Brewzilla 65L

[Cloud Surfer]

Ok, so I’m going to order a Brewzilla this weekend. I’ve got to start figuring out how to use it, so here come the annoying questions.

I see lots of people get rid of the top screen and overflow pipe to make stiring the mash easier. But, if you’re recirculating the wort through the grain bed anyway, is there any reason to stir? A bit more efficiency, but is it worth it for the sake of a few extra dollars of grain? I saw a video of a guy using the top screen and he said it was nice to have as it looked after the grain bed and stopped the sparge water digging channels in it.

How does everyone sparge with these all in one units? I would prefer if I didn’t have to buy another bit of kit like the digiboil, only because my place is starting to get over run with brewing gear. I have a 25L pot I’ve been brewing with. Does anyone use a pot and jug to sparge with, or is that a PITA?

I’ve got no idea about AG water. If anyone has any tips that will get me started that would be sweet.

 

[Grmblz]

Primarily you stir to get rid of dough balls, underletting (introducing the water from the bottom as opposed to pouring it from the top) is supposed to mitigate this (yes I know it's not called water, but it's H2O ffs) If you pour water in from the top (or the bottom imho) there is a danger of clumped dry grain, hence the stirring to ensure all the grain is evenly wetted.
Sparging? @ 70c ish, boil a kettle/jug 2 or 3 times and collect enough water to rinse the grains. (a bit ghetto but it works)
AG water? FOCL! sorry mate, first off you need a degree in bloody water chemistry, OK in all seriousness you need to know your starting point, I hereby freely admit to having no expertise in this matter other than personal experience, FORGET "burton water" for pale ales, because you may already have mineralised water, and if that is the case, good luck brewing a Pilsner, it's why reverse osmosis water is so popular, you're starting with a blank canvas to paint your own preferred water profile onto.
@MHB Mark is imo the man to talk to here (no offence meant to others with similar knowledge)
If you can, get a water report from your local supplier, bearing in mind that many suppliers receive water from different sources throughout the year with subsequent changes in the water profile.
Just a thought, get a 65L, you can brew a small batch on a big system (within reason) but you can't do a big one on a small one, just ask @kadmium rofl,

 

[wide eyed and legless]

The main purpose of stirring is to keep the mash at a more even temperature, prevents hot/cold spots. A slight rise in efficiency could be because of the stirring. The liquor coming through the return pipe could/would be channeling. I believe that is the purpose of rakes in a commercial mash tun.

 

[MHB]

The attached let you see where your water comes from, In your case it will be Grahamstown then a look at the Typical Composition will give you a fair idea what to expect.
If we look at say Calcium

You will see there are 3 figures 10th Percentile, 90th Percentile, there is a 10% chance that over a decade the Ca concentration will lie in either the upper or lower band and an 80% chance it will be in between.
Just use the Median in this case 11 mg/L or PPM (same thing)
As you can see our local water is pretty good in that its low in everything, so we can build it up to what ever we want.
Its imperative that you remove Chlorine/Chloramine, either a Carbon filter or treat your water with Metabisulfite.
Have tacked on some notes from a talk I gave at the local club a couple of years ago, have a read if you like.
Mark

 

[kadmium]

Hey mate.

A few things to consider. Don't start out in the AG world trying to do big beers. Consider starting out doing SMaSH beers (single Malt and Single Hop) something like Maris Otter and a new world hop works really well. Plenty of SMaSH beers about.

With water like that, I wouldn't stress about trying to adjust your water for a while. Focus on dialing in your process and getting and idea of your overall efficiency before tackling water chemistry.

Water is important don't get me wrong, but it's less important in my opinion if you have low bicarbonates and other minerals than if you don't. So you're in a good spot to neglect it for a while. In my opinion.

Once you have nailed down your process, efficiency is dialed in and you are getting repeatable or predictable results then you can add the next complexity on. It's no point trying to fiddle with water and then missing your OG by 10 points (pretty sure my RIS was spot on for water chemistry LOL)

When you start brewing bigger, unless you do a reiterated mash you're probably going to drop efficiency and that's why I suggest not going down that path until you have a handle.

In terms of top screen vs non, I like the top screen. I use the top screen and also stir about 3 times. I find it prevents channeling if the mash is a little thicker than full volume mashing, and it helps me keep a visual on the water level above the bed. I can see if it's backing up above the handles on the screen to judge how open the pump should be.

I would suggest watching some videos on YouTube by a guy called Gash Slug, he goes by The Home Brew Network, and brews in a BZ 35L. He goes through the process and includes recipes etc. Most of his info is accurate and it's a good reference for a visual learner.

It's a steep learning curve in my opinion going to AG and it's best to tackle it like eating an elephant. One bite at a time. Otherwise you will be chasing your tail wondering if its grain crush, wet conditioning, mash thickness, channeling, water chemistry, mash length and temp or many other things causing efficiency to swing around.

In regards to sparging? Call me a heathen but I just use a 5L jug (make sure you verify its accurate using a scale) and measure all my mash water out. Do NOT trust the markings on the BZ. When it comes time to sparge, lift the malt pipe and let it start draining. Then just jug the water in gently using water straight from the hot tap. It's about 50c which I consider more than adequate. It's been shown that water temp for sparging doesn't effect efficiency I believe. So you could even use cold water.

Anyway I'm sure there will be lots more I have missed but you know the drill. Just ask and there are heaps of people on here who will try to help out.

 

[Malted Mick]

Being a inveterate tinkerer I do not use the overflow pipe, top plate or the false bottom. Keep in mind I am a novice and have only done about 5 brews to date in a 35L Brewzilla. Should work on a 65L as well. The following is my process which requires modifications to the stock set up. Works for me, but open to comments or criticism.
I monitor and regulate the mash level with the occasional stir for the full mash duration. I use the stock sparging arm with 250 mm of tube on it to direct the flow into the grain. You will see in the first photo I have removeable plugs in the handle holes to prevent grain debris going through. Never had any pump problems or stuck grain bed to date.
Then I lift the malt pipe to drain. I sparge using a 2.5 litre electric jug, generally boiling two lots. Boiling water is added to ambient water to get around 70c. I sparge using a shower attachment from a watering can to prevent channeling.
Boil as normal. Add the stock chiller and start cooling. At 90c I change out the stock arm with the optional whirlpool arm and start the pump. I run the pump utill the wort is down to around 25 c or less. Remove the chiller, start the pump again and give it a good stir to get a active whirpool. Turn the pump off and wait about 30 minutes for the wort cool. I cover the open top with gladwrap to keep the nasties out.
Transferring the wort to the fermenter I use two take off points, the first is 55mm higher than the stock tap position and has an angled down elbow fitted. I open the top ball valve first about half way and drain untill the flow stops leaving about 3.8 litres of trub. At this point I open both valves fully to drain the last dregs out leaving about 1.4 litres of trub. The last stage of the drain is very slow as the helix coil clogs up. I do not use the false bottom. I found with the stock false bottom that trub built up on it, without it the trub setlles out lower. Their is a trick to setting up a helix coil to get adequate filtering with reasonable flow. The coil needs to be cut exactly so you have a slight stretch in it, not compressed to close the gaps.

 

[MHB]

I would second the idea of doing some simple low cost and not too heavily hopped beers. Basically just to get a feel for your system and to identify any problems that can be hidden in hoppy or very high alcohol beers. The fact that there may be flaws in a beer that are hidden doesn't mean they go away, just that they are less up front. Your beer will be better if they aren't there.

With our local water I would recommend you
1/ Dechlorinate - a must
2/ Add 100 ppm of Calcium, in most any form you like, Ca is really important in brewing, where it comes from is more a flavour based decision than a functional one.
3/ Acidify your mash and sparge water, I usually treat all my water the same, then portion it up based on how I'm going to use it (mashing in, temperature step, sparge) If your sparge water is slightly acidic it wont extract tannins from the grain husks anything like as readily. Means you can use hotter sparge water (<80oC), hotter sparge water does extract more from the grist, it also flows more freely so you lauter faster.

The biggest problem with all the 1V systems (inc BM) that I have seen is It's really very difficult to sparge properly.
A proper lautering process washes the sugary wort from between the grist, which is what most of us achieve with 1V systems or fast lauters, it also surrounds the grist with water that is low in sugars (extract) this causes the sugars in the grist to migrate out of the grist into solution. The difference is probably the biggest reason commercial brewers and those few very patient home brewers who lauter properly get extract efficiencies in the mid to high 90% range and most home brewers are happy to get into the low 80%'s.
Mark

 

[Cloud Surfer]

Thanks you guys for the excellent replies, I’m learning a lot.

I think I’ve figured out enough to get me started. But I can’t help myself and like to know all the minor details as well. It’s a curse.

I didn’t want to get too bogged down with the water just yet, but thought a couple of tips to get me going would be nice. Mark’s points are good. Am I correct in thinking you add 1g of Ca per 10L of water? Where do you source the Ca from?

With the acid do you use a pH meter to adjust it to a certain level, and where do you source that from as well?

Is it worth buying a RO unit?

 

[MHB]

Forget about buying a RO unit, we have really lovely water in the Hunter.
If you haven't got a water filter in the kitchen, get a filter housing, buy a duplex cartridge that will remove particulates and Chlorine in the one unit, should last over a year even for an active brewer. Bunnings have a disposable cartridge one called a Caravan Water Filter Cartridge, around $26 that will clip onto a common garden hose - all you need.

Calcium is mostly used in the form of Calcium Sulphate and Calcium Chloride, your local also stocks Calcium Lactate.
Each has a known Ca content for instance CaSO4.2H2O (the Di-Hydrate is the most common form) is 23% by Calcium.
If you worked out you want to add say 80PPM and you are treating 54L, PPM is the same as mg/L
54*80=4320mg or 4320/1000=4.32g of Ca
Mass CaSO4*0.23=4.32 so 4.32/0.32 = 18.8g
Naturally the mass will be different if if you used CaCl2 which is 27% Calcium, different again for Lactate in any case most salts are available in different forms (different amounts of Water) and it should say on the label which form you have. You need to adjust accordingly.

Most home brewers use either Lactic or Phosphoric Acid, personally I prefer Lactic as most of the naturally occurring acidity in malt is from lactic acid produced by bacteria on the malt - so your adding a bit of something that is already there. Again there are standard equations that tell you how much to add, that to should be on the bottle label to, or at least the strength should.
Worth noting that you can get Sour Malt or Acid Malt, Lactic Acid bacteria broth dried onto it, it is standardised to lower the pH by 0.1pH for each 1% of the grain bill, best not used over around 5% but as you learn how much adjustment you need to make you can build that into the grain bill.

Get a pH meter or good quality pH strips (need to be very good narrow range). These days I would get a pH meter, had a play with the one from Kegland the other day, pretty good starting out model for the price ($36).
If you look after your pH meter its a better option, just remember to calibrate every brew day and keep the probe wet otherwise they become random number generators pretty quickly.

From some of your questions I think you may have a bit more to learn than you realise. Worth looking around for someone to sit in on a brew day with, just following along with the process will help get everything in place.
Mark

 

[Malted Mick]

Mark has some good advice about pH testing. I use the narrow range strips and it is very hard to match the colour and determine a accurate pH value. I aim for around 5.4 or less by adding 1.5 mls of Phosphoric Acid to my tap water. The dipped blue strip has a slight green tinge to it which may indicate it is getting down around 5.4. No confidence in them at all as it depends on your eyesight and colour evaluation I guess. Going to get myself a pH meter now!
The other observation with my Brewzilla is that the temperature during the mash can fluctuate. The sensor appears to be calibrated and accurate but mash temperature rises and falls. Get another temp gauge to measure the temp at the top of the mash. I use a probe type clipped to the top to monitor and adjust my mash temp. With the Brezilla set on 65c I have seen 67 on the Brewzilla gauge even when the element has tripped out. My probe on top will be showing low sixties. Opening the pump valve a bit more and stirring seems to get more heat up into the top and even it out.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

Thought I'd show a photo of the new BrewZilla setup. There was some back and forth with ordering some extra parts to get it set how I like. I decided to get rid of the overflow tube and top screen and bought a bottom screen for the malt pipe without the centre hole. I got the clear sight glass kit and added some calibrated volume markings which will be useful. I bought a Grainfather counterflow chiller which needed a bit of modifying to connect into the BrewZilla. I added a temperature gauge which I thought it really needed as well.

I did a calibration run with water to learn all the losses and the unit was so easy to use. It heats everything up so fast I can see this thing being a joy to use. I was going to do a simple pale ale to start off with, but really, life's to short for that rubbish. So I'm just going to step it up to a IIPA. Super simple grain bill, just a little more involved with the hop additions.

 

[kadmium]

Looks good!

 

[Malted Mick]

Let us know how you go with your trial run! I have been strugling to minimise the amount of trub carried over into the fermenter. I use the supplied chiller that came with my 35L. I have it in and running when I do my whirlpool. I wonder if you will get a better whirlpool using a counterflow chiller?

 

[Cloud Surfer]

Let us know how you go with your trial run! I have been strugling to minimise the amount of trub carried over into the fermenter. I use the supplied chiller that came with my 35L. I have it in and running when I do my whirlpool. I wonder if you will get a better whirlpool using a counterflow chiller?

There’s a few reasons I bought the counterflow chiller, and easier whirlpooling is one of them. I bought some Brewbright as well, which is supposedly a better version of whirlfloc. The LHBS told me it’s great stuff and leaves a big pile after whirlpooling.

 

[jayred]

Thought I'd show a photo of the new BrewZilla setup. There was some back and forth with ordering some extra parts to get it set how I like. I decided to get rid of the overflow tube and top screen and bought a bottom screen for the malt pipe without the centre hole. I got the clear sight glass kit and added some calibrated volume markings which will be useful. I bought a Grainfather counterflow chiller which needed a bit of modifying to connect into the BrewZilla. I added a temperature gauge which I thought it really needed as well.

I did a calibration run with water to learn all the losses and the unit was so easy to use. It heats everything up so fast I can see this thing being a joy to use. I was going to do a simple pale ale to start off with, but really, life's to short for that rubbish. So I'm just going to step it up to a IIPA. Super simple grain bill, just a little more involved with the hop additions.


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Hey Mate
Where did you get that Wort temp gauge ? I can't find it on the KL site Cheers

 

[Grmblz]

Hey Mate
Where did you get that Wort temp gauge ? I can't find it on the KL site Cheers

Pretty easy to put together a stainless housing for their standard temp gauge, just screw the barbs into the end ports of the tee, then use the nipple to connect the coupling to the other port and screw the temp gauge into the coupling.

1 x 1/2” Stainless Steel Couplings
1 x 1/2” Stainless Steel Nipples
1 x 1/2” Stainless Steel Tee
2 x 1/2” Stainless Steel Hose Barbs
1 x Bimetal 3 Inch Dial Weldless Thermometer - Short Stem 42mm