I guess my name is "somebody" now...LOL (you're welcome). I really wanted the two stage resting station on my malt pipe. Thinking of having a local welder add these for me. I did my first batch a few days ago and was surprised how much the wet grains weighed. I was not ready to hook up my pulley so I held the grains while they drained and finally put it to the top station where it drained before I did my sparge. WC IPA in the fermenter now and looking good! Holding steady at 10 psi almost ready to pressure transfer. Hopefully ready for New Years.
LOL, Thank you. I usually don't call people out, good or bad, unless they want me to. I figured you would check this out and get a kick out of it. Can't believe I missed the damage, but I'll work to fix that with a few pushes on both sides. Love a great WCIPA. Some viewers are suggesting to order the malt pipe from Canada, as I really was crossing my fingers the 240v might come with it, but sadly as you saw, that was not the case.
Mike , i honestly feel when bringing out the mash pipe the 2nd row steps are just a bit of an overkill , great addition for the 65l version . i can easily pull the mash tun in the 35litre with ease and thats with a bad back . if it was so expensive to ship to the us i would have been more then happy to have sent you one bugga ey Also my advice is to change the pump and tubing around so from the drainage hole on the gen 4 goes directly to the spigot then to the pump. the reason why if you get grain or hops stuck in the recirculation pump you still have a way of easily getting the wort into the fermenter had this happen to me last brew day and thankfully i could use the spigot to save the day and Merry Christmas Mike
Merry Christmas, and I agree as I lift the one out of my Anvils without much effort, unless it is a large grain bill and my back is in any pain out of the usual. Plus, over the years I feel a lot of us have caught on that it is all about getting really good leverage to pull the malt pipes up nice and cleanly without killing ourselves. I do have plans for something hopefully by mid-2025 that might help in a couple ways to make lifting those malt pipes a breeze. (Lowering the brewing vessel from my high table, and possibly a pulley system.) I feel I really need that modification to do a few BIABs each year for the BIAB folks watching the channel.
I guess I was more surprised at the weight than being weak, maybe and I did have my BZ on a chair so the position was a bit precarious. I did manage to hold the malt pipe up from the wort for a bit to let it drain, then got it up to the highest resting station, even with foggy glasses. I was a bit worried that because it wasn't totally drained, and that since the new malt pipe also drains from the sides that it would go down the outside of my BZ. If there is a mess to be made, I'm usually pretty good at it. However, all went well, and no mess. That must be because I was in the garage and not the kitchen. If I had been in the kitchen there would have been a mess for sure (and mad wife consequences to deal with). Next time I may hook up and line up with my pulley. Having two rest stations might be overkill but for some reason I feel like I should get a discount. Kind-of like when you do self check out at the store. I guess it's just me. To be fair, it was disclosed before I purchased on the web site. I have seen a RUclips or two about re-routing the pump hose. It seemed like clogs happened on hoppy brews like the WC IPA I just did. However, I also used the new heat dissipation plate the forces the wort to the outside of the kettle instead of down the middle where the drain is AND I used the whirlpool arm to see if anything left would be forces to the center during the boil. There was more trub than I thought that there would be on the dissipation plate but not much on the kettle bottom, certainly not enough for a clog. Just to be safe I'll re-route the pump tubes before the next batch. Happy New Year Michael.
The graduated sight glass will help when sparging because you can't see the markings on the inside ! The malt pipe will be in the way. I've used the heat exchanger plate plus the Bluetooth thermometer option since day one. I would thoroughly recommend them both. Fortunately I'm in the UK, so we get the two stage lift on The malt pipe.🍻
Great input and thank you. Making me feel good about the extra purchases. Kee at KegLand and Gavin on The Home Brew Network were really talking those items up a lot, plus the jacket of course.
I always see a lot of comparable items with the Mash&Boil vs the BrewZilla. And I would agree about the moving parts, which is one of the big reasons I enjoy my Anvil Foundry systems so much. I had 2 GrainFather systems originally they had all kinds of issues with the control system and Bluetooth. Sometimes I feel simplicity isn't given enough credit. Happy New Years!
Yes, the loss of the middle hooks sucks. Mine is brand new. It makes a huge mess with the side holes draining, and when I went to remove it it fell off the handles and.... well a new malt pipe, pulley system and dolly is on the way. with the pulley, since it locks I can haul it up half way and let it drain AND save my back. When its done ill raise it above the brewzilla and roll the brewzilla out of the way... Or that's my theory anyway. Be aware that is is DANGEROUS to move it by that handle... I didn't move fast or misstep and down it went narrowly missing me. Enjoy and Happy New Year Everyone!
Holy Cr@p! Sounds like it was a day from h3ll, but you got really lucky and didn't get hurt. I have some major changes coming later in 2025 to make things easier and safer, but for now, I'm counting on leverage and a lot of luck to not spill wort, or get injured/burnt. The handle has had me concerned as it is all about having it just right before lifting and then trying to lift a fair amount of weight very slowly over a fairly decent distance, all while everything is around 170 F.
You can pop that spring out pretty easily. There’s a slight knack to it but it’s nbd. I use a short broad flat blade screwdriver to assist lever the end out of the groove while controlling it with the other hand on the nearest grab-able section. I’ve heard of people cutting a couple of mm off the end to make it easier but imho that’s unnecessary and maybe dangerous
Yeah, I'm thinking about ordering a spare for the expansion part that allows you to brew larger batches so I don't have to fight with it. On the GrainFather it had a small gap to make it easier to remove by hand. The Anvil did too, but that one just sat on an edge which made it a little dangerous.
Great Info, and thanks for the heads up. Although I didn't know, I'm good as I highly prefer using my Jaded Brewing Scylla immersion chillers as they outperform any included SS chillers I've ever used since they are both copper and technically 3 immersion chillers in one. (Plus, I have tubing and connectors if I really want to use it for testing purposes.)
I'm assuming you mean the U.S. versions or do you know if this was a change in the 4 to 4.1 versions world wide? I've seen 3 so far on videos on YT that I know are 220v that have removable plugs but they are all in other countries. Gavin from The Home Brew Network in channel in Australia showed it as removable but that was a version 4.0, and I can't say if the other 2 were 4.0 or 4.1 versions. Just not sure why that one is different based on location it is sold in, unless they modified it on the 4.1 version revision.
I thought I saw them on the 4.1 220v version when it was first released but I am now seeing chatter in the forums back in Feb 2024 about a patent issue in the U.S.. So, they probably changed it around that time. I wish I bought it back 2 years ago when it was on sale, but I think that was version 4.0 which I don't see any major differences beyond a sight glass which I wouldn't have lost any sleep over. Looking at Canada online retailers and even on in the U.S., it appears I could get the double notched extended malt pipe, which sadly I also purchased without the extra notches. With the BrewZilla Expansion you are supposed to move the ring, but I'm thinking about buying a 2nd ring, as that would give me a mild 2-step when using the expansion as I'm told that can get really heavy.
Sorry for the delay as I've been at CES. I'm catching on to all the strange issues here in the U.S. and the rest of the world. We seem to really have some strange codes/laws that are supposedly there to protect us from ourselves.
That is disappointing. I purchased my Brewzilla 4.0 soon after launch from More Beer and I have the two stage malt pipe, M'y 110 version also has the removable plug. I have considered upgrading to 220v. I suppose I can use I can use my 110v malt pipe on a 220v if I upgrade. I use the top distribution plate. I use the two side holes with small stainless chains to hold the plate to be just touching the water above the grain bill. This way it will not compress the grain bill. The center hole is great placement for the RAPT bluetooth thermometer. Key is to keep the recalculation flow down to prevent a stuck mash. I have found that it the wort clarifies very well with this method.
I was wondering about uses for those two holes on the top plate, as if it was designed for just grabbing it, it would have only had one. Great Idea. I would expect you malt pipe and all the other accessories would be useable on the 220v version.
The centre drain hole is a poor design, i used to like a side tap so that the crud could settle beneath the tap. Using the gen 4 I drain until the bottom plate is nearly at liquid level then stop draining
I really want to be extremely positive about the BrewZilla 4.1 as I don't want people to think I am being bias towards the Anvil Foundry. With that said, I turned on my BrewZilla 4.1 just before I left for a week long trip and it was 30 F off on the temps. I set it for 150 F but it appeared to be producing a bit more steam than I was used to. I did a bunch of quick research on how on how to double check the temps, and using 3 other devices, including another KegLand product I found my BrewZilla was actually at 180 F but showing 150 F! Blew my mind, that a new home brewer might actually use this system without double checking the temp, and it would have jacked their entire brew day! I have a video coming to help new home brewers avoid this issue. Still shocked at the 30 F difference, before I recalibrated it.
aah that sucks for the malt pipe, perhaps you can instead buy one from a Canadian retailer as the version I just bought here does have the mid level stops your looking for. Oh and I think only the 110 has a removable plug. Also the screw that comes with the heat exchanger is longer and holds them both together, and the legs from the original false bottom are still the only points of contact to the heating element at the bottom of the unit.
The ones in Australia and the UK that are on 220/240 also appear to be removable. Maybe in the U.S., they have some strange safety concerns as our government tries to protect us from ourselves, as we have a fair amount of Darwin award winners here in the States. Getting it from Canada would be a lot cheaper for shipping compared to where I found it in Asia.
Im in Canada. Can confirm that they have the double feet. Granted I have a Gen 4.0 and not 4.1,........ Sucks that your maltpipe doesn't have it. I use mine every Brew as the lower feet help tremendously.
Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays and thank you for the support.
I guess my name is "somebody" now...LOL (you're welcome). I really wanted the two stage resting station on my malt pipe. Thinking of having a local welder add these for me. I did my first batch a few days ago and was surprised how much the wet grains weighed. I was not ready to hook up my pulley so I held the grains while they drained and finally put it to the top station where it drained before I did my sparge. WC IPA in the fermenter now and looking good! Holding steady at 10 psi almost ready to pressure transfer. Hopefully ready for New Years.
LOL, Thank you. I usually don't call people out, good or bad, unless they want me to. I figured you would check this out and get a kick out of it. Can't believe I missed the damage, but I'll work to fix that with a few pushes on both sides. Love a great WCIPA. Some viewers are suggesting to order the malt pipe from Canada, as I really was crossing my fingers the 240v might come with it, but sadly as you saw, that was not the case.
@@BitterRealityBrewing No worries. Just thought I'd give you a hard time. Happy New Year.
Mike , i honestly feel when bringing out the mash pipe the 2nd row steps are just a bit of an overkill , great addition for the 65l version . i can easily pull the mash tun in the 35litre with ease and thats with a bad back .
if it was so expensive to ship to the us i would have been more then happy to have sent you one bugga ey
Also my advice is to change the pump and tubing around so from the drainage hole on the gen 4 goes directly to the spigot then to the pump.
the reason why if you get grain or hops stuck in the recirculation pump you still have a way of easily getting the wort into the fermenter
had this happen to me last brew day and thankfully i could use the spigot to save the day
and Merry Christmas Mike
Merry Christmas, and I agree as I lift the one out of my Anvils without much effort, unless it is a large grain bill and my back is in any pain out of the usual. Plus, over the years I feel a lot of us have caught on that it is all about getting really good leverage to pull the malt pipes up nice and cleanly without killing ourselves. I do have plans for something hopefully by mid-2025 that might help in a couple ways to make lifting those malt pipes a breeze. (Lowering the brewing vessel from my high table, and possibly a pulley system.) I feel I really need that modification to do a few BIABs each year for the BIAB folks watching the channel.
I guess I was more surprised at the weight than being weak, maybe and I did have my BZ on a chair so the position was a bit precarious. I did manage to hold the malt pipe up from the wort for a bit to let it drain, then got it up to the highest resting station, even with foggy glasses. I was a bit worried that because it wasn't totally drained, and that since the new malt pipe also drains from the sides that it would go down the outside of my BZ. If there is a mess to be made, I'm usually pretty good at it. However, all went well, and no mess. That must be because I was in the garage and not the kitchen. If I had been in the kitchen there would have been a mess for sure (and mad wife consequences to deal with). Next time I may hook up and line up with my pulley. Having two rest stations might be overkill but for some reason I feel like I should get a discount. Kind-of like when you do self check out at the store. I guess it's just me. To be fair, it was disclosed before I purchased on the web site.
I have seen a RUclips or two about re-routing the pump hose. It seemed like clogs happened on hoppy brews like the WC IPA I just did. However, I also used the new heat dissipation plate the forces the wort to the outside of the kettle instead of down the middle where the drain is AND I used the whirlpool arm to see if anything left would be forces to the center during the boil. There was more trub than I thought that there would be on the dissipation plate but not much on the kettle bottom, certainly not enough for a clog. Just to be safe I'll re-route the pump tubes before the next batch.
Happy New Year Michael.
Yeah the 2-stage malt pipe is great - too bad about the patent issue!
Yeah, my back isn't getting any younger and it would have been nice to have that ability to lift in stages.
The graduated sight glass will help when sparging because you can't see the markings on the inside ! The malt pipe will be in the way.
I've used the heat exchanger plate plus the Bluetooth thermometer option since day one. I would thoroughly recommend them both.
Fortunately I'm in the UK, so we get the two stage lift on The malt pipe.🍻
Great input and thank you. Making me feel good about the extra purchases. Kee at KegLand and Gavin on The Home Brew Network were really talking those items up a lot, plus the jacket of course.
Looks like a nice system but too many moving parts for me. I'll stick with the Mash&Boil. Happy New Year!
I always see a lot of comparable items with the Mash&Boil vs the BrewZilla. And I would agree about the moving parts, which is one of the big reasons I enjoy my Anvil Foundry systems so much. I had 2 GrainFather systems originally they had all kinds of issues with the control system and Bluetooth. Sometimes I feel simplicity isn't given enough credit. Happy New Years!
Yes, the loss of the middle hooks sucks. Mine is brand new. It makes a huge mess with the side holes draining, and when I went to remove it it fell off the handles and.... well a new malt pipe, pulley system and dolly is on the way. with the pulley, since it locks I can haul it up half way and let it drain AND save my back. When its done ill raise it above the brewzilla and roll the brewzilla out of the way... Or that's my theory anyway. Be aware that is is DANGEROUS to move it by that handle... I didn't move fast or misstep and down it went narrowly missing me. Enjoy and Happy New Year Everyone!
Holy Cr@p! Sounds like it was a day from h3ll, but you got really lucky and didn't get hurt. I have some major changes coming later in 2025 to make things easier and safer, but for now, I'm counting on leverage and a lot of luck to not spill wort, or get injured/burnt. The handle has had me concerned as it is all about having it just right before lifting and then trying to lift a fair amount of weight very slowly over a fairly decent distance, all while everything is around 170 F.
You can pop that spring out pretty easily. There’s a slight knack to it but it’s nbd. I use a short broad flat blade screwdriver to assist lever the end out of the groove while controlling it with the other hand on the nearest grab-able section. I’ve heard of people cutting a couple of mm off the end to make it easier but imho that’s unnecessary and maybe dangerous
Yeah, I'm thinking about ordering a spare for the expansion part that allows you to brew larger batches so I don't have to fight with it. On the GrainFather it had a small gap to make it easier to remove by hand. The Anvil did too, but that one just sat on an edge which made it a little dangerous.
Pretty sure morebeer gives you the chiller tubes for free you have to put them in the cart and add a code at checkout
Great Info, and thanks for the heads up. Although I didn't know, I'm good as I highly prefer using my Jaded Brewing Scylla immersion chillers as they outperform any included SS chillers I've ever used since they are both copper and technically 3 immersion chillers in one. (Plus, I have tubing and connectors if I really want to use it for testing purposes.)
@ they did for the 3 I’m not sure on this one but it was in the description on the other ones.
The 220v all come hardwired. On the 110v unplugs from the unit
I'm assuming you mean the U.S. versions or do you know if this was a change in the 4 to 4.1 versions world wide? I've seen 3 so far on videos on YT that I know are 220v that have removable plugs but they are all in other countries. Gavin from The Home Brew Network in channel in Australia showed it as removable but that was a version 4.0, and I can't say if the other 2 were 4.0 or 4.1 versions. Just not sure why that one is different based on location it is sold in, unless they modified it on the 4.1 version revision.
My 4.0 version 220v has the mid way hooks...interesting.
I thought I saw them on the 4.1 220v version when it was first released but I am now seeing chatter in the forums back in Feb 2024 about a patent issue in the U.S.. So, they probably changed it around that time. I wish I bought it back 2 years ago when it was on sale, but I think that was version 4.0 which I don't see any major differences beyond a sight glass which I wouldn't have lost any sleep over. Looking at Canada online retailers and even on in the U.S., it appears I could get the double notched extended malt pipe, which sadly I also purchased without the extra notches. With the BrewZilla Expansion you are supposed to move the ring, but I'm thinking about buying a 2nd ring, as that would give me a mild 2-step when using the expansion as I'm told that can get really heavy.
I think the US requires the 220V cord need to be firmly attached...
Sorry for the delay as I've been at CES. I'm catching on to all the strange issues here in the U.S. and the rest of the world. We seem to really have some strange codes/laws that are supposedly there to protect us from ourselves.
That is disappointing. I purchased my Brewzilla 4.0 soon after launch from More Beer and I have the two stage malt pipe, M'y 110 version also has the removable plug. I have considered upgrading to 220v. I suppose I can use I can use my 110v malt pipe on a 220v if I upgrade.
I use the top distribution plate. I use the two side holes with small stainless chains to hold the plate to be just touching the water above the grain bill. This way it will not compress the grain bill. The center hole is great placement for the RAPT bluetooth thermometer. Key is to keep the recalculation flow down to prevent a stuck mash. I have found that it the wort clarifies very well with this method.
I was wondering about uses for those two holes on the top plate, as if it was designed for just grabbing it, it would have only had one. Great Idea. I would expect you malt pipe and all the other accessories would be useable on the 220v version.
The centre drain hole is a poor design, i used to like a side tap so that the crud could settle beneath the tap. Using the gen 4 I drain until the bottom plate is nearly at liquid level then stop draining
I really want to be extremely positive about the BrewZilla 4.1 as I don't want people to think I am being bias towards the Anvil Foundry. With that said, I turned on my BrewZilla 4.1 just before I left for a week long trip and it was 30 F off on the temps. I set it for 150 F but it appeared to be producing a bit more steam than I was used to. I did a bunch of quick research on how on how to double check the temps, and using 3 other devices, including another KegLand product I found my BrewZilla was actually at 180 F but showing 150 F! Blew my mind, that a new home brewer might actually use this system without double checking the temp, and it would have jacked their entire brew day! I have a video coming to help new home brewers avoid this issue. Still shocked at the 30 F difference, before I recalibrated it.
aah that sucks for the malt pipe, perhaps you can instead buy one from a Canadian retailer as the version I just bought here does have the mid level stops your looking for. Oh and I think only the 110 has a removable plug.
Also the screw that comes with the heat exchanger is longer and holds them both together, and the legs from the original false bottom are still the only points of contact to the heating element at the bottom of the unit.
The ones in Australia and the UK that are on 220/240 also appear to be removable. Maybe in the U.S., they have some strange safety concerns as our government tries to protect us from ourselves, as we have a fair amount of Darwin award winners here in the States. Getting it from Canada would be a lot cheaper for shipping compared to where I found it in Asia.
Im in Canada. Can confirm that they have the double feet. Granted I have a Gen 4.0 and not 4.1,........ Sucks that your maltpipe doesn't have it. I use mine every Brew as the lower feet help tremendously.