Robobrew/Brewzilla Discussion

[Henbrew]

So assuming I have the mash water ready and pre-heated... Are you suggesting your brew day is maybe 3ish hours cooled and cleaned up?

I have both an immersion and counterflow chiller already... If that is accurate, wow, what a time saver. I'll have time on brew day to still pump out 20-30 miles in the hills on my bikes.

My system today takes a long while to heat up, lots of cleaning, takes a ton of space, is heavy, etc...

Thanks

Takes me about 3-4 hours most brews on mine including clean up. It's great to finish my brew days 11AM or earlier.

 

[DuncB]

So it sounds like I could potentially fill maybe 2 kegs with maybe 4ish Gal each... Real-world testing would certainly be in order for my lightest of ales.

I'm just trying to figure out if I should cancel and make it the 65L unit, but I really expect to trim back to 5G average batches.

I had 35 litre robobrew and used to run it to the brim to get 25 or a little more per batch. Constant boil over worries.
Upgraded to a guten 70 litre which basically same as the kegland 65.
Now no stress on 25 litre batches can easily do double batches or big grain bill strong beers.
I'd have gone straight to the bigger one if I'd realised but was coming into all grain for first time and had only been extract brewing 25 years before.

My unit is 240v, time saving can be achieved with preparation the day before, overnight mash, shorter boil. I am confident now to leave the unit alone when masting and when up to boil. I wouldn't have dared do that when using the other unit to the brim.

 

[Wayne1]

I have the 65L Brewzilla 3.1. I brew mostly 5 gallon batches, no sparge. Very simple, no extra pumps or hoses. I typically fill the Brewzilla with 8.5 gallons of water for a 15-16 lb grain bill for IPAs. I normally do not pre-heat the water. I pre-boil the day before and re-heat the day of the brew. I mill while the water is heating.

I usually do a 75 minute mash with a 10 minute mash out at 170. I raise up the mash pipe and let it drain while heating to a boil. Draining is done right around the time it hits a boil. I boil for 90 minutes. I usually whirlpool hop for 20 minutes and then knockout through my counterflow heat exchanger.

With all of those steps and times, I have never run over 5 hours from heat up to fully cleaned up. You can reduce that time if you program the Brewzilla to be at strike temp when you start and reduce your mash and boil times.

 

[Maalea]

@ryanj
You don't need loads of sparge water if you use a runny mash and an electric kettle will make 2 litres and is easy to pour from.

Realise they are a bit of a rarity in USA, but rest of the world has been using them for years.

When I was brewing on my HERMS I’d average 5.75 gallons of mash water and about 4 gallons of sparge water.

I haven’t found an electric kettle of that volume yet.

During the mash, I start heating my "Half Gallon" Electric kettle (They are everywhere over here. I've been using them for 25 years. French Press coffee) then dump the hot water into my plastic primary in the summer or into my old cooler mash tun in the winter. By the time I'm ready to sparge I have the correct amount of sparge water near the perfect temp. No extra cleaning needed and with the plastic primary it's an extra level of sanitation.

 

[ryanj]

During the mash, I start heating my "Half Gallon" Electric kettle (They are everywhere over here. I've been using them for 25 years. French Press coffee) then dump the hot water into my plastic primary in the summer or into my old cooler mash tun in the winter. By the time I'm ready to sparge I have the correct amount of sparge water near the perfect temp. No extra cleaning needed and with the plastic primary it's an extra level of sanitation.

Yeah, I have a 1.5L electric kettle I use for coffee. Are you saying you use that to heat your sparge water a half gallon at a time?

That certainly sounds interesting and pretty easy for me to do.

 

[GoodTruble]

If you're already going 220v any way, then going 65L is an easier argument.

Also, YES, smaller footprint is a huge advantage to an all in one system.

And yes, if I preheat water and have everything ready (grains crushed, fermenters ready, etc), I can brew and be cleaned up in 3 hours. But I do psuedo-partigyle to make two beers and usually don't have everything ready. So my brew days are usually 4-5 hours.

 

[GoodTruble]

Whoa, Kegland just finally listed their 100L Brewzilla.....

https://www.kegland.com.au/brewzilla-100l-gen-4.html

 

[DuncB]

Yeah, I have a 1.5L electric kettle I use for coffee. Are you saying you use that to heat your sparge water a half gallon at a time?

That certainly sounds interesting and pretty easy for me to do.

My sparge is often not much more than 6 litres so you could just boil the kettle or stick your thermometer in it and use water when it gets to the right temp. Boiling water is a bit to hot, it won't take long to get to 80 celsius. That would be a good way to start.

 

[Sammy86]

Whoa, Kegland just finally listed their 100L Brewzilla.....

https://www.kegland.com.au/brewzilla-100l-gen-4.html

That thing is a BEAST!

 

[Maalea]

Yeah, I have a 1.5L electric kettle I use for coffee. Are you saying you use that to heat your sparge water a half gallon at a time?

That certainly sounds interesting and pretty easy for me to do.

Yes, that is what I do. While I'm waiting for the mash, I start boiling water for the sparge, Also I can adjust sparge water temp with hot or cold water. I have used a small pump to do the sparge itself but sometimes I just use the pour over method

 

[maltboy1]

I'd like to use whole hops in a Brewzilla, but I'm worried about utilization and flavor extraction when using a spider. Has anyone ever used the mash tube as a giant hop spider? I was thinking I could rinse it out and put it back in the kettle, boil and add hops as usual, and then just lift it out before transferring the wort to the primary. Does anyone see any issues with that?

 

[DuncB]

David heath has a video on his channel about this I think

I'd like to use whole hops in a Brewzilla, but I'm worried about utilization and flavor extraction when using a spider. Has anyone ever used the mash tube as a giant hop spider? I was thinking I could rinse it out and put it back in the kettle, boil and add hops as usual, and then just lift it out before transferring the wort to the primary. Does anyone see any issues with that?

Your other option is a hop missile or rely on the false bottom.
I dont know if the brewzilla has this as standard, Robobrew did have it as standard.

 

[GoodTruble]

I've used a BIAB stretched over the top after the malt pipe is removed to allow me to just toss in hope pellets during the boil and pull the bag when done.

 

[Teufelhunde]

I'd like to use whole hops in a Brewzilla, but I'm worried about utilization and flavor extraction when using a spider. Has anyone ever used the mash tube as a giant hop spider? I was thinking I could rinse it out and put it back in the kettle, boil and add hops as usual, and then just lift it out before transferring the wort to the primary. Does anyone see any issues with that?

I would think that your hops utilization would be worse than a spider doing it that way. You would have minimal wort circulation around the hops unless you used the pump to pour it back in the top as you boil, but they say to NOT use the pump during the boil due to very shortened pump life span. I use pellet hops commando and I whirlpool during the chill, pull my chiller, whirlpool 5 more minutes, then let it settle for 5 minutes. I get an extremely small amount of hop matter that makes it past the false bottom, barely enough to cover the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket fermenter. I would think the false bottom would work well with whole hops.

YMMV

Lon

 

[NJL]

I've used a false bottom with whole wet hops during a hop stand. It was 1.2kgs and nearly filled it completly so they couldnt really freely float around. I recirculated the whole time and the hop cones acted like a filter. I have never had such clear wort in the fermenter.

 

[maltboy1]

...they say to NOT use the pump during the boil due to very shortened pump life span.

Thanks for the reply. How was it determined that using the pump for boiling wort is bad? It sounds like one of those accepted facts that seems reasonable but may not be true. The pump is rated for boiling liquid. It may wear out faster because it gets used more, but I'd have to see some proof before I'd believe that using it to pump boiling wort could damage it.
Not trying to be snarky. In God I trust. All others bring data.

 

[DuncB]

Trouble is the pump tends to airlock with boiling liquid passing through it. This is bad for the pump.

I really don't see the need to pump during the boil, just stir if you are concerned.

 

[maltboy1]

Trouble is the pump tends to airlock with boiling liquid passing through it. This is bad for the pump.

I really don't see the need to pump during the boil, just stir if you are concerned.

I use it to pump wort into the hop spider when using pellet hops. I figure it could help with utilization by supplying "fresh" wort, and it would remove any bits of grain left from the sparge. I haven't noticed any cavitation problems so far.

 

[DuncB]

I just lob the hop pellets in the kettle and rely on the trubtrapper to catch them all and the trub.

 

[amr]

Hullo! I am considering getting a brewzilla 35 3.1.1. My current setup is a super rudimentary mash tun + stainless steel kettle to boil. I only make 2.5 gallon batches and was wondering if the unit would be too big for it.

If anyone has made / continues to make this batch size, would love to hear thoughts / cons etc.

Thank you.

 

[DuncB]

Should be fine, I do 23 litre batches in my all in one that's up to 70 litres.
10 litres to fermenter, so end of boil 12 litres, pre boil 13 or so.

 

[amr]

Should be fine, I do 23 litre batches in my all in one that's up to 70 litres.
10 litres to fermenter, so end of boil 12 litres, pre boil 13 or so.

Nice! Thank you! Also, would it work without the hop spider? I am reading both that it does and does not clog the pump if hops are directly chucked in.

 

[DuncB]

Nice! Thank you! Also, would it work without the hop spider? I am reading both that it does and does not clog the pump if hops are directly chucked in.

I started with a robobrew 3 and just used the bottom plate and didn't have a problem with hop blocking, you will get trouble if you have the recirculation tube in the grain and you turn the pump off. It siphons back and sucks the grain up the tube which causes trouble.
The guten I use now has a hop spider supplied but I used it once and just chuck the hops in and whirlpool.

 

[Teufelhunde]

Nice! Thank you! Also, would it work without the hop spider? I am reading both that it does and does not clog the pump if hops are directly chucked in.

I use a Brewzilla 3.1.1 and throw my hops in commando, don't have too much problem with blocking the pump. If it does block, simply put some air pressure backwards through the pump and it will clear easily. DO remember, however, to always pull the recirc tube up out of your wort prior to turning off the pump because it will siphon back down through the pump if you don't, and if it happens to be laying in grain, you will suck a bunch of grain into the pump, and then you have an issue.....

The false bottom does a much better job than I expected at stopping all the gunk from getting into the pump and your fermenter. To aid this, I remove my chiller after cooling and whirlpool for 10 minutes(using the whirlpool arm), then turn the pump off and allow it to settle for 5 minutes prior to pumping into the fermenter. I always get a nice hop cone on the false bottom and VERY little gunk in my fermenter (maybe an 1/8" in the bottom once it settles)

YMMV

Lon

 

[DuncB]

Do make sure you turn the pump off before " blowing down the tube "

 

[amr]

I started with a robobrew 3 and just used the bottom plate and didn't have a problem with hop blocking, you will get trouble if you have the recirculation tube in the grain and you turn the pump off. It siphons back and sucks the grain up the tube which causes trouble.
The guten I use now has a hop spider supplied but I used it once and just chuck the hops in and whirlpool.

Got it. I was just wondering if I need to invest in a hop spider or if I could just use a hop bag that I had (or not use anything at all). Looks like it isn't necessarily required as long as I take care of the recirculation bit. Thank you!

 

[amr]

I use a Brewzilla 3.1.1 and throw my hops in commando, don't have too much problem with blocking the pump. If it does block, simply put some air pressure backwards through the pump and it will clear easily. DO remember, however, to always pull the recirc tube up out of your wort prior to turning off the pump because it will siphon back down through the pump if you don't, and if it happens to be laying in grain, you will suck a bunch of grain into the pump, and then you have an issue.....

The false bottom does a much better job than I expected at stopping all the gunk from getting into the pump and your fermenter. To aid this, I remove my chiller after cooling and whirlpool for 10 minutes(using the whirlpool arm), then turn the pump off and allow it to settle for 5 minutes prior to pumping into the fermenter. I always get a nice hop cone on the false bottom and VERY little gunk in my fermenter (maybe an 1/8" in the bottom once it settles)

YMMV

Lon

Super! Thank you so much for the tip. Appreciate it!

 

[harpthomas]

who was selling the v3.1.1 for $350? Just starting to look hard an an AIO here now, and torn between S40/BZ3.1.1/BZ4...but if someone is still offering the BZ3.1.1 at $350 CAD that would likely be the answer

I just ordered mine from Amazon for $329. It says Robobrew, but it was the Brewzilla 3.1.1 when I got it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079MGBT1F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s04?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[amr]

Couple of more question before I pull the trigger on the Brewzilla:
1. Do I need to get the whirlpool arm? Does it actually help?
2. I will brew mostly only 10L batches. Given this, would the hop spider even reach that depth? And hence the question - should I buy this?

Thank you.

 

[ryanj]

Couple of more question before I pull the trigger on the Brewzilla:
1. Do I need to get the whirlpool arm? Does it actually help?
2. I will brew mostly only 10L batches. Given this, would the hop spider even reach that depth? And hence the question - should I buy this?

Thank you.

Full disclosure: I have a pre-order in on a Gen 4 and I'm coming from a 3 vessel HERMS.

1. From what I understand, the whirlpool arm is not necessary, but may help with chilling since you can whirlpool the hot wort while chilling and create more heat transfer which might cut some time off the process. Again, not necessary but might help cut some minutes from your brewday.
2. I would absolutely suggest buying a hop spider. You may lose some hop utilization, but that's debatable. Keeping the hops nice and neat in the spider will speed up clean up time and reduce risk of pump clogging. If the spider doesn't reach the depth for a 2.5G boil, you can always look into extending the arm to sit lower.