hey tas good work there. I was wondering about one of these a while back. what do they look like inside? like a T500 boiler with a PID and few other bits?

edit, just googled it at the site.nice

WTDist wrote:Hey tas good work there. I was wondering about one of these a while back. what do they look like inside? like a T500 boiler with a PID and few other bits?

edit, just googled it at the site.nice

i was originally going to turn a T500 boiler into a mash tun, got the bits then decided against it, the Mrs got me this for my birthday(and so I dont mash in the kitchen anymore)

TasSpirits wrote:

WTDist wrote:Hey tas good work there. I was wondering about one of these a while back. what do they look like inside? like a T500 boiler with a PID and few other bits?

edit, just googled it at the site.nice

i was originally going to turn a T500 boiler into a mash tun, got the bits then decided against it, the Mrs got me this for my birthday(and so I dont mash in the kitchen anymore)

Hhhmmmmm, maybe I should start mashing in the kitchen :)

Nino wrote:

TasSpirits wrote:

WTDist wrote:Hey tas good work there. I was wondering about one of these a while back. what do they look like inside? like a T500 boiler with a PID and few other bits?

edit, just googled it at the site.nice

i was originally going to turn a T500 boiler into a mash tun, got the bits then decided against it, the Mrs got me this for my birthday(and so I dont mash in the kitchen anymore)

Hhhmmmmm, maybe I should start mashing in the kitchen :)

Worked for me :laughing-rolling: Get some 100% peated malt on the go :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So I have found the first design flaw, the malt pipe has a rolled edge, I will post a pic later as I have a mash on atm, means its hard to tip all your spent grain out, hard to clean out completely and is also a potential source of infection :think:

Is the robo brew mainly for brewing beer (or how they sell it), where they boil the hops in the mash after its conversion killing all the infections?

Yes it is, as are all hobby size single vessel brewerys that I have seen, I have no interest in beer, this is for making whisky only, so I am basing my observations from a Whisky mashing perspective only. :handgestures-thumbupleft: Still a fpita to clean :angry-banghead:

Seeing as it has its own heating system, could you not just fill it up with water and (perhaps) some soap and set it on a sled-boil?!?!?

At least it would soften the 'goop' making it easier to clean out

EziTasting wrote:Seeing as it has its own heating system, could you not just fill it up with water and (perhaps) some soap and set it on a sled-boil?!?!?

At least it would soften the 'goop' making it easier to clean out

Tried that still apita to clean, design flaw as far as I am concerned :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Can you not just cut the rolled edge off, would a can opener do the job?
Or make a replacement tube?
It is what i would do.

scythe wrote:Can you not just cut the rolled edge off, would a can opener do the job?
Or make a replacement tube?
It is what i would do.

Thats the plan, cut it and drill some new holes for the handle. Going to wait a while, until I am sure its not going to break, just in case.

Running the RoboBrew tonight with a pump and manifold, so far so good. Im hoping for a slightly better result than the last few mashes, I also added a bazooka under the malt pipe. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Finally found your post (again), and have bookmarked it (now). :D .

Don't have a robobrew, but a homemade mash tun set up that we've recently put to use on an AG single malt. as we are only beginning and are quite a few months behind you, it will take us sometime to be able to share quality info with you. We will get there!

Enjoying the read!