Used my Zymatic 4 times last week and planning on using it at least that much this coming week. It is so easy to use I am starting to get in the habit of using it almost every day or until I run out of fermentors.
Sidebar question: if you make lots of one off beers with the Z do you have to register the recipe with the government? Or can you just make one offs and sell them in the tap room without much government hassle?
Just curious.
As a homebrewer, making 4 Z batches per week would quickly run afoul of Alabama law which limits my production to 15 gallons per quarter.
LOL Alabama law. Sorry not going to let any state government dictate how much I can brew at home. I brewed illegally for years and years before I even knew it was illegal here in Alabama. I was not aware that there is a 15 gallon per quarter rule but there is no way in hell I would let that slow my brewing down. The Federal law is one thing: 200 gallons per adult u[p to 400 gallons I think? That’s a hell of a lot of brewing. But 15 gallons a quarter? Really? That’s laughable.
But, yes, we have to register any beer we brew that we intend to sell with the ABC. Not the feds though. We just have to track what we produce so we pay taxes on it. Technically we only have to have formula approval from the Feds if we are selling out of state. But for any beer we intend on packaging and shipping out of tap room we go ahead and do the footwork and have everything approved by TTB (also, we are in 2 states now so thatonly makes sense.)
As far as business goes we play it 100% by the book as close as possible. But I would never let a stupid state law dictate how much beer I can brew at my house. That’s ridiculous.
Sorry, I got a little chippy there. Over reaching laws like that just really raise my hackles.
Anyway … Keep in mind the Zymatic only makes 2.5 gallons at a time. At first I thought that was a hindrance but now I look at it as a nice size batch. If you want to brew 5 gallons you can just brew 2 back to back batches.
I must admit that it was a long time ago. I haven’t owned a car in quite a few years. I take public transportation most of the time and borrow my daughter’s car when I have to drive somewhere.
That’s great. Southern cities really aren’t setup for public transportation.
I don’t qualify as cheap anymore. I ordered the Zymatic. $1379 shipped with full warranty and all the bells and whistles seems like a deal that won’t come around again soon.
Also, the one big improvement I have made is to take the keg/kettle off the Zymatic during the chilling process. The Zymatic will recirc the wort until you hit your target chilling temp, which is nice, but it foams like crazy. I just pull the keg off, use the chiller I linked, and use my diffusion stone to aerate. The other ncie thing about doing it this way is you can go ahead and knock out the clean up while the wrot is being chilled otherwise you’ll have to do it after the chilling is finished.
I’d recommend figuring out how to use the 'advaced" software now because that was the hardest thing for me. It’s actually very simple bu since you can access the manual and the recipe software on line it makes sense to go ahead and have it figured out before the machine arrives.
I agree on all counts. I was able to chill my last batch to pitching temp in 4 min. with the Corny Pillar. I also don’t wait for the whole recirc/chill process on the Z. Once the boil is done, I stop it, run a drain cycle, and chill the corny. I don’t worry about aeration since it’s such a small batch. And FTR, the advanced software is being rewritten to make it easier to use.
I was thinking of disconnecting from the Z after boil, putting the keg in my chest freezer set to pitch temp, and then come back in a few hours to pitch. Not sure if that will cause foaming or not. But, it should chill pretty fast through the stainless.
