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I picked up a Zymatic a little over a year ago. Until that point I was brewing on a 20L Speidel Braumeister, fine machine. Before that a fully tricked out 10 gallon Blichmann TopTier. Over the past 25 years I've been searching for a compromise between simplicity and functionality in brewing...

I have a cooper hood with the silicon gasket for my 20L. I posted a video several pages back showing a comparison of the boil with and without it. It definitely helps produce a vigorous boil but dealing with boil overs lead me to give it up. I tried a couple of the anti-foam solutions but it...

I didn't notice any pump rests in manual mode. It was running the entire mash except for the switch from the first to second grain bill. -Chris

Just checked my notes. The gravity at the end of the first mash was 8.6 brix. The gravity after the second mash was 17.4 brix. Again I split the 16 lb grain bill into two 8 lb mashes and didn't sparge so looking at the numbers I would say both mashes contributed roughly equally. -Chris

It was a batch of Mike "Tasty" McDole's infamous Janet's Brown Ale. I introduced two variables into the mix on this batch so it's hard to draw conclusions on efficiency. In addition to the reiterated mash I choose not to sparge. I started with 25.6 liters of water and had 20 liters left...

I did a reiterated mash this past weekend on my SBM20L. The total grain bill was around 16 lbs split into two 8 lb mashes. I manually controlled the SBM and did a single infusion for both mashes. At the end of the first mash I emptied the malt tube, rinsed it off and started the second mash...

The built-in was reading higher/warmer. The pump was running the entire time. I watched temps during the mash as well. They only started to drift out of sync in the last part of chilling. Otherwise they were +/-0.5 degrees of each other. -Chris

Possibly. I had mine set to 101C for both shots in the video. Another note - I drilled a small hole in the lid for the long stem thermometer I posted awhile back. I watched the temps while chilling on both thermometers. They started out in sync and quickly started drifting with the...

Yes, it would foam out of the hood like a bad science experiment. I actually had to add more drops as I went along to keep things in check. -Chris

Catching up on the thread today - we're closing in on 1,000 posts! Yes, I'm still using the whirlpool mod - 7 batches with it and no problems so far. While it helps, the whirlpool isn't very strong so the cone isn't as concentrated as it would be using other methods. I've started pointing...

Yambor - yes, I'm simply replacing what I loose to grain absorption. I've embraced metric since I got the SBM. It hurts a little at first but you get over it. ;~) -Chris

I had a half inch or so before the top would have plate hit the hold-down bar. I didn't have to pack or otherwise compact the grain. I did keep a close eye on it during the mash and could tell the pump was working harder than normal through a good bit of the process. This was my seventh...

I knocked out a batch of my house IPA (1.067) this past weekend with 14.5 lbs of grain. As the grain bed settled in the pump labored a bit more than usual but it made it through. I think around 15 lbs would be closer to the upper limit. -Chris

Mako did you check the temperature while chilling with anything other than the built-in probe? I've found it to be way off while chilling (10-15C or more). I remember reading about this somewhere but can't recall which thread. From what I can tell as the wort chills hop debris and break...

I used the cooper hood on my first session. It definitely seemed to help keep a rigorous boil - almost too rigorous. I spent the entire session standing over the pot with a spray bottle. That led me not use it on the next session and I haven't used it since. I get a decent rolling boil...

@rlhvegas - My 20L arrived 3 weeks to the day I ordered it. It's a tough wait. @makomachine - Hang in there. Once you get past this initial setback you should be golden. I've brewed more in the past 2 months than I did in the past year. -Chris

Good to see you figured the wiring out. Unfortunately I don't have any shots showing how I did it. I should have thought of that before I buttoned it up. Your pump issue definitely doesn't look right. I have noticed the pump cuts out around 85C and the display shows a (P). I looked and...

Here's a couple picts of my install of the 70200X45 from International Configurations. The components are actually made by Legrand. There's a green led that lights up when the receptacle has power. I keep it switched off unless I'm brewing. -Chris

Just took time, finally cleared out after a couple months. Used my Therminator on the last batch and things are clear out of the fermenter. I suspect I wasn't getting a good cold break with the Speidel chiller. It's a thing of beauty but it's not much of a chiller. Not sure if the walls...

That should work. The surface mount version would make it even easier. I hard wired mine into an existing junction box tied to my electric cooktop. The wiring was pretty straight forward once I got my head around it. My main goal with the 70200X45 was GFI protection. If that's not a...