Brewzilla Gen4 Discussion/Tips Talk

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Reporting back. I received the Brewzilla Gen 4.1 and finally got a brew day knocked out with it over the weekend :) The main changes I noticed are the malt pipe only has one row of feet at the bottom, the lid clamps are adjustable and coated in a rubber coating, it comes with the sight glass (which is a plastic resin deal), and that's about it. Now I will say the brewday was uneventful and went extremely smooth! Once this was over, and the unit cleaned, I did take the pump head cover off the unit to make sure it was clean, which it was, and it definitely spun more freely than the 2nd Brewzilla unit. I really enjoyed the sight glass! It neat to be able to visually see the wort go from cloudy to crystal clear! Also it was a huge help in not having to shine a light down in the boiler itself to make sure the preboil volume was where it should be (25L/6.75 Gallons) in my case. Going to get a few more brews in on the Gen 4.1 and will report back again. Hopefully the next brews are just as uneventful :)
 
Reporting back. I received the Brewzilla Gen 4.1 and finally got a brew day knocked out with it over the weekend :) The main changes I noticed are the malt pipe only has one row of feet at the bottom, the lid clamps are adjustable and coated in a rubber coating, it comes with the sight glass (which is a plastic resin deal), and that's about it. Now I will say the brewday was uneventful and went extremely smooth! Once this was over, and the unit cleaned, I did take the pump head cover off the unit to make sure it was clean, which it was, and it definitely spun more freely than the 2nd Brewzilla unit. I really enjoyed the sight glass! It neat to be able to visually see the wort go from cloudy to crystal clear! Also it was a huge help in not having to shine a light down in the boiler itself to make sure the preboil volume was where it should be (25L/6.75 Gallons) in my case. Going to get a few more brews in on the Gen 4.1 and will report back again. Hopefully the next brews are just as uneventful :)
The sight glass seems like a nice feature to add.
I have a late model gen 4.0, not sure if they called it anything else. It has adjustable lid clamps with rubber, but not a coating, more like a heat shrink wrap. It also only has one row of a feet at the bottom which I am still frustrated about.

What does the sight glass read up to? I make 6.5 gallon post boil volume batches in my gen4. Wonder if I can buy an upgrade kit to get the sight glass?

Also, a small update on mine. My pump went out, not sure why. It was quickly replaced under warranty, but sad that it failed in under 10 brews. They were adamant it was clogged. They hushed up quickly when I told them it failed when making a seltzer and I went to pump the liquid out.
 
The Gen 4.1 has a new stronger pump so weird that it failed like that. I was thinking about upgrading the pump for my 4.0, but maybe I'll wait.
 
The Gen 4.1 has a new stronger pump so weird that it failed like that. I was thinking about upgrading the pump for my 4.0, but maybe I'll wait.
I'm considering upgrading to the pump they offer on the 65L. Maybe if mine fails again I'll ask for a discounted upgrade. It seems to be more robust. Obviously I use my pump to chill my wort and the standard one does not seem to be rated for it
I believe the stronger pump is only in the 65 liter unit.
I believe it is on the 65L and the 100L unit.
Per this kegland video they mention you can upgrade (not sure if that applies in the USA since we already get cucked on the malt pipe)
 
If somebody has retrofitted the new pump onto a 35L (120V at that) I'd love to see a video.

Although, if the stronger pump doesn't solve any problems, that's moot. The flow rate of the 4.0 pump is fine, clogging is the issue.
 
The sight glass seems like a nice feature to add.
I have a late model gen 4.0, not sure if they called it anything else. It has adjustable lid clamps with rubber, but not a coating, more like a heat shrink wrap. It also only has one row of a feet at the bottom which I am still frustrated about.

What does the sight glass read up to? I make 6.5 gallon post boil volume batches in my gen4. Wonder if I can buy an upgrade kit to get the sight glass?

Also, a small update on mine. My pump went out, not sure why. It was quickly replaced under warranty, but sad that it failed in under 10 brews. They were adamant it was clogged. They hushed up quickly when I told them it failed when making a seltzer and I went to pump the liquid out.
I wonder if it would be counterintuitive to remove that spindle right in the middle of the pump head? It seems like that could be a huge cause for clogging. Is that "spindle" with three arms actually needed?
 

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I wonder if it would be counterintuitive to remove that spindle right in the middle of the pump head? It seems like that could be a huge cause for clogging. Is that "spindle" with three arms actually needed?
Sounds like the subject of a Far Side cartoon. "Marvin wondered aloud if he should remove the spindle thingy and he was never seen or heard from again."
 
Hmm. Was prepping strike water last night and noticed a little puddle under the unit when I moved it. The silicone elbow from the bottom drain into the pump has degraded and was slowly dripping.

I tried to replace it with a straight 1/2" segment, but it kinks. I unmounted the pump for now.

Anyone know where to buy such a beast? 1/2" food grade silicone 90? I'm also open to reworking it, although with the out-of-the-box configuration, there's not much room for tube - stainless elbow - tube.

I'm not sure why it rotted out. I run oxiclean sometimes, but no acid sanitizers etc. It may just be heat + vibration.
 
Hmm. Was prepping strike water last night and noticed a little puddle under the unit when I moved it. The silicone elbow from the bottom drain into the pump has degraded and was slowly dripping.

I tried to replace it with a straight 1/2" segment, but it kinks. I unmounted the pump for now.

Anyone know where to buy such a beast? 1/2" food grade silicone 90? I'm also open to reworking it, although with the out-of-the-box configuration, there's not much room for tube - stainless elbow - tube.

I'm not sure why it rotted out. I run oxiclean sometimes, but no acid sanitizers etc. It may just be heat + vibration.
Here's a link. https://www.morebeer.com/products/r...HYDBjJyeVvg_OdMwqnevhPLR-4EFHuVhoCZGUQAvD_BwE
 
The more I use it the more I like it. I've added as accessories the heat exchange plate and Bluetooth temp probe with great results.

I also got the Brewmonk CFC and got the idea from David Heath to hook up a wort in tube with a camlock so I can easily swap it out without trying to get the recirc tube over the chiller's barb. And now the pump isn't having to push the wort so high.

Im finding the CIP not to be great though tbh. It seems like it would take forever to remove the ring of crud from the boil.
 
The more I use it the more I like it. I've added as accessories the heat exchange plate and Bluetooth temp probe with great results.

I also got the Brewmonk CFC and got the idea from David Heath to hook up a wort in tube with a camlock so I can easily swap it out without trying to get the recirc tube over the chiller's barb. And now the pump isn't having to push the wort so high.

Im finding the CIP not to be great though tbh. It seems like it would take forever to remove the ring of crud from the boil.
It’s much faster to clean with BKF and a sponge than CIP.
 
Think I need to see the cip as more of an extra wash on top of my scrubbing of the visible crud.

I'm sure if I let it run long enough it'd get there eventually but a sponge will get the crud off in a few seconds
 
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