BrewZilla FermZilla Journey

[KevinJ]

I've been lurking on Brewers Friend, on and off, for the last nine years, and I've learned a ton. I haven't said much because I didn't think I had much to contribute, but we're all on a journey to brew beer we enjoy, so here goes.

I've brewed for years, but I haven't really paid attention to how to make good beer. I relocated from the west side of Washington to the east side about four years ago and I have a lot of room to brew, but I put everything on hold until recently.

I bought a FermZilla, and then a BrewZilla, and I've been brewing consistently over the last month. As some have said in these forums, there's a learning curve for the BrewZilla, but I'm four brew days deep, and it's starting to make more sense. I'd love to hear other experiences, but I found the milled grain from MoreBeer wasn't fine enough to achieve high efficiency. Sooooo, I dusted off the grain mill and started milling to 0.35 and my efficiency went up 20% from one week to the next. The previous 3 OGs were 1.041, 1.040, and 1.042, and last week I achieved my target of 1.061.

The FermZilla has been a hit from day one. I like IPAs and I'm convinced I was aerating them whenever I transferred vessels. I'm now doing primary in the FermZilla and secondary/dry hopping in kegs. No chance of oxidation.

I sent my water to Ward Labs for analysis, so I'll be updating my water profile when I have the results, and I'm starting to learn about the impact ph has on mash.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for the next step to make better beer?

 

[Sunfire96]

Nice, thanks for sharing your journey! I'm looking forward to hearing your next step and how it's affecting your beer.

I feel like I just recently starting making good beer after 2 years of brewing. I've tried paying a lot more attention to my yeast and fermentation and focusing on good yeast health. After that using closed transfers to move my beers really helped them stay hoppy. And then I started utilizing pressure fermentation, for a variety of reasons. Sounds like you're heading down a similar path. Cheers!

 

[GFHomebrew]

great stuff Kevin definitely check out water profiles more closely it might just give them beers that extra edge.

Yup closed transfers I believe keeps that hop aroma around longer

 

[Blackmuse]

I've been lurking on Brewers Friend, on and off, for the last nine years, and I've learned a ton. I haven't said much because I didn't think I had much to contribute, but we're all on a journey to brew beer we enjoy, so here goes.

I've brewed for years, but I haven't really paid attention to how to make good beer. I relocated from the west side of Washington to the east side about four years ago and I have a lot of room to brew, but I put everything on hold until recently.

I bought a FermZilla, and then a BrewZilla, and I've been brewing consistently over the last month. As some have said in these forums, there's a learning curve for the BrewZilla, but I'm four brew days deep, and it's starting to make more sense. I'd love to hear other experiences, but I found the milled grain from MoreBeer wasn't fine enough to achieve high efficiency. Sooooo, I dusted off the grain mill and started milling to 0.35 and my efficiency went up 20% from one week to the next. The previous 3 OGs were 1.041, 1.040, and 1.042, and last week I achieved my target of 1.061.

The FermZilla has been a hit from day one. I like IPAs and I'm convinced I was aerating them whenever I transferred vessels. I'm now doing primary in the FermZilla and secondary/dry hopping in kegs. No chance of oxidation.

I sent my water to Ward Labs for analysis, so I'll be updating my water profile when I have the results, and I'm starting to learn about the impact ph has on mash.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for the next step to make better beer?

View attachment 21772

Take one recipe and brew it 3-4 times in a row to nail down your equipment profile in Brewer's Friend and to hone in on consistency. Once you are consistent and the beer tastes the same each time - you can start playing with brewing salts and water adjustments... You could also get the whirlpool arm attachment for the brewzilla and try some hops at whirlpool and specific temperatures (150,120 etc.).

I remember being in your same shoes a few years ago and LOVING the experience! Its amazing the leap in beer quality that happens isn't it!?

 

[Sunfire96]

@Blackmuse has a great suggestion. Repeatability is so important. It's so hard to know if adding salts or changing other small details changes the beer if you don't have a baseline that you're aiming for. Repeating the same recipe allows you to taste every change (for the better or worse) and decide for yourself what works ans tastes best

 

[KevinJ]

Take one recipe and brew it 3-4 times in a row to nail down your equipment profile in Brewer's Friend and to hone in on consistency. Once you are consistent and the beer tastes the same each time - you can start playing with brewing salts and water adjustments... You could also get the whirlpool arm attachment for the brewzilla and try some hops at whirlpool and specific temperatures (150,120 etc.).

I remember being in your same shoes a few years ago and LOVING the experience! Its amazing the leap in beer quality that happens isn't it!?

Yes! I've done MoreBeer's American IPA three times on the BrewZilla and the recent batch finally hit expected gravity because I re-milled the grain. I'm excited to see if the flavor changes from the previous iteration.

 

[Zefram]

The finer points of water chemistry are way over my head - I would've paid more attention in class at the time had I known beer was involved - but even getting the basics down helps. That Ward analysis and attention to pH made a huge difference for me.

I personally learned a lot from the Brewing Element Series book on Yeast. Attention to specific strains and how they respond to temperature was a game changer.

 

[KevinJ]

The finer points of water chemistry are way over my head - I would've paid more attention in class at the time had I known beer was involved - but even getting the basics down helps. That Ward analysis and attention to pH made a huge difference for me.

I personally learned a lot from the Brewing Element Series book on Yeast. Attention to specific strains and how they respond to temperature was a game changer.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

 

[Craigerrr]

Do you have temperature control for fermentation?
That would be a huge next step for you, and a game changer for beer quality.

Water isn't that complicated really, the most important thing to start is to eliminate chlorine/chloromine if you are using municipal water.

 

[Craigerrr]

That Ward analysis and attention to pH made a huge difference for me..

Just to clarify, the pH of your beginning water is inconsequential, mash pH is what is important, and is affected by the grains used.
For instance, a light colored beer may need a bit of acid to bring the pH down, and dark beer with more acidic malts may need a bit of baking soda to bring pH up.

There is an excellent three part write up on water here on BF.
It is a lot of information, and takes some time and study, but it eventually becomes quite simple.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-1/
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-2/
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2018/02/13/brewing-water-basics-putting-it-all-together/

How to approach water, and what water to use is all a matter of personal preference.
My personal preference is to use RO water, and add gypsum, calcium chloride, Epsom salt, canning salt to get the profile I want.
I then use the necessary amount of either acidulated malt, or baking soda to adjust the pH.

 

[KevinJ]

Do you have temperature control for fermentation?
That would be a huge next step for you, and a game changer for beer quality.

Water isn't that complicated really, the most important thing to start is to eliminate chlorine/chloromine if you are using municipal water.

I do have temperature control for fermenting. I built a DIY fermentation box using an old dorm fridge, an inkbird controller, and a lightbulb (ha!). I cover the probe with a piece of insulation and tape it to the outside of the Fermzilla.

 

[KevinJ]

Just to clarify, the pH of your beginning water is inconsequential, mash pH is what is important, and is affected by the grains used.
For instance, a light colored beer may need a bit of acid to bring the pH down, and dark beer with more acidic malts may need a bit of baking soda to bring pH up.

There is an excellent three part write up on water here on BF.
It is a lot of information, and takes some time and study, but it eventually becomes quite simple.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-1/
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-2/
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2018/02/13/brewing-water-basics-putting-it-all-together/

How to approach water, and what water to use is all a matter of personal preference.
My personal preference is to use RO water, and add gypsum, calcium chloride, Epsom salt, canning salt to get the profile I want.
I then use the necessary amount of either acidulated malt, or baking soda to adjust the pH.

Thanks for those links. I'm waiting for my water profile results from Ward Labs any day. I'm just starting to get into this aspect of brewing, so I bought a pH meter and I'll start adjusting my recipes based on what I find out from Ward.

 

[Zefram]

Just to clarify, the pH of your beginning water is inconsequential, mash pH is what is important, and is affected by the grains used.
For instance, a light colored beer may need a bit of acid to bring the pH down, and dark beer with more acidic malts may need a bit of baking soda to bring pH up.

Thanks for the clarification. I should have specified paying attention to the mash's pH. My darker beers were fine but my lighter ones were bleh (and never had issues with extract when I used that)... I learned that a little gypsum and calcium chloride in the lighter brews would fix that issue.

And thanks for those links, too!

 

[KevinJ]

I received my water profile from Ward's today and I'm excited to plug it in for the brew this weekend. Does anyone see anything that stands out? I'm assuming if I plug in my profile the calculators will tell me what to add to match the profile I'm targeting, correct?

 

[Megary]

I received my water profile from Ward's today and I'm excited to plug it in for the brew this weekend. Does anyone see anything that stands out? I'm assuming if I plug in my profile the calculators will tell me what to add to match the profile I'm targeting, correct?


View attachment 21844

Your Sodium level is high but should be manageable. It looks like Gypsum (CaSO4) and CaCl will be your friends. Just remember to never add Cl as part of table salt (NaCl). And when you enter your SO4 number into the software, it should go in as 9, not 3. SO4-S is ppm of sulfate in terms of the sulfur component only. The "multiply by 3" includes the Oxygen component and gets you all the way there. Chemistry...

Cheers!

 

[KevinJ]

Your Sodium level is high but should be manageable. It looks like Gypsum (CaSO4) and CaCl will be your friends. Just remember to never add Cl as part of table salt (NaCl). And when you enter your SO4 number into the software, it should go in as 9, not 3. SO4-S is ppm of sulfate in terms of the sulfur component only. The "multiply by 3" includes the Oxygen component and gets you all the way there. Chemistry...

Cheers!

Thank you!!

 

[Sunfire96]

Agreed with everything @Megary said.

You'll be able to create lots of different water profiles with that water, but be careful of the sodium. I think it takes like 100-150 ppm to be detectable. I targeted around 180 for a gose, which a style known for a subtle saltiness

 

[Zefram]

Your Sodium level is high but should be manageable. It looks like Gypsum (CaSO4) and CaCl will be your friends. Just remember to never add Cl as part of table salt (NaCl). And when you enter your SO4 number into the software, it should go in as 9, not 3. SO4-S is ppm of sulfate in terms of the sulfur component only. The "multiply by 3" includes the Oxygen component and gets you all the way there. Chemistry...

Cheers!

@Megary (or anyone else, really) Can you explain to a non-chemistry person why the factor of 3 in this case? Is it always 3, or more of a squaring? My report lists 5 ppm for SO4-S, so I'm wondering if I should enter 15, 25, or otherwise.

 

[Megary]

@Megary (or anyone else, really) Can you explain to a non-chemistry person why the factor of 3 in this case? Is it always 3, or more of a squaring? My report lists 5 ppm for SO4-S, so I'm wondering if I should enter 15, 25, or otherwise.

Do I have to?

This is my understanding, which might very well be wrong:

First, Ward Labs reports Sulfate Sulfur, "SO4-S", which is Sulfate in terms of the Sulfur component only. They are mainly an agricultural testing company and SO4-S is apparently what is most important.... agriculturally.

Molecular weights:
S = 32
O = 16
SO4 = 32 + (16*4) = 96

So to convert just the "SO4-S" (which is just the Sulfur), to "SO4" we need to multiply the "S" by 3.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Zefram]

Do I have to?

This is my understanding, which might very well be wrong:

First, Ward Labs reports Sulfate Sulfur, "SO4-S", which is Sulfate in terms of the Sulfur component only. They are mainly an agricultural testing company and SO4-S is apparently what is most important.... agriculturally.

Molecular weights:
S = 32
O = 16
SO4 = 32 + (16*4) = 96

So to convert just the "SO4-S" (which is just the Sulfur), to "SO4" we need to multiply the "S" by 3.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Gotcha. Since SO4/S = 96/32 = 3, then it is always a factor of 3. Very much appreciated!!!