I recently decided to purchase a Brewzilla 35L (120v) for a few different reasons.
First off, I wanted a more convenient method for brewing smaller batch sizes, both for running tests and for brewing novelty beers that I don't need 5 gallons of.
Secondly, end of summer/early fall is a difficult time to be brewing outside where I live as the wasps are relentless, so I wanted an indoor option for that period of time.
Lastly, I've been looking for a solution for maintaining mash temperatures in my 2 vessel system. While the ssbt infussion does a good job of holding temperature, it doesn't allow for recirculation without a heat source, and it can be really finicky to get back to target if I miss my mash-in temperature to the cold side.
Since I already own an immersion chiller, I decided to use the one included with the Brewzilla as a HERMS coil. I've done a couple brews with this setup, and I'm actually really surprised at how well it's worked considering it's only a 120v 1200 watt (don't quote me on that) system. It takes 25L of water in the Brewzilla to cover the coil, which is more than I typically require for sparging. I've also needed to cover the Brewzilla with a towel as the lid doesn't fit with the chiller/coil inserted, and it needs this help to function properly.
It functions perfectly at maintaining temperatures while recirculating the mash, and I've even had luck with small step mashing as long as I stop the recirculation 10-15 min prior to the temperature change, and allow the Brewzilla this time to heat up before starting the recirculation again. With this method, I'm getting an increase in mash temperatures of approximately 0.5°c per minute, but it trails off after the first few degrees, so to reach a mashout from say 65°c would take over 20 minutes. Not ideal, but a big improvement over nothing!
I don't really have a question here, but I am happy with how well this has woked so far and I thought I'd share this with the community and open myself up to questions or critiques as I'm still very new to 3 vessel HERMS brewing and fly sparging.
Cheers!
First off, I wanted a more convenient method for brewing smaller batch sizes, both for running tests and for brewing novelty beers that I don't need 5 gallons of.
Secondly, end of summer/early fall is a difficult time to be brewing outside where I live as the wasps are relentless, so I wanted an indoor option for that period of time.
Lastly, I've been looking for a solution for maintaining mash temperatures in my 2 vessel system. While the ssbt infussion does a good job of holding temperature, it doesn't allow for recirculation without a heat source, and it can be really finicky to get back to target if I miss my mash-in temperature to the cold side.
Since I already own an immersion chiller, I decided to use the one included with the Brewzilla as a HERMS coil. I've done a couple brews with this setup, and I'm actually really surprised at how well it's worked considering it's only a 120v 1200 watt (don't quote me on that) system. It takes 25L of water in the Brewzilla to cover the coil, which is more than I typically require for sparging. I've also needed to cover the Brewzilla with a towel as the lid doesn't fit with the chiller/coil inserted, and it needs this help to function properly.
It functions perfectly at maintaining temperatures while recirculating the mash, and I've even had luck with small step mashing as long as I stop the recirculation 10-15 min prior to the temperature change, and allow the Brewzilla this time to heat up before starting the recirculation again. With this method, I'm getting an increase in mash temperatures of approximately 0.5°c per minute, but it trails off after the first few degrees, so to reach a mashout from say 65°c would take over 20 minutes. Not ideal, but a big improvement over nothing!
I don't really have a question here, but I am happy with how well this has woked so far and I thought I'd share this with the community and open myself up to questions or critiques as I'm still very new to 3 vessel HERMS brewing and fly sparging.
Cheers!
