Dry hopping is a crucial technique in homebrewing that can significantly enhance the aroma and flavor of your beer. In this post, we'll explore what dry hopping is, why it's used, various dry hopping methods, and recommended dry hopping rates for popular beer styles. Let's dive in!
Pressure fermenting is a relatively new concept in the world of homebrewing. As the name suggests, it's a process that involves having your fermentation occur in a sealed vessel that is capable of holding pressure. These can be made of stainless steel, or in some cases, even specialised plastic.
Spunding valves are a relatively simple but crucial bit of equipment when dealing with pressure fermentation. A spunding valve allows you to set a predefined level of pressure within your pressure fermenter which the valve will maintain by venting or releasing any pressure above this predefined level.
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.
The Kegland FermZilla is a great bit of kit that can be used for pressure fermenting. When fermenting under pressure though, it's important that the vessel does not have any leaks. Thankfully, the All Rounder model is quite simple in it's design, so there's really only a few places that leaks can come from, so troubleshooting it really isn't all that hard. Is your FermZilla leaking or not holding pressure?
The Kegland Brewzilla is an excellent piece of brewing hardware but is missing some detailed instructions on how to actually use it. We've compiled this post as a follow up to our Getting Started & FAQ, to give an easy to follow step by step guide on completing a full brew day using the BrewZilla.
After making the jump from bottling to kegging - we still wanted a way to be able to bottle our beer occasionally so we could share it with friends and family - or take a couple of bottles to parties etc. Counter pressure bottle fillers looked good but cost more than what we were willing to pay - so we thought we'd give the KegLand Bottle Filler Beer Gun a try.
Pressure fermenting can be tricky - especially for beginners who are often grappling with some of the different concepts and potential problems along the way.
One of the questions we were asking during our first pressure fermentations was whether or not we had a gas leak, or if the gas is being absorbed back into the beer which is causing a reduction in pressure in the fermenter?
Brewfather is our top choice for homebrewing applications. While it offers a free version (with an option to upgrade for additional features), we find the free version more than sufficient for our needs. It's particularly useful for inputting recipes, and it comes with a built-in BrewZilla equipment profile that has proven to be very accurate based on our brewing experiences.
If you've ever been curious about homebrewing but felt overwhelmed by the complexity of the process, fresh wort kits might just be the perfect solution for you. These kits offer a fantastic entry point into the world of homebrewing, combining convenience with quality to help you brew your own beer with ease. Here's everything you need to know about fresh wort kits and why they are one of the best ways to get started with the worlds greatest hobby - homebrewing.
The Kegland BrewZilla is an excellent piece of brewing hardware - an all-in-one brewing vessel at a great price point makes it the perfect way to get into all-grain brewing. One thing I noticed that was lacking though was instructions beyond putting the BrewZilla together - ie. how to actually brew with it and how best to utilise it's great features. The guide below will hopefully be a good starting point to new BrewZilla users on key concepts and features of the unit.
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Homebrewing beer is a rewarding and enjoyable hobby that allows you to create unique and personalized brews right in the comfort of your own home. However, achieving consistently high-quality beer can be challenging, especially for those new to the craft. Over the years, we've experimented with various techniques and learned valuable lessons that have significantly improved the quality of our homebrews.
When it comes to homebrewing, achieving the perfect balance of flavors is key. One essential tool for brewers is the BU:GU ratio, which helps balance bitterness and sweetness in your beer. Let's dive into what this ratio is and how you can use it to enhance your brewing recipes and processes.
As part of our continuous journey in the pursuit of brewing better beer at home, we recently purchased the Kegland Fermzilla - All Rounder (30L) fermenter. Our first 12 brews were done using the basic Coopers PET fermenter, which served us well. However, we're now exploring pressure fermentation and closed pressure transfers to move our beers from the fermenter to a keg, which isn't possible with a basic Coopers fermenter. Oxidation has been impacting our beers, so we're looking for ways to eliminate it.
When using a kegging system at home, it's important that beer lines are kept clean to ensure no infections or off flavours develop within the lines themselves. One of the problems many home brewers face when cleaning lines is they need to waste alot of gas - filling a 19L keg with cleaning solution then pressuring it to force the cleaning solution through the beer lines is inefficient - requiring alot of water and gas to do so.
A CO2 regulator is a critical part of any kegging system. As the name suggests, the regulator is responsible for regulating or controlling the flow of gas from your gas cylinder into your keg. The pressure inside the the CO2 cylinder is much higher than what is required to pressurise kegs, or dispense beer from them, so the regulator helps us set and control the pressure.
Review the image below to familiarise yourself with the different parts of the regulator before beginning.
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| Diagram showing the key components of a CO2 gas regulator |
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| Open/close the bottle using the large black valve on top |
In the first picture above, we're using a Duotight push in fitting to connect our line to the regulator - you may have a barb connection which just requires a clamp to hold the line in place over the barb.
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| Type 30 is the standard connection for a CO2 regulator to a CO2 bottle |
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| Push in fittings make connecting lines to the regulator much simpler |
Another good tip to check for leaks is to set the pressure on your regulator with the gas line not connected to anything. Close the valve on your gas cylinder and leave it overnight. Check the high and low pressure reading on your gauges the next day, and if either have dropped to 0 then you have a leak in your system.
Check out our other blog posts which have more detailed instructions on checking for leaks if you get stuck.
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Homebrewing, the age-old practice of crafting beer at home, has experienced significant shifts over the past few years. While some enthusiasts argue that the hobby is in decline, others highlight the unprecedented access to advanced technology and more affordable equipment that makes homebrewing more accessible and enjoyable than ever. Let's delve into the current state of homebrewing, examining the factors contributing to its perceived decline and the counterarguments showcasing its resilience and growth.
One of the greatest fears for many home brewers using CO2 tanks and kegs for carbonating and dispensing their beer is the possibility of a leak in their gas lines. Even the tiniest of leaks can empty a full CO2 bottle overnight, causing unnecessary inconvenience and expense.
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When it comes to brewing modern hop-forward beers, the choice of yeast can make a significant difference in the final product. One such yeast strain that has been making waves in the brewing community is LalBrew Pomona by Lallemand. Named after the Roman goddess of fruit trees, this hybrid yeast strain is celebrated for its unique flavor profile and robust fermentation performance. Let's dive into the details of what makes LalBrew Pomona a game-changer for brewers.
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Acetaldehyde is one of the most common off-flavors encountered in beer, often described as having a green apple or freshly cut pumpkin aroma and taste. In this article we will delve into the causes, prevention, and remedies for acetaldehyde, as well as how to identify it in your own brews.
If you're a proud BrewZilla owner like us, you know how versatile and efficient this brewing system can be. After many brews and countless hours of research, we've compiled a list of essential accessories and tips to enhance your BrewZilla experience.
Closed transfer is a crucial technique in homebrewing that ensures your beer remains free from contamination and oxidation. This guide will walk you through the process of transferring your brew from the fermenter to the keg while maintaining its quality.
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In order to ensure complete control over your recipe, efficiency and brewing system, you really need to be crushing your own malted grains. After several years of brewing on our 35L BrewZilla 3.1.1 using pre-milled grains from our local home brew shop, we decided to invest in a grain mill and begin crushing our own grains for each recipe and brew day. This lead us to the question as to what the ideal crush size is to use on a BrewZilla system?
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Our second iteration of the Juice Boost Hazy IPA (previously NEIPA) with a slightly tweaked grain bill and hop schedule compared to the original. It's a decent hazy in our opinion, but there's still some things we'll look at tweaking for version 3...
Read on to see all the details about our latest brew day on our 35L BrewZilla 3.1.1 where we brought our Redemption West Coast IPA recipe to life.
We've assembled our grain mill, so the next step is to go ahead and adjust the rollers to the required gap size. Adjusting the gap size is important as it effects how the grain is crushed. A smaller gap will lead to a finer crush, which can help with conversion of starches to sugar, but can cause issues with recirculation or sparging, since the water is not able to flow through the grain bed as easily. Conversely, a larger gap will give a coarser crush, which can aid in water flow through the grain bed, but can lead to decreased conversion of starches to sugar (ie. efficiency).
Our second attempt at a Mexican Lager and we're very pleased with how this one turned out. A new recipe and new yeast variety helps to keep things interesting, and makes it all the more satisfying when it turns out well.
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The next step in our homebrewing journey is to take the plunge into milling our own grains. We opted for the Malt King from Keg King - a geared 3 roller grain mill that comes with a nice steel mounting board and saves us having to muck around creating our mounting board from timber. We recently went through the assembly so figured we'd document our experience.
We often like to have a beer alternative on tap and we recently tried KegLand's Blunderberg Ginger Beer kit. It's essentially a glorified cordial, requiring some flavour "shot" concentrates to be mixed with water, sugar and another additive to prevent it from fermenting.
