NOTE: Many people say they have mashed with 20+ lb of grain in this system at a time. The 18 lb figure I quoted was the personal max I've mashed in with on this system, and I will note I used the same amount of water that I would normally use on a 12 lb grain bill. If you want to use less water and a thicker mash, you will easily get 22 lb into this system.

I had a comment written out about their customer service as their best feature - thank you for mentioning it! Had this for years and love it. As for the small hop spider... just used the grain basket after a rinse.

I've always thought this would be a solid system. It's rad that there's a whole network of content creators that are using it and supporting the community. And I'm glad to hear that they're supporting your efforts to create these videos too! Well deserved!

Me and a good friend recently started homebrewing and he just pulled the trigger on this system, so I'm excited to use it and maybe eventually get one for myself when I have the space! The biggest selling point for me is the modularity. The shipping time was great as well! We live in midwestern Canada and I believe it only took about 5-6 business days to come in, which is super fast for anything coming from the US.

Great video, also been using this system for around 2 years now. Been holding up great, one comment on sanitizing the pump/lines/chiller. I found when sending the wort through that equipment my temperature would drop a decent amount, enough to stop the boil entirely. After reading alot about sanitizing with boiling liquid some places say it needs 5 minutes of contact, some sites say it will kill anything on direct impact (as long as boiling). Now I start sanitizing when im almost done with the boil that way im not messing around with hop utilization.

I've been using this system for two years now, love every brew I make. Brew day is easy, and clean up is just as easy vs. the conventional three vessel system. I brew in the kitchen and have no issues with steam, even in the winter when the house is closed up. I believe I have mentioned to you to get this system when you were still brewing on the stovetop. Cheers

i have had the 20 gallon breweasy for about 2 years i like it but its kinda clunky to use its great when i need to brew 10 gallons of beer at one time not so at 5 gallons or less... after watching your channel for awhile from the stove top to the clawhammer... i got the 10 gallon 240 about 6 weeks ago i have brewed 3 of your beers on it... incredibly easy to use... all the beers turned out great... thanks for everything you do!!!!

Great Video Steve!! I’ve been eying the 240V for a while

Great review. I use the 110 volt clawhammer system. I have been using it for about 7 months and love it. You hit all the key good and bad. Great honest review.

I've got to admit this looks like a really good system. 9kg for a max mash seems more than enough realistically unless you're going for a very heavy Quad/RIS, but even that can be done in 2 mashes. The modularity seems to be such a plus point in that its easy to swap out if needed! I really like the impartiality you give. Shame they don't have these across in the UK!

Thank you for the informative video. It's been two years or so since you published this video, you made some suggestions about some improvements you would like to see, and I was wondering if any of them were made? Cheers

Great overview, I like my Grainfather, but really wish there was a way to easily add a better pump. Loving the modularity of the Clawhammer. Cheers!

I like my 220 system heats so fast , hard to keep the boil loss down with 5 gallon batches even at 35 %, works better for 15 gallon mash but excellent system agreed, Have a spike system with the steam condenser for the boil and going to use the claw hammer for mash, since winter is coming inside brewing, great videos and information Steve,Thank you

I’ve been stubbornly brewing on a tiered cooler and propane setup for too long now. I have finally caved to the idea of BIAB for its simplicity. I think I’m going to go with the 20 gal clawhammer. Biggest selling points for me are modularity and the fact that it is used by so many brewtubers that I watch. Should make it easy to duplicate recipes and also learn some valuable tips.

I started with the 120v element and controller. As great as it was I decided to go 240v. I do live in an apartment as well, so to get 240v I use a 50ft 10G homemade extension cord with 14-30 Plug and recepticle. It coils up nicely into a 5 gallon home depot bucket that I keep the other cords and pumps in after use, and stretches from my laundry room to the patio. I do lose about 250-300w due to the length of the cord, but after a year of use, the element shows no issues and brew days are signifantly shorter with 240v.

Great video. One small change that I think would be a great upgrade to the system is a whirlpool inlet/valve. I personally wouldn’t want a plate chiller, so I would want the option to not buy that or swap it with a CFC. Also not a fan of the sprayer in the lid. But overall great system at a competitive price. You can’t stress the importance of modularity and industry standard components. If you want to use camlocks with this system it’s an easy swap, while some other systems it’s a bit of an ordeal.

Hello from Tasmania Australia, still cold here even though it is mid spring, These all in one brewing systems are great, I used to watch a bloke on KZfaq who is American and lives in Norway who no longer brews, he built a 3 pot herms system with some fuse box on the wall with switches and temperature read outs and 3 pumps with hoses going everywhere, a brew day would consist of un plugging hoses and putting them into other connections, it looked like a nightmare to brew with and it costed him around $3000, yet there are still people out there who think they can brew a better beer with these systems

Love your work. This helped me decide on the CH 20G 240V. Trying the affiliate link now. Thanks!

I use the standard 3 tier system. HLT, mash tun, boil kettle. I like it I think my efficiency is probably better than an all in one system, however it does take up more space and it is quite labor intensive compared to an all in one. A lot of heavy lifting and moving stuff. I am a LOT older than you (LOL) and have considered a Clawhammer. Thanks for the honest review it was very helpful.

The one con I've come across (in addition to some of those you already pointed out here) is that there is no timer function in the PID controller. There is an alarm function you can use but that is tied to your set temperature. So, in the case of step-meshing, you need to have another way to keep track of the time for each step. Not all that significant of an issue really, unless you do allot of step mashing. I know there are other controllers on the market that do have integrated timers which makes this process a little more straightforward. Thanks again for an unbiased review!

Very comprehensive review! You made the decision easier to move forward with this system. Do you have a link for the sight glass? Thanks!

Just bought a claw hammer today and looking forward to getting into the brew scene.

Steve! awesome video. If budget and space weren't an issue, would you stick to a single vessel system or would you prefer a herms system like the spike trio? Can this produce just as good of a beer?

Would love a Clawhammer! Maybe one of these days I'll upgrade!

Good review and detailed pros and cons. I just pulled the trigger on upgrading to an electric system. I went the diy route. For less then the cost of the 120v Clawhammer I'm going to have a 15gal 240v system. Went diy route mainly due to what you refer to as modularity. Only downside is it's not plug and play so I have to do more assembly.

I’ve been using my 120v for almost a year with 9 batches and no problems. Customer service is great. I plan on upgrading to the 240v in the future.

Great product review. I've been using the same system for about a year and love it. Where did you get the sight glass that's connected to your hosing?

Great video! Have you (or anyone else here) had any experience brewing small batches on the Clawhammer? We're moving out our home to an apartment for next few years and I'm downsizing / re-investing into my brewing setup. Just for space concerns, I'm looking to brew 2 gallon batches.

Nice review and excellent product but bring on the Vienna Lager vid! lol

Put the lid on it at an angle with the hop spider like they do in their videos and the boil will be much stronger.

Where did buy the sight glass?

I've been using this for years and absolutely love it. I make big stouts and have easily done double mashes. However, to your point, it's hard to boil for gravity points. I've wondered... Is it safe for the element wiring to use gas on the bottom without damaging it?

I set up the 120v system the night before, and set the PID to mash temp before going to bed. By the time you wake up the next morning for brew day, your system is at strike temp.

I’ve been eyeing this system for quite some time now and am basically ready to pull the trigger when I get the funds saved away. One question though: in your eyes, would brewing smaller batches help with the boil vigor? I tend to shoot for 2.5 gallon batches, so my thought is that I would be able to get a stronger boil than when the system is used for 5 gallons.

at that price point, I think there are too many con's. I do think the modularity is a bonus if you are already a moderately seasoned brewer, but if you are a total beginner, it could easily be seen as a con, as it will seem a bit cumbersome. I am about 25 brews in the same time(1 year) into my Grainfather. for the exact same price I got 240v(this might be becuase I am in the UK and that's the standard household voltage here)system. Better grainbasket(solid malt pipe with only a perforated bottom. this slows the drain/sparge and increases efficiency. The drawback is the assembly of the grain basket is a bit fiddly until you learn how to work with it. coming apart the way it does is a huge plus for clean up!) and the top assembly mesh with center overflow is bang on easy to use. I have never once got channeling or a stuck mash/sparge. better clasp system for holding it out of the kettle like you said as well. Now, for a negative, I would say the software for the grainfather can be a bit iffy. I think this comes down to how some recipes are programmed though. So beginners might blame the system, when it's whomever wrote the recipe in grainfather or brewfather did not do it correctly. this usually shows up in heating steps where it will get right up to the set temp, but then not go past it to trigger the move to the next stage. It's an easy fix(manually up the temp 4-5º then when it hits the temp you want, turn it back down and it goes to the next step) but still not ideal. another downside to the design of the grainfather is the proprietarty fittings for the recirc/cooling. it's kind of finicky as well as doesn't allow for much adaption of different chillers without hunting down the proper fittings to make the conversion. All in all, for the same price, I still think I would go with the Grainfather again, even after I know what I know. 95% of the time it works flawlessly, is inuitive(and has a dummy proof step by step guide when you aren't sure), and cleans up effortlessly. It would be hard to convince me that something is better for the same price.

Clawhammer looks soooo nice, I will have one eventually 👍🏻👍🏻 🍺🍺

Hi. I hadn't thought about using an all in one electrical system on the stove. Is the electrical element and connection heat resistant?

Agree with your Pros/Cons - especially the cons. The basket design and supports made the CH system second in my evaluation - behind the Unibrau which I eventually chose and have been using for about 15 months now. I brew on a counter top and stove top in my kitchen - so manipulating the hooks while lifting the basket was a pretty big deal for me. Brewing at a lower height would probably make this less of an issue - as you described.

Thank you for your objectivity, Steve. Do you sparge with this system? How much volume loss do you experience over a 60 minute boil?

The GF quarter turn system has its own issues. I’ve had it pinch and then fall through the tension ring while trying to fix a stuck sparge. I still find dried wort around my garage from that. I really wish the GF had a different system that was more sturdy.

How does sparring work with this system?

Awesome video. Where did you get that shirt?

i like that site glass - did you add that? I do not see that on their site?

Curious - for larger grain bills, lets say 14 pounds-- do you ever lift it up on the hooks and sparge through the lid sprayer? My OG bit shy on a batch the other day and wondered if perhaps the grain didn't get rinsed enough..

I am new to beer(I make mead) but do you not do a sparge when you BIAB? I am just getting familiar with the process.

Cool

What are your thoughts on tri clamp vs NPT and sanitation cleaning?

Where can I get the sight glass you have?

I was looking at the Clawhammer system. The system looks easy to use and clean. (I’m debating building my own system to save money.) do you think the 120V system would work well with 3 gallon batches? (That’s the size I brew and I’m worried about the lack of power. 240V system is a little pricey.)

I agree with you 100%

I have found that the internal mash temp lags well behind the probe temp shown on the computer. Set to 152 and you could easily be at 145 unless you stir a lot. Mashout temp reads 168 when you're still at 159 in the mash. Hasn't caused me real problems but I always think about it and stir more.

When you said this system is easily upgradable to 240v, is that just the element or do you need to get a new controller as well?

How small a batch is practical do you think? Allowing for the space below the basket you would obviously need to get the water level high enough to dough in at a reasonable ratio. Do you always do no sparge, that must make quite a difference to how small a batch you can make for the above reason?

What do you think of the Brewbuilt X1 Pro ????

Which system would you suggest if you wanted to go step up from this company?

Interesting. I can't believe that this spray nozzle during circulation doesn't boost oxidization of the (hot) wort.

It's a nice system but out of my reach, I wish it was priced more along the lines of the Anvil Foundry as that's about all I could afford. Maybe one day!

Do they make a steam trap?

no sparging>

Sadly, "This system is designed for North American Power and will not work outside North America." I'm waiting for them to become available in Europe ^^

Love there System. But too much money. Married with CATS. Nobody will give my one. They need to have GIVEAWAY and let me WIN. LOL. #STAYSAFE #PHILLYPHILLY 🇺🇸

It's ok but it's not a Grainfather

Too rich for my blood, but thanks for the review.

Holding a glass of beer while talking. Why? No, it doesn't make you look cool, it's actually annoying. If you were really were drinking it off camera, why hold it.

Where did buy the sight glass?