Farra Engineering nano brewery

[Hugh Grierson]

At the Beervana I took the time to check the very sexy looking Farra Engineering Nano Brewery, think it was 60 L batch size. Has anyone got one of these or even used one? I really want them to build me a shinny mash tun, with sprinklers...

[Duncan]

I was watching this on TM - it's a very nice piece of kit. Last weekend I was chatting with a chap from Emerson's, and apparently this was designed in conjunction with them (I think Farra did the main Emerson's brewery too). Apparently the one for sale was the prototype and was being sold around cost price, so when they start manufacturing them they are likely to be a bit more expensive. There are still a few small issues to iron out, but on the whole it's a top-knotch set up.

[JoKing]

I had a good look over it at Beervana - the worksmanship was very impressive. The guys were awesome to talk to about where they got their design ideas from and how they put it all together. The level of detail was extremely high with all of the angles coming out of the pots perfect. The weld work was clean - and very tidy. This is what you are paying for when you buy this system and I believe it's worth every dollar.

[jt]

This is what you are paying for when you buy this system and I believe it's worth every dollar.

Cost wouldn't be an issue if Santa delivered eh :-)

[Matt]

Can also attest to weld quality. If you want them to build you something just send Rhys an email. I think you'll be surprised re price for mash tun, I only enquired about fermenter out of interest to start with as was pretty sure there was no way anything scracth built could be competitive with the Chinese ebay ones, even considering shipping from US. Was very surprised with initial quote being same price as shipped Chinese one, and this was for a fermenter that was pressurisable to move beer under CO2 and even handle carb pressures (something that not even the bells and whistles US ones can do)!

[Alan Knight]

I only just heard about the Farra set up and have yet to see a picture of it.
However, those of you who found the price tag a bit steep on theirs might like to check this one out. I've been working on it for a while and I'm ready to go with them. The one pictured is my own prototype and I'm hanging on to that, but I can have them made in two weeks by our local engineering shop.

There is also a Trademe listing;
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=316025183

I'm happy to answer any questions.

Alan

[bart]

Alan, there are photos of the Farra setup in the .pdf attachment in the post about half way down the first page of this thread. As you will for the extra $1000 or so it's quite a step up from the one in the trademe link above. That is a nice little setup though, what is the mash tun insulated with?

[Alan Knight]

Wow...That is a sexy little brewery. I gathered from the article in the Sunday Star Times that Farra are looking at more like four thousand for theirs. I designed mine to sell for two thousand which is a bit more affordable I'm sure you'd agree.
The mash/lauter is insulated with dense foam rubber. I have brewed on this system eight times now and found that the mash temperature remains perfectly stable.

The kettle has a two ring burner and gives a good rolling boil. The heat exchanger works well and runs off fifty litres in about fifteen minutes depending on water temperature.

[Reviled]

Hey Alan how many litres is that for?

[Alan Knight]

The kettle is 60 litres to the top. So it's perfect for a fifty litre brew. It can do twenty litre brews as well of course but I never make as little as that. Twenty litres wouldn't last long enough in my house. I originally planned to make a twenty litre version but the cost worked out almost the same so I didn't think it was really worth it.

[bart]

Yeah I'm not too sure on the official price tag of the Farra one, I think it's around the low $3,000's but that might be excl GST. I suppose when you consider that the two setups can do essentially the same job then the cheaper one could be just the ticket for some brewers. It would be interesting to have a brew off between the two side by side to compare ease of use, functionality etc.

[Alan Knight]

As far as I can see from looking at theirs, they have made it a gravity fed system. I considered that approach when making mine, but then I had my own hundred litre brewery made for home use. There was no way we could make that a gravity system as it's quite a big set up so I had a small pump installed instead and set both vessels at the same level. The results were so good that I used the same technology for the Nano-Brewery.
The other main difference I can see is that theirs uses a simple hose heat exchanger whereas mine has an actual stainless plate type.
I'd be delighted to try the brew off that you suggest. If anyone in the Auckland region gets a Farra then I'll bring mine over and it's game on.

[denimglen]

The other main difference I can see is that theirs uses a simple hose heat exchanger whereas mine has an actual stainless plate type.

How are you finding that?

Any 'filter' system in the kettle?

I had nothing but dramas with mine.