A big factor for many brewers is the efficiency they're able to get from their equipment. Efficiency refers to how much sugar they're able to extract from the malts or grains in their recipe - and the more you can extract, the better (and stronger) your beer will be. In this post we'll look at some methods you can use to ensure you're getting maximum efficiency from your BrewZilla all-in-one brewing system.
Introduction
Brewers can become disheartened when falling short of expected gravity readings - we know we've felt like this at times, but have still made some great tasting beers with lower than expected efficiency - so if you're falling short a few gravity points don't despair.
Here are a few tips and tricks we've come across and tried ourselves to help improve our efficiency - each one seems to have helped us get a little closer to our expected readings, and we hope you'll find them useful as well.
1. Adjust your mash water pH
Why adjust pH?
Adjusting your mash water pH using phosphoric or lactic acid so it falls into the desirable 5.2-5.6 range will not only make your beer taste better, but should help improve your efficiency as well. Having the pH of your water higher than 5.6 can extract more tannins that are considered an off-flavour in finished beer.
How to measure water pH?
PH meter's like this one from KegLand are affordable and easy to use. You can also check out our previous article on Managing and Adjusting Brewing Water pH as well.
Thankfully, pH meters are relatively cheap, and accurate if properly maintained and calibrated before use.
 |
| Measuring mash pH with the KegLand pH Meter |
2. Use a Mash Stirring Drill Attachment
We found that when we started using a drill-powered mash stirrer, we began consistently gaining a few extra points of efficiency with each batch. As a bonus, it makes stirring your mash so much faster and easier!
.JPEG) |
| The mash stirring drill attachment is a must have in our opinion |
This one is another cheap and effective method to use. Using one of these will almost guarantee you don't have any dough balls (which can cause a reduction in efficiency).
3. Check your Grain Crush
Especially if you're milling your own grains, ensure your mill is sufficiently crushing your grain. The idea of crushing the grain is to allow the mash water to enter the hull of the grain to access the starches in order to be able to convert them to sugar. If the grains aren't being crushed or cracked, this cannot happen and will result in a low efficiency. Try reducing the spacing in your grain mill, or try purchasing pre-milled grain from your local homebrew shop.
 |
| Grain crush is an important factor in brewing efficiency |
4. Mash for Longer
You can't "over-mash" or mash for too long. We've even done an overnight mash due to time constraints during the daytime - so don't feel the need to start your 60 minute timer as soon as your grains are in the BrewZilla, or get them out as soon as your timer is up. An extra 5 or 10 minutes could net you that extra point or two you would otherwise be missing.
 |
| Stirring the mash on the Brewzilla |
5. Wait Before Turning the Pump On
In our first couple of brews we were always in a hurry to get the grain stirred and the pump on to begin recirculating the wort. We read a few Facebook group posts that advised waiting 10 minutes or so after stirring in your grain before recirculating. The idea being to let the grain bed 'settle'. Our process now is to stir in the grain, let it settle for 10 minutes, then turn on the pump and start a 60 minute timer for the mash.
 |
| Wait 10 minutes after mashing in before beginning recirculation |
6. Stir the Mash
Some have recommended stirring a couple of times during the mash - we stop the pump after 20 and 40 minutes to stir the grain bed then turn the pump back on. You can make the stirring process faster and easier by using the drill attachment we mentioned previously, and you could do it more frequently than this if you want to.
7. Don't Use the (Fine Mesh) Bottom Screen
The fine mesh bottom screen has been known to cause issues with stuck mashes and stuck sparges as it restricts the amount of water that can flow through it.
 |
| We don't recommend using the fine mesh bottom screen |
Apparently KegLand don't even include the fine mesh bottom screen with BrewZilla's so we'd recommend not using it.
8. Improve Temperature Control
Glass Lid
Leave the glass lid on as much as you can during your mash to help retain the heat. Since the design of the BrewZilla is a tall cylinder with heating elements at the bottom, there is a discrepancy in temperature between the base where the elements are and the top of the grain bed. Keeping the glass lid on helps keep the heat captured at the top and aims to reduce this temperature difference.
Neoprene Jacket
Similar to the point above with the glass lid - the neoprene jacket helps to insulate and maintain temperature within the BrewZilla ensuring a more consistent and accurate temperature for the grain bed throughout the mashing process.
 |
| BrewZilla 3.1.1 35L with Neoprene Jacket fitted |
Additional Thermometer
You'll find the actual temperature of your grain bed will differ to the BrewZilla target/current temperature by as much as 5°C. This is because the heating elements at the base of the BrewZilla are located in close proximity to the temperature probe which is also on the base.
 |
| The KegLand RAPT Bluetooth Thermometer is a great tool for measuring mash temperature |
Using another thermometer like a hand held kitchen thermometer or the KegLand RAPT Bluetooth Thermometer to check the actual temperature of the grain bed are great options to easily determine the actual temperature of the mash. You can measure the temperature of the wort coming out of the recirculation arm, or in the middle of the grain bed at the top.
Once you've got this additional reference point, you can adjust the temperature on the BrewZilla to try and get closer to your target mash temperature at the top of the grain bed.
 |
| Use a thermometer to measure the temperature at the top of the grain bed |
9. Mash Out
This is something we didn't do for our first few brews. Most recipes will call for a mash out which involves ramping the temperature up from mashing temperature (~65-68°C) to 75-80°C. This helps to loosen the grain bed which in turn extracts more sugars and improves the flow of water when sparging.
 |
| Mashing out on the BrewZilla |
10. Boiler & Malt Pipe Extensions
You can also upgrade your BrewZilla with a boiler extension and increased malt pipe to allow more grain and water to be used in your BrewZilla. Check out our article providing more detail on these below;
BrewZilla - Boiler & Malt Pipe Extensions to Increase Capacity
No comments:
Post a Comment