- Joined
- Oct 21, 2020
- Messages
- 61
- Reaction score
- 28
Yesterday was my first brew with the Brewzilla 35l extender so I thought I’d pass on my thoughts for anyone that’s interested. I bought the extender with the idea that I’d be able to fill two Corny kegs from a single brew. I did actually manage to make 38 litres with it so I guess, technically, I achieved what I set out to do, but it wasn’t straightforward. My random observations:
My grain bill was 7.15 kg (6.5kg pale, 650g crystal) which I think is around the maximum suggested, but having that much grain makes things difficult. The problem wasn’t efficiency because I pretty much hit my numbers gravity-wise (38l at 1.045 rather than the 40l at 1.042 I was going for). Instead it’s the capacity of the malt pipe. After doughing in around ¾ of the grain, I noticed some was starting to fall into the boiler through the holes for the handle. This caused the pump to block during circulation.
It isn’t possible to use the existing recirculation tube with the lid because the extender makes the top of the lid around a cm or so too high. You can get an extension for the recirculator but its more expense.
The amount of grain caused the overflow pipe to be covered meaning I couldn’t use the top plate. I tried but the weight of the tube, and absence of the central overflow, caused it to tip to an angle of about 45 degrees.
Obviously it isn’t possible to sparge the full volume because the malt pipe is in the same position as it would be if the extender didn’t exist. I think next time I’ll draw off the 15 or so litres necessary to put the full boil volume through the grain, then add them back in for the boil after the malt pipe is removed. (Its theoretically possible to move the halo ring up to the extender for exactly this reason but I couldn’t remove it)
Its probably obvious but I think its worth mentioning that it takes a lot longer to get 46 litres of wort boiling compared to the 30 I’m used to. Even with both elements on I didn’t get a good rolling boil until I put the lid partially on.
As with the heating it took a lot longer than I’m used to for the wort to cool after the boil.
Conclusions
While I did manage to do a double batch it wasn’t without compromise, the biggest of which was the relatively low O.G. The lowest I normally go is 1045 but to get 40 litres of that is going to take the extended malt pipe. But if I did that I’d need a bottom plate without the overflow. I don’t think the v4 one will fit but in any case there’s none in the country yet.
To comfortably do double batches with the extender, I’m probably also going to need
My grain bill was 7.15 kg (6.5kg pale, 650g crystal) which I think is around the maximum suggested, but having that much grain makes things difficult. The problem wasn’t efficiency because I pretty much hit my numbers gravity-wise (38l at 1.045 rather than the 40l at 1.042 I was going for). Instead it’s the capacity of the malt pipe. After doughing in around ¾ of the grain, I noticed some was starting to fall into the boiler through the holes for the handle. This caused the pump to block during circulation.
It isn’t possible to use the existing recirculation tube with the lid because the extender makes the top of the lid around a cm or so too high. You can get an extension for the recirculator but its more expense.
The amount of grain caused the overflow pipe to be covered meaning I couldn’t use the top plate. I tried but the weight of the tube, and absence of the central overflow, caused it to tip to an angle of about 45 degrees.
Obviously it isn’t possible to sparge the full volume because the malt pipe is in the same position as it would be if the extender didn’t exist. I think next time I’ll draw off the 15 or so litres necessary to put the full boil volume through the grain, then add them back in for the boil after the malt pipe is removed. (Its theoretically possible to move the halo ring up to the extender for exactly this reason but I couldn’t remove it)
Its probably obvious but I think its worth mentioning that it takes a lot longer to get 46 litres of wort boiling compared to the 30 I’m used to. Even with both elements on I didn’t get a good rolling boil until I put the lid partially on.
As with the heating it took a lot longer than I’m used to for the wort to cool after the boil.
Conclusions
While I did manage to do a double batch it wasn’t without compromise, the biggest of which was the relatively low O.G. The lowest I normally go is 1045 but to get 40 litres of that is going to take the extended malt pipe. But if I did that I’d need a bottom plate without the overflow. I don’t think the v4 one will fit but in any case there’s none in the country yet.
To comfortably do double batches with the extender, I’m probably also going to need
- The extention for the return pipe
- A second halo ring
- The extended malt pipe
- A bottom plate for the extended malt pipe
