Fermzilla Brewing

[J P]

I think it would do well against a big heavy brewprint that doesn’t need subtlety to pull off

[Dustin Frothman]

@Wazza_wantsbeerwhat's the latest? How's the fermentation progressing?

[Captain 3 Droids]

3 minutes ago, Dustin Frothman said:

what's the latest? How's the fermentation progressing?

Yes

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

13 hours ago, Dustin Frothman said:

@Wazza_wantsbeerwhat's the latest? How's the fermentation progressing?

Haven't checked for the past 2 days as I've been working out of Newcastle as I have a team here.

I'll be back in Sydney later today and will head to the cage to check on the Fermzilla as soon as I get home.

Today is day 4 of fermentation so I'm thinking it should be close to dry hopping time.

Will take a small sample to check on the gravity and look at the Krausen to see the level of activity. 

[Dustin Frothman]

37 minutes ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Haven't checked for the past 2 days as I've been working out of Newcastle as I have a team here.

You need an app to let you know how it's going ...

😜

[Thagomizer]

On 11/03/2022 at 12:09 AM, Captain 3 Droids said:

Obviously that is part of all grain brewing, give the bags a big squeeze? I’ll stick to the Droid, my bag squeezing days are over. (😂😂😂😂)

When I tried a partial grain recipe from Midwestern Brewing, the instructions admonished against squeezing the grain sack after steeping.  I was supposed to only sparge the grain sack with 160^oF water through a sieve - and only a small amount.  It was something about unwanted enzymes that would cloud the beer and would best be left in the grain sack.  That brew was successful, so I didn't miss too much of the malt sugars by not wringing the grain sack dry.

So, I will agree with the Captain - no squeezing the sack. 🙂

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Dry hopped this on Sunday 20th and kegged today after a 2 day cold crash.

Final Gravity was just off the BrewFather predicted 1.017 with a final reading before kegging and allowing it to warm up was 1.019.

The Original Gravity was taken when I first put it into the Fermzilla and was 1.080 which again was off from what BrewFather predicted 1.083.

So OG 1.080 FG 1.019 = ABV 8.01%

Will wait for until my mate arrives next week before I have a proper taste. Will share pics as always of the final result.

Ultimately, I'm hoping for a good strong NEIPA which was inspired by David Heath's NEIPA 2.0.

 

[Dustin Frothman]

5 minutes ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Will wait for until my mate arrives next week before I have a proper taste.

Sure.

[Captain 3 Droids]

Wazza, brilliant, now let’s talk about postage.

[Dustin Frothman]

29 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

Wazza, brilliant, now let’s talk about postage.

Well we now know if he sends it to Lane Cove it’ll eventually end up on Torrensville, which is just down the road from me …

In all seriousness @Wazza_wantsbeerI’d be interested in hearing about/seeing your photos from dry hopping, dumping the yeast etc, with your Fermzilla and hearing more about how the pressure fermentation went.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

All Grain Brew Day No. 4 done and dusted.

Decided on another Hazy IPA, this time my own recipe after looking at heaps online and in the BrewFather library.

A single hop Hazy IPA using Nelson Sauvin (and some Warrior hops used @15 mins in the boil for some bittering) with an expected ABV of around 7.5%. Calling this Dans Hazy IPA in honour of my best mate from Melbourne who arrives on Tuesday and I'm hoping this will be ready to serve Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

"What you talking about Wazza" I can hear from the crowd...

Well, did the all grain, got it into the Fermzilla at around 40-42°C, pitched the Lelbrew Voss Kveik yeast, put the Fermzilla's jacket on and into the cage it went.

Will ferment this one at around 5 psi, the spunding valve needs a little fine tuning so will have to visit the cage in another hour or two as fermentation should have started by then.

I'm trying to get so I have four beers to serve my mate along with a number of other assorted goodies. Picked up a really nice cask strength American Rye Whiskey as well as another Islay cask strength whisky as we are both fans of big bold whiskies and he's never had a premium Rye Whiskey.

So expectations are: A 3-4 day fermentation which takes me to Monday, will dry hop on late Saturday/early Sunday depending on gravity readings and how it looks. Wil cold crash by doing a closed transfer into a keg and then straight into the kegerator @12 psi so in around 48 hrs it should be good to drink. So all in all, 5 or 6 days from grain to glass.

This was a tougher brew day TBH as I went with a higher final volume shooting for 11 litres and pretty much hit that without having to top up like previous brews. But with the 15.2 litres of mash water plus 3.6 kg grain bill, it was damn near full in that 19 litre stock pot and would overflow a little which lead to some burnt wort on the cook top which my wife hasn't seen yet and I'm trying to figure out how to best clean it before she does. Anyone with a good suggestion? It's a stainless steel cook top, I have already tried a few things without much luck so far 

Anyway, back to the brew day... Amazingly, I totally hit my marks today in spite of the challenges of working with a pot that was full to the max.

Pre-boil gravity was 1.066, exactly what BrewFather predicted.

Original gravity post boil was 1.074 with Brewfather predicting 1.072

Recipe for those interested:

Fermentables (3.6 kg)
1.6 kg - Gladfield Pilsner Malt 3.7 EBC (44.4%)
800 g - Pale Ale Golden Promise 5 EBC (22.2%)
400 g - Gladfield Big-O Malted Oats 2 EBC (11...
400 g - Gladfield Wheat Malt 2.9 EBC (11.1%)
200 g - Caramel Pils 5 EBC (5.6%)
200 g - Gladfield Chit Malt 3 EBC (5.6%)

Hops (145 g)
15 min - 15 g - Warrior - 15% (24 IBU)
Hop Stand
30 min hopstand @ 75 °C
30 min 75 °C - 30 g - Nelson Sauvin

Full recipe from Brewfather if anyone is interested in the full details including water adjustments, etc.

Brewfather_DansHazyIPA_20220324.pdf

Today has showed me one thing for certain, BIAB in a 19 litre stock pot for anything more than 10 or so litres is a real challenge unless I get a bigger stock pot.

So, with that I've made the decision to go with a all-in-one Brew in a Basket by... Nano

After much, and I mean much research and thinking it over, I have chosen the 36l Nano BIABasket Intermediate model with the immersion chiller.

https://cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/36l-nano-biabasket-intermediate-model

This way I can go for 10/11 litres for the Droid, or 19/21 litres for the Fermzilla and I can do it all outside and not annoy my wife by taking up the kitchen for 3-4 hours. I have a outlet on the balcony as well as a tap with hose so... Ordered it today and now just waiting.

Cheers

[Dustin Frothman]

41 minutes ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

All Grain Brew Day No. 4 done and dusted.

Decided on another Hazy IPA, this time my own recipe after looking at heaps online and in the BrewFather library.

A single hop Hazy IPA using Nelson Sauvin (and some Warrior hops used @15 mins in the boil for some bittering) with an expected ABV of around 7.5%. Calling this Dans Hazy IPA in honour of my best mate from Melbourne who arrives on Tuesday and I'm hoping this will be ready to serve Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

"What you talking about Wazza" I can hear from the crowd...

Well, did the all grain, got it into the Fermzilla at around 40-42°C, pitched the Lelbrew Voss Kveik yeast, put the Fermzilla's jacket on and into the cage it went.

Will ferment this one at around 5 psi, the spunding valve needs a little fine tuning so will have to visit the cage in another hour or two as fermentation should have started by then.

I'm trying to get so I have four beers to serve my mate along with a number of other assorted goodies. Picked up a really nice cask strength American Rye Whiskey as well as another Islay cask strength whisky as we are both fans of big bold whiskies and he's never had a premium Rye Whiskey.

So expectations are: A 3-4 day fermentation which takes me to Monday, will dry hop on late Saturday/early Sunday depending on gravity readings and how it looks. Wil cold crash by doing a closed transfer into a keg and then straight into the kegerator @12 psi so in around 48 hrs it should be good to drink. So all in all, 5 or 6 days from grain to glass.

This was a tougher brew day TBH as I went with a higher final volume shooting for 11 litres and pretty much hit that without having to top up like previous brews. But with the 15.2 litres of mash water plus 3.6 kg grain bill, it was damn near full in that 19 litre stock pot and would overflow a little which lead to some burnt wort on the cook top which my wife hasn't seen yet and I'm trying to figure out how to best clean it before she does. Anyone with a good suggestion? It's a stainless steel cook top, I have already tried a few things without much luck so far 

Anyway, back to the brew day... Amazingly, I totally hit my marks today in spite of the challenges of working with a pot that was full to the max.

Pre-boil gravity was 1.066, exactly what BrewFather predicted.

Original gravity post boil was 1.074 with Brewfather predicting 1.072

Recipe for those interested:

Fermentables (3.6 kg)
1.6 kg - Gladfield Pilsner Malt 3.7 EBC (44.4%)
800 g - Pale Ale Golden Promise 5 EBC (22.2%)
400 g - Gladfield Big-O Malted Oats 2 EBC (11...
400 g - Gladfield Wheat Malt 2.9 EBC (11.1%)
200 g - Caramel Pils 5 EBC (5.6%)
200 g - Gladfield Chit Malt 3 EBC (5.6%)

Hops (145 g)
15 min - 15 g - Warrior - 15% (24 IBU)
Hop Stand
30 min hopstand @ 75 °C
30 min 75 °C - 30 g - Nelson Sauvin

Full recipe from Brewfather if anyone is interested in the full details including water adjustments, etc.

Brewfather_DansHazyIPA_20220324.pdf 113.94 kB · 0 downloads

Today has showed me one thing for certain, BIAB in a 19 litre stock pot for anything more than 10 or so litres is a real challenge unless I get a bigger stock pot.

So, with that I've made the decision to go with a all-in-one Brew in a Basket by... Nano

After much, and I mean much research and thinking it over, I have chosen the 36l Nano BIABasket Intermediate model with the immersion chiller.

https://cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/36l-nano-biabasket-intermediate-model

This way I can go for 10/11 litres for the Droid, or 19/21 litres for the Fermzilla and I can do it all outside and not annoy my wife by taking up the kitchen for 3-4 hours. I have a outlet on the balcony as well as a tap with hose so... Ordered it today and now just waiting.

Cheers

Nice.

Why did you choose that over the Brewzilla v4?

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

16 hours ago, Dustin Frothman said:

Nice.

Why did you choose that over the Brewzilla v4?

That's a great question and one I am still pondering myself.   

Basically, I find the Nano to be a more compact brewery and I like that I can upgrade many of the parts over time. Obviously I did plenty of research and these Nano BIABaskets are very well thought of.

I don't like how tall the Brewzilla is and I think their have been some efficiency issues experienced by some users given how deep the basket is. The Nano being more squat has a wider basket which to my mind looks like a more efficient way of getting your grains and water to mix up.

They also look more like the BIABag brewing that I've done so far and less of a learning curve. In some forums, there has been a lot of chatter about issues with the previous versions of the Brewzilla's with parts breaking and then your Brewzilla is effectively worthless or crippled. This doesn't look to have changed much with version 4.

The Nano has less "moving parts" and consensus is that it is built really well and being modular, if something breaks and you need to replace it or you want to upgrade it, it is easily done.

And finally, I think that the size and ease of use better suits apartment brewing. My plan is to just sit it on my Webber Q as a platform, plug it in and start using.

Also going with the immersion chiller and can upgrade that at a later stage but I like the idea of being able to chill the wort quickly to hop stand temp and then down to temp for the Droid or Fermzilla.

[Dustin Frothman]

3 hours ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

That's a great question and one I am still pondering myself.   

Basically, I find the Nano to be a more compact brewery and I like that I can upgrade many of the parts over time. Obviously I did plenty of research and these Nano BIABaskets are very well thought of.

I don't like how tall the Brewzilla is and I think their have been some efficiency issues experienced by some users given how deep the basket is. The Nano being more squat has a wider basket which to my mind looks like a more efficient way of getting your grains and water to mix up.

They also look more like the BIABag brewing that I've done so far and less of a learning curve. In some forums, there has been a lot of chatter about issues with the previous versions of the Brewzilla's with parts breaking and then your Brewzilla is effectively worthless or crippled. This doesn't look to have changed much with version 4.

The Nano has less "moving parts" and consensus is that it is built really well and being modular, if something breaks and you need to replace it or you want to upgrade it, it is easily done.

And finally, I think that the size and ease of use better suits apartment brewing. My plan is to just sit it on my Webber Q as a platform, plug it in and start using.

Also going with the immersion chiller and can upgrade that at a later stage but I like the idea of being able to chill the wort quickly to hop stand temp and then down to temp for the Droid or Fermzilla.

I nearly bought the same using a very similar rationale.

Looking forward to seeing your first experiments on it.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Dan's Hazy IPA is coming along well. Dialed in the spunding valve as it must have moved and lost its setting from last use.

I got into the cage this morning to hear the sound of rushing air as the spunding valve was set to around 1 psi.

Set it to 5 psi and it's sitting there comfortably. 

The temp guide sticker on the side of the Fermzilla is showing a temperature of 28°C.

Smells bloody awesome and can't wait to try it.

As I planned, expect to be dry hoping either late tomorrow or early Sunday.

 

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

On 21/03/2022 at 9:52 AM, Thagomizer said:

When I tried a partial grain recipe from Midwestern Brewing, the instructions admonished against squeezing the grain sack after steeping.  I was supposed to only sparge the grain sack with 160^oF water through a sieve - and only a small amount.  It was something about unwanted enzymes that would cloud the beer and would best be left in the grain sack.  That brew was successful, so I didn't miss too much of the malt sugars by not wringing the grain sack dry.

So, I will agree with the Captain - no squeezing the sack. 🙂

From what I've read and seen on various websites and BrewTubers, is that these days there is no issue with squeezing your bag.

It was thought in the past that squeezing the bag would result in tannins from the grain getting into the wort.

However, theat has changed as modern grains are so heavily modified that it, tannins, are no longer an issue and that the advice is squeeze away to get as much of that sweet precious sugars into your wort as possible.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Just dry hopped this Dan's Hazy IPA and wow, am I impressed with the colour and smell.

Pretty crazy how fast this has moved since brew day and pitching the yeast at around 6 pm (Sydney time) on Thursday. In less than 48 hrs, activity has slowed and krausen is virtually non-existent.

100g of Nelson Sauvin hops in this addition as this is a single hopped Hazy.

Again, the colour is just wow! Couldn't have hoped for better TBH.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Okay c'mon, you knew it was coming right.

So first viewing and taste of the All Grain No. 3 DH2.0 NEIPA inspired by David Heaths second generation NEIPA.

Only kegged on Wednesday but OMG WOW.

The colour ✅️

The haze ✅️

The flavour ✅️

I have to say, this is even better than AG No. 2, 3M Hazy IPA.

Thanks to @Captain 3 Droids for the suggestion to use Idaho-7 hops, they really make this NEIPA sing.

@Dustin Frothmanthese Hazy and NEIPAs need to be drunk young and fresh and this is just bloody amazing.

Even my wife said that it "tastes like those expensive cans you buy but better".

If that isn't an endorsement, I don't know what is.

 

[Dustin Frothman]

3 minutes ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Okay c'mon, you knew it was coming right.

Yes.

I'm glad you don't do my job!

[Dustin Frothman]

The beer looks great too. 👍

[Thagomizer]

19 hours ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

From what I've read and seen on various websites and BrewTubers, is that these days there is no issue with squeezing your bag.

It was thought in the past that squeezing the bag would result in tannins from the grain getting into the wort.

However, theat has changed as modern grains are so heavily modified that it, tannins, are no longer an issue and that the advice is squeeze away to get as much of that sweet precious sugars into your wort as possible.

Wazza_wantsbeer,

Thanks for the update.  That is interesting news.  Next time I am steeping, I will feel free to wring the grain sack dry (or at least damp).

[J P]

That is a masterpiece Wazza!!!

[Captain 3 Droids]

16 minutes ago, J P said:

That is a masterpiece Wazza!!!

Yes it is, Coopers/ BrewArt would be impressed. @Wazza_wantsbeer Sorry Wazza but you have pushed this a bit too far, it’s great in what your doing but no BreWArt equipment or ingredients used is not in line with this forum. 
So let’s leave it there, and tell us about your Droid brewing.

No offence intended 

[Thagomizer]

 

22 hours ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

Yes it is, Coopers/ BrewArt would be impressed. @Wazza_wantsbeer Sorry Wazza but you have pushed this a bit too far, it’s great in what your doing but no BreWArt equipment or ingredients used is not in line with this forum. 
So let’s leave it there, and tell us about your Droid brewing.

No offence intended 

I must agree with the Captain on the topic's suitability; however, besides an interesting process description, I gained a useful tidbit of information - that you could now squeeze the grain sack while steeping.  That always had irked me.  Now Wazza has cleared the air on that subject.

I still do partial grain brews; but they are adjusted to ten liter batches - designed for my BeerDroid.  Most of my brews are BrewPrints but ordered in piecemeal to avoid buying unnecessary components.

Happy brewing, all.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

I do agree with @Captain 3 Droids  and can understand the rational behind it, after all this is a forum dedicated to the Coopers BrewArt way. Therefore, I won't be posting any more All Grain brews using the Fermzilla as I think that is fair enough.

However, to be clear, I do intend on continuing to use the Droid for around half of my brews at least. In fact, I have a cider in the new little Droid now and I have an Abbey Dubbel ready to go in once the Cider is done.

It was definitely not my intention to stop brewing with my Droid but to supplement it with the Fermzilla. Especially for the Hazy and NEIPAs that I enjoy so much.

I will however do mostly All Grain over the BrewPrints and Ingredients as I am truly enjoying this style of brewing and the results are speaking for themselves really. Hence the reason I'm stepping up to a new all grain brewery from Nano.

Cheers