Good video. I know it's older. But with the immersion chiller. I leave the whirlpool arm on while it's cooling. It really speeds it up. Then when it's down to temp, I pull the chiller and leave the pump running to whirlpool the trub in the center. Then turn it off and leave it for 15mins. It really settles.
The center drain has got to be the #1 feature on this thing :) I'm well aware they didn't invent it, but it's what most other consumer all-in-ones are missing.
I use a immersion because I don't want to worry about sanitation and hop accumulation in a CFC or a block. But, I use a sump pump and a cooler of ice with my immersion chiller to save water. Basically, I have two coolers. One with water and ice, then another I run it off to in the beginning till I get to about 40-45c and then swap it over to recirculating into the water/ice cooler. Saves me about 50% of my normal water usage. I find with a good immersion chiller like Jaded Brewings or something I can chill in 5-8m and no sanitation, or hops concerns.
I've had my plate chiller for well over 10 years now and never had a blockage, not even nearly and I think it would be near on impossible to get a block in a counterflow chiller. I tried the two IC but ice is expensive and a pain in the arse when you want to brew and don't have any. The trouble with jade coils they take up your whole kettle and mess everything up, it adds unwanted time to my brew days. I wouldn't use a IC in brewery and I prefer not to use them at home. They work though if needed. Cheers!
I have a cheap small pump for a fountain which I can use to recirculate water from an ice cooler full of icy water. Pump goes into immersion chiller, water comes out to ice chest. Costs a couple of bags of ice, but for a 5 gallon batch works pretty well. But I prefer a plate chiller.
I've tried everything, but water here is just too hot most times, years ago I used a pre-chiller even on my counterflow chiller, but in the end the difference was minimal in the middle of summer, even yesterday as we are in Autumn I couldnt get the beer below 22c going super slow with a counterflow, I have no hope with this IC. Here's an old vid from 8 years ago where I tried a pre-chiller ruclips.net/video/yDjktsj51oU/видео.html Cheers!
@@HomeBrewNetwork I live in SW Florida and ground water is 72 F almost all year. 1 bag of ice in a cooler of water recirculating thru a CFC cools wort down into the 60's pretty quickly.
@@rustymccormick4430 Ice is usually out of the question for me, I dont have a car or the freezer space so getting a bag of ice, especially on an unplanned brew day is very difficult and another unwanted expense. Cheers!
I converted my old esky mash tun for using wort chiller especially for summer fill it with ice water and have a cheap 12v pump and recirc ice water through chiller to cool the wort down
Why not drop the chiller coil into a bath or large bucket of ice and oust the wort through it? I chill using this method as I brew in Thailand where the temp of air & water are high.
I've always used this method for cooling. I agree it's not the best when ground water is above 20 degrees but 2-3 hours in a cold fridge brings it back to pitching temperature. Relax😉
You can use the immersion chiller in reverse. Dunk the chiller into a bucket of ice (I normally use the stuff sold by fuel stations for fishing) and water then pump the wort through the chiller. Less wasted water and for me it cools a lot quicker. It will require some sterilizing of the inside though.
Yeah I've seen that, I've even had two one in ice and one in the wort, prechill chiller lol but in the end even a small home made counterflow chiller was much better. Cheers!
Thanks for this brilliant series of videos, mate. I've decided to move from kits to grain and bought one of these units in the Black Friday sale. Being in the same country, with the tap water currently at 27/28c I don't hold much hop for getting below 40c at the moment! I might have to run the hot hose into an old fermenter and use it on the garden or car when it cools! How much water are we talking about with these things, has anybody filled a vessel? I have kits and sugars still to use up so I may start off with a partial mash to get used to how it all works, but for all-grain recipes I have a couple of questions: At 12:22 you take a gravity reading. Did you draw wort at this stage or are you double checking your previous syringe sample after it's temp reached ambient? At 16:00 you slow the wort transfer rate down to stop it "vortexing", what issues would vortexing cause? At 19:30 you drain the unit out. How much do people typically leave in the system, can the remaining contents not be transferred and dropped out during ferment/cold crash or does it cause more issues? Regarding cooling, is there any issues with dropping a wort to 50c and transferring it to a fermenter and chilling to pitching temp in a fridge over several hours, what's at risk? Thanks for the video and any advice people can respond to these questions.
Fresh Sample. Vortex always air into the pump and the pump will stop. I like to leave the junk out of my fermenter. I leave at least a litre behind usually some times 2 or 3
With regards the immersion chiller, I would connect the hose to it before putting in the hot wort (to prevent any hot water splashing out). Also, they can cool the wort very quickly if you use your circulation pump at the same time, splashing in above the surface (the same science when you pour hot tea back and forth to another cup). This does mean doing a whirlpool is a lot harder. When cooled down, just let the wort settle a little bit.
Hey Gav just watched you struggling with the coil chiller, I don't use it like this what I do is have the coil in a round esky full of ice and slowly pump the wort through the coil and straight into the fermenter works for me and doesn't waste water
@@HomeBrewNetwork i only do with ice because we are on tank water and can't use that amount through a counter flow or plate, bags of ice are cheap and I use the melted ice for wash up. Love your vids mate very informative 👍
@@hardtophoggy I understand mate, for sure, I tried to use a pre-chiller at one stage with a coil in ice before the chiller, but I was too unorganised with the ice and didn't have a freezer to store it in, and because I don't have a car or anything it just got to be a pain. Thanks very much, much appreciated mate!
Great video brother. I am ordering one of these tonight. Will definitely be looking to your video for guidance. Will probably drop you a question or two if that's ok.
After moving to the fermentation tank, there is no water left in the BrewZilla that can't go out. (dead space with real experiments) Thank you for answering !!!
Wouldnt all the trub sit ontop of the centre hole after whirlpooling? Why didnt you run the whirlpool while cooling with the imersion chiller to cool the wort down faster? sorry for all the questions. Looking at getting the 100L.
yeah but on the false bottom, when you centre most of the hop and trub then there's space for free flowing wort at the sides. Immersion chillers are the bottom rung of chilling, slow, messy and wasteful. I have better options is all. Cheers!
I have a better way of using the immersion chiller: I’ve added an additional copper coil between the immersion chiller and the cold water tap. Then I put the copper coil into a plastic bucket with a small bag of ice. This way, the water from the tap side is as cold as ice going into the immersion chiller. The wort is at pitch temp in less than 20 minutes!
I did try that a few times years ago, It wasn't much help in the hot Aussie summers, I got sick of paying for ice, I tried frozen bottles and things, but got sick of it in the end. It doesnt help that I dont own a car and cant just run t down the shop and grab a bag of ice! Cheers!
Before you turn the pump off you pull the recirc tube out of the mash/wort, which you should do absolutely every time to prevent siphoning of grain down the tube and the wort just drains out by itself, quickly. Cheers!
I got over Covid back in September. My sniffer is still screwed up. Hard to accurately smell my wort or beer so far. Also messes with coffee (at least for me). One of the weirder things is I have an occasional “hallucination” of wood smoke. Never anything to it, but damn if it ain’t real. I am happy it is wood smoke not 💩. 😂
Yes wood is better than turd hahaha I think my sniffer has been changed but not by much and I think its coming back to normal. I was crook for about 4 weeks. Cheers Jim!
any reason to not run the wort through the chiller submersed in a bucket of ice water? It might take a fair amount of fluching after but i imagine it would be w ay quicker
Hey im new to all grain brewing. I have a stainless steel fermenter. If i pump the hot wort into the fermenter, that would sterilise the fermenter, right? Any issues with doing this and just letting it cool down naturally overnight in the fermenter before pitching yeast the next morning?
You can try it, the trouble is if there is a big head space and the steam doesnt kill the bugs/yeast in the air pocket. If its quite full its probably alright, can't be guaranteed though. Cheers!
fantastic video. I see you set your temp at 115 for the boil and get a result just over 101. I have a 65l brewzilla GEN 4. Do you recommend to set the temp way over 100C to get a good rolling boil? Thanks, Jef
Hi Gavin. Apologies for commenting on an old video, I have a couple of questions... What was your reason for doing a hot whirlpool? You said cooling to 80C wouldn't work for this recipe? What's that about? Also, what's the advantage of draining the kettle without allowing a vortex to form? Cheers
Whirlpools were always done hot, in most breweries these days they still done hot... It was only for NEIPAs that people tried to lower the temperature for to reduce some bitterness. If you get any old book longer say 5 or 10 years old and it mentions whirlpool/flameout/hop stand it was done hot. Its a waste of time, energy and hops to do it if you don't need too, which is all beers but NEIPAs, though even NEIPAs its not needed to go down under 80c at all... I actually think Brewfather has a lot to answer for with 80c whirlpool thing since for some reason they set default whirlpool temp to 80c, its makes no sense. The reason this won't work is it needs that extra bitterness from the whirlpool, otherwise you have to get it from some where else ie. Add more hops at 60min. You still get all the hoppy goodness and some bitterness. Its not an either or thing. It was only a few years ago bitterness from any whirlpool/flameout hop wasn't even calculated in the finished beer. So if you get an old recipe and it says whirlpool/flameout hops etc they will not have dropped the temp of the whirlpool, naturally after the boil and a bit of settling its often around 95c, if you drop it under 80c you will not get anywhere near the same beer. Cheers mate!
buddy I love your videos.. and I am australian and if you have ever watched water go down a plug hole it goes in a particular direction depending if you are in the northern or southern hemisphere. google the Coriolis effect. do ya reckon on the gen 4 it's worth whirlpooling anti clockwise? power of nature!!
also I think with the panel on top of the grain, the two metals connectors on top are worth tying a string to and holding the panel at height so sparging will be more distributed, just a thought maybe? cos you were talking about not using it
Usually a time thing, it will take a while to settle out after whirlpooling and the wort is at a critical stage temperature wise where it can easily pick up wild yeast floating around in the air, or from grain dust in the brewery etc, just adds a lot of risk and extra time. Cheers!
well you can but it will likely take longer to settle out and clear, for me its all about getting nice clear and clean wort out, these small things all add up to a better beer in my opinion, others don't care and will transfer it all to the fermenter, trub, old boil hops etc.. I put some love into mine hahaha Cheers! I use whole hops the same, rarely use them these days, not much point when pellet hops are so much more consistent and overall better. Only if say I grew them, and they'd only be for the end of boil and whirlpool.
Great video definitely a step up from the 3.1.1 unit. I am interested in the RAPT Fermentation Chamber you are now using. I purchased one last year and have found the temperature control to be quite poor, hoping it is operator error! When on Heating and Cooling the controller fights itself, resulting in excess of 5 Cdeg temperature variation and that’s setting up per Keglands advise. Heating only is better at 1 to 1-1/2 Cdeg variation. Are far cry from the 0.1 Cdeg claimed. The PID control appears to be just switching the heater on/off, not regulating their temperature, similar to the pump on the Brewzilla 4. I was wondering what your results were? Any tips if you are attaining better results? Are you planning a video on the RAPT Fermentation Chamber soon? Thanks
Mines been really good, I did change a couple of settings at the start but mines fine, have you adjusted the Hysteresis and the compressor and mode switch delay? I dont know anything about .1c, I dont know anything that will do that with a fermenter in a fridge, how do you have the temp probe set up? Cheers
Yeah I'd like to try it, in a way its probably more hassle than a wipe, but I guess I'll find out if I get one, have you actually seen a specific one for this? or are you talking just a generic one? Cheers!
How critical is getting the temp down fast guys? Is it for convenience only so one can get in the fermenter or in the no-chill cube faster? ... or is there some chemical reaction that needs to occur in the cooling fast step?
all due to the bittering and hops usually, if adding hops late in the boil or flameout, you need to chill or they will mostly end up just bittterness, hops in hot wort after 20mins or so is all bitterness. But it doesnt affect all recipes at all. Also if it stays in the danger zones for too long umm 25-40c wild yeast can get a hold before you add your yeast. They are the main two reasons. Cheers
Hi Gash, just picked up a Gen 4 65L and im on tank supply,the biggest setup problem im thinking about is wasting water, is there a way you could pump the wort through the immersion chiller and have it sitting in a big tub of ice slurry ? or somethink else ....freezers are cheap to convert to do something here cheers Brett
In theory, with the whirlpool pushing the hot wort one way, and the cold water in the immersion chiller going the other way, wouldn't you be getting some kind of "counterflow" effect going on? You'd need to leave the pump on the whole time to maintain that effect and keep the hot wort going the opposite direction of the wort. This could potentially help cool it quicker and keep the trub cone intact on the bottom. My gen 4 is expected to be delivered today, and I'll be brewing in the next week or so...I'll make sure I give it a try, but I'll need to purchase one of those whirlpool arms
@@HomeBrewNetwork Of course, it's not going to be as controlled as having the wort in a pipe and cold water moving the other way, but it's the same idea. I'll give it a go on my next brew day and let you know. I've used the exact same chiller on a cold melbourne day once....and I hated it. Went back to no chilling. Ultimately, I'll move to a plate or counterflow
hey Gash one more question - what's your thoughts on full volume mashing with this unit instead of sparging? I don't have a good hot water supply where I brew, so it would be simpler to heat the entire water volume required prior to mash. Does it impact efficiency? thanks again for the vid, very helpful.
Yes it does impact efficiency, and a lot of beers, in fact most beers you just wont fit it in for a no sparge if you are brewing a regular sized batch. Cheers! You should take a look at my Hawkers WCIPA video and see how you could use it with the extension and preheat all the water before the brew. Cheers!
That looks like the system I was looking for a few years back. They have done a nice job designing it without the huge price tag of the grainfather brew systems. Thanks a lot for the awesome videos. I am curious how you combat the issues with plate chillers getting clogged with debris over time. And potentially becoming a sanitation issue. Thank you!!
Anything like coriander seeds or anything that could block it I just use a grain bag dangled in, works perfect. then I just flush it a few times with water, and I bake it in the oven the night before which sanitises and breaks down very small particles if there actually is any inside it. Ive had a blockage or infection from a plate chiller. Cheers!
I'm looking at getting back into brewing soon and I'll probably have to get one of these. I bought a robobrew gen1 ages ago and was disappointed by the build quality (stuck buttons, jagged edges on the malt pipe) and trying to get that bracket under the malt pipe when you lift it is ridiculous. These gen4 units seem to have come such a long way from the robobrew
How come you're so concerned about not disturbing the wort while chilling but then pump the whole thing out the bottom? Doesn't that cause it to all mix up again anyway? Same with using a counter flow?
not exactly, with the whirlfloc and and well formed trub cone, and it tends to, most of it tends to stay where it is, though I havent used this model more than is one batch so far, so we'll see how it performs. Im more worried about wasted water and time. Cheers!
Depends on the batch, smaller batches easier on Brewzilla, G40 definitely easier for big beers. Umm The recipe creator really annoys me on the grainfather.. They both work well.. Cheers!
Hey mate I love your dedication, but I think all that fiddling around with immersion chillers, the testing of OG with the electronic thing and whirlpool attachment makes it all too much work for me. I bet your beer tastes awesome though. I don't mind pouring off a small amount for hydrometer to test, add late hops before flame out and no chill into cube. I use Brewfather and find it calculates the hopstand pretty well. But I am keen on the Gen 4 Brewzilla because its shinier than my Gen 3. Great video Gash.
I don't like immersion chillers, last resorts. Not all my beers work for no chill, but I do often no chill beers in the middle of summer or if I'm feeling lazy. The Anton Paar refrac is pretty bloody good, I didn't think I 'd like so much but I do, especially the during ferment readings. I use them all, hydro, refracs and digi refracs, depends how I feel and what part of the process I'm at. Some are more accurate than others which is very handy when sorting out a new profile for a new system. My hydro tends to wander a few point once over 1.050ish, and it's hard to get accurate reading on a hydro even in perfect situations. I totally understand though mate, if you're just making beer for yourself you don't even have to take readings, but if you ever go the next step the tax office will want more accurate readings than what a hydro will give. The gen 4 is good, would I race out and buy one as an upgrade from a gen 3 , hmmm probably not, but the bigger mash space is handy even though its just a couple of litres, the controller at the top is very handy.. Would I choose a gen 4 over a gen 3 if I didn't have anything already, yep for sure! Would I wait for the bigger 65L probably yes, if you have 15amp power. Thanks for watching Tony much appreciated mate. Cheers!
Now it's hot summer here, i love kivik yeast. I pitch at 34 c or 94 f, this is for voss. I did this 5 times. One 11 g packet, 2 g for each batch. Super fast ferment, no problems at all. Tasted great. all batches were 1.050 og or less. Go 3 grams if your around 1.070 or less. Some nutrient was added, I always do. I capture all chill water to rinse and clean or water plants/grass. Grain to glass 5 days or so. Hazy stuff was hazy. 1 week in keg and most stuff dropped out. 3 weeks, crystal clear.
@@HomeBrewNetwork Thanks, a few people I've heard, said they get around 70 or less. But they just say who cares. I care and want to try to get decent results. It definitely matters, especially for specialty grains. They would just say, oh just dial in the recipe. If i did that every time, i'd have a less good results on the first recipe try. Thanks for the reply
@@scoobtoober2975 I think the numbers sound bigger than they are, as in 10% might only be 300g of malt, so maybe 30g of speciality difference per recipe, so it really isnt much, but using a single vessel brewery which you might near max out each brew it is hard to get the same eff% for each batch, what usually happens is you might work out an eff% for a 4kg batch, a different one for a 5 kg batch, and a different one for a 6kg batch. Also remember you cant always blame the equipment, water varies, the grain varies, there are lots of factors. Cheers!
Good video. I know it's older. But with the immersion chiller. I leave the whirlpool arm on while it's cooling. It really speeds it up. Then when it's down to temp, I pull the chiller and leave the pump running to whirlpool the trub in the center. Then turn it off and leave it for 15mins. It really settles.
The center drain has got to be the #1 feature on this thing :) I'm well aware they didn't invent it, but it's what most other consumer all-in-ones are missing.
Yep agreed! Cheers!
these are great videos with actual real use rather than just discussion -thank u
Cheers no worries mate!
I use a immersion because I don't want to worry about sanitation and hop accumulation in a CFC or a block. But, I use a sump pump and a cooler of ice with my immersion chiller to save water. Basically, I have two coolers. One with water and ice, then another I run it off to in the beginning till I get to about 40-45c and then swap it over to recirculating into the water/ice cooler. Saves me about 50% of my normal water usage. I find with a good immersion chiller like Jaded Brewings or something I can chill in 5-8m and no sanitation, or hops concerns.
I've had my plate chiller for well over 10 years now and never had a blockage, not even nearly and I think it would be near on impossible to get a block in a counterflow chiller. I tried the two IC but ice is expensive and a pain in the arse when you want to brew and don't have any. The trouble with jade coils they take up your whole kettle and mess everything up, it adds unwanted time to my brew days. I wouldn't use a IC in brewery and I prefer not to use them at home. They work though if needed. Cheers!
I have a cheap small pump for a fountain which I can use to recirculate water from an ice cooler full of icy water. Pump goes into immersion chiller, water comes out to ice chest. Costs a couple of bags of ice, but for a 5 gallon batch works pretty well. But I prefer a plate chiller.
That's exactly what I do too Jim. I use maybe use a coolers worth of water. Sometimes how you use your tools makes all the difference.
I've tried everything, but water here is just too hot most times, years ago I used a pre-chiller even on my counterflow chiller, but in the end the difference was minimal in the middle of summer, even yesterday as we are in Autumn I couldnt get the beer below 22c going super slow with a counterflow, I have no hope with this IC. Here's an old vid from 8 years ago where I tried a pre-chiller ruclips.net/video/yDjktsj51oU/видео.html Cheers!
@@HomeBrewNetwork I live in SW Florida and ground water is 72 F almost all year. 1 bag of ice in a cooler of water recirculating thru a CFC cools wort down into the 60's pretty quickly.
@@rustymccormick4430 Ice is usually out of the question for me, I dont have a car or the freezer space so getting a bag of ice, especially on an unplanned brew day is very difficult and another unwanted expense. Cheers!
I converted my old esky mash tun for using wort chiller especially for summer fill it with ice water and have a cheap 12v pump and recirc ice water through chiller to cool the wort down
Great vid! I put a small piece of silicon hosing on the end of my whirlpool arm to narrow the diameter and that makes the wort spin round faster :)
Great tip! Cheers Fin!
I reduced the diameter of my whirlpool with a stainless fitting. Got blocked with hop matter immediately.. haven't tried again.
Why not drop the chiller coil into a bath or large bucket of ice and oust the wort through it? I chill using this method as I brew in Thailand where the temp of air & water are high.
I've always used this method for cooling. I agree it's not the best when ground water is above 20 degrees but 2-3 hours in a cold fridge brings it back to pitching temperature. Relax😉
Yep for sure, Im just so used to using other methods these days, and when the clock is ticking I get impatient lol Cheers!
Could you pump the hot wort into your fermenter and chill it there, that way you could agitate the coil without disturbing the trub.
You can use the immersion chiller in reverse. Dunk the chiller into a bucket of ice (I normally use the stuff sold by fuel stations for fishing) and water then pump the wort through the chiller. Less wasted water and for me it cools a lot quicker. It will require some sterilizing of the inside though.
Yeah I've seen that, I've even had two one in ice and one in the wort, prechill chiller lol but in the end even a small home made counterflow chiller was much better. Cheers!
Sounds good and worth getting one to try. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks for this brilliant series of videos, mate. I've decided to move from kits to grain and bought one of these units in the Black Friday sale. Being in the same country, with the tap water currently at 27/28c I don't hold much hop for getting below 40c at the moment! I might have to run the hot hose into an old fermenter and use it on the garden or car when it cools!
How much water are we talking about with these things, has anybody filled a vessel?
I have kits and sugars still to use up so I may start off with a partial mash to get used to how it all works, but for all-grain recipes I have a couple of questions:
At 12:22 you take a gravity reading. Did you draw wort at this stage or are you double checking your previous syringe sample after it's temp reached ambient?
At 16:00 you slow the wort transfer rate down to stop it "vortexing", what issues would vortexing cause?
At 19:30 you drain the unit out. How much do people typically leave in the system, can the remaining contents not be transferred and dropped out during ferment/cold crash or does it cause more issues?
Regarding cooling, is there any issues with dropping a wort to 50c and transferring it to a fermenter and chilling to pitching temp in a fridge over several hours, what's at risk?
Thanks for the video and any advice people can respond to these questions.
Fresh Sample.
Vortex always air into the pump and the pump will stop.
I like to leave the junk out of my fermenter. I leave at least a litre behind usually some times 2 or 3
With regards the immersion chiller, I would connect the hose to it before putting in the hot wort (to prevent any hot water splashing out). Also, they can cool the wort very quickly if you use your circulation pump at the same time, splashing in above the surface (the same science when you pour hot tea back and forth to another cup). This does mean doing a whirlpool is a lot harder. When cooled down, just let the wort settle a little bit.
Thanks for the info mate. Cheers!
I just keep the pump going while it's chilling, works great.
I just can't stand them after using other methods, there were a lot of expletives cut out of this video hahaha Cheers!
Hey Gav just watched you struggling with the coil chiller, I don't use it like this what I do is have the coil in a round esky full of ice and slowly pump the wort through the coil and straight into the fermenter works for me and doesn't waste water
I've tried all ways in the past, I'll stick with my counterflow, thanks your comment though mate. Cheers!
@@HomeBrewNetwork i only do with ice because we are on tank water and can't use that amount through a counter flow or plate, bags of ice are cheap and I use the melted ice for wash up. Love your vids mate very informative 👍
@@hardtophoggy I understand mate, for sure, I tried to use a pre-chiller at one stage with a coil in ice before the chiller, but I was too unorganised with the ice and didn't have a freezer to store it in, and because I don't have a car or anything it just got to be a pain. Thanks very much, much appreciated mate!
Great video brother. I am ordering one of these tonight. Will definitely be looking to your video for guidance. Will probably drop you a question or two if that's ok.
After moving to the fermentation tank, there is no water left in the BrewZilla that can't go out. (dead space with real experiments) Thank you for answering !!!
Cheers!
Cheers Gash! Tidy unit!
Wouldnt all the trub sit ontop of the centre hole after whirlpooling? Why didnt you run the whirlpool while cooling with the imersion chiller to cool the wort down faster? sorry for all the questions. Looking at getting the 100L.
yeah but on the false bottom, when you centre most of the hop and trub then there's space for free flowing wort at the sides. Immersion chillers are the bottom rung of chilling, slow, messy and wasteful. I have better options is all. Cheers!
Great video! I’ve gained a lot of inspiration from you, thanks!
I’m just curious what the “tilt” is that you put in the fermenter? Cheers!
Its a wireless hydrometer! Cheers!
I have a better way of using the immersion chiller: I’ve added an additional copper coil between the immersion chiller and the cold water tap. Then I put the copper coil into a plastic bucket with a small bag of ice. This way, the water from the tap side is as cold as ice going into the immersion chiller. The wort is at pitch temp in less than 20 minutes!
I did try that a few times years ago, It wasn't much help in the hot Aussie summers, I got sick of paying for ice, I tried frozen bottles and things, but got sick of it in the end. It doesnt help that I dont own a car and cant just run t down the shop and grab a bag of ice! Cheers!
Hey great video! how do you release the recirc arm without spilling liquid?
Before you turn the pump off you pull the recirc tube out of the mash/wort, which you should do absolutely every time to prevent siphoning of grain down the tube and the wort just drains out by itself, quickly. Cheers!
I got over Covid back in September. My sniffer is still screwed up. Hard to accurately smell my wort or beer so far. Also messes with coffee (at least for me). One of the weirder things is I have an occasional “hallucination” of wood smoke. Never anything to it, but damn if it ain’t real. I am happy it is wood smoke not 💩. 😂
Yes wood is better than turd hahaha I think my sniffer has been changed but not by much and I think its coming back to normal. I was crook for about 4 weeks. Cheers Jim!
any reason to not run the wort through the chiller submersed in a bucket of ice water? It might take a fair amount of fluching after but i imagine it would be w
ay quicker
Hey im new to all grain brewing. I have a stainless steel fermenter. If i pump the hot wort into the fermenter, that would sterilise the fermenter, right? Any issues with doing this and just letting it cool down naturally overnight in the fermenter before pitching yeast the next morning?
You can try it, the trouble is if there is a big head space and the steam doesnt kill the bugs/yeast in the air pocket. If its quite full its probably alright, can't be guaranteed though. Cheers!
Do you have a rainwater tank? If you do then use that to chill it down and put the waste water hose back into the tank. Zero water wasted.
No we dont have a rain tank, we are renting. Cheers!
fantastic video. I see you set your temp at 115 for the boil and get a result just over 101. I have a 65l brewzilla GEN 4. Do you recommend to set the temp way over 100C to get a good rolling boil? Thanks, Jef
Yes, if you're not getting the boil you want. Cheers mate!
@@HomeBrewNetwork Thanks a lot! Cheers back at ya!
Hi Gavin. Apologies for commenting on an old video, I have a couple of questions...
What was your reason for doing a hot whirlpool? You said cooling to 80C wouldn't work for this recipe? What's that about?
Also, what's the advantage of draining the kettle without allowing a vortex to form?
Cheers
Whirlpools were always done hot, in most breweries these days they still done hot... It was only for NEIPAs that people tried to lower the temperature for to reduce some bitterness. If you get any old book longer say 5 or 10 years old and it mentions whirlpool/flameout/hop stand it was done hot. Its a waste of time, energy and hops to do it if you don't need too, which is all beers but NEIPAs, though even NEIPAs its not needed to go down under 80c at all... I actually think Brewfather has a lot to answer for with 80c whirlpool thing since for some reason they set default whirlpool temp to 80c, its makes no sense.
The reason this won't work is it needs that extra bitterness from the whirlpool, otherwise you have to get it from some where else ie. Add more hops at 60min. You still get all the hoppy goodness and some bitterness. Its not an either or thing.
It was only a few years ago bitterness from any whirlpool/flameout hop wasn't even calculated in the finished beer.
So if you get an old recipe and it says whirlpool/flameout hops etc they will not have dropped the temp of the whirlpool, naturally after the boil and a bit of settling its often around 95c, if you drop it under 80c you will not get anywhere near the same beer.
Cheers mate!
I don't understand why is that a problem to move the wort around for quick cooling? Even if everything settle, you still transfer from the bottom
buddy I love your videos.. and I am australian and if you have ever watched water go down a plug hole it goes in a particular direction depending if you are in the northern or southern hemisphere. google the Coriolis effect. do ya reckon on the gen 4 it's worth whirlpooling anti clockwise? power of nature!!
also I think with the panel on top of the grain, the two metals connectors on top are worth tying a string to and holding the panel at height so sparging will be more distributed, just a thought maybe? cos you were talking about not using it
Maybe if you were draining yep I guess it could help, but we aren't draining!
I through out the top screen on Generation 1 machine. I don't have any problems, cheers though!
Mate, any reason why you can’t / don’t whirlpool to get a trub/hop cone after the wort has been chilled and the chiller is removed?
Usually a time thing, it will take a while to settle out after whirlpooling and the wort is at a critical stage temperature wise where it can easily pick up wild yeast floating around in the air, or from grain dust in the brewery etc, just adds a lot of risk and extra time. Cheers!
Is there any reason why you couldn't run the whirlpool for five minutes after chilling ? And what about using whole hops ?
well you can but it will likely take longer to settle out and clear, for me its all about getting nice clear and clean wort out, these small things all add up to a better beer in my opinion, others don't care and will transfer it all to the fermenter, trub, old boil hops etc.. I put some love into mine hahaha Cheers! I use whole hops the same, rarely use them these days, not much point when pellet hops are so much more consistent and overall better. Only if say I grew them, and they'd only be for the end of boil and whirlpool.
Great video definitely a step up from the 3.1.1 unit.
I am interested in the RAPT Fermentation Chamber you are now using. I purchased one last year and have found the temperature control to be quite poor, hoping it is operator error! When on Heating and Cooling the controller fights itself, resulting in excess of 5 Cdeg temperature variation and that’s setting up per Keglands advise. Heating only is better at 1 to 1-1/2 Cdeg variation. Are far cry from the 0.1 Cdeg claimed. The PID control appears to be just switching the heater on/off, not regulating their temperature, similar to the pump on the Brewzilla 4.
I was wondering what your results were?
Any tips if you are attaining better results?
Are you planning a video on the RAPT Fermentation Chamber soon?
Thanks
Mines been really good, I did change a couple of settings at the start but mines fine, have you adjusted the Hysteresis and the compressor and mode switch delay? I dont know anything about .1c, I dont know anything that will do that with a fermenter in a fridge, how do you have the temp probe set up? Cheers
This is some of my settings, not sure if theres more on the actual fridge that I changed prnt.sc/uO_ZLyPKGgoA Cheers
Another great video- SUBSCRIBED! I’d like to see you try the CIP sprayer
Yeah I'd like to try it, in a way its probably more hassle than a wipe, but I guess I'll find out if I get one, have you actually seen a specific one for this? or are you talking just a generic one? Cheers!
@@HomeBrewNetwork I saw the CIP spinner in the Kegland Brewzilla Gen4 release video.
@@silveraven1 oh ok I never see the Kegland videos funnily enough
How critical is getting the temp down fast guys? Is it for convenience only so one can get in the fermenter or in the no-chill cube faster? ... or is there some chemical reaction that needs to occur in the cooling fast step?
all due to the bittering and hops usually, if adding hops late in the boil or flameout, you need to chill or they will mostly end up just bittterness, hops in hot wort after 20mins or so is all bitterness. But it doesnt affect all recipes at all. Also if it stays in the danger zones for too long umm 25-40c wild yeast can get a hold before you add your yeast. They are the main two reasons. Cheers
Did you put the yeast straight into the fermenter? Do we need to stir after putting the yeast in?
No need to stir. Cheers
Hi Gash, just picked up a Gen 4 65L and im on tank supply,the biggest setup problem im thinking about is wasting water,
is there a way you could pump the wort through the immersion chiller and have it sitting in a big tub of ice slurry ?
or somethink else ....freezers are cheap to convert to do something here cheers Brett
Yes you can do that, big bucket of ice and pump the wort through the chiller. Cheers!
Wouldn't the centre drain when using counter flow or plate chiller mix everything up instead of letting it settle?
Not if you get a nice trub cone happening, which is easy without IC messing things up, like I did yesterday! Cheers!
In theory, with the whirlpool pushing the hot wort one way, and the cold water in the immersion chiller going the other way, wouldn't you be getting some kind of "counterflow" effect going on? You'd need to leave the pump on the whole time to maintain that effect and keep the hot wort going the opposite direction of the wort. This could potentially help cool it quicker and keep the trub cone intact on the bottom. My gen 4 is expected to be delivered today, and I'll be brewing in the next week or so...I'll make sure I give it a try, but I'll need to purchase one of those whirlpool arms
yeah hmm good theory, it might help. Not exactly the same of course... Give it a go, cheesr!
@@HomeBrewNetwork Of course, it's not going to be as controlled as having the wort in a pipe and cold water moving the other way, but it's the same idea. I'll give it a go on my next brew day and let you know. I've used the exact same chiller on a cold melbourne day once....and I hated it. Went back to no chilling. Ultimately, I'll move to a plate or counterflow
hey Gash one more question - what's your thoughts on full volume mashing with this unit instead of sparging? I don't have a good hot water supply where I brew, so it would be simpler to heat the entire water volume required prior to mash. Does it impact efficiency? thanks again for the vid, very helpful.
Yes it does impact efficiency, and a lot of beers, in fact most beers you just wont fit it in for a no sparge if you are brewing a regular sized batch. Cheers! You should take a look at my Hawkers WCIPA video and see how you could use it with the extension and preheat all the water before the brew. Cheers!
@@HomeBrewNetwork ah, great idea with the extension, yep that'll do it! Not everyone's got a gen 1,2 or 3 to use as a HLT!!
That looks like the system I was looking for a few years back. They have done a nice job designing it without the huge price tag of the grainfather brew systems. Thanks a lot for the awesome videos. I am curious how you combat the issues with plate chillers getting clogged with debris over time. And potentially becoming a sanitation issue. Thank you!!
Anything like coriander seeds or anything that could block it I just use a grain bag dangled in, works perfect. then I just flush it a few times with water, and I bake it in the oven the night before which sanitises and breaks down very small particles if there actually is any inside it. Ive had a blockage or infection from a plate chiller. Cheers!
Gen 4 is more expensive than a Grainfather here in Sweden
I normally whirlpool while using my immersion chiller defo helps to speed it up, should I not whirlpool while chilling?
yep for sure you can, thats fine, its good
That bug 🐜 falling into the wort at 12:50 🫣
it died quick! :)
You could also call it a protein tablet 😅
On cold days, do you think it's underpowered? Or just right
Nah its goes fine on a cold day. cheers!
Why does the display show 2400 W, if it’s 500/1900W?
I'm looking at getting back into brewing soon and I'll probably have to get one of these. I bought a robobrew gen1 ages ago and was disappointed by the build quality (stuck buttons, jagged edges on the malt pipe) and trying to get that bracket under the malt pipe when you lift it is ridiculous. These gen4 units seem to have come such a long way from the robobrew
Yep lots of little improvements, Cheers!
How come you're so concerned about not disturbing the wort while chilling but then pump the whole thing out the bottom? Doesn't that cause it to all mix up again anyway? Same with using a counter flow?
not exactly, with the whirlfloc and and well formed trub cone, and it tends to, most of it tends to stay where it is, though I havent used this model more than is one batch so far, so we'll see how it performs. Im more worried about wasted water and time. Cheers!
Ok makes sense. Cheers
Any chance you can link or describe the fitting for the immersion chiller? I went to your other video, but the bunnings link is a dead link
Fixed, cheers! www.bunnings.com.au/brasshards-15c-x-15c-chrome-plated-compression-union_p0260346
@@HomeBrewNetwork Brilliant, thanks mate!
Great content as usual Gash. Do you see yourself using the Brewzilla or G40 more often?
Depends on the batch, smaller batches easier on Brewzilla, G40 definitely easier for big beers. Umm The recipe creator really annoys me on the grainfather.. They both work well.. Cheers!
@@HomeBrewNetwork cheers Gav!
Hey mate I love your dedication, but I think all that fiddling around with immersion chillers, the testing of OG with the electronic thing and whirlpool attachment makes it all too much work for me. I bet your beer tastes awesome though. I don't mind pouring off a small amount for hydrometer to test, add late hops before flame out and no chill into cube. I use Brewfather and find it calculates the hopstand pretty well. But I am keen on the Gen 4 Brewzilla because its shinier than my Gen 3. Great video Gash.
I don't like immersion chillers, last resorts. Not all my beers work for no chill, but I do often no chill beers in the middle of summer or if I'm feeling lazy. The Anton Paar refrac is pretty bloody good, I didn't think I 'd like so much but I do, especially the during ferment readings. I use them all, hydro, refracs and digi refracs, depends how I feel and what part of the process I'm at. Some are more accurate than others which is very handy when sorting out a new profile for a new system. My hydro tends to wander a few point once over 1.050ish, and it's hard to get accurate reading on a hydro even in perfect situations. I totally understand though mate, if you're just making beer for yourself you don't even have to take readings, but if you ever go the next step the tax office will want more accurate readings than what a hydro will give.
The gen 4 is good, would I race out and buy one as an upgrade from a gen 3 , hmmm probably not, but the bigger mash space is handy even though its just a couple of litres, the controller at the top is very handy.. Would I choose a gen 4 over a gen 3 if I didn't have anything already, yep for sure! Would I wait for the bigger 65L probably yes, if you have 15amp power.
Thanks for watching Tony much appreciated mate. Cheers!
Now it's hot summer here, i love kivik yeast. I pitch at 34 c or 94 f, this is for voss. I did this 5 times. One 11 g packet, 2 g for each batch. Super fast ferment, no problems at all. Tasted great. all batches were 1.050 og or less. Go 3 grams if your around 1.070 or less. Some nutrient was added, I always do. I capture all chill water to rinse and clean or water plants/grass. Grain to glass 5 days or so. Hazy stuff was hazy. 1 week in keg and most stuff dropped out. 3 weeks, crystal clear.
What's your calculated efficiency?
Mash eff is usually 79-85% Brew house eff varies for so many other reasons that its not worth talking about in this situation. Cheers!
@@HomeBrewNetwork Thanks, a few people I've heard, said they get around 70 or less. But they just say who cares. I care and want to try to get decent results. It definitely matters, especially for specialty grains. They would just say, oh just dial in the recipe. If i did that every time, i'd have a less good results on the first recipe try. Thanks for the reply
@@scoobtoober2975 I think the numbers sound bigger than they are, as in 10% might only be 300g of malt, so maybe 30g of speciality difference per recipe, so it really isnt much, but using a single vessel brewery which you might near max out each brew it is hard to get the same eff% for each batch, what usually happens is you might work out an eff% for a 4kg batch, a different one for a 5 kg batch, and a different one for a 6kg batch. Also remember you cant always blame the equipment, water varies, the grain varies, there are lots of factors. Cheers!
Got link for Fermcap and hydrometer?
And about that face filter at the intro to part 2, did you lose a bet?
its actually not a filter although it looks like one, it was just the green screen filter. looks weird lol
Where abouts are you? Grain and Grape sell it in Melbourne, or I'll grab a link for you
or ebay.. ebay.us/Q73MRy
Cheers, yeah in Melb.
Grain n Grape easy to get to.
@@fermento small bottle but 4 or 5 drops will do a batch, keep it in the fridge and it lasts ages. Cheers!
Mate, hot cubing is a better option than an immersion chiller!
Not always, depending on the beer, but yep a lot easier. Cheers!
I missed part 1 ABBA
Still got the spark Gash
New things help a lot, but its beer, I'm always excited about beer lol Cheers!