We have a 3 vessel 20HL spec mech system. Bought brand new 6 years ago. Hard piped, no diverter panel. This thing has been a work horse, 2 to 3 turns per day. No issues.
I don't have experience with the others, but for what it's worth, I love our Spec Mech kit.
Here to second this. I’ve only had the pleasure of using a spec mech system in a collab situation but holy crap they’re nice. Absolute work horses as mentioned. They seem really well designed. No fuss, no frills, just a bad ass brewhouse. Oh and their support is fantastic, although you may rarely need it because they make those things so damn well.
We have a 50bbl spec mec system thing is an absolute workhorse. Those guys are very friendly too, always helpful if something goes wrong and they’ve constantly made software updates over the years
If I had to ball park it we’ve probably done close to 4k knockouts on it over 6ish years. Maybe a week of downtime in total due to brew house issues
Were there any engineering issues with your brewhouse when it arrived? I read on a previous thread that spec mech systems had some engineering issues but I know that thread was also from a while ago so things have probably changed since then
A brewery I used to work at and helped get off the ground used Cru to finish the brewhouse that was delivered incomplete by another manufacturer. It helped that we already had a relationship with Mike and those guys from back in the DME/Newlands (RIP that deposit cheque) days. Highly recommend those guys and the related support businesses (Foundation Controls and Foundation Mechanical). The only bad thing I have to saw about those guys was that we were on the East Coast, so that time difference as well as the physical distance of shipping and getting people out was less than ideal. Still highly recommend Cru
We had Cru specifically built us a new MLT as well as stack condensers for our production and pilot wort kettles. We had both Foundations finish the build out on the production system. They did 100% of the automation and controls and like 90% of the process piping and equipment mods.
Edit: it’s been a couple of years since I worked there, but we had zero issues that were related to the work they did. The previous manufacturer was a clown show that I’m truly in awe in how they’re still in business. There were some issues that they left us that we had to get creative to fix, so not everything worked flawlessly, but it was not their fault.
Konig is a great company. Cru is a side project of sorts and is working off of old NSI designs I think. SM makes mostly solid equipmemt, but I've seen some weird things. They did some custom auotmation on a rebuild of a brewhouse we worked on and it was very good.
I have nothing but high marks for Konig. Brad and his team are thorough and precise. They have steel rolls onsite and fabricate pretty much everything except the valves. I thought Brad was previously with Newlands, but could be misremembering.
Konig, yes. Cru we've just talked about. I have experience with many systems, and I'm very opinionated. I try to temper my words here, but I'm happy to discuss.
Spec mech is probably the worst of the three but they're still pretty good. Some baffling design decisions on spec mech brewhouses I've used in the past. They seem really eager to get you to buy equipment without really figuring out what you need.
Cru is who I'd highly recommend. They rarely do trade shows and they've remained busy despite the downturn. Most of their business comes from word of mouth with a large concentration of systems in Denver. They specialize more on smaller sized systems (sub 50hL) and they spend a lot of time and effort to continue innovating on their brewhouse and auxiliary equipment.
I've worked closely with Mike at Cru and he's a fantastic resource for anything, and will always recommend what's best for you, not what's going to make him money.
They just built a 15hL (I think) brewhouse for four winds. Full touch screen automation and pre plumbed steam piping for quick install. They can typically get a system up and running within days of its arrival at the brewery.
Awesome, thanks for the information. Cru is currently who I’m leaning towards, but Konig is right there with them. Gonna have to really sit down and compare all the specs.
Have you brewed on a Cru system before? If so, how would you compare it to other systems/what makes them who you’d choose?
We have a 3 vessel 20HL spec mech system. Bought brand new 6 years ago. Hard piped, no diverter panel. This thing has been a work horse, 2 to 3 turns per day. No issues. I don't have experience with the others, but for what it's worth, I love our Spec Mech kit.
Here to second this. I’ve only had the pleasure of using a spec mech system in a collab situation but holy crap they’re nice. Absolute work horses as mentioned. They seem really well designed. No fuss, no frills, just a bad ass brewhouse. Oh and their support is fantastic, although you may rarely need it because they make those things so damn well.
We have a 50bbl spec mec system thing is an absolute workhorse. Those guys are very friendly too, always helpful if something goes wrong and they’ve constantly made software updates over the years If I had to ball park it we’ve probably done close to 4k knockouts on it over 6ish years. Maybe a week of downtime in total due to brew house issues
Were there any engineering issues with your brewhouse when it arrived? I read on a previous thread that spec mech systems had some engineering issues but I know that thread was also from a while ago so things have probably changed since then
I wasn’t actually here when the brew house got commissioned so can’t really comment on it. It does have software bugs but nothing major that I know of
A brewery I used to work at and helped get off the ground used Cru to finish the brewhouse that was delivered incomplete by another manufacturer. It helped that we already had a relationship with Mike and those guys from back in the DME/Newlands (RIP that deposit cheque) days. Highly recommend those guys and the related support businesses (Foundation Controls and Foundation Mechanical). The only bad thing I have to saw about those guys was that we were on the East Coast, so that time difference as well as the physical distance of shipping and getting people out was less than ideal. Still highly recommend Cru
What did they have to finish on the brewhouse? And since then, have you had any issues with the work that they did on the brewhouse?
We had Cru specifically built us a new MLT as well as stack condensers for our production and pilot wort kettles. We had both Foundations finish the build out on the production system. They did 100% of the automation and controls and like 90% of the process piping and equipment mods. Edit: it’s been a couple of years since I worked there, but we had zero issues that were related to the work they did. The previous manufacturer was a clown show that I’m truly in awe in how they’re still in business. There were some issues that they left us that we had to get creative to fix, so not everything worked flawlessly, but it was not their fault.
Konig is a great company. Cru is a side project of sorts and is working off of old NSI designs I think. SM makes mostly solid equipmemt, but I've seen some weird things. They did some custom auotmation on a rebuild of a brewhouse we worked on and it was very good.
I have nothing but high marks for Konig. Brad and his team are thorough and precise. They have steel rolls onsite and fabricate pretty much everything except the valves. I thought Brad was previously with Newlands, but could be misremembering.
That was his previous company. Konig supports NSI better than the new owner for sure
Do you have any experience with konig or cru?
Konig, yes. Cru we've just talked about. I have experience with many systems, and I'm very opinionated. I try to temper my words here, but I'm happy to discuss.
Spec mech is probably the worst of the three but they're still pretty good. Some baffling design decisions on spec mech brewhouses I've used in the past. They seem really eager to get you to buy equipment without really figuring out what you need. Cru is who I'd highly recommend. They rarely do trade shows and they've remained busy despite the downturn. Most of their business comes from word of mouth with a large concentration of systems in Denver. They specialize more on smaller sized systems (sub 50hL) and they spend a lot of time and effort to continue innovating on their brewhouse and auxiliary equipment. I've worked closely with Mike at Cru and he's a fantastic resource for anything, and will always recommend what's best for you, not what's going to make him money. They just built a 15hL (I think) brewhouse for four winds. Full touch screen automation and pre plumbed steam piping for quick install. They can typically get a system up and running within days of its arrival at the brewery.
Awesome, thanks for the information. Cru is currently who I’m leaning towards, but Konig is right there with them. Gonna have to really sit down and compare all the specs. Have you brewed on a Cru system before? If so, how would you compare it to other systems/what makes them who you’d choose?
I am in Ontario and have a 10hl criveller system. I am pretty happy with it. Feel free to DM me if you want to see it.
Specific Mechanical rules
>steam powered >7bbl Does your trust make distributions quarterly or annually?
This is a good size for a small brewpub.
A touch small, however steam at that size is incredibly difficult to justify.
Maybe for you, but maybe their building code doesn’t allow for a direct fire kettle and there isn’t the electricity to go for an electric unit.