Review summary
The Gaggia Brera super-automatic espresso machine by Gaggia is an affordable coffee maker that makes good coffee and functions great. The machine has sparked the interest of many ever since it first appeared on the market. It makes espresso and many other coffee drinks, and it’s compact and easy to use.
This is a nice coffee maker for everyone who values the design of the coffee machine as much as its performance. To find out more about the Gaggia Brera, keep reading.
Key features:
- Super-automatic coffee machine
- Makes coffee from whole bean or ground coffee
- Programmable brewing
- Rapid Steam technology
- Gaggia Adapting System
- Bean hopper capacity: 8.8oz
- Bypass doser
- Water reservoir capacity: 40oz
- Panarello wand for frothing
- Removable brewing system
- The wand also dispenses hot water for some drinks
- LED screen
- Control buttons
- Works with cups from 3.25 to 4.5 inches
Pros
Good taste of the espresso and other coffee drinks
Accessible elements
Makes double shots
Has an automatic energy-save standby mode
Easy to operate
Cons
Cleaning the machine takes more time and effort
It looks great and lasts long: on the design of the Gaggia Brera
If you were to apply for a ‘Miss Coffee maker of the Year’ competition, you would’ve certainly had won with the Gaggia Brera coffee machine. The machine looks very cute with its metallic chassis and curved edges and is a pretty small coffee maker. Measuring 12.4 x 10 x 17.5 inches, the Brera might be a bit larger than its sister, the Gaggia Classic Pro, but it will still leave plenty of space for other coffee products on your counter.
The machine has most of its elements placed in the front, which means that they are easily accessible. Therefore, it not only looks great, but is very easy to use. The ease of use doesn’t stop with the accessibility of elements on the machine, however. The machine is easy to operate with its LCD screen and four control buttons on the front panel.
Something that slightly bothers us when it comes to the design of the Brera are its plastic parts. Even though its front panel is made of stainless steel, there are many plastic elements on the machine. But, truth be told, most coffee makers in this price range do have plastic parts, and our Brera is not an exception. However, most people that have bought the Brera say it lasts long and works well even after several years.
Are its features attractive as much as its design?
The Gaggia Brera has a lot of interesting features for such an affordable coffee machine, even some that resemble the ones on the Gaggia Accademia. In fact, the Brera is one of the most popular espresso machines under $1000!
The machine is super-automatic, which means that both newbies and more experienced coffee makers will find joy in it. Also, it’s great that it makes all sorts of coffee drinks with or without milk, which is, again, great when we consider its price.
Another cool thing about the Gaggia Brera is its ceramic coffee grinder. Ceramic coffee grinders are one of the best grinders because they are chemically inert and won’t influence the flavor and aroma of the coffee.
Furthermore, the grinder on the Brera heats up while grinding, not allowing the coffee to lose its authentic aroma.
The Gaggia Adapting System is a technology that impacts the grinder and is probably one of the greatest features of this coffee maker. The Adapting System lets the grinder learn about the properties of your coffee beans and grind them properly. This means you’ll get the best flavor out of every coffee bean type that you want to make coffee from.
The Rapid Steam technology the Gaggia Brera uses lets the coffee maker steam your milk very fast. With this technology, you’ll have the thickness of the foam adjusted to every coffee drink. Furthermore, the Panarello wand for frothing lets you make you steam your milk manually and personalize your drinks.
This machine has a bean hopper with a capacity of 8.8oz. However, you can also make coffee drinks from ground coffee by using the bypass doser on the coffee maker. This is great, because you can have coffee drinks made from different coffee types without having to refill the bean hopper.
Will the Gaggia Brera make you fall in love with coffee even more?
The coffee drinks that the Gaggia Brera can make do taste good. Therefore, the many technologies of this coffee maker turn out to be very useful for the machine and its coffee-making capacities. The pre-infusion, the extraction process, and the ceramic grinder make for very tasty coffee.
Also, the programmable brewing with adjustable coffee volume, strength, and grind size let you add your own touch to every coffee drink you want to have. Furthermore, using the Mavea water filter with four stages of filtration can improve the taste of your coffee by reducing the hardness of the water. Add to this that the Gaggia Brera has a cup warmer, and you can imagine how tasty all those coffee drinks that it makes are.
Of course, if you want to get really great quality coffee, you are putting your hopes on the wrong machine. The Gaggia Brera offers good coffee, but it’s not a $2,000 or $3,000 machine. However, it definitely stands out from many of the coffee makers at its price range when it comes to coffee quality: we even consider it to be a more affordable alternative to Breville the Barista Express!
How to clean the machine
The Gaggia Brera has a removable brewing system that you can easily take out of the machine and rinse. Also, every time you turn the machine on or off, it runs an automatic rinse cycle of the coffee system.
Now, this rinsing can take a long time and you might also need to refill the water reservoir more frequently. Therefore, cleaning the Brera does take more time and effort than cleaning some other coffee makers at its price range.
When it comes to descaling, the machine will alert you once it needs to be descaled. However, if you use the Mavea water filter, your coffee maker won’t need to be descaled very frequently.
FAQ about the Gaggia Brera coffee machine
Why do I get soupy coffee grounds on my Gaggia Brera?
Soupy pucks can happen when the grind is too coarse or when you use oily beans. Also, if the coffee is too finely ground, the machine can get clogged. When this happens, the coffee maker can’t push the ground coffee, and you get more water in your cup.
However, the Gaggia Brera uses the Gaggia Adapting System technology which lets the grinder adapt to your beans. The grinder takes some time to adapt to the beans, but once it does it, soupy pucks will be a matter of the past.
Which are the best types of beans that I can use on this machine?
You should avoid using oily beans since they can clog or damage the grinder. We recommend you use light and medium roast coffee beans.
Does this machine come with espresso cups?
No, it doesn’t.
What are some alternatives to the Gaggia Brera?
Gaggia RI8260/47 Velasca Espresso Machine
One alternative to the Gaggia Brera is the Gaggia RI8260/47 Velasca espresso machine. This machine uses many of the technologies the Brera uses, but it offers greater programmability.
De’Longhi ESAM04110S Magnifica Fully Automatic Espresso Machine with Manual Cappuccino System
If the Gaggia Classic Pro is mostly compared to the Rancilio Silvia, the Brera will often lead to alternative espresso machines by De’Longhi. One such alternative to the Brera is the De’Longhi ESAMO04110S Magnifica espresso machine. This coffee maker is easier to clean than the Brera and offers more levels of adjustability for various features.
Conclusion
The Gaggia Brera is a very good coffee maker overall. Its manufacturers really tried to bring you the feeling of higher-end coffee machines into an affordable and easy-to-use product. Therefore, this coffee maker deserves a round of applause from both its competition and the coffee lovers out there.
Does this brewer have warning lights to tell me what’s going on with it?
Hi, Wayne!! Thanks for reaching out to the Morning Call Coffee Stand team!! :)) ☕
Yes, the Gaggia Brera espresso machine has indicator lights that tell you what the machine needs or does. You’ll see the following indicator lights on the Brera:
– indicator lights that show you the coffee strength
– indicator lights for the ammount of coffee
– indicator light that tell you that the bean hopper is empty
– indicator light that tells you that the brewing water is heating up
– indicator light that tells you that the water for steaming is heating up
– indicator lights that tell you that the machine is ready to brew
– indicator lights that tell you that the machine is brewing
– indicator light that tells you that the machine is steaming
– indicator light that tells you to run water through the steam wand
– indicator light that tells you that there’s no water in the tank
– indicator light that tells you that the grounds container is full
– indicator light that tells you to put the grounds container inside the machine
– indicator light that tells you that the door of the machine is open
– indicator lights that tell you that the brew group is displaced
– indicator light that tells you that it’s time to descale the machine
– indicator lights that tell you when the machine is descaling the brew group
– indicator lights that tell you that the machine is rinsing the brew group
– indicator light for a stand by mode
– indicator light that tells you that the machine needs to be primed
– indicator lights that tell you that the machine is malfunctioning for some reason
This might sound like a lot of indicator lights, but don’t worry — they’re intuitive and most of them overlap and light up in groups to indicate the needs and functions of the Gaggia Brera espresso machine; of course, some lights indicate a specific thing only. To learn more about the indicator lights of this machine, please read its instruction manual (link follows):
https://www.gaggia.com/wp-content/uploads//2018/05/DFU-BRERA-USA-GB-FR-ES-V3-00.pdf
Have a great day with your favorite coffee by your side!! :)) ☕
do you sell parts for the Gaggia Brera on here? I love the machine, but I need some new parts, it’s about time I replace the old ones.
Hello, Hope!! Thanks for being a part of the Morning Call Coffee Stand community!! :)) ☕
Unfortunately, we don’t sell parts for the Gaggia Brera on our site.
Enjoy your coffee and let it make your day a bit fresher!! :)) ☕
hw do i reset this thing???
Hello there!! Thanks for reaching out to us!! :)) ☕
We would like to know more about the exact options that you’d like to reset on the Gaggia Brera espresso machine as we are unable to determine whether you want to reset the already set settings on the machine or maybe reset the descale light indicator. However, we will explain how to reset these options and what to do if the descaling sign is still on the screen of the machine even after the descaling is over.
On the Gaggia Brera, you can adjust the setting for the coffee strength, the coffee length, and the grinder setting.
☕ MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE COFFEE STRENGTH: Press the BEAN/SPOON button to get one, two, or three coffee beans on the display of the machine. One bean displayed = mild aroma; Two beans displayed = medium aroma; Three beans displayed = strong aroma; The coffee doses vary from 7 to 10.5 grams according to the preferred aroma strength.
☕ MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE COFFEE LENGTH: Adjust the amount of water in your espresso or espresso lungo by pressing on either the ESPRESSO or LUNGO button depending on the coffee drink that you want to program. Hold the button of your choice for 5 seconds and wait for the BREW icon to start flashing. Wait until there’s as much water in your cup as you want there to be and press the ESPRESSO or LUNGO button, (again, depending on the drink you’re programming) to save the setting.
☕ CHOOSE A DIFFERENT GRIND SETTING: Turn the grinder dial to adjust the grind setting. The settings on the dial are marked with circles from largest to smallest indicating the grind, starting from the coarsest to the finest.
☕ TURNING THE DESCALING SIGN OFF AFTER DESCALING: The DESCALING sign continues flashing after descaling only if descaling is done incorrectly. Take the steps described below to correctly descale your Gaggia Brera, but only if you have a newer model of the machine (from mid-2013 on)!
Add the Gaggia descaler into the water tank of the machine and then fill the tank with water to the maximum level. Take the Panarello frother off, leaving only the steam wand on. Put your machine in standby mode by pressing and holding on the POWER button on the machine while the machine is turned on; the machine is in standby mode when the POWER button starts flashing red.
Take two jugs, and place one of them under the steam wand and the other one under the spouts. Then, press the ESPRESSO and LUNGO buttons at the same time until the WARNING TRIANGLE sign starts flashing and the DESCALING sign appears on the screen with one BEAN sign next to it; this is how the machine enters the descaling mode.
At this point, the Gaggia Brera machine will have the water with the descaler exiting through the spouts until half of the water in the tank has been flushed. The machine will then signal you that it is ready to flush water through the steam wand by displaying a flashing WARNING TRIANGLE and HOT COFFEE sign. When this happens, turn the main selector on the machine to the HOT WATER function.
Hot water will be coming out of the spout until the machine displays the WARNING TRIANGLE, ONE CUP, TWO CUP, ONE BEAN, and the DESCALING sign, notifying you to turn the main selector to the OFF position. After you turn the selector to the OFF position, refill the water tank with fresh water and put it back in the machine.
The machine is now ready to be primed, and you can prime it by choosing the HOT WATER option with the main selector. Once there’s no water coming out of the steam wand, you can switch the selector back to the OFF position.
With the selector in the OFF position, the machine will let water flow through the spouts, rinsing itself. Once the machine displays the HOT WATER sign, you’ll need to choose the HOT WATER function with the main selector to let the machine dispense water through the steam.
While the machine is undergoing rinsing, you might have to refill the water tank once or twice. The machine will signal you to do that by not flushing water through the steam wand any longer, exiting the standby mode, and displaying the EMPTRY RESERVOIR sign on the screen. If this happens, turn off the water function by turning the main selector to the OFF position, refill the tank, place back into the machine, and then switch the selector into the HOT WATER position.
The descaling of the Gaggia Brera is over when water no longer flows through the steam wand of the machine and the DESCALING sign is not on the screen. You can now choose the OFF position with the main selector and exit the standby mode and turn the machine on by pressing on the POWER button. Then, you can make coffee on the Gaggia Brera… if you want. :))
We hope this little guide is the answer you’ve been looking for. In case it is not, we’ll be waiting for your next question.
Have a great day and don’t forget there’s always place for good coffee in your cup!! :)) ☕
@morningcallcoffeestand how do I deep clean the brew unit? Great machine!
Hey, can you tell me how to properly descale it? I think I’m doing something wrong because my coffee tastes a bit sour.