Metman79's Brewdays

[Metman79]

Hi there, first attempt to make a hazy hoppy IPA / NEIPA style brew at ~6.5% (homemade recipe below) and the 4th brewday using the 35L Brewzilla. All in all a pretty smooth and relaxed brewday, but here’s a few lessons learned after using the kit.

• Think I was pushing the limits on how much of a grain bill the Brewzilla can take. At almost 6.5kg in the grain basket it was increasingly difficult to dough in the last kilo or two given the lack of room having almost reached the top of the overflow centre pipe and the holes for the grain basket handle. Not sure I’d attempt a recipe with anymore.
• This also meant that I had less in the boil that usual given the extra soak up from the grains, but 26L was good enough for achieving a 19-20L batch size overall
• Pleasantly surprised on the recirculation mash and sparge - none of which stuck, due to the addition of a good few handfuls of rice hulls.
• I always get a bit nervous around the hot break, especially with bigger boil volumes, so be prepared to stir in like crazy or beat back the hot break foam with a water bottle sprayer – top tip I read somewhere and there’s always one close at hand just in case. Also worth flicking off the extra 500w as you approach boil to make this bit less vigorous and more manageable
• Having experimented a bit with whirlpooling using a hop spider and also directly into the Brewzilla, the latter resulted in a blocked pump, I’ve taken to whirlpooling with the hop spider but also running the pump at the same time into the spider, so that I can get more through flow and more extraction from the hops. Seem to be a good compromise to avoid future blockages, you just need to watch the flow rate so as you don’t overflow the spider.
• My habit with the pump now is to turn it off at the base when not in use leaving the valve fully open for a minute or two before closing, allowing the liquid to drain back down the pipe avoiding any spillage if you have to remove or reposition the arm.

Overall all a great brewday and loving using the kit which cuts down the whole process by 1.5-2hrs compared to using my old kit and just so much more efficient.



Anyway, details of the brew down below and first dry hop yesterday after bumping the temperature from 18.5 to 20.5°C. Was planning on weighting down the hop sock with marbles but when my daughter saw me collecting them up from her marble run I was vetoed! Resorted to using a freshly collected chunky pebble from the beach after washing and boiling for 5 mins or so. Verdant yeast doing a cracking job and the FV fridge in the garage is smelling especially fruity.



Details below and no water adjustment, other than chlorine treatment, which I’m planning to get into a bit more religiously over the next few brews. Right, best sort out the remaining 40-50kg of apples I’ve got and get the cider on!!!



Brew Method: All Grain

Boil Time: 60 min

Batch Size: 21 liters (fermentor volume)

Boil Size: 26 liters

Boil Gravity: 1.066

Efficiency: 70% (brew house)



Original Gravity: 1.064



FERMENTABLES:

5 kg - Extra Pale Ale Malt (77.5%)

0.1 kg - Torrified Wheat (1.6%)

0.35 kg - Wheat Malt (5.4%)

1 kg - Rolled Oats (15.5%)



HOPS:

40 g - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Whirlpool for 60 min at 90 °C, IBU: 10.48

40 g - Nugget, Type: Pellet, AA: 14, Use: Whirlpool for 60 min at 90 °C, IBU: 13.33

40 g - BRU-1, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 14.4, Use: Whirlpool for 60 min at 90 °C, IBU: 13.72

50 g - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Dry Hop (High Krausen) for 7 days

50 g - Nugget, Type: Pellet, AA: 14, Use: Dry Hop (High Krausen) for 7 days

50 g - BRU-1, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.4, Use: Dry Hop (High Krausen) for 7 days

50 g - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

50 g - Nugget, Type: Pellet, AA: 14, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

50 g - BRU-1, Type: Pellet, AA: 14.4, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days



OTHER INGREDIENTS:

5 g - Irish Moss, Time: 50 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil