Fermzilla Brewing

[Captain 3 Droids]

6 minutes ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

, 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.

Great stuff and look forward to your continuing input in this regard. 

[Dustin Frothman]

@Wazza_wantsbeerYou could always buy a sack of Coopers Pale Ale malt for your all grain brewing and then you wouldn't be breaking the rules ...

https://www.41pintsofbeer.com.au/product-page/ale-malt-coopers

Edited March 28, 2022 by Dustin Frothman

[Captain 3 Droids]

3 minutes ago, Dustin Frothman said:

@Wazza_wantsbeerYou could always buy a sack of Coopers Pale Ale malt for your all grain brewing and then you wouldn't be breaking the rules ...

https://www.41pintsofbeer.com.au/product-page/ale-malt-coopers

Not quite right as still nothing involving BrewArt equipment or ingredients however would suit the Coopers DIY Community forum.

[Dustin Frothman]

29 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

Not quite right as still nothing involving BrewArt equipment or ingredients however would suit the Coopers DIY Community forum.

[Dustin Frothman]

@Wazza_wantsbeerDid your mate like the beers?

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

In two words... Loved 'em!

All Grain No. 4, the Dans Hazy IPA was drunk on Tuesday as planned. Given the brew day was the Thursday before, it was a full Grain to Glass in 5 days, simply unbelievable.

FG was 1.014, BrewFather predicted 1.015 so ended up a solid 7.88% ABV which for my preference is the sweet spot for a beer like this.

And here it is today as we forgot to take pics on Tuesday...

On the Tuesday night, we had another great mate join us who's been my main crafter beer partner in crime. So we sat down and tried all four All Grain brews I have completed so far.

We did a side by side comparison for all four brews and this is how it went.

To recap:

No 1. Wazza's Double NEIPA 7.88% ABV 
No 2. 3M Hazy IPA 7.1%
No 3. DH2.0 NEIPA 8.0%
No 4. Dan's Hazy IPA @ 7.88%

For my mate Dan from Melbourne, he preferred No. 1 and then No. 4 and couldn't chose between Numbers 2 and 3 as he really enjoyed both.

My local mate who joined us for the night enjoyed No. 2, then 4, then 3 and finally No. 1.

For me I my preference was No. 3 and 4, couldn't decide between them and waivered back and forth so call it a tie. No. 2 was a close one to these two and then No. 1 for me was my least favourite but still a really good beer.

What I found amazing about the No. 4 Dan's Hazy IPA is the flavour from 100g at dry hop of the Nelson Sauvin hops. What a flavour but honestly, hard to describe.

We finished all 5 litres remaining of No. 1 on Friday before my mate returned to Melbourne.

I just went to have my first beer and to take some pictures of the others for this post and found that No. 2 with this pour was done!

Lifting the other 2 9,5l kegs, I think there is less than half left it each and both  were almost completely full (No. 3 with only a single glass tasted before he arrived) and full (No. 4 because I had just finished cold crashing it when he arrived).

So, 5 + 7 + 5 + 5 = 22

Over the 4 days he was here, with 3 of us drinking on Tuesday, we consumed approximately 22 litres of these beers.

The pics taken today of beers No. 2, 3 and 4 in that order left to right.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Wazza_wantsbeer

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Okay went and done it.

Graduated from Brew in a Bag to Brew in a Basket...

Picked up a second hand, but full kit including PID, of the Nano Brewery 36l BIABasket.

Pretty stoked to give its first proper run this weekend... if the grains arrive.

Plan on doing a West Coast IIPA in the Droid so my recipe in Brewfather calls for an 11 litre batch.

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Wazza_wantsbeer

[Dustin Frothman]

1 hour ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Okay went and done it.

Graduated from Brew in a Bag to Brew in a Basket...

Picked up a second hand, but full kit including PID, of the Nano Brewery 36l BIABasket.

Pretty stoked to give its first proper run this weekend... if the grains arrive.

Plan on doing a West Coast IIPA in the Droid so my recipe in Brewfather calls for an 11 litre batch.

 

Which WC IIPA recipe are you planning?

I've got David Heath's Verdant IPA recipe and ingredients ready next but am keen on a good WC I/IIPA soon if you find a good one.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

36 minutes ago, Dustin Frothman said:

Which WC IIPA recipe are you planning?

I've got David Heath's Verdant IPA recipe and ingredients ready next but am keen on a good WC I/IIPA soon if you find a good one.

I've put a recipe together and will share it in a new thread of course.

Amazing that you are planning on David Heath's Verdant IPA because that will be my next brew to go into the Fermzilla.

Just trying to find a homebrew shop that supplies all the right grains.

Going to do a 21l batch.

[Dustin Frothman]

1 hour ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

I've put a recipe together and will share it in a new thread of course.

Amazing that you are planning on David Heath's Verdant IPA because that will be my next brew to go into the Fermzilla.

Just trying to find a homebrew shop that supplies all the right grains.

Going to do a 21l batch.

That sounds great. I've got a couple to do first but will be keen to see what you come up. 🍻

[Hambone]

11 hours ago, Dustin Frothman said:

Which WC IIPA recipe are you planning?

I've got David Heath's Verdant IPA recipe and ingredients ready next but am keen on a good WC I/IIPA soon if you find a good one.

I've done the David Heath Verdant IPA quite a few times. Great recipe and really flexible. Hopped it up lots of different ways. Scaled back the bittering hops to make an XPA a few times too.

Enjoy. 

Cheers 

[Dustin Frothman]

1 hour ago, Hambone said:

I've done the David Heath Verdant IPA quite a few times. Great recipe and really flexible. Hopped it up lots of different ways. Scaled back the bittering hops to make an XPA a few times too.

Enjoy. 

Cheers 

Thanks mate, you read my mind.

I’ve got the ingredients for a clone of the Balter XPA so that’ll get cooked up following the Verdant.

[Hambone]

3 hours ago, Dustin Frothman said:

Thanks mate, you read my mind.

I’ve got the ingredients for a clone of the Balter XPA so that’ll get cooked up following the Verdant.

Just pour it in on the trub. Re-use the yeast. 

Cheers 

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Along with the WC IIPA, I also kegged my first Nano brewery and Fermzilla combo beer.

Another Hazy IPA, using Ella hops along with Idaho 7. First time using Ella so looking forward to the tasting.

This was a 6.5 kg grain bill aiming for 19 litres into the fermenter but didn't hit that with only 15l kegged.

TBH, the 6.5 kg grain bill was too much for the 36l Nano brewery and I struggled a heap with it. Had grain get out of the basket and clog up the spray ball so recirculation didn't really happen.

Was really frustrating so from now on, even though it will take a lot more time, will have to do split batches if I want to get 19l of wort into the fermenter.

Which is exactly what I did on Thursday last week, another single hop Hazy using only Nelson Sauvin hops. The 7.1 kg grain bill was split into 2 as was everything else, water, water salts, etc.

This day was also quite painful but not as bad as the previous brew day in that it got late when I finished and so it was dark and our balcony isn't well lit so I made quite a mess with everything because I couldn't really see what I was doing and I was rushing to get it done before my wife got home, a recipe for disaster.

But, I did end up with 22 litres of Hazy Nelson IPA wort into the fermenter yesterday as well. So I'm going from only having the Cider on tap in the kegerator to a WCIIPA in 2 weeks time, 15l of the Hazy Idaho Ella is in the kegerator now and there will be another 20 plus litres joining it in a week or so.

For those interested, this is how one kegs from the Fermzilla, at least at my house...

And yes, I literally went straight from kegging from the Droid to kegging from the Fermzilla, I just quickly cleaned the line and connected liquid disconnects to the FZ and keg, a bit of CO2 from the mini-reg and off it went.

In the background you will see the Droid and notice that I hadn't even bothered to remove the hop filter from the keg and sitting next to it in the measuring cup is a sample that was drawn from the Droid to go into the hydrometer, just waiting on it to warm up to room temp.

Another thing, if you look at the walls of the FZ, there is quite a bit of hop matter, when fermenting under pressure, when you add the dry hops, the krausen foams up quite a bit and you end up with that green line. This one had quite a lot of dry hops, 70g each of Ella and Idaho #7.

[Dustin Frothman]

On 10/05/2022 at 8:59 AM, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Along with the WC IIPA, I also kegged my first Nano brewery and Fermzilla combo beer.

Another Hazy IPA, using Ella hops along with Idaho 7. First time using Ella so looking forward to the tasting.

This was a 6.5 kg grain bill aiming for 19 litres into the fermenter but didn't hit that with only 15l kegged.

TBH, the 6.5 kg grain bill was too much for the 36l Nano brewery and I struggled a heap with it. Had grain get out of the basket and clog up the spray ball so recirculation didn't really happen.

Was really frustrating so from now on, even though it will take a lot more time, will have to do split batches if I want to get 19l of wort into the fermenter.

Which is exactly what I did on Thursday last week, another single hop Hazy using only Nelson Sauvin hops. The 7.1 kg grain bill was split into 2 as was everything else, water, water salts, etc.

This day was also quite painful but not as bad as the previous brew day in that it got late when I finished and so it was dark and our balcony isn't well lit so I made quite a mess with everything because I couldn't really see what I was doing and I was rushing to get it done before my wife got home, a recipe for disaster.

But, I did end up with 22 litres of Hazy Nelson IPA wort into the fermenter yesterday as well. So I'm going from only having the Cider on tap in the kegerator to a WCIIPA in 2 weeks time, 15l of the Hazy Idaho Ella is in the kegerator now and there will be another 20 plus litres joining it in a week or so.

For those interested, this is how one kegs from the Fermzilla, at least at my house...

And yes, I literally went straight from kegging from the Droid to kegging from the Fermzilla, I just quickly cleaned the line and connected liquid disconnects to the FZ and keg, a bit of CO2 from the mini-reg and off it went.

In the background you will see the Droid and notice that I hadn't even bothered to remove the hop filter from the keg and sitting next to it in the measuring cup is a sample that was drawn from the Droid to go into the hydrometer, just waiting on it to warm up to room temp.

Another thing, if you look at the walls of the FZ, there is quite a bit of hop matter, when fermenting under pressure, when you add the dry hops, the krausen foams up quite a bit and you end up with that green line. This one had quite a lot of dry hops, 70g each of Ella and Idaho #7.

It's funny how the experienced all grain brewers always say things like "it takes just as much effort to make 20 litres of wort as it does to make 10"

In my experience to date I'd have to disagree. 10 litres is really manageable and even if you're going for a higher gravity beer then you'd still be dealing with less than 4kg of grain.

Looking good there mate. I want to make more beer at the moment but don't have the keg space. I've got a Balter XPA clone that's been sitting in the Droid in storage for about a week.

We'll have to have party.

Better get some friends. 😉

 

[Captain 3 Droids]

3 minutes ago, Dustin Frothman said:

want to make more beer at the moment but don't have the keg space.

Same here, I slow down in brewing during the colder months as I have bottled stocks of stouts and dark ales to attack. Have been running only 2 droids at present but rotating the units. (so they don’t think favouritism)

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

And here it is, my first Nano Brewery/Fermzilla beer 48 hours post kegging.

Bloody delicious and the best mouthfeel so far, thick, juicy and so very fruity.

Head could be a little better but I put that down to still needing more CO2 as I'm sure my cannister is getting empty.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Wazza_wantsbeer

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

6 hours ago, Dustin Frothman said:

It's funny how the experienced all grain brewers always say things like "it takes just as much effort to make 20 litres of wort as it does to make 10"

In my experience to date I'd have to disagree. 10 litres is really manageable and even if you're going for a higher gravity beer then you'd still be dealing with less than 4kg of grain.

Looking good there mate. I want to make more beer at the moment but don't have the keg space. I've got a Balter XPA clone that's been sitting in the Droid in storage for about a week.

We'll have to have party.

Better get some friends. 😉

 

@Dustin Frothmancouldn't agree more.

Big difference between 10/11 litres and 22/23 litres.

Didn't feel comfortable or confident with a 6+kg Grain bill.

Will go with split brewing for bigger volumes for the foreseeable future unless I upgrade to a larger brewery vessel.

[Dustin Frothman]

17 hours ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

@Dustin Frothmancouldn't agree more.

Big difference between 10/11 litres and 22/23 litres.

Didn't feel comfortable or confident with a 6+kg Grain bill.

Will go with split brewing for bigger volumes for the foreseeable future unless I upgrade to a larger brewery vessel.

I'll go halvies with you in a 200L Braumeister if you like. 😉

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

2 hours ago, Dustin Frothman said:

I'll go halvies with you in a 200L Braumeister if you like. 😉

I wish as that would be the dream system. Split each batch, heck yeah!

[Gillies Brewing]

On 11/05/2022 at 10:43 AM, Captain 3 Droids said:

I slow down in brewing during the colder months as I have bottled stocks of stouts and dark ales to attack.

How often would you crack one of your super vintage bottles? How do they go?

[Captain 3 Droids]

21 minutes ago, Gillies Brewing said:

How often would you crack one of your super vintage bottles? How do they go?

During the colder weeks 1 or 2 bottles. I can choose between 750ml long necks or the prior cider bottles of 500ml. They are good with lunch or tea meat dishes.

Absolutely delicious, and not just my opinion- persons have wanted to buy some but I didn’t brew and keep them for that.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

The Ella/Idaho 7 Hazy nearing the end of the keg.

Still drinking awesomely. So much flavour and a long lasting creamy head.

[Captain 3 Droids]

On 27/3/2022 at 2:06 PM, 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 

 There is nothing wrong with all grain brewing and then discussion with fermentation via a Droid however we need to consider Coopers/BrewArts commercial position, other competitors of fermenters to be fair is not in their interest.

Again no offence intended.

 

Note: 2 posts in question have been moved to The All Grain Brewing thread.

 

[Dustin Frothman]

On 29/6/2022 at 2:40 PM, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

The Ella/Idaho 7 Hazy nearing the end of the keg.

Still drinking awesomely. So much flavour and a long lasting creamy head.

Looks brilliant.

I can’t believe one of your beers has lasted so long! 😛