Robobrew/Brewzilla Discussion

[DuncB]

@Cloud Surfer
I think plan to do a parti gyle next time you do a barley wine. Sparge it into a fermenter whilst you finish the boil in the brewzilla. Then see what gravity you have and you might get 10 or more litres of session beer.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

@Cloud Surfer
I think plan to do a parti gyle next time you do a barley wine. Sparge it into a fermenter whilst you finish the boil in the brewzilla. Then see what gravity you have and you might get 10 or more litres of session beer.

That Barley Wine was only my third all grain brew, so I really had no idea about mashing big malt bills. Just did a big Imperial Stout using parti gyle and got 64% efficiency, which is a lot better than the 50% for the Barley Wine.

Good idea about making an extra beer with the sparge. One day I may buy a second Grainfather conical to plug into the glycol chiller. That will give me more brewing flexibility.

 

[Sammy86]

That is some stellar efficiency! My best so far has been 78% with a pretty simple beer.

This wasn’t even my best! Two beers ago I got 89% BHE. That was the first time using the new mill as well and I mashed REALLY thin, 3.0 qt/lb based on a mistake in BeerSmith.

Out of interest what gap are you using? I’m surprised by how tight some people go, and wondering if that’s purely to chase better efficiency. I have mine set at 1.1mm/.043”. At that the crush looks nice with no flour at all.

Mine is pretty tight, .033. I’m gonna open up to .043 and see where it takes me.

I get up to 88% efficiency with small grain bills under 6kg in the 65L BrewZilla. That drops quite a bit as the load increases. I used 16kg of malt for my Barley Wine and got only 50% efficiency, mainly because I had no water left over for sparge. But I did end up with 22L of 15% ABV beer. Given that, I couldn’t care less what efficiency I get, except I’m trying to get better at planning what I will get, so I can get as close to my OG as possible.

That’s some awesome efficiency! I have been doing 11 and 12 gallon batches and splitting them with different yeasts so I haven’t had an opportunity/need to do a five gallon batch. I did one with @bracconiere home malted grain but did full volume no sparge and my efficiency was 60%.

@Sammy86
What do you mean a mess in the tun?
You have a great efficiency there, any numbers you can let us know to aid our dial ins, I'd accept a mess in the mash tun if my BHE improved by 12%.

Perhaps try doing half the grain at the current mill gap and half a bit wider and see how that affects things.

The tun had crud in it…that’s the best way to describe it. I should have taken a picture but it was pushing time to pick up the kids at daycare. It looked like flour with too much water and hot break. It went through the mash pipe and the false bottom and was sticking! It was like nothing I’ve seen before in my kettle.

As far as numbers go here is what I was working with today:

23 LBS Grist (20 Viking Pils/3 LB Bracc Munich Malt)
I mashed in with 11.5 gal at 144, it dropped to 138 but came back up in 10 mins. Rested there for 30 mins.
Stepped up temp to 158, held there for 30 mins.
No mash out…I‘ve never done them so why change now ya know?
Got 9.5 gallons out
My version of fly sparging: dump a gallon or 2 at a time I kinda just eye ball it with with 6.5 gallons got to 14 gallons pre-boil.
Boiled down to 13 gallons after an hour and got two fermenters of 6 gallons of wort.

EDIT: I let the mash rest for 10 mins before recirculating. I mixed the mash at 45 minutes before bumping up the temp to 158 and then mixed again before raising the mash pipe to start draining.

 

[DuncB]

@Sammy86
Ahh I think you mean " the copper " or the boil kettle.

Mash tun is where the mashing occurs, but as it's all in one maybe when we mash the vessel is a mash tun and then when we remove the malt pipe and boil it's a boil kettle.

But I get what you're describing now which is the important bit.

I find with my maltzilla crushed at 0.5mm the lauter and sparge is so fast that I don't really keep the grain bed covered. Did you have the pump running flat out during the mash or towards the end of the mash? Normally it would suck up most of that fine stuff and deposit it back on to the top of the grain bed in the malt pipe.

 

[Sammy86]

@Sammy86
Ahh I think you mean " the copper " or the boil kettle.

Mash tun is where the mashing occurs, but as it's all in one maybe when we mash the vessel is a mash tun and then when we remove the malt pipe and boil it's a boil kettle.

But I get what you're describing now which is the important bit.

I find with my maltzilla crushed at 0.5mm the lauter and sparge is so fast that I don't really keep the grain bed covered. Did you have the pump running flat out during the mash or towards the end of the mash? Normally it would suck up most of that fine stuff and deposit it back on to the top of the grain bed in the malt pipe.

Yes, sorry wrong terminology! I pretty much had the pump running the entire mash except at the beginning when I let it settle and when I mix it with the mash paddle. All the gunk was definitely slowing the pump down, had to keep pushing it aside during the chill with the CFC.

 

[CUSTOM-441]

This wasn’t even my best! Two beers ago I got 89% BHE. That was the first time using the new mill as well and I mashed REALLY thin, 3.0 qt/lb based on a mistake in BeerSmith.

Damn, that's high! Good for you! I think the water/grist ratio conversation is worth rehashing. We brought it up on page 1 of this thread over a year ago, and now that we've all got more experience under our belt I'm curious to know what people have been doing.

I'm brewing a 13lb grain bill IPA tomorrow. I don't venture that high on the Brewzilla often. I rarely, if ever, deviate from Beersmiths 1.7qt/lb ratio. In the past I've noticed less than stellar efficiency with larger grain bills using a 1.7 ratio. I've since started stirring my mash, and adjusted my sparge technique, so we'll see how it goes!

 

[Sammy86]

Damn, that's high! Good for you! I think the water/grist ratio conversation is worth rehashing. We brought it up on page 1 of this thread over a year ago, and now that we've all got more experience under our belt I'm curious to know what people have been doing.

I'm brewing a 13lb grain bill IPA tomorrow. I don't venture that high on the Brewzilla often. I rarely, if ever, deviate from Beersmiths 1.7qt/lb ratio. In the past I've noticed less than stellar efficiency with larger grain bills using a 1.7 ratio. I've since started stirring my mash, and adjusted my sparge technique, so we'll see how it goes!

Interested to see where everyone else is!

 

[CUSTOM-441]

Brew day complete. Overall BH efficiency was 68%, which isn't bad considering I was planning on 72%. Even after mashing for an extra 10 minutes and stirring it. I think the issues lies in my boil-off calculations. All my pre-boil numbers are bang on, but my post-boil numbers always end up low on bigger beers. You're all superheros for getting such high numbers! My excuse is 120V..

 

[Sammy86]

Brew day complete. Overall BH efficiency was 68%, which isn't bad considering I was planning on 72%. Even after mashing for an extra 10 minutes and stirring it. I think the issues lies in my boil-off calculations. All my pre-boil numbers are bang on, but my post-boil numbers always end up low on bigger beers. You're all superheros for getting such high numbers! My excuse is 120V..

Yeah, I've heard on the 120V there are some boiling issues. 68% isn't bad on a big beer though, I'd be happy with that!

 

[cactusgarrett]

Curious:
What is the largest grainbill you've been able to stuff into a 65L robobrew/brewzilla?
What is your equipment setup (ie. plugged center tube)? What water/grain ratio did you use (including the 10L recoverable deadspace)?

 

[GoodTruble]

I am about to pull the trigger on a Brewzilla (120v). But I wanted to ask if it will provide the benefit I am looking for.......

For me, free time for brewing is the biggest constraint. I rarely have 3+ hours to brew. I DO have plenty of opportunities to be working from home and able to check in on the brewing every 30 minutes or so. So, I'm hoping the Brewzilla will allow me to use pre-programmed times and temps to minimize the amount of time I need to standby and watch the kettle. I really don't cate how long it all takes overall (to heat up, etc), I just want to minimize how long I have to actually be standing and watching over it.

Will Brewzilla be useful or will I be disappointed?

 

[Sammy86]

Curious:
What is the largest grainbill you've been able to stuff into a 65L robobrew/brewzilla?
What is your equipment setup (ie. plugged center tube)? What water/grain ratio did you use (including the 10L recoverable deadspace)?

The biggest GB I have done is 25 lbs/ 11.3 KG with a 2.0 qt/pound water. It overflowed slightly with my plugged center mash pipe but I filtered it out fairly quickly.

 

[Sammy86]

I am about to pull the trigger on a Brewzilla (120v). But I wanted to ask if it will provide the benefit I am looking for.......

For me, free time for brewing is the biggest constraint. I rarely have 3+ hours to brew. I DO have plenty of opportunities to be working from home and able to check in on the brewing every 30 minutes or so. So, I'm hoping the Brewzilla will allow me to use pre-programmed times and temps to minimize the amount of time I need to standby and watch the kettle. I really don't cate how long it all takes overall (to heat up, etc), I just want to minimize how long I have to actually be standing and watching over it.

Will Brewzilla be useful or will I be disappointed?

The Brewzilla definitely will help you with set and forget. You will need to do some testing to find the ramp up times to ise the automated features but once you've got your ramp up times you are good to go.

 

[DuncB]

The best thing about the bigger systems is that the boil is less stressful. A 35 litre robobrew etc maxed out to say 30 litres needs watching during or coming to boil. But the bigger ones no worries at all unless you are brimming them.

Worth looking at overnight mashing and no sparge to save you time or split your brewday if you are time poor.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

Curious:
What is the largest grainbill you've been able to stuff into a 65L robobrew/brewzilla?
What is your equipment setup (ie. plugged center tube)? What water/grain ratio did you use (including the 10L recoverable deadspace)?

I bought the false bottom for my malt tube that doesn’t have the hole in it. So I don’t use the overflow tube and find it easy to mash big beers without it in the way.

Biggest beer I’ve done is a 16kg Barley Wine, and I couldn’t get all the malt in. I stopped at 13kg when it started overflowing through the malt pipe handle holes. I’ve since figured it holds 58L until it overflows. So I now make sure my strike water litres plus malt kilograms added together don’t exceed 58, and that keeps me out of trouble.

That was the first big beer I did in my 65L BrewZilla, so I was still learning. I only got 50% efficiency, because I had no water left for sparge. I did a 12kg Imperial Stout and used a reiterated mash and got 64% efficiency which I was much happier with. I’ll use reiterated mash for everything over 10kg from now on as it makes life a lot easier, but does extend the mash time obviously.

 

[GoodTruble]

Worth looking at overnight mashing and no sparge to save you time or split your brewday if you are time poor.

I've read a few posts about overnight mash here before, but no idea where. Do you have a link to a good discussion?

 

[DuncB]

I've read a few posts about overnight mash here before, but no idea where. Do you have a link to a good discussion?

I haven't got any specific leads for you on that but just saw it in some threads and also on the homebrew challenge.
Probably best to start a thread on advice needed about overnight mash and no sparge/ sparge brewing.

 

[GoodTruble]

Well, this showed up today. Looking forward to trying it out.......

 

[Sammy86]

Well, this showed up today. Looking forward to trying it out.......

You will love it! Congratulations!

 

[DuncB]

Battered box but it did the job and I'll bet it's nice and shiny on the inside. You'll have great fun.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Well, this showed up today.

Still awaiting my 65L (ordered in June). MoreBeer service people said they got a message from the supplier that essentially said they don't know when the current orders will be fulfilled. *sigh*

 

[GoodTruble]

Yeah, I stalled 1 day too long and morebeer sold out of the 35L last month (and everywhere has been sold out for awhile). So I jumped on it when I saw it back in stock last week.

The box was dinged up, but the equipment looks fine. Just did a test run and clean out with plain water, and it seems to work fine.

I will test out the controls tonight and hopefully brew tomorrow.

 

[DuncB]

Do check and calibrate the temperature readout, I used mine for ages and it was a few degrees out. Adjusting calibration is easy and should be in the instructions.
Suggest you don't go for a huge grain bill and big beer first go to make life easier.

 

[GoodTruble]

@DuncB - Thanks. First brew went well today. Just a light wheat with about 8 lbs of grain in 5.5 gallons (and boiled some DME in a separate kettle). I did not calibrate but will check the temp with a second thermometer next time.

Only two issues were 1) it seemed close to boiling over at the hot break even with only 5.5 gallons and a low grain bill. I just shut down the burner & pump, and it settled down quickly. 2) There was a small bit of scorching on the very bottom. I tried not to use both burners onve above 170 in hopes of avoiding any scorching, alas, it was still there.

I did however hit my estimated OG right on the nose. So that was a nice surprise. (75% efficiency - but aided my the DME's consistency).

 

[Sammy86]

I just shut down the burner & pump, and it settled down quickly.

If you don't mind me asking why are using the pump during the boil?

 

[GoodTruble]

If you don't mind me asking why are using the pump during the boil?

I turned on the pump after the mash thinking it would speed up the heating time to get to the boil. The plan was to turn it off once I hit boil, but I got distracted and forgot

 

[Sammy86]

I turned on the pump after the mash thinking it would speed up the heating time to get to the boil. The plan was to turn it off once I hit boil, but I got distracted and forgot

Got ya, personally never use the pump when boiling...I believe and someone can correct me if I'm wrong is bad for the pump.

 

[GoodTruble]

Got ya, personally never use the pump when boiling...I believe and someone can correct me if I'm wrong is bad for the pump.

The manual doesn't say anything about that. But it is mentioned in this thread, and I wouldn't be surprised. My plan is not use the pump over 190 F.

 

[DuncB]

I don't use the pump during the boil phase except at about 90 celsius to pump thru the coolossus and sterilise it. This saves turning it on during the boil and stopping the boil. Not sure any advantage in pumping the wort about other than cooling it in the up pipe and silicone tube as it goes round ( is that an advantage? ).

 

[Cloud Surfer]

I pump wort through my counter flow chiller in the last 5 minutes of the boil to sterilise it. So there’s no problem running boiling wort through the pump. Though I wouldn’t use the pump leading into the boil. If anything it will increase the time to boil because you’ll get heat loss through the pump and lines.

 

[Sammy86]

I pump wort through my counter flow chiller in the last 5 minutes of the boil to sterilise it.

Same here, so I shouldn't have said never. My bad!

 

[DuncB]

I've recently stopped pumping thru the counterflow chillerat the end of the boil ( 15 and in )as it takes the wort off boil and then I need to up the watts, rewatch it come back to the boil and it can be disruptive if hop additions are being done around this time. But it was my prior process.

 

[jwalk4]

I love my 2 vessel, no sparge system for reducing oxidation in the mash. But I am beginning to hate inefficient propane and am thinking about electric.

Anyone here no sparge a 3 or 3.5 gallon batch on their robobrews?

I was thinking of just fermenting and serving out of a 5 gallon corny keg with a floating dip tube.

 

[RePete]

Hey guys. Just checking in. I've not been brewing near as much lately. Kinda went crazy with it last year when I was home more. I've actually bought some commercial beer a few times lately, because I've been out of homebrew. Sad. At any rate, I brewed yesterday. It was just a 5 gallon batch with 12 lbs of Maris Otter, and some East Kent Goldings hops. I haven't really used these up much in the past, but bought a pound a few months ago. I used them on one previous batch, and really liked it. The Robobrew unit is still doing great.

 

[GoodTruble]

I did it! I read all 17 pages of this thread!

Where do I get my certificate?

 

[DuncB]

I love my 2 vessel, no sparge system for reducing oxidation in the mash. But I am beginning to hate inefficient propane and am thinking about electric.

Anyone here no sparge a 3 or 3.5 gallon batch on their robobrews?

I was thinking of just fermenting and serving out of a 5 gallon corny keg with a floating dip tube.

I have done a couple of no sparge on the guten 70 litre with 24 litres going into the fermenter.
Then did a partigyle on the remaining grains to make a 1.040 13 litre batch

 

[jwalk4]

I have done a couple of no sparge on the guten 70 litre with 24 litres going into the fermenter.
Then did a partigyle on the remaining grains to make a 1.040 13 litre batch

Nice, thanks for replying. Anything to report? Worked as expected?

 

[GoodTruble]

So if Brewzilla V4 is going to let you upload your brewing schedule, would it also allow you to just download brewing schedules as well? So you could just download the recommended brewing schedule for whatever beer you are brewing?

 

[DuncB]

I did it! I read all 17 pages of this thread!

Where do I get my certificate?

Will this do?

 

[Sammy86]

I love my 2 vessel, no sparge system for reducing oxidation in the mash. But I am beginning to hate inefficient propane and am thinking about electric.

Anyone here no sparge a 3 or 3.5 gallon batch on their robobrews?

I was thinking of just fermenting and serving out of a 5 gallon corny keg with a floating dip tube.

So I have the 65L…I’ve done one batch of no sparge and got 62% Efficiency. From what I’ve read the robobrews/Brewzillas get anywhere from 58-62% on no sparge. So, in the end a few dollars more on grain and you’re good to go electric.