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Expobar Brewtus III
Materials & Workmanship


Expobar has developed a reputation for delivering value at a good price. Looking over the Brewtus III, you will see this same strategy of sourcing solid off-the-shelf parts at a reasonable cost. The Brewtus III features standard, reliable, mid-grade components; nothing too fancy about the knobs and levers, just good solid design. That said, there are definitely notable upgrades over the original Brewtus model.

Interior of the Expobar Brewtus III All the components for the machine are built up around a solid steel frame. The wrap around cover is a heavy grade stainless steel and is easily removed by taking out seven screws around the periphery of the unit. The two 1.7 liter boilers are mounted vertically and are wrapped in foil-backed foam insulation. There is still ample heat to keep the cups toasty on the cup warmer without heating up your cabinets above the machine. The steam boiler is easy to descale because of the low hot water tap; the brew boiler requires you to draw descaler through the group. The vacuum breaker on the steam boiler could use a cover to prevent it from spitting droplets of water onto other components during warm up.

Both the rotary and vibe versions of the Brewtus come with the well-known Gicar PID. The over-pressure valve used to regulate pressure on the vibe version has also been upgraded from earlier models.

As mentioned earlier, the machine comes stock with a no burn steam arm. The brew head is a E61 design, which enjoys a solid reputation among espresso enthusiasts. The pump is activated with a brew lever which activates a small microswitch located behind the lever. A toggle switch powers up the machine.

The Brewtus is capable of delivering shot after shot without stopping, thanks to the routing of the incoming water from the pump to a heat exchanger passing through the steam boiler. The near brew temperature water then continues to the brew boiler. However, because of this design, you cannot turn off the steam boiler independently of the brew boiler.

Making brew pressures adjustments is quite straightforward. This adjustment is done on the "V" version machines by turning the over-pressure valve (OPV) adjustment screw clockwise to increase pressure, and counter-clockwise to decrease it. The OPV is attached to the pump and controls the pump's maximum pressure. The adjustment of the rotary is challenging because the lock nut and adjustment screw are difficult to reach in the small space between the pump and boiler.

One other plus for the Brewtus is the existence of an active discussion group - the Brewtus Users group. This group can be quite helpful in working through any issues you might have with this machine.

Overall the machine is well put together, easy to maintain, and should provide the user with many years of fine espresso.


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