One of the biggest crazes (craze, not fad.. But fads could be a post all on its own…) right now are the all in one brewing systems. The GrainFather, Mash and Boil, Robobrew, Anvil Foundry… Seems everyone is putting some version of an electric system.

What they consist of is an 8ish gallon, 110v (some are starting to include 240) boil kettle, with a removable metal basket that you mash in. You do the mashing and boiling in the same vessel. So essentially, a stainless version of a Brew in a Bag. Each system comes with standard temp settings/controls, while each variety has its different features. From built in pumps, distilling addons and chillers depending on how you plan on using it, and of course,, how much you wanna spend.

Now I was very skeptical of these things when they first came out. But watching the Brits brew with their similar electric water boilers interested me enough to give one a try. I chose the Mash and Boil because I was only planning on using it to heat my mash waters and boil the wort in. I was going to continue to mash in my tun.

This plan works fantastic. With the timer I can have my water heated up and ready to go the minute I walk down stairs, Drain into my tun, and start heating sparge waters. But doing it this way does require a separate kettle to hold the wort while sparging before getting returned to the kettle to boil. Having all of the equipment any way,, this was fine with me.

However, I started to use the M&B for mashing as well. After figuring out that a mash bag in the tube helps drain and wrapping the entire thing in reflectix keeps heat in, and not to trust the onboard thermometer and manually check temps, I found that this system is very accurate, and very repeatable and quite easy to use especially in a small space.

I think the basic system is pretty solid. You do need an extra kettle if you plan on sparging, possibly not if you are going no sparge. A chiller. Immersion is great, counterflows work as well. The pumps are optional, I do not use them. 

Normal brewing practices still apply here. You still need to pay attention. Make sure of your temps, sparging gives better efficiency, recirculating gets clearer wort. 

If these were around when I started decades ago, I might have started with one of these systems. I doubt that its cheaper than the burner/mashtun start up route, but if you are limited to electric brewing or have a small brew space, or just don’t wanna build your own equipment then these systems are for you.  

I for one am definitely buying another if the one I have now craps out.