Brilliant or really dumb in the Brewzilla?

[Yooper]

Use cleaned malt pipe for superhopped wort..... ?
I had a heck of a time with only 6 ounces of hops in the boil even though all but 1.5 ounces were bagged when it came time to transfer to fermenter I had sooooo much sludge. I used a hops spider, a couple of bags, and then the whirlpool hops were not bagged.
So what about putting the cleaned malt pipe in for the boil to help with my next batch? Only 5 ounces of hops in the boil/whirlpool but maybe it could be so helpful to pull them out via the malt pipe after the boil.

So..........since I've brewed on this 35L Brewzilla once I'm not sure what to think about that and need someone smarter and more used to the Brewzilla than I am to give some help!

I also was considering leaving out the malt pipe and just mash BIAB and pull it out, stick it in my old cooler MLT and 'dunk sparge' it there. It's only 13.5 pounds of grain, and so maybe.......

Any thoughts??????

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Don't complicate things, the reason for going to an all in one is simplification, it was hard for me also when I first got mine

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Just a tip the malt basket is fine if you just don't brew over 6 percent beers and don't whirlpool with large amounts of hops the pump will clog, just use your paddle by hand

 

[Yooper]

Don't complicate things, the reason for going to an all in one is simplification, it was hard for me also when I first got mine

But......it's not an 'all in one' as I need a second vessel for sparge water................... If it was, say, 2 inches more in diameter I think I would be very happy. As I could do a full volume mash. But it's very thin, great for small footprint, not great for volume.
I really don't like it much at this point.

 

[Yooper]

Just a tip the malt basket is fine if you just don't brew over 6 percent beers and don't whirlpool with large amounts of hops the pump will clog, just use your paddle by hand

Unfortuntely, I mostly brew beers over 6%. And I brew mostly IPAs.

Although, my low IBU and low ABV pilsner clogged the pump with 1.5 ounces of loose hops.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Unfortuntely, I mostly brew beers over 6%. And I brew mostly IPAs.

Although, my low IBU and low ABV pilsner clogged the pump with 1.5 ounces of loose hops.

I wasn't successful but I was trying to warn you about that pump under the unit

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I'll be honest the small set up is so easy to clean but I still love my 3 pot herms much better, you.might try the bigger unit, it's wider

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

https://www.morebeer.com/products/g...Ur3aznzfUzKXT7AQMeAA6fQE2j9fvxghoCpusQAvD_BwE

 

[Yooper]

https://www.morebeer.com/products/g...Ur3aznzfUzKXT7AQMeAA6fQE2j9fvxghoCpusQAvD_BwE

Yes, I should have gotten a bigger one, but I didn't. So I have to work with what I have unfortunately, Had I known everything, I wouldn't have bought this one. The wort chiller is totally useless.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Yes, I should have gotten a bigger one, but I didn't. So I have to work with what I have unfortunately, Had I known everything, I wouldn't have bought this one. The wort chiller is totally useless.

Oh mine is smaller sorry, I have a 5 gallon anvil and the diameter is much smaller I feel for ya

 

[Craigerrr]

I bag all kettle hops, boil and whirlpool., seemed the simplest solution, works for me. I typically use a pound or two of DME so I don't have to sparge. I also use a CFC, the ciller that comes with it is a piece of poop. There is a work around for everything.

 

[Yooper]

I bag all kettle hops, boil and whirlpool., seemed the simplest solution, works for me. I typically use a pound or two of DME so I don't have to sparge. I also use a CFC, the ciller that comes with it is a piece of poop. There is a work around for everything.

That's definitely one thing I'm considering- using my old CFC and that should help.

 

[Yooper]

Oh mine is smaller sorry, I have a 5 gallon anvil and the diameter is much smaller I feel for ya

Yeah, this one is 35L, which should be enough but it's narrow and tall (not that tall, but definitely taller than I need it to be!) and wider and still 35L or so would have been better in my case. I'm not abnormally short, but I"d definitely not tall enough to live the malt pipe full of grain up over my shoulders. I was even think that a simpl thing like stable footstool would be enough. I'm really strong for my size (5'5", 130 pounds) but I think two or three inches taller and I'd be golden.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I've posted this somewhere but I have a stainless cfc and add ice in the middle, works well for both units

 

[Zambi]

I don't have an all in one, neither a 3 vessel set up, so not hindered by too much knowledge, but...
How about just decreasing your batch size?

 

[Yooper]

I don't have an all in one, neither a 3 vessel set up, so not hindered by too much knowledge, but...
How about just decreasing your batch size?

Yes, I could. The thing is- it's just as much work to do 5 gallons as it is 3 gallons. So that's part of it. One keg to fill, carb, tap, repeat vs multiple brew days that take the exact same time and amount of work. That's one of the reasons I used to brew 11 gallon batches- just as much work as 5 gallons, so I did that. I didn't realize that the all-in-one set up would limit me as much as it seems to, as they advertise "up to 23L of 1.060 wort" or something like that. I do 19-20L, give or take a liter.

 

[Donoroto]

Unfortuntely, I mostly brew beers over 6%. And I brew mostly IPAs.

Although, my low IBU and low ABV pilsner clogged the pump with 1.5 ounces of loose hops.

Easy answer: no loose hops. I use a spider or bag, always, to good effect.

 

[Yooper]

Easy answer: no loose hops. I use a spider or bag, always, to good effect.

Ok, you're right. So today I made an IPA with 3.5 ounces of hops. NONE were loose. The first addition, 1.5 ounces was in a fine mesh hops spider. (So fine I worried about it!). 2 ounces in bags.
Pump clogged twice. I blew into it and cleared it. It clogged again at the end, when pumping to the fermenter. It clogged again when cleaning.

The false bottom was barely touched with hops debris. there was about a teaspoon or so scattered on the false bottom once I finally got it out of the fermenter. There was no obvious break material on the false bottom

NO loose hops. NO loose grain. I had a pretty negative experience today.

 

[Donoroto]

Ok, you're right. So today I made an IPA with 3.5 ounces of hops. NONE were loose. The first addition, 1.5 ounces was in a fine mesh hops spider. (So fine I worried about it!). 2 ounces in bags.
Pump clogged twice. I blew into it and cleared it. It clogged again at the end, when pumping to the fermenter. It clogged again when cleaning.

The false bottom was barely touched with hops debris. there was about a teaspoon or so scattered on the false bottom once I finally got it out of the fermenter. There was no obvious break material on the false bottom

NO loose hops. NO loose grain. I had a pretty negative experience today.

Ugh. Sorry to hear. I won't say that tighter hops will help, obviously they did not.

Do you recirculate? I do, more or less continuously. Maybe that keeps lumps of hop dust from settling?

I don't use the false bottom, for me it doesn't do anything, except get in the way.

I csn say that on rare occasions I have had a clog in the pump, always resolved by either blowing in reverse down the 'sight glass'* or rarely by just closing and opening the valve, but usually not. I wonder why our experiences are different. I have used up to 9 ounces of hops in a boil, more than once, brewing Wayner's Pale Ale.

*On my system, I replaced the stainless steel tube going from the bottom up to the top with a piece of clear polycarbonate. I got a bunch of them on sale from morebeer and even though they break after a while I find being able to see the fluid level that way very convenient. In any case the function is the same.

 

[Yooper]

Ugh. Sorry to hear. I won't say that tighter hops will help, obviously they did not.

Do you recirculate? I do, more or less continuously. Maybe that keeps lumps of hop dust from settling?

I don't use the false bottom, for me it doesn't do anything, except get in the way.

I csn say that on rare occasions I have had a clog in the pump, always resolved by either blowing in reverse down the 'sight glass'* or rarely by just closing and opening the valve, but usually not. I wonder why our experiences are different. I have used up to 9 ounces of hops in a boil, more than once, brewing Wayner's Pale Ale.

*On my system, I replaced the stainless steel tube going from the bottom up to the top with a piece of clear polycarbonate. I got a bunch of them on sale from morebeer and even though they break after a while I find being able to see the fluid level that way very convenient. In any case the function is the same.

I'm trying to picture what you're talking about with the polycarbonate?
I have tried constant recirc, (a bit of overflow there), tried waiting 10 minutes and then recirculating, etc.

You know, I'm pretty experienced with brewing from stovetop to 3 vessel HERMS to pro breweries, and this Brewzilla is a huge PITA. It's tall, not wide, it requires a hoist, etc- I'm very unhappy with the 'ease' of an all in one like this. It requires another vessel for sparge water (and you can't really sparge in any traditional sense), the pump is anemic, the temperature variation from PID to RAPT (or my trusty thermometer) is huge, the pump clogs if I even consider using hops (bagged or not), the immersion chiller is 1/2 out of the wort in a 5 gallon batch, and more.

I should have bought the 65L even though I only do 20L batches, just for the space. The recirc during the mash wants to overflow each time. I stand there (literally stand not sit!) and babysit it. It's very disappointing, but I'll live with it for sure. The whirlpool arm (extra $) is worthless. The chiller it comes with is worthless. The pump is way undersized and I still can't figure out why it clogged as there was 0 particulate when investigated.

It has a small footprint, that's the only advantage I can think of right now.