Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

BrewZilla All-In-One All Grain Homebrewing Beer System

BrewZilla All-Grain Brewing System: Initial Review

On February 1, 2023

Well, it’s true. These Brew Dudes have entered the 21st century of homebrewing. We each have a BrewZilla All-Grain Brewing System in our respective (brew) houses. After brewing on them for a while, we came together on this video to talk about our experiences. Here’s all the good and bad stuff we have encountered using this piece of electric homebrewing equipment.

No Longer Old School

I remember a comment we received when shooting a live video on YouTube that Mike and I were brewing “old school”. Yes, we batch sparge in orange coolers and boil on propane burners. With all the investment needed for that set-up, it is hard to change your homebrewing style. Also, it works!

Certainly, all-in-one, all-grain electric brewing systems have been around for years. Finally, we’ve caught up with the rest of the world. Mike purchased his BrewZilla 3.1.1 when it was on discount. I got mine from our friend Kee Doery from Kegland.

Over the past 3 months, Mike has been brewing all of his beers on his system. I had one brew session under my belt. Based on this experience we have a few things to express about brewing on this gear.

The BrewZilla Pros and Cons

Let’s list the great things first:

We appreciate the temperature control as it reduces the need to babysit the brewing process. Set the control for the mash temp you want, add the grain, mix it well in your mash water and come back in an hour.

Mike has seen a mash efficiency bump in his brews. On his recirculating mash setup with propane burners, he gets a sugar extraction of 70%. With this system, he sees his range between 85 and 87%

He also likes using the timer so he can set the water to heat at some point in the future. It has allowed him to prep earlier in the day and use him time during the brew session to brew.

I like that I didn’t have to babysit the boil. Since I was brewing a world renowned 1 gallon SMaSH beer, there was no fear of a boil over in this system that boil up to 8 US gallons.

Lastly, it is really easy to use. Press start and set your temp. You’re good to go.

For the not-so-great thing, we don’t think the 110 voltage isn’t strong enough to produce a vigorous rolling boil. Watching my unit get to temperature and see it mildly bubbling made me want to go back to my burner. Wrapping it the right neoprene jacket and keeping the lid halfway on top could help the boil become more powerful. Certainly, we will be brewing and experimenting on these systems this year and beyond.

Brew ON!

McKenzie Hops SMaSH Review and Tasting

By John Krochune

On January 25, 2023

In Hops, Videos

We got our hands on some hops from our friends at Yakima Valley Hops with the name of McKenzie hops. This variety is one that caught our eye mainly because we had never heard of them before. Maybe you are in the same boat as us. If that’s the case, learn along with us as we taste a SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) beer and talk about the aromas and flavors this hop brings to the beer.

Details of This Hop Variety

McKenzie hops are a new variety of hops bred by the West Coast Hop Breeding Company in Oregon. It’s formally known by its not ready for prime time name C-148 and it is the first experimental variety this breeding company has brought to market.

The hops have an alpha acid range of 9-11% although my pouch listed the AA as 11.7%. I’m special.

From the YVH site, this hop was first made available in 2021. Looking at the product page, you can also purchase products from the 2022 harvest. I bought a 2 ounce pouch and use half of it to brew this beer.

I produce my SMaSH beers following a 1 gallon batch format. The ingredients include 2 pounds of 2-row malt, 2 gallons of water, and 1 ounce of hops. Finally, the yeast is always SafAle US-05.

McKenzie Hops SMaSH Beer Tasting Notes

From the nose, there is a sense of something different. With each whiff, the picture becomes clearer. There is a hint of vanilla in the aroma. Along with the vanilla, there is a strong melon aroma.

In the taste, the Yakima Valley site nails the description for me – bright and fruity. Mike interprets the bright part as lime or lime-like. I taste more lemon in this hop.

We both really like this one and we hope you try it out. If you are feeling adventurous, you could brew a batch with this hop and Sabro!

Can’t wait to see the other varieties that the WCHB produces.

BREW ON!

The House Brown Ale Series

By John Krochune

On January 18, 2023

In Recipes, Videos

We have discussed the topic of having “house beers” in the past. These are beers that we have on tap on the regular throughout the year. As homebrewers, we have the ability to learn beer styles and brew them excellently, tweaking recipes to get them to be just right and to our liking. One of the beer styles that Mike wants as a part of his house is English Brown Ale. This post is a first of a series where Mike will brew this style until he gets it just right.

Vacay Brown Ale Recipe

Since he brewed this recipe during his annual holiday break, Mike is calling this beer his Vacay Brown Ale. Here’s the recipe:

GRAINS
68% Maris Otter Pale Malt
17% American 2-row Malt
4.3% Flaked Barley
4.3% Pale Chocolate Malt
4.3% Special Roast Malt
2.1% Extra Special Malt

HOPS
1 ounce (28 g) of Challenger hops – boiled for 60 minutes
1 ounce (28 g) of East Kent Goldings hops – boiled for 10 minutes

YEAST
1 packet of Lallemand LalBrew Windsor Ale Dry Yeast

WATER
Spring water with 1.5 g of calcium chloride and 1.5 g of calcium sulfate added

DETAILS
Fermented for 2 weeks at room temperature.
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV: 5.5%

Our House Brown Ale Tasting Notes

First off, hats off to Mike for a crystal clear beer. The copper color really shines. It could be a little darker to wear the brown ale name better.

Remember, this is a House Brown Ale series. He can modify the color as a part of the process.

Secondly, the head is off white with a nice lacing on the glass. The aroma took a bit to get used to, but after a few sips, the malt presence is clear.

The flavor has a nice harmony of malts. We like the wheat toast note, and the lack of caramel notes.

For next time, Mike is going to play around with using chocolate malt instead of pail chocolate malt and maybe switch up the yeast.

We will have to see how the next iteration goes.

BREW ON!

Small Batch APA – Closed Fermentation & Transfer

By John Krochune

On January 11, 2023

In Experiments, Videos

Mike brewed a small batch American Pale Ale (APA) to practice a closed fermentation and transfer of his beer to his keg. We know that oxygen is the enemy of hoppy beer. To defend against it, Mike has been playing around with batch sizes and repurposing some of his equipment to do complete closed fermentation. Learn more about this APA and what he did to preserve that hops goodness.

Look at that American Pale Ale.

Small Batch APA Recipe

Mike has a simple recipe for you to follow – His Pale Ale # 6

Batch size: 3 US gallons

GRAINS

80% Dingemans Belgian Pilsner Malt (1.6° L)
20% Light Munich Malt (~7° L)

HOPS

1.5 ounces of Cascade hops at 60 minutes left in the boil
2 ounces of Cascade hops for 10 minutes left in the boil
2 ounces of Amarillo hops for 10 minutes left in the boil
1 ounce of Citra hops added as a dry hop

YEAST

1 packet of LalBrew Verdant IPA yeast

WATER

Spring water treated with 1.5 grams of Calcium Chloride and 3.2 grams of Calcium Sulfate
Profile:
72 ppm of Calcium
49 ppm of Chloride
100 ppm of Sulfate
0.9 ppm of Magnesium

OUTCOMES

Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV: 4.99%

Our Tasting Notes

The color of this beer is a hazy dark gold with a strong citrus aroma. The body was medium and the mouthfeel was soft. The flavor is a wonderful marriage between tropical and citrus flavors. The simple malt profile supported the hop flavor and we feel the lack of Crystal malt was a big part of this beer’s success.

Mike’s Closed Fermentation Process

With the small batch size (3 US gallons), Mike ferments right in his Torpedo keg. He uses a grey gas out connection with a blow off tube on it. At the end of fermentation, he transfers to another Torpedo keg that has been sanitized and purged with CO2.

He has modified his dip tube in his fermentation keg so that it sits a few inches off the top so that the trub doesn’t transfer over to the serving keg.

For this beer, he did open the fermentation keg to add his dry hops but he did it quickly. His big success is with the small amount of hops that he used. It still brought big flavor to the beer. With his process, he feels this beer will maintain its aroma and flavor profile for a long time.

BREW ON!

Viewer Submitted Beer Recipe #2 – Dry Stout

By John Krochune

On January 4, 2023

In Homebrew Club, Recipes, Videos

After taking a few months to focus on the Jar of Destiny challenge, we’re back to run through our Viewer Submitted Beer recipes. We started this series last year and we got a good number of submissions. The first beer we brewed was an extract NEIPA recipe, which we really liked. This time, Mike brews a dry stout from a viewer named Michael from Sweden.

Let’s take a look at how our second beer of the series came out.

Look at that dry stout!

The Dry Stout Recipe

Brew Dude Mike brewed this recipe as it was sent to us. If you are taking notes at home, be sure to see the batch size.

Batch Size: 2.7 Gallons
Boil size: 3.9 gallon

GRAINS
3.67 pounds of Maris Otter malt
0.92 pounds of Roasted Barley
0.92 pounds of Flaked Barley
0.31 pounds of Rye Malt
0.31 pounds of Malted Oats

HOPS
0.729 ounces of Challenger hops at 6.9% AA for 60 minutes
0.367 ounces of Challenger hops at 6.9% AA for 15 minutes
0.676 ounces of East Kent Goldings hops at 5% AA for 15 minutes
0.462 ounces of East Kent Goldings hops at 5% AA

YEAST
Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale

INSTRUCTIONS
Mash 150°F for 60 minutes with hot water addition for mash out at end

Tasting Notes

The appearance of this beer was opaque black with some brown highlights near the edges when held up to the light. The head was dark tan.

The aroma had whiffs of rich malt and dark fruit. The mouthfeel was medium full. The flaked oars and rye brought

The flavor had notes of dark fruits and vanilla. For a dry stout, it had a perceived sweetness. We think that Brew Dude Mike boiled the wort longer than the recipe called for, which caused a different flavor profile.

No matter – this beer was a great wintertime brew and we enjoyed it.

You can find the original recipe here.

Thanks Michael – Skål and Brew ON!