I want to build an electric brewery in my basement. Why is it that a 3-vessel electric brewing system from one manufacturer costs so much more than a similar system from another manufacturer? I'm just starting my search and have been narrowing my choices down, and have come to two manufacturers that offer systems that interest me. The Electric Brewery, and High Gravity. I'm sure these aren't the only guys in town, but for the sake of this thread let's look at these two. Feel free to chime in with alternates, though.
Granted I've only looked at the control panels as of this writing - I've "glanced" at the other components, but it seems the control panel is the most expensive part here - TEB sells a 50A panel for around $2700 while HG has one for right around $1000, also a 50A unit. These are assembled panels. I want to do RIMS and step mash with 3 vessels so 50A seems to be the requirement. The TEB panel looks to have a lot more in terms of bells and whistles, but is all of that really needed, and is it really $1700 worth of added capability? Would the HG (Wort Hog EBC-350) controller allow me to accomplish the same thing for less than half the cost?
Sure, the TEB panel certainly looks like a high-end unit while the other one, well, it looks fine but how it looks says nothing about performance and capability. I suppose I'm still struggling with the difference in cost. I'm probably not seeing everything that it can do vs. the Wort Hog unit so I really don't have the full picture, so if anyone here can help me over that hump, I'd sure appreciate it.
I've got a decent budget to do this basement build, but I want to be sure my brew-bucks are going to the right place, and if the panel is going to eat up the lion's share, I want to be sure I'm looking at the best one for my needs.