Hi all,
I’ve been considering moving from BIAB to an all in one, specifically a Gen 4 35L Brewzilla. My hesitation is about the capacity, which tops out at 9.25 gal according to MoreBeer. More troubling to me is that it states the maximum recommended boil volume is 6.5 gal.
I currently use a 10 gal kettle for BIAB and do full volume mashes. I like to get 5.5 gal in the fermenter so for a 90 min boil my pre boil volume is frequently 7.5 gal+. That accounts for 1.25 to 1.5 gal boil off, .25 gal cooling shrinkage and .4 gal of kettle trub loss, then about .6 gal of fermenter loss. Sometimes I do a bit more if I think I will take a lot of gravity samples too.
I know I can play games with top up water to keep the boil volume down, but that means higher mash gravity, which the larger systems advertise as a feature. The higher gravity wouldn’t scare me except I like to do some Tripels and BDSs which are fairly high gravity. Hence it seems the boil volume limitation may dictate a pre boil gravity difficult to achieve with the 9.25 gal system.
I don’t want a larger system because I like to do 3.5 gal batches for recipes I’m not sure about or familiar with, and I think those are below the recommended minimum batch volume.
Does anyone have a similar system, and brew higher gravity beers? If so have you found higher gravities a challenge and how did you achieve the PBG?
I deal w/ high gravity by simply brewing smaller (1.5 gal) batches.
You can do a reiterative mash. Add the grist in mash No 1, mash, remove the spent grain, add grist for mash No 2, mash using wort from mash No 1. (Palmer describes it as ‘double mash’ on pg 182 of HtB 4th Edition)
Another option could be to add sugar or DME/LME. There are a lot of interesting sugars that can enhance flavor. Plus, a lot of stronger beers need to finish dry-ish so they’re not too sweet and/or viscous in the finish IMO. Sugar can help w/ that drying effect.
I have the 65L Gen 4 and do 2.5 Gallon batches for experimentation. I think the specs say it can drop all the way down to 1.25 Gallons. If you still want to stick with the 35L, you could do the Boiler Expansion and Extended Malt Pipe. There are some reviewers that had issues, but no leaks. Those 2 additional bits will get you close to the 65L price point though.
You didn’t mention which voltage you were considering (110 vs 220). If 220V is out of the question, the extensions are likely your best bet. If you go the 220V route, make sure to take note of that NEMA 6-30R plug.
I have a Brewzilla and have really been pleased with it so far (I’ve used it for 15 batches). I tend to brew primarily IPAs with O.G.s between 1.060 and 1.075 so, perhaps, not in the use case of your inquiry. More Beer’s suggestion for maximum boil volume seems pretty accurate, though slightly conservative (I’ve had a few batches that started the boil with 7 gallons, but had to be super watchful for boil overs . I think you won’t have any issues just slightly tweaking your recipes (less sparge water than suggested perhaps) to keep within the system’s constraints.
I was in the same dilemma as you when deciding which size Brewzilla to go with. I almost always brew 5 gal batches but when doing the research I ultimately ended up buying the 65L mainly because I have much more flexibility in what I can brew. I can do 5 gals of 1.100, 10 gals of a 7% IPA, or 2 gals of an experimental batch without having to worry about min/max capacity limits or boil overs. It’s a little more of an investment, but for me it was worth it to spend more if I was going to invest in a system such as this anyways. I also went with the 220v and installed the outlet myself as I had saw reviews of people saying it takes quite a while to get to boil. I know that everyone may not be able to do this, but if you can, I think it’s the better route to take. Just my 2 cents!