DigiMash Electric Brewing System - 65L/17.1G (220V)

Absolutely love the Digiboil 65L. Just finish running my first batch of mash through and you can't ask for a better way to mash in and keep at perfect fermenting temperature.

So far I've been extremely impressed with my DigiMash. I wired a bar/kitchenette in my basement for a 220V Range/Oven, with the sole intention of using it for brewing beer. When I started researching 220V electric brewing systems I was put off by the extremely high cost of a system such as the GrainFather. I knew I wanted 220V for speed of heating (and because I had the power available), and this system really is FAST. Additionally, I have only done 5 gallon batches, but, if I was going to spend the money on an electric system I really liked the idea of being able to do a 10 gallon batch, or have the option to purchase a still top and distill a very high volume in one run. This was my reasoning for purchasing the 65L vessel. I had some concerns about the "dead space" below the mash basket and my ability to get a decent efficiency on a 5 gallon batch given the amount of dead space. However, this has not proven to be an issue yet. I've done two 5 gallon batches so far with 12-14lb grain bills, and achieved around 75% efficiency each time with a mash and sparge. I did purchase a pump for recirculation during the mash, and I would consider that a must have if you're planning to do a 5 gallon batch in this vessel as I don't think my mash would work near as well without that, given that there is around 4 gallons of dead space below the "malt pipe". With the pump and a valve for flow control I'm extremely satisfied with this system and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get into all grain electric systems, and wants to "go big" and "future proof" themselves a bit, without the insane cost of a GrainFather. Even a brewzilla is almost double the price of this system and I believe the DigiMash is just as good, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty and putting together your own setup with an external pump. The opportunities with this system are endless and I look forward to many more brews with it.

Heats up faster than my old 7 gallon mash and boil did a 10 gallon batch on it Great price simple and easy to use with every penny

White the Brewzilla is a better unit, if you want to save a load of cash and do the settings manually, this one works great. Got this on sale for $299, a $60 pump and you are good to go. I do say that the SS shut-off valve on this unit did not like connecting to the ball lock quick disconnects I use so I had to replace it with a different one.

I have been brewing beer for 26 years, dating back to my first "Mr Beer" kit. I have been extract brewing over those years, playing with partial mashes at different times. I have always been satisfied with the beer I have made. I have been a regular customer of Morebeer since 1999. Recently I wanted to move my brewery indoors and purchased a 65L digimash. This allowed me to move into allgrain brewing. I added a pump and whirlpool options. I read up on all grain brewing from John Palmer's book as well as his article on "no sparge" brewing. As mentioned in another rating, there is a significant "dead space" under the mash tube which can complicate spare volumes. I opted to do my first batch as a "no sparge" technic. This required a few tweaks and additions, but i can say that my first 10gl allgrain "Pliny the Elder" is one of the best batches of beer I have ever made! A note: I use my dryer 220 outlet and had to make an adapter to be able to plug it in. In subsequent batches of "not beer" I have also used it as my primary fermenter and it has worked great as a multipurpose kettle. Bottom line is that this has allowed me to move inside and expanded my brewing options for a reasonable price and fairly small footprint.

So long as you already have some equipment on hand like a sparge device, pumps, tubing, etcetera, this simple brew kettle with mash basket is great for the price. If you're looking for all equipment included, look elsewhere

I bought both sizes of this system (17G and 9G), both 220V.
I have a couple other 5 gallon, 3 vessel A/G electric systems, but wanted to try these out for several reasons :
- Smaller footprint
- Easier cleanup
- The ability to do larger and smaller batches than 5 gallon

For full disclosure... I made a few mods to both system before I ever even plugged them in:
- I removed their drain valve, and installed a 1/2NPT SS valve with QD fitting outside and a whirlpool fitting inside.
- That QD fitting is used to connect the valve to a pump.
- I made a sparge ring that sits on the grain bed so I can recirculate the wort throughout the mash process to maintain an even temp throughout the grain bed.
- I bought the insulation wrap for it.

After using both for a handful of brew days, I've formed some opinions....

Pros:
- Price is unbelievable for what you get.
- Footprint is definitely smaller than 3 vessel systems.
- Operation is VERY simple
- Heat up times are very reasonable.
- Cleanup is a breeze
- You can boil smaller batches since there isn't an exposed heating element you have to keep submerged
- Having the ability to turn on/off the different sized heating elements lets you perfectly maintain as vigorous, or as mild, of a boil as you want.
- Changing mash temperature on the fly works great. Raising to 170 for mashout is quick and painless.

Cons:
- The mash basket ("grain tube" as people call it) sits sooo high off the bottom, that you have to put all your water in just to get enough water to mash. There's literally 2-4 gallons of water UNDER the mash basket. (depending on which size you have) This leaves no water left to sparge with. I'm sure this is whats killing efficiency.
- The large fluctuation in temp control is annoying. Its about a 5 degree swing. That's a pretty big envelope when it comes to mash temp. Seems easily fixed with a little program change??
- Our typical recipe is a 5 gallon batch of about 8% IPA. That grain bill is too much for the small unit..... and it's not enough for the large unit because of the 4 gallons of wasted water under the mash basket.

Overall... it's well built, VERY affordable, and will make beer. We will keep playing around with it. Maybe even find a way to lower the mash basket so we can sparge and see if that helps with efficiency. If we can't get the efficiency up, I'll probably go back to using one of the 3 vessel systems. Or maybe just use these for our HLT and BK, and use our old tried and true mash tuns.