Hands on Review: Blichmann Engineering BrewEasy Compact
This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert. Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer. Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.
Blichmann Engineering BrewEasy Compact
Blichmann came out with the BrewEasy in 2014. It was when all-in-one units were starting to pop up in the market everywhere. Blichmann went in a different direction, by building on the strength of their existing kettles, and finding an innovative way to connect them together. They came out with a revised model in 2021 that they call the BrewEasy Compact, but they still offer the original configuration and call it the BrewEasy Classic. This review will focus on the BrewEasy Compact.
Bottom of Mash Basket
The BrewEasy Compact is a similar layout to other all-in-one brewing units in the market. There’s a kettle with malt basket that sits inside. When mashing, the grain sits in the basket, and a pump is used to continually recirculate wort through the grain. When mashing is finished, you lift the basket of wet grains out, drain them, and then the kettle changes focus to boiling the wort that is left. The Compact comes in both gas and electric power (120V or 240V). The electric version can come with either the Boil Coil heating element inside the kettle, or Blichmann’s new BoilerMaker Surface with the heating element bonded to the underside of the kettle. The Boilermaker Surface has the same kettle up top, but the heating elements are sealed away in their own space, like a basement apartment. This makes the kettle’s overall height about 6” taller (10-gallon Surface is 22” tall, and standard G2 kettle is 16.4”), but makes the kettle interior very uncluttered for ease of cleaning.