Category Archives: Brew Systems

Northern Brewer Gigawort Electric Brew Kettle – on sale for… $199.97

Gigawort® Electric Brew Kettle

Gigawort® Electric Brew Kettle

More Info

From the product description, check product page for current description, price and availability:

Want to brew a quick batch without dragging out the gear? Got an extra hour on a weeknight and want to make the most of it? Limited brew space got you down? The Gigawort™ is the answer.

This fully portable electric brew kettle uses a standard 120 GFCI volt outlet, enabling you to brew anywhere, anytime. A fully integrated digital control ensures that steeping grains are always kept at the perfect temperature. Then simply adjust the set temperature to achieve a boil.

Gigawort 4.4 gallon capacity is ideal for both small batches and also partial-volume boils for 5 gallon batches. Full stainless steel construction is easy to clean and ensure durability.

The Gigawort utilizes our revolutionary patent-pending Iso-flow bulkhead and dip tube, which makes for trouble-free wort transferring, eliminating the need to lift and pour the wort into your fermentor. Ditch the stove and create your own custom brew cave anywhere you have an outlet.

Features:

Electric kettle, useful for steeping and boiling extract & partial mash recipes.
4.4 gallon capacity
Dual element, 1600W for heating to boiling, 600W for maintaining boil
Double walled construction for better heat retention
304 stainless steel construction
Digital temperature controller
Delayed Start feature, 3.5 hour shut-off to prevent total evaporation and safety.
EZ Clean bulkhead and valve for easy cleaning and assembly. No need for siphoning
Dimensions: 19.75″ high x 10.75″ in diameter


 

As of this posting AIH has the Gigawort on sale for just $199.97. No coupon code required, check product page for current availability.

Gigawort® Electric Brew Kettle

homebrewing.org sale

This post contains affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

More: Recent AIH Finds

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability. 

BrewZilla Gen 4 Ultimate Combo Pack – on sale for $649 + in depth hands on review

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V

From MoreBeer:

  • The Ultimate BrewZilla Combo Pack! Get the Gen 4 BrewZilla & our most highly recommended accessories at an unbeatable price!
  • Includes all of our favorite accessories for the BrewZilla including the Neoprene Jacket to speed up heating times, Hop Spider to keep vegetal matter out of your wort, and Chilling Connection Kit so you’re ready to use the Immersion Chiller out of the box
  • We think all BrewZilla brewers will eventually upgrade their systems with these accessories, so buy them together and reap the savings!

As of this posting this combo is on sale for $649.99. Shipping is also free to many US addresses. No coupon code is required, check product page for avaiablility.

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V AG581

Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4 All Grain Brewing System

MORE MoreBeer Deals!…This post contains affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability.

Upgrade Your Grainfather… Stainless Steel False Bottom for Grainfather G30 – on sale for $16.99, Nearly Half Off

Grainfather False Bottom

Grainfather False Bottom

More Info

From the product description, check product page for current description, price and availability:

This type 304 stainless false bottom has been designed to perfectly fit the G30 Grainfather. Includes pictured lifting ring. 11 5/8″ overall diameter (290mm), and the 3 legs are 1 1/2″ high, or 35mm


 

  • As of this posting this is on sale for just $16.99. That’s a whopping 43% discount.
  • Shipping is free or reasonably priced flat rate to addresses in the contiguous US depending on your order size for most items.

Grainfather False Bottom

Also: The Grainfather with Connect Controller

This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

Visit William’s Brewing – Web Only Clearance Sale

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability. tag:watchan Announcing: Stainless Steel False Bottom for Grainfather Connect G30 10.24.22

Clawhammer Supply Complete Homebrew Beer Brewing System – $999

Clawhammer Supply Complete Homebrew Beer Brewing System, Digital, Electric, Semi-automated, BIAB

Clawhammer Supply Complete Homebrew Beer Brewing System, Digital, Electric, Semi-automated, BIAB

2/16 9:30 PM Central: From what I can gather, this setup has sold for as much as $1,249. As of this posting, its down to $999.90. Shipping is an additional calculated price and may be based on locationPrices and availability can change quickly.  Check product page for current info – More About Prices

Clawhammer Supply Complete Homebrew Beer Brewing System, Digital, Electric, Semi-automated, BIAB, All Grain, Extract – affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link

This post contains affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our Amazon links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

Hands on Review: Brewer’s Edge Mash & Boil Electric Brewery + Limited Time DEAL

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Brewer’s Edge Mash & Boil

I reviewed a number of electric all-in-one brewing systems a little over a year ago. As a collective group, these systems offer a lot to the homebrewer. They provide the flexibility and control of brewing process of all-grain, and the equipment simplicity of brew-in-a-bag. The fact that they’re electric gives you the ability to brew inside and convenience of not having to chase propane tank fill-ups. The electric systems also have the ability to set a target temperature and control to it, giving you better control of your brew day. All of these combine to create a more streamlined and less stressful brew day.

Each system has its own strengths and they all span a wide price range. The units I tried last year ranged from $470 at the low end to $2,500 at the high end. When I saw the Brewer’s Edge Mash & Boil coming in at $300, I was intrigued to see how this unit would work and if you really could go all-grain with an electric system at such an affordable price point.

Continue reading

Ends Today: BrewZilla Gen 4 on Sale at William’s Brewing + In Depth Hands on Review

Brewzilla 35 Liter Gen 4 110 volt

Brewzilla 35 Liter Gen 4 via William’s Brewing

More Info

From the product description, check product page for current description, price and availability:

The Brewzilla Gen 4 features a RAPT compatible controller, which means you can track, record, and monitor your beers online through the RAPT portal at https://app.rapt.io. It SHIPS FREE to lower 48.

• Recirculation Pump

• Mash & Boil, and Chill

• Mash up to 20 pounds

• Distilling Options

• Free Wort Chiller Tubing Connection Kit Included

• Runs on 110 volts, plugs in anywhere

New Detachable RAPT WIFI Controller

The RAPT portal has many features: you can see a record of your previous brews, remotely control the unit and turn it on to preheat from your phone, alter temperature settings from your phone, and more. Custom mash temperature profiles can be created and stored, alarms can be set if you want it to remind you when to add hop stages, or tell you when the strike water is heated and it is time to mash. All functions go through the RAPT controller; there are no longer toggle switches to control things like wattage and the pump.

New Concave Draining Base

The new base is dished towards the center so it drains all the wort. No need to tilt the unit to extract every drop of wort.

Larger Capacity Malt Pipe with Two Positions

The new high flow malt pipe is 20% larger than the old, meaning the 35 Liter Brewzilla can now mash up to 20 pounds of crushed malt per batch. This is great for high gravity beers, and enabled by the new concave base drain, which gave the designers more room for a malt pipe. The malt pipe also now has two positions, so you can lift it halfway up and twist for smaller batches, or lift it all the way like before for full batches. This is the latest version, with side perforations in addition to bottom of the basket perforations.

Easy Access Pump

The bottom cover has been reduced in size to only house the sensitive electrical components. This leave the pump easily accessible in case you need to clear a clog or replace a drain hose.

The Gen 4 Brewzilla with Pump from KegLand features a recirculation pump, as well as a false bottom and grain pipe to both protect the pump from clogging, and hold the crushed grain above the bottom for good wort circulation. The Unit holds 9 gallons, although we do not recommend boiling more than 6½ gallons (perfect for 5-6 gallon batches). The grain pipe (basket) holds up to 20 pounds of crushed malt, and a pipe with included silicone hose on top feeds the recirculated wort from the pump evenly on top of the grain bed. Runs on any GFCI protected 110 volt plug with at least 15 amps. Includes a free Chiller Tubing Connection Kit with 15’ of tubing. Dimensions: 12” by 12” by 25” with the grain pipe removed.


 

  • For a short time William’s Brewing has this on for $549.99
  • Shipping is free or reasonably priced flat rate to addresses in the contiguous US depending on your order size for most items.

Brewzilla 35 Liter Gen 4 110 volt

Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4 All Grain Brewing System

This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

Visit William’s Brewing – Web Only Clearance Sale

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability.

Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4 + Choose from two DEALS

 

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.


TWO BrewZilla Deals…

#1 On Sale at William’s Brewing

Brewzilla 35 Liter Gen 4 110 volt

  • For a short time William’s Brewing has this on for $549.99
  • Shipping is free or reasonably priced flat rate to addresses in the contiguous US depending on your order size for most items.

Brewzilla 35 Liter Gen 4 110 volt

#2 Save on Ultimate Combo Pack at MoreBeer

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V

From MoreBeer:

  • The Ultimate BrewZilla Combo Pack! Get the Gen 4 BrewZilla & our most highly recommended accessories at an unbeatable price!
  • Includes all of our favorite accessories for the BrewZilla including the Neoprene Jacket to speed up heating times, Hop Spider to keep vegetal matter out of your wort, and Chilling Connection Kit so you’re ready to use the Immersion Chiller out of the box
  • We think all BrewZilla brewers will eventually upgrade their systems with these accessories, so buy them together and reap the savings!

As of this posting this combo is on sale for $649.99. Shipping is also free to many US addresses. No coupon code is required, check product page for avaiablility.

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V AG581


Hands on Review BrewZilla Gen4

I’ve brewed on several different all-in-one units. Like any brew system, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. I did a hands-on review of the Robobrew when it first came out in late 2016. It has since changed its name to BrewZilla and is on the 4th generation of the brew unit. As you’d expect with repeated generations, they’ve been able to focus on fixing deficiencies in their previous models and also introduce new features.

The basic premise of an all-in-one brewing system is that your mash and boil kettle are in the

same vessel. So just like Brew In A Bag, after mashing, you pull the grains out and the wort stays behind to be boiled. They use electricity for heat, so they can be used outdoors where you can reach power or indoors where you have a venting system that can take care of all the steam you make during your boil.

BrewZilla Without Jacket

Stamped Volume Markings

Here are some basic stats on the Gen4 BrewZilla. It’s available in a 35-Liter form (for 5-6 gallon batches) with either a 110V setup, or 220V. There is also a larger 65-Liter that is only 220V (targeted to 10-12 gallon batches). The 35L unit holds 9.25 gallons, the mash basket can hold up to 23.5 lbs. of grain, and its electric heating elements can output up to 1500W of power (110V system) or 2400W of power (220V system). The 65L unit holds 17.1 gallons, the mash basket holds 41.5 lbs. of grain, and 3500W of heating power. All the Gen4 units have a pump bolted into the base. The pump can be used not only for wort recirculation during the mash, but also to pump beer through your wort chiller apparatus (should you choose to not use the immersion chiller coil included with the BrewZilla). The pump is more modular and accessible than previous Gen models. To protect the pump from clogging with hop debris during the boil or whirlpool, there is a filter screen (a perforated stainless disc that sits at the bottom of the unit) that sits at the bottom of the kettle. The small magnetic drive pump has a pump head rating of 1.5 – 2.1 m (4.9 – 6.9 ft) and a max flow rate of 11-12 L/min (2.9 – 3.2 gal/min).

Control Panel Notification During Mash Profile

One of the key upgraded features of the Gen4 BrewZilla is the controller. RAPT Is Kegland’s line of wireless connected brewing devices. The BrewZilla now has a RAPT controller so it adds a lot of features that can be monitored and controlled over Wi-Fi. This includes basic things like monitoring temperature from your laptop/cell phone, but also allows you to program complex mash programs online and then download to your BrewZilla. You can also adjust control parameters on the fly such as pump output duty cycle and heater output level. If you get the optional Bluetooth thermometer, you can stick the temperature probe into the middle of your grain bed, and then have the controller use that as its control signal in combination with the built-in temperature sensor that sits on the floor of the unit.

Bluetooth Temp Probe in Middle of Mash

Although All-in-One units are essentially BIAB, they use a stainless steel basket with holes in the bottom of it instead of a bag, and call it a “malt pipe”. These provide functional improvements over a nylon bag. The obvious one is they are way easier to clean. But they also allow you to ensure you get full flow through your grain bed by having holes only on the bottom. This means recirculating wort has no sneak paths out the side. The other benefit is malt pipes have simple brackets/feet welded onto the outside that allow you to lift your wet grains up and prop the malt pipe on the brew rig to drain or sparge. The BrewZilla has 2 sets of feet for this. One set is halfway up, allowing you to do the deadlift of grain & wort halfway and then let the liquid level drain down. Then when you lift it the full height, it’s not as heavy. It’s simple, but makes the process much better.

Welded-on Carry Handle (top) and Tip Handle (bottom)

There is a cool feature in the BrewZilla which normally only comes on much higher end systems, and that’s the central drain. With a concave bottom with a drain at the lowest point in the center, you don’t have to leave wort behind or goof around with tilting it to get the last drops of wort out at the end. This also enables the malt pipe to extend down lower and thus you can hold more grain (30% more than their Gen3). If you compared to other All-in-one units in the “5 gallon batch” size range, the 23.5 lbs. grain capacity is 30 – 50% more. This of course only matters if you’re trying to make high gravity brews. The drain in the floor is plumbed to the inlet of the pump below, and then you can direct pump output either to an external spigot for fast/easy transfer of wort out after brewing, or up the recirculation pipe for wort to get directed down on top of the mash.

Polished Bottom with Center Drain and Built-in Temp Sensor to Side

Bottom Side of Pump Filter Plate

To help with mash efficiency and mash temperature uniformity, they offer a Heat Exchanger Dish, which is just a stainless dish/plate that sits below your malt pipe and above the central drain. Without this dish in place, the flow of recirculating wort tends to go through the center of your grain bed, and straight out the drain. With the dish there, it directs the flow around the full circumference before it gets to the drain, which helps ensure a broader portion of the grist sees the flow.


Compare Prices, Review Continues Below:


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Another helpful option is the neoprene insulation jacket. This helps keep mash temperatures more consistent by cutting down heat loss through the walls of the unit. The jacket on BrewZilla also smartly covers the recirculation pipe to minimize heat loss during wort recirculation. The overall mash temperature response with a multi-step mash was impressive, with more detail provided in the Hands On section, below.

Hands on Trials

First off, all of the different parts were well made with good quality manufacturing. As I’ve found with all Kegland gear, it’s of good quality- but nothing flashy. The one exception was probably the smooth and highly polished dished bottom. That was flashy. And being a previous owner of a 1st Gen Robobrew, I was very happy to see the camlock fitting on the recirculation pipe and see that Kegland was obviously tuned in to customer feedback on their products.

Mashing-in Sequence

Sparging

I brewed three different batches before writing this review. Two of them followed a simple single temperature mash, and the third one I exercised the RAPT Controller more with a multi-step mash profile, with lots of monitoring via my smartphone. I was impressed with the mash efficiency I achieved. There can be a misconception that BIAB = lower mash efficiency, but really, it’s “full volume mash = lower efficiency”. I had previously done experiments with an Anvil Foundry that showed a sparge step can get you mash efficiencies > 80%. Therefore, my batches in the BrewZilla were all done with a sparge step. I rested the malt pipe at the top while pouring heated sparge water through it with a 1-gallon pitcher. The perforated plate sitting on top of the grain bed made it super simple to sparge like this and get a good water distribution pattern. The perforated plate also allowed me to push down very easily and squeeze out remaining liquid in the grains. If you’re in the school of thought that squeezing the grains is bad for your beer, this isn’t relevant for you. For the rest of us, being able to easily squeeze that out without making a mess was awesome. And it meant when I picked up the basket of spent grain, I didn’t have a trail of sugary malt drippings to clean up after. My first batch achieved 77% mash efficiency, the second one 80%, and the third 81%.

Recirc Flow Rate After CFC

I experimented a bit with the Bluetooth RAPT wireless thermometer, but I didn’t properly understand it at first. I thought the concept was I could choose whether to use the built-in sensor at the bottom of the unit or the Bluetooth thermometer, but that wasn’t the case. When you add the Bluetooth thermometer, it will then control to that temperature, but it still uses the built-in sensor as part of your heating in a way that lets you fine tune how the system as a whole responds to temperature steps in your mash. After tinkering with it a bit, I realized it has some really powerful potential, but requires a deeper dive and some experimentation to back it up. So I’ll save that for a future write-up.

Bluetooth RAPT Thermometer

My typical brew system uses a 10-gallon kettle with a pump recirculating wort through a 240V RIMS with a 3500W heating element. With that set-up, I get about 3.1 degrees/minute temperature rise when doing multi-step mash profiles. I was therefore expecting this 120V/1500W system to be slow but was shocked to find similar performance that averaged around 2.5 degrees/minute. I attributed this capability to the neoprene jacket. On the plus side, that means you can do multi-step mashes even on only a 120V outlet and not take all day. But leaving the lid on as you heat to a boil is still a must. With the large opening in its domed top, it still can allow any volatized compounds to flow out.

BrewZilla Mashing by Itself in Basement

I found the RAPT software a bit non-intuitive and as such, had a learning curve to it. Luckily, I did a trial run just with water in it so I could get a feel for where various controls were located and how it worked. I definitely recommend this before you try to do any multi-step mash program, or live monitoring of things from the App. Way less stressful when it’s just water! After I got the hang of it, I was able to monitor my mash well and know what was going on as it chugged away in the basement and I worked at my day job one floor above. One key thing I learned was the in-flight plotting of mash temperature isn’t a continuously updating graph, you have to hit refresh in the App to get the updated data that it is recording and holding. I assume this is for computing efficiency and Wi-Fi bandwidth load management. It was perfectly fine once I figured out how it worked.

Screenshot of RAPT Controller Interface

The RAPT Controller allows you to program in multi-step mashes. But it’s a bit clunky as you figure it out. When you build the profile up using the App or Web interface, that profile sits on the RAPT server. My brain kept wanting to think I was programming the controller directly on the unit, but that’s not how it works. So after you program in the profile, you have to download it to the controller on your unit for it to work. You do all of this through the RAPT portal, and it only requires your BrewZilla to be powered on to let you download to it. This would be cool if you could just export something from Brewfather and then import it in RAPT, but you can’t. However, when you think about it, you probably don’t have that many different mash profiles, so it’s not really a big deal.

Malt Pipe

Draining Malt Pipe

One super cool feature of the mash profile programming is Kegland finally did what many have wanted these controllers to do for a long time. Rather than open loop programming a temperature and a time and guesstimating how long it will take for your mash to reach that temperature, you can tell it to not start counting down your mash step timer until it reaches the temperature. So if you want a 45-minute rest at 150F, you don’t have to think about how long it will take to get to 150F, it just heats up, and then starts the 45-minute timer when you hit 150F. I really liked this. You are also able to set up notifications at either the beginning or end of a particular mash step. I had it send an alert to my phone once it had reached mashout temperature and thus had 10 minutes left in my mash. That was cool, too. This isn’t quite as simple as it sounds, though. What I found was if the PID controller didn’t overshoot my target temp, I spent several minutes closing in on the target, but didn’t hit the temperature to start your countdown timer. So I’d end up with long mash times. I did some experiments with PID gains and the Bluetooth probe that got this working as I wanted, but I’ll detail that in a later write-up.

Rolling Boil at 75-percent Power

There wasn’t a boil timer interface, the controller was really just geared to controlling & monitoring mash temperatures. Not a big deal, as my Brewfather boil timer works great for this, so it isn’t a feature RAPT needs to spend time making. I could easily maintain a robust boil if I wanted to, but I like to keep it at just a good rolling circulation, so I dialed down the heating element power to 75% and maintained a constant churn of the wort and allowed boil-off of 0.4 – 0.5 gallons per hour. And the filter dish at the bottom of the kettle worked great to keep hop debris out of the pump, but not restrict flow. I had a thick cake of hop mush at the end when it was time to clean. Cleaning was fast and easy with parts light and easy to pull out, come apart, and rinse. And with the built-in pump, it was also easy to fill the unit up with cleaning solution at the end, circulate it through the unit & my Counter Flow Chiller to get everything clean.

Chilling Wort Using CFC and Built-in Pump

For wort cooling at the end of the boil, I used the built-in pump and circulated wort through my CFC. With the camlock fitting on the BrewZilla, I could easily hook up my typical ½” silicone tubing hoses. I was unsure if the pump would be up to the job, but it handled it easily. I could get a good volume flow rate with the recirc valve wide open on the BrewZilla and could easily restrict it when I wanted a slower flow.

A couple of pro tips to wrap things up. First, is to make sure you add your grains to the malt pipe BEFORE you lower it into the vessel. This ensures the weight of the grain keeps the bottom plate in place, so that as you lower it down, the water doesn’t push the bottom plate out of position and create a sneak path for whole grains to get through. Second is to make sure you have the plug fully seated in your brew unit. This might sound stupidly logical, but with a 6-foot power cord, you might end up pushing the limits of where you want the unit to sit vs. where the outlet is you’re plugged into. I had the cable become partially unseated and I wasn’t aware- until I went to remove the cord at the end of a long session of PID controller experiments. If the cord isn’t fully seated, you get less electrical contact on the pins and less contact means higher heat as electricity flows through it. I ended up damaging the cord and the receptacle from overheating.

Conclusions

The BrewZilla Gen4 delivered. The controller worked great, and I absolutely loved the step mash ability to start the mash step timer using actual mash temperatures. The RAPT interface wasn’t quite as slick as I would’ve liked but overall worked flawlessly, with no glitches. And I was definitely surprised how well a mere 120V/1500W system could handle mash steps and boil intensity. The well-thought-out little pieces of the malt pipe and various recirculation designs showed to me a system that was engineered with actual brewing hours spent on the unit, which is great. I feel with all of this, I won’t have compromises on my brew day using an all-in-one system versus my bigger 2-vessel system. And that says a lot.

Special thanks to Kegland for providing the unit used for evaluation in this review.

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This article contains affiliate links. We may make a small percentage if you use our links to make a purchase. You won’t pay more and you’ll be supporting Homebrew Finds and more content like this. Thank you for your support!


Data Plots

Related: Hands on Review: Robobrew (BrewZilla v1) All Grain Brewing System

More Photos

Included Immersion Chiller (Fittings Sold Separately)

Collecting Wort for Gravity Check

Control Panel and Cord

Easy Access Pump and Hose Routing Underneath

Glass Lid with Handles

Hanger Plate for Control Panel

Heat Exchanger Dish

Holes in Malt Pipe to Help Flow

Malt Pipe Fits Perfectly in 8 Gallon Bucket

Malt Pipe Sitting at Halfway Point to Drain

Malt Pipe Screen Bottom (Left) and Top (Right)

Hop Debris on Filter Screen At End

Neoprene Jacket

Power Connection for 110V Cord and Multi-pin Connector for Control Panel

Recirc Pipe with Valve and Camlock Fitting

Recirc Pipe, Drain Spigot, and Malt Pipe Lift Handle

Robust Hard Rubber Feet

Convert RoboBrew to BrewZilla

If you’re looking to convert your Robobrew to a BrewZilla an upgrade board is available

robobrew upgrade board

Robobrew Gen 3.1.1 Upgrade Board Set 110 volt via William’s Brewing

More Kegland Gear Reviews!

More Homebrew Finds!

Recent Deals!

We are Homebrew Review HQ!  See Our 10 Most Recent Reviews

This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

By Brad Probert.  Check out Brad’s website – beersnobby.com

Special Thanks to Keg King with the help of MoreBeer for providing the unit used for evaluation in this review

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability.

Make sure the components you use are compatible and rated for your intended application.  Contact manufacturer with questions about suitability or a specific application.  Always read and follow manufacturer directions. tag:lnksfxd review:bprobobrew rs:7 #tag:tpru tag:watch

 

Hands on Review: Wort Hog Turnkey Electric e-BIAB System

highgravitybrew.com wort hog review

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Wort Hog 120V eBIAB System

When it comes to electric Brew In A Bag (eBIAB) systems, there are several choices out there. I’ve tried both 240 Volt and 120 Volt systems. While I love the speed of heating water/wort on the 240V systems, I don’t love the constraints/expense of wiring a 240V plug in a convenient place. The 1500 Watt and 1600 Watt eBIAB units out there are good, but they do lack when it comes to speed of heating strike water or getting a really vigorous boil. The Wort Hog 120V system slides into this niche with the convenience of a 120V system, but using a 2250W Blichmann heating element to give a notable boost.



Also Consider… BrewZilla!

BrewZilla and DigiBoil at MoreBeer

Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4 All Grain Brewing System

System Overview

The Wort Hog Turn Key System via High Gravity Fermentations Supplies uses a Bayou Classic 11-gallon kettle. I’d never seen a Bayou Classic kettle in person before, and I’ll admit I had a pre-conceived opinion of them. I thought of them as “cheap turkey fryers” based on their low price and marketing, but I found my baseless opinion was completely off. This 11-gallon kettle has a super shiny, polished exterior, but most importantly it was made of a very robust thick gauge stainless steel. With high quality, clean welds, this baby is certainly going to live up to wear and tear for a long time, and cleaned up very easily.


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BrewZilla Gen 4 Ultimate Combo Pack – on sale for $649 + in depth hands on review

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V

From MoreBeer:

  • The Ultimate BrewZilla Combo Pack! Get the Gen 4 BrewZilla & our most highly recommended accessories at an unbeatable price!
  • Includes all of our favorite accessories for the BrewZilla including the Neoprene Jacket to speed up heating times, Hop Spider to keep vegetal matter out of your wort, and Chilling Connection Kit so you’re ready to use the Immersion Chiller out of the box
  • We think all BrewZilla brewers will eventually upgrade their systems with these accessories, so buy them together and reap the savings!

As of this posting this combo is on sale for $649.99. Shipping is also free to many US addresses. No coupon code is required, check product page for avaiablility.

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V AG581

Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4 All Grain Brewing System

MORE MoreBeer Deals!…This post contains affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability.

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Adventures in Homebrewing’s Rewards program typically offers about 5% back. Each qualifying item earns 1 point per dollar. 200 points gets you a $10 discount code.

For a limited time, they’re giving double points back. That equates to about 10% back on most things including many sale items.

My contact at AIH says this works on EVERYTHING excluding gift cards.

This is a great chance to get a de facto discount on items and lines that are typically not discounted like Blichmann, Anvil, TILTReview, Grainfather and TapcoolerReview. If you work for one of these companies… no item is being directly discounted.

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Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4 + Limited Time DEAL

 

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.


Limited Time Deal, Save on Ultimate Combo Pack

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V

From MoreBeer:

  • The Ultimate BrewZilla Combo Pack! Get the Gen 4 BrewZilla & our most highly recommended accessories at an unbeatable price!
  • Includes all of our favorite accessories for the BrewZilla including the Neoprene Jacket to speed up heating times, Hop Spider to keep vegetal matter out of your wort, and Chilling Connection Kit so you’re ready to use the Immersion Chiller out of the box
  • We think all BrewZilla brewers will eventually upgrade their systems with these accessories, so buy them together and reap the savings!

As of this posting this combo is on sale for $649.99. Shipping is also free to many US addresses. No coupon code is required, check product page for avaiablility.

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V AG581


Hands on Review BrewZilla Gen4

I’ve brewed on several different all-in-one units. Like any brew system, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. I did a hands-on review of the Robobrew when it first came out in late 2016. It has since changed its name to BrewZilla and is on the 4th generation of the brew unit. As you’d expect with repeated generations, they’ve been able to focus on fixing deficiencies in their previous models and also introduce new features.

The basic premise of an all-in-one brewing system is that your mash and boil kettle are in the

same vessel. So just like Brew In A Bag, after mashing, you pull the grains out and the wort stays behind to be boiled. They use electricity for heat, so they can be used outdoors where you can reach power or indoors where you have a venting system that can take care of all the steam you make during your boil.

BrewZilla Without Jacket

Stamped Volume Markings

Here are some basic stats on the Gen4 BrewZilla. It’s available in a 35-Liter form (for 5-6 gallon batches) with either a 110V setup, or 220V. There is also a larger 65-Liter that is only 220V (targeted to 10-12 gallon batches). The 35L unit holds 9.25 gallons, the mash basket can hold up to 23.5 lbs. of grain, and its electric heating elements can output up to 1500W of power (110V system) or 2400W of power (220V system). The 65L unit holds 17.1 gallons, the mash basket holds 41.5 lbs. of grain, and 3500W of heating power. All the Gen4 units have a pump bolted into the base. The pump can be used not only for wort recirculation during the mash, but also to pump beer through your wort chiller apparatus (should you choose to not use the immersion chiller coil included with the BrewZilla). The pump is more modular and accessible than previous Gen models. To protect the pump from clogging with hop debris during the boil or whirlpool, there is a filter screen (a perforated stainless disc that sits at the bottom of the unit) that sits at the bottom of the kettle. The small magnetic drive pump has a pump head rating of 1.5 – 2.1 m (4.9 – 6.9 ft) and a max flow rate of 11-12 L/min (2.9 – 3.2 gal/min).

Control Panel Notification During Mash Profile

One of the key upgraded features of the Gen4 BrewZilla is the controller. RAPT Is Kegland’s line of wireless connected brewing devices. The BrewZilla now has a RAPT controller so it adds a lot of features that can be monitored and controlled over Wi-Fi. This includes basic things like monitoring temperature from your laptop/cell phone, but also allows you to program complex mash programs online and then download to your BrewZilla. You can also adjust control parameters on the fly such as pump output duty cycle and heater output level. If you get the optional Bluetooth thermometer, you can stick the temperature probe into the middle of your grain bed, and then have the controller use that as its control signal in combination with the built-in temperature sensor that sits on the floor of the unit.

Bluetooth Temp Probe in Middle of Mash

Although All-in-One units are essentially BIAB, they use a stainless steel basket with holes in the bottom of it instead of a bag, and call it a “malt pipe”. These provide functional improvements over a nylon bag. The obvious one is they are way easier to clean. But they also allow you to ensure you get full flow through your grain bed by having holes only on the bottom. This means recirculating wort has no sneak paths out the side. The other benefit is malt pipes have simple brackets/feet welded onto the outside that allow you to lift your wet grains up and prop the malt pipe on the brew rig to drain or sparge. The BrewZilla has 2 sets of feet for this. One set is halfway up, allowing you to do the deadlift of grain & wort halfway and then let the liquid level drain down. Then when you lift it the full height, it’s not as heavy. It’s simple, but makes the process much better.

Welded-on Carry Handle (top) and Tip Handle (bottom)

There is a cool feature in the BrewZilla which normally only comes on much higher end systems, and that’s the central drain. With a concave bottom with a drain at the lowest point in the center, you don’t have to leave wort behind or goof around with tilting it to get the last drops of wort out at the end. This also enables the malt pipe to extend down lower and thus you can hold more grain (30% more than their Gen3). If you compared to other All-in-one units in the “5 gallon batch” size range, the 23.5 lbs. grain capacity is 30 – 50% more. This of course only matters if you’re trying to make high gravity brews. The drain in the floor is plumbed to the inlet of the pump below, and then you can direct pump output either to an external spigot for fast/easy transfer of wort out after brewing, or up the recirculation pipe for wort to get directed down on top of the mash.

Polished Bottom with Center Drain and Built-in Temp Sensor to Side

Bottom Side of Pump Filter Plate

To help with mash efficiency and mash temperature uniformity, they offer a Heat Exchanger Dish, which is just a stainless dish/plate that sits below your malt pipe and above the central drain. Without this dish in place, the flow of recirculating wort tends to go through the center of your grain bed, and straight out the drain. With the dish there, it directs the flow around the full circumference before it gets to the drain, which helps ensure a broader portion of the grist sees the flow.


Compare Prices, Review Continues Below:


This article contains affiliate links. We may make a small percentage if you use our links to make a purchase. You won’t pay more and you’ll be supporting Homebrew Finds and more content like this. Thank you for your support!


Another helpful option is the neoprene insulation jacket. This helps keep mash temperatures more consistent by cutting down heat loss through the walls of the unit. The jacket on BrewZilla also smartly covers the recirculation pipe to minimize heat loss during wort recirculation. The overall mash temperature response with a multi-step mash was impressive, with more detail provided in the Hands On section, below.

Hands on Trials

First off, all of the different parts were well made with good quality manufacturing. As I’ve found with all Kegland gear, it’s of good quality- but nothing flashy. The one exception was probably the smooth and highly polished dished bottom. That was flashy. And being a previous owner of a 1st Gen Robobrew, I was very happy to see the camlock fitting on the recirculation pipe and see that Kegland was obviously tuned in to customer feedback on their products.

Mashing-in Sequence

Sparging

I brewed three different batches before writing this review. Two of them followed a simple single temperature mash, and the third one I exercised the RAPT Controller more with a multi-step mash profile, with lots of monitoring via my smartphone. I was impressed with the mash efficiency I achieved. There can be a misconception that BIAB = lower mash efficiency, but really, it’s “full volume mash = lower efficiency”. I had previously done experiments with an Anvil Foundry that showed a sparge step can get you mash efficiencies > 80%. Therefore, my batches in the BrewZilla were all done with a sparge step. I rested the malt pipe at the top while pouring heated sparge water through it with a 1-gallon pitcher. The perforated plate sitting on top of the grain bed made it super simple to sparge like this and get a good water distribution pattern. The perforated plate also allowed me to push down very easily and squeeze out remaining liquid in the grains. If you’re in the school of thought that squeezing the grains is bad for your beer, this isn’t relevant for you. For the rest of us, being able to easily squeeze that out without making a mess was awesome. And it meant when I picked up the basket of spent grain, I didn’t have a trail of sugary malt drippings to clean up after. My first batch achieved 77% mash efficiency, the second one 80%, and the third 81%.

Recirc Flow Rate After CFC

I experimented a bit with the Bluetooth RAPT wireless thermometer, but I didn’t properly understand it at first. I thought the concept was I could choose whether to use the built-in sensor at the bottom of the unit or the Bluetooth thermometer, but that wasn’t the case. When you add the Bluetooth thermometer, it will then control to that temperature, but it still uses the built-in sensor as part of your heating in a way that lets you fine tune how the system as a whole responds to temperature steps in your mash. After tinkering with it a bit, I realized it has some really powerful potential, but requires a deeper dive and some experimentation to back it up. So I’ll save that for a future write-up.

Bluetooth RAPT Thermometer

My typical brew system uses a 10-gallon kettle with a pump recirculating wort through a 240V RIMS with a 3500W heating element. With that set-up, I get about 3.1 degrees/minute temperature rise when doing multi-step mash profiles. I was therefore expecting this 120V/1500W system to be slow but was shocked to find similar performance that averaged around 2.5 degrees/minute. I attributed this capability to the neoprene jacket. On the plus side, that means you can do multi-step mashes even on only a 120V outlet and not take all day. But leaving the lid on as you heat to a boil is still a must. With the large opening in its domed top, it still can allow any volatized compounds to flow out.

BrewZilla Mashing by Itself in Basement

I found the RAPT software a bit non-intuitive and as such, had a learning curve to it. Luckily, I did a trial run just with water in it so I could get a feel for where various controls were located and how it worked. I definitely recommend this before you try to do any multi-step mash program, or live monitoring of things from the App. Way less stressful when it’s just water! After I got the hang of it, I was able to monitor my mash well and know what was going on as it chugged away in the basement and I worked at my day job one floor above. One key thing I learned was the in-flight plotting of mash temperature isn’t a continuously updating graph, you have to hit refresh in the App to get the updated data that it is recording and holding. I assume this is for computing efficiency and Wi-Fi bandwidth load management. It was perfectly fine once I figured out how it worked.

Screenshot of RAPT Controller Interface

The RAPT Controller allows you to program in multi-step mashes. But it’s a bit clunky as you figure it out. When you build the profile up using the App or Web interface, that profile sits on the RAPT server. My brain kept wanting to think I was programming the controller directly on the unit, but that’s not how it works. So after you program in the profile, you have to download it to the controller on your unit for it to work. You do all of this through the RAPT portal, and it only requires your BrewZilla to be powered on to let you download to it. This would be cool if you could just export something from Brewfather and then import it in RAPT, but you can’t. However, when you think about it, you probably don’t have that many different mash profiles, so it’s not really a big deal.

Malt Pipe

Draining Malt Pipe

One super cool feature of the mash profile programming is Kegland finally did what many have wanted these controllers to do for a long time. Rather than open loop programming a temperature and a time and guesstimating how long it will take for your mash to reach that temperature, you can tell it to not start counting down your mash step timer until it reaches the temperature. So if you want a 45-minute rest at 150F, you don’t have to think about how long it will take to get to 150F, it just heats up, and then starts the 45-minute timer when you hit 150F. I really liked this. You are also able to set up notifications at either the beginning or end of a particular mash step. I had it send an alert to my phone once it had reached mashout temperature and thus had 10 minutes left in my mash. That was cool, too. This isn’t quite as simple as it sounds, though. What I found was if the PID controller didn’t overshoot my target temp, I spent several minutes closing in on the target, but didn’t hit the temperature to start your countdown timer. So I’d end up with long mash times. I did some experiments with PID gains and the Bluetooth probe that got this working as I wanted, but I’ll detail that in a later write-up.

Rolling Boil at 75-percent Power

There wasn’t a boil timer interface, the controller was really just geared to controlling & monitoring mash temperatures. Not a big deal, as my Brewfather boil timer works great for this, so it isn’t a feature RAPT needs to spend time making. I could easily maintain a robust boil if I wanted to, but I like to keep it at just a good rolling circulation, so I dialed down the heating element power to 75% and maintained a constant churn of the wort and allowed boil-off of 0.4 – 0.5 gallons per hour. And the filter dish at the bottom of the kettle worked great to keep hop debris out of the pump, but not restrict flow. I had a thick cake of hop mush at the end when it was time to clean. Cleaning was fast and easy with parts light and easy to pull out, come apart, and rinse. And with the built-in pump, it was also easy to fill the unit up with cleaning solution at the end, circulate it through the unit & my Counter Flow Chiller to get everything clean.

Chilling Wort Using CFC and Built-in Pump

For wort cooling at the end of the boil, I used the built-in pump and circulated wort through my CFC. With the camlock fitting on the BrewZilla, I could easily hook up my typical ½” silicone tubing hoses. I was unsure if the pump would be up to the job, but it handled it easily. I could get a good volume flow rate with the recirc valve wide open on the BrewZilla and could easily restrict it when I wanted a slower flow.

A couple of pro tips to wrap things up. First, is to make sure you add your grains to the malt pipe BEFORE you lower it into the vessel. This ensures the weight of the grain keeps the bottom plate in place, so that as you lower it down, the water doesn’t push the bottom plate out of position and create a sneak path for whole grains to get through. Second is to make sure you have the plug fully seated in your brew unit. This might sound stupidly logical, but with a 6-foot power cord, you might end up pushing the limits of where you want the unit to sit vs. where the outlet is you’re plugged into. I had the cable become partially unseated and I wasn’t aware- until I went to remove the cord at the end of a long session of PID controller experiments. If the cord isn’t fully seated, you get less electrical contact on the pins and less contact means higher heat as electricity flows through it. I ended up damaging the cord and the receptacle from overheating.

Conclusions

The BrewZilla Gen4 delivered. The controller worked great, and I absolutely loved the step mash ability to start the mash step timer using actual mash temperatures. The RAPT interface wasn’t quite as slick as I would’ve liked but overall worked flawlessly, with no glitches. And I was definitely surprised how well a mere 120V/1500W system could handle mash steps and boil intensity. The well-thought-out little pieces of the malt pipe and various recirculation designs showed to me a system that was engineered with actual brewing hours spent on the unit, which is great. I feel with all of this, I won’t have compromises on my brew day using an all-in-one system versus my bigger 2-vessel system. And that says a lot.

Special thanks to Kegland for providing the unit used for evaluation in this review.

Compare Prices, Review Continues Below:


This article contains affiliate links. We may make a small percentage if you use our links to make a purchase. You won’t pay more and you’ll be supporting Homebrew Finds and more content like this. Thank you for your support!


Data Plots

Related: Hands on Review: Robobrew (BrewZilla v1) All Grain Brewing System

More Photos

Included Immersion Chiller (Fittings Sold Separately)

Collecting Wort for Gravity Check

Control Panel and Cord

Easy Access Pump and Hose Routing Underneath

Glass Lid with Handles

Hanger Plate for Control Panel

Heat Exchanger Dish

Holes in Malt Pipe to Help Flow

Malt Pipe Fits Perfectly in 8 Gallon Bucket

Malt Pipe Sitting at Halfway Point to Drain

Malt Pipe Screen Bottom (Left) and Top (Right)

Hop Debris on Filter Screen At End

Neoprene Jacket

Power Connection for 110V Cord and Multi-pin Connector for Control Panel

Recirc Pipe with Valve and Camlock Fitting

Recirc Pipe, Drain Spigot, and Malt Pipe Lift Handle

Robust Hard Rubber Feet

Convert RoboBrew to BrewZilla

If you’re looking to convert your Robobrew to a BrewZilla an upgrade board is available

robobrew upgrade board

Robobrew Gen 3.1.1 Upgrade Board Set 110 volt via William’s Brewing

More Kegland Gear Reviews!

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This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

By Brad Probert.  Check out Brad’s website – beersnobby.com

Special Thanks to Keg King with the help of MoreBeer for providing the unit used for evaluation in this review

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability.

Make sure the components you use are compatible and rated for your intended application.  Contact manufacturer with questions about suitability or a specific application.  Always read and follow manufacturer directions. tag:lnksfxd review:bprobobrew rs:7 #tag:tpru tag:watch

 

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack – on sale for $649 + in depth hands on review

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V

From MoreBeer:

  • The Ultimate BrewZilla Combo Pack! Get the Gen 4 BrewZilla & our most highly recommended accessories at an unbeatable price!
  • Includes all of our favorite accessories for the BrewZilla including the Neoprene Jacket to speed up heating times, Hop Spider to keep vegetal matter out of your wort, and Chilling Connection Kit so you’re ready to use the Immersion Chiller out of the box
  • We think all BrewZilla brewers will eventually upgrade their systems with these accessories, so buy them together and reap the savings!

As of this posting this combo is on sale for $649.99. Shipping is also free to many US addresses. No coupon code is required, check product page for avaiablility.

BrewZilla Ultimate Combo Pack | Gen 4 BrewZilla All Grain Brewing System | WiFi/Bluetooth/RAPT Enabled | Neoprene Jacket, Hop Spider & Wort Chiller Connection Kit Included | 9.25G | 35L | 110V AG581

Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4 All Grain Brewing System

MORE MoreBeer Deals!…This post contains affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability.

Hands on Review: Blichmann Engineering BrewEasy Classic!

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Blichmann BrewEasy Classic

Blichmann came out with the BrewEasy in 2014. It was when all-in-one units were starting to pop up in the market everywhere. Blichmann went in a different direction, by building on the strength of their existing kettles, and finding an innovative way to connect them together. They came out with a revised model in 2021 that they call the BrewEasy Compact, but they still offer the original configuration and call it the BrewEasy Classic. This review will focus on the BrewEasy Classic.


Compare Models, Prices and Availability, More Photos Below:

Continue reading

Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4

 

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Hands on Review BrewZilla Gen4

I’ve brewed on several different all-in-one units. Like any brew system, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. I did a hands-on review of the Robobrew when it first came out in late 2016. It has since changed its name to BrewZilla and is on the 4th generation of the brew unit. As you’d expect with repeated generations, they’ve been able to focus on fixing deficiencies in their previous models and also introduce new features.

The basic premise of an all-in-one brewing system is that your mash and boil kettle are in the

same vessel. So just like Brew In A Bag, after mashing, you pull the grains out and the wort stays behind to be boiled. They use electricity for heat, so they can be used outdoors where you can reach power or indoors where you have a venting system that can take care of all the steam you make during your boil.

BrewZilla Without Jacket

Stamped Volume Markings

Here are some basic stats on the Gen4 BrewZilla. It’s available in a 35-Liter form (for 5-6 gallon batches) with either a 110V setup, or 220V. There is also a larger 65-Liter that is only 220V (targeted to 10-12 gallon batches). The 35L unit holds 9.25 gallons, the mash basket can hold up to 23.5 lbs. of grain, and its electric heating elements can output up to 1500W of power (110V system) or 2400W of power (220V system). The 65L unit holds 17.1 gallons, the mash basket holds 41.5 lbs. of grain, and 3500W of heating power. All the Gen4 units have a pump bolted into the base. The pump can be used not only for wort recirculation during the mash, but also to pump beer through your wort chiller apparatus (should you choose to not use the immersion chiller coil included with the BrewZilla). The pump is more modular and accessible than previous Gen models. To protect the pump from clogging with hop debris during the boil or whirlpool, there is a filter screen (a perforated stainless disc that sits at the bottom of the unit) that sits at the bottom of the kettle. The small magnetic drive pump has a pump head rating of 1.5 – 2.1 m (4.9 – 6.9 ft) and a max flow rate of 11-12 L/min (2.9 – 3.2 gal/min).

Control Panel Notification During Mash Profile

One of the key upgraded features of the Gen4 BrewZilla is the controller. RAPT Is Kegland’s line of wireless connected brewing devices. The BrewZilla now has a RAPT controller so it adds a lot of features that can be monitored and controlled over Wi-Fi. This includes basic things like monitoring temperature from your laptop/cell phone, but also allows you to program complex mash programs online and then download to your BrewZilla. You can also adjust control parameters on the fly such as pump output duty cycle and heater output level. If you get the optional Bluetooth thermometer, you can stick the temperature probe into the middle of your grain bed, and then have the controller use that as its control signal in combination with the built-in temperature sensor that sits on the floor of the unit.

Bluetooth Temp Probe in Middle of Mash

Although All-in-One units are essentially BIAB, they use a stainless steel basket with holes in the bottom of it instead of a bag, and call it a “malt pipe”. These provide functional improvements over a nylon bag. The obvious one is they are way easier to clean. But they also allow you to ensure you get full flow through your grain bed by having holes only on the bottom. This means recirculating wort has no sneak paths out the side. The other benefit is malt pipes have simple brackets/feet welded onto the outside that allow you to lift your wet grains up and prop the malt pipe on the brew rig to drain or sparge. The BrewZilla has 2 sets of feet for this. One set is halfway up, allowing you to do the deadlift of grain & wort halfway and then let the liquid level drain down. Then when you lift it the full height, it’s not as heavy. It’s simple, but makes the process much better.

Welded-on Carry Handle (top) and Tip Handle (bottom)

There is a cool feature in the BrewZilla which normally only comes on much higher end systems, and that’s the central drain. With a concave bottom with a drain at the lowest point in the center, you don’t have to leave wort behind or goof around with tilting it to get the last drops of wort out at the end. This also enables the malt pipe to extend down lower and thus you can hold more grain (30% more than their Gen3). If you compared to other All-in-one units in the “5 gallon batch” size range, the 23.5 lbs. grain capacity is 30 – 50% more. This of course only matters if you’re trying to make high gravity brews. The drain in the floor is plumbed to the inlet of the pump below, and then you can direct pump output either to an external spigot for fast/easy transfer of wort out after brewing, or up the recirculation pipe for wort to get directed down on top of the mash.

Polished Bottom with Center Drain and Built-in Temp Sensor to Side

Bottom Side of Pump Filter Plate

To help with mash efficiency and mash temperature uniformity, they offer a Heat Exchanger Dish, which is just a stainless dish/plate that sits below your malt pipe and above the central drain. Without this dish in place, the flow of recirculating wort tends to go through the center of your grain bed, and straight out the drain. With the dish there, it directs the flow around the full circumference before it gets to the drain, which helps ensure a broader portion of the grist sees the flow.


Compare Prices, Review Continues Below:


This article contains affiliate links. We may make a small percentage if you use our links to make a purchase. You won’t pay more and you’ll be supporting Homebrew Finds and more content like this. Thank you for your support!


Another helpful option is the neoprene insulation jacket. This helps keep mash temperatures more consistent by cutting down heat loss through the walls of the unit. The jacket on BrewZilla also smartly covers the recirculation pipe to minimize heat loss during wort recirculation. The overall mash temperature response with a multi-step mash was impressive, with more detail provided in the Hands On section, below.

Hands on Trials

First off, all of the different parts were well made with good quality manufacturing. As I’ve found with all Kegland gear, it’s of good quality- but nothing flashy. The one exception was probably the smooth and highly polished dished bottom. That was flashy. And being a previous owner of a 1st Gen Robobrew, I was very happy to see the camlock fitting on the recirculation pipe and see that Kegland was obviously tuned in to customer feedback on their products.

Mashing-in Sequence

Sparging

I brewed three different batches before writing this review. Two of them followed a simple single temperature mash, and the third one I exercised the RAPT Controller more with a multi-step mash profile, with lots of monitoring via my smartphone. I was impressed with the mash efficiency I achieved. There can be a misconception that BIAB = lower mash efficiency, but really, it’s “full volume mash = lower efficiency”. I had previously done experiments with an Anvil Foundry that showed a sparge step can get you mash efficiencies > 80%. Therefore, my batches in the BrewZilla were all done with a sparge step. I rested the malt pipe at the top while pouring heated sparge water through it with a 1-gallon pitcher. The perforated plate sitting on top of the grain bed made it super simple to sparge like this and get a good water distribution pattern. The perforated plate also allowed me to push down very easily and squeeze out remaining liquid in the grains. If you’re in the school of thought that squeezing the grains is bad for your beer, this isn’t relevant for you. For the rest of us, being able to easily squeeze that out without making a mess was awesome. And it meant when I picked up the basket of spent grain, I didn’t have a trail of sugary malt drippings to clean up after. My first batch achieved 77% mash efficiency, the second one 80%, and the third 81%.

Recirc Flow Rate After CFC

I experimented a bit with the Bluetooth RAPT wireless thermometer, but I didn’t properly understand it at first. I thought the concept was I could choose whether to use the built-in sensor at the bottom of the unit or the Bluetooth thermometer, but that wasn’t the case. When you add the Bluetooth thermometer, it will then control to that temperature, but it still uses the built-in sensor as part of your heating in a way that lets you fine tune how the system as a whole responds to temperature steps in your mash. After tinkering with it a bit, I realized it has some really powerful potential, but requires a deeper dive and some experimentation to back it up. So I’ll save that for a future write-up.

Bluetooth RAPT Thermometer

My typical brew system uses a 10-gallon kettle with a pump recirculating wort through a 240V RIMS with a 3500W heating element. With that set-up, I get about 3.1 degrees/minute temperature rise when doing multi-step mash profiles. I was therefore expecting this 120V/1500W system to be slow but was shocked to find similar performance that averaged around 2.5 degrees/minute. I attributed this capability to the neoprene jacket. On the plus side, that means you can do multi-step mashes even on only a 120V outlet and not take all day. But leaving the lid on as you heat to a boil is still a must. With the large opening in its domed top, it still can allow any volatized compounds to flow out.

BrewZilla Mashing by Itself in Basement

I found the RAPT software a bit non-intuitive and as such, had a learning curve to it. Luckily, I did a trial run just with water in it so I could get a feel for where various controls were located and how it worked. I definitely recommend this before you try to do any multi-step mash program, or live monitoring of things from the App. Way less stressful when it’s just water! After I got the hang of it, I was able to monitor my mash well and know what was going on as it chugged away in the basement and I worked at my day job one floor above. One key thing I learned was the in-flight plotting of mash temperature isn’t a continuously updating graph, you have to hit refresh in the App to get the updated data that it is recording and holding. I assume this is for computing efficiency and Wi-Fi bandwidth load management. It was perfectly fine once I figured out how it worked.

Screenshot of RAPT Controller Interface

The RAPT Controller allows you to program in multi-step mashes. But it’s a bit clunky as you figure it out. When you build the profile up using the App or Web interface, that profile sits on the RAPT server. My brain kept wanting to think I was programming the controller directly on the unit, but that’s not how it works. So after you program in the profile, you have to download it to the controller on your unit for it to work. You do all of this through the RAPT portal, and it only requires your BrewZilla to be powered on to let you download to it. This would be cool if you could just export something from Brewfather and then import it in RAPT, but you can’t. However, when you think about it, you probably don’t have that many different mash profiles, so it’s not really a big deal.

Malt Pipe

Draining Malt Pipe

One super cool feature of the mash profile programming is Kegland finally did what many have wanted these controllers to do for a long time. Rather than open loop programming a temperature and a time and guesstimating how long it will take for your mash to reach that temperature, you can tell it to not start counting down your mash step timer until it reaches the temperature. So if you want a 45-minute rest at 150F, you don’t have to think about how long it will take to get to 150F, it just heats up, and then starts the 45-minute timer when you hit 150F. I really liked this. You are also able to set up notifications at either the beginning or end of a particular mash step. I had it send an alert to my phone once it had reached mashout temperature and thus had 10 minutes left in my mash. That was cool, too. This isn’t quite as simple as it sounds, though. What I found was if the PID controller didn’t overshoot my target temp, I spent several minutes closing in on the target, but didn’t hit the temperature to start your countdown timer. So I’d end up with long mash times. I did some experiments with PID gains and the Bluetooth probe that got this working as I wanted, but I’ll detail that in a later write-up.

Rolling Boil at 75-percent Power

There wasn’t a boil timer interface, the controller was really just geared to controlling & monitoring mash temperatures. Not a big deal, as my Brewfather boil timer works great for this, so it isn’t a feature RAPT needs to spend time making. I could easily maintain a robust boil if I wanted to, but I like to keep it at just a good rolling circulation, so I dialed down the heating element power to 75% and maintained a constant churn of the wort and allowed boil-off of 0.4 – 0.5 gallons per hour. And the filter dish at the bottom of the kettle worked great to keep hop debris out of the pump, but not restrict flow. I had a thick cake of hop mush at the end when it was time to clean. Cleaning was fast and easy with parts light and easy to pull out, come apart, and rinse. And with the built-in pump, it was also easy to fill the unit up with cleaning solution at the end, circulate it through the unit & my Counter Flow Chiller to get everything clean.

Chilling Wort Using CFC and Built-in Pump

For wort cooling at the end of the boil, I used the built-in pump and circulated wort through my CFC. With the camlock fitting on the BrewZilla, I could easily hook up my typical ½” silicone tubing hoses. I was unsure if the pump would be up to the job, but it handled it easily. I could get a good volume flow rate with the recirc valve wide open on the BrewZilla and could easily restrict it when I wanted a slower flow.

A couple of pro tips to wrap things up. First, is to make sure you add your grains to the malt pipe BEFORE you lower it into the vessel. This ensures the weight of the grain keeps the bottom plate in place, so that as you lower it down, the water doesn’t push the bottom plate out of position and create a sneak path for whole grains to get through. Second is to make sure you have the plug fully seated in your brew unit. This might sound stupidly logical, but with a 6-foot power cord, you might end up pushing the limits of where you want the unit to sit vs. where the outlet is you’re plugged into. I had the cable become partially unseated and I wasn’t aware- until I went to remove the cord at the end of a long session of PID controller experiments. If the cord isn’t fully seated, you get less electrical contact on the pins and less contact means higher heat as electricity flows through it. I ended up damaging the cord and the receptacle from overheating.

Conclusions

The BrewZilla Gen4 delivered. The controller worked great, and I absolutely loved the step mash ability to start the mash step timer using actual mash temperatures. The RAPT interface wasn’t quite as slick as I would’ve liked but overall worked flawlessly, with no glitches. And I was definitely surprised how well a mere 120V/1500W system could handle mash steps and boil intensity. The well-thought-out little pieces of the malt pipe and various recirculation designs showed to me a system that was engineered with actual brewing hours spent on the unit, which is great. I feel with all of this, I won’t have compromises on my brew day using an all-in-one system versus my bigger 2-vessel system. And that says a lot.

Special thanks to Kegland for providing the unit used for evaluation in this review.

Compare Prices, Review Continues Below:


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Data Plots

Related: Hands on Review: Robobrew (BrewZilla v1) All Grain Brewing System

More Photos

Included Immersion Chiller (Fittings Sold Separately)

Collecting Wort for Gravity Check

Control Panel and Cord

Easy Access Pump and Hose Routing Underneath

Glass Lid with Handles

Hanger Plate for Control Panel

Heat Exchanger Dish

Holes in Malt Pipe to Help Flow

Malt Pipe Fits Perfectly in 8 Gallon Bucket

Malt Pipe Sitting at Halfway Point to Drain

Malt Pipe Screen Bottom (Left) and Top (Right)

Hop Debris on Filter Screen At End

Neoprene Jacket

Power Connection for 110V Cord and Multi-pin Connector for Control Panel

Recirc Pipe with Valve and Camlock Fitting

Recirc Pipe, Drain Spigot, and Malt Pipe Lift Handle

Robust Hard Rubber Feet

Convert RoboBrew to BrewZilla

If you’re looking to convert your Robobrew to a BrewZilla an upgrade board is available

robobrew upgrade board

Robobrew Gen 3.1.1 Upgrade Board Set 110 volt via William’s Brewing

More Kegland Gear Reviews!

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This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

By Brad Probert.  Check out Brad’s website – beersnobby.com

Special Thanks to Keg King with the help of MoreBeer for providing the unit used for evaluation in this review

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability.

Make sure the components you use are compatible and rated for your intended application.  Contact manufacturer with questions about suitability or a specific application.  Always read and follow manufacturer directions. tag:lnksfxd review:bprobobrew rs:7 #tag:tpru

 

Today Only… Robobrew BrewZilla Gen 3.1.1 65L All Grain Brewing System – on sale for… $354.99 w/Stacking Deals

Brewzilla 65 Liter Gen 3.1.1

Brewzilla 65 Liter via William’s Brewing

More Info

From the product description, check product page for current description, price and availability:

• Recirculation Pump

• Mash & Boil, and Chill

• Mash up to 35 pounds

• Distilling Options

• Includes free Wort Chiller Tubing Kit

The Gen 3.1.1 Brewzilla with Pump from KegLand features a recirculation pump, as well as a false bottom and grain pipe to both protect the pump from clogging, and hold the crushed grain above the bottom for good wort circulation. The Unit holds 18 gallons, although we do not recommend boiling more than 12 gallons (perfect for 10 gallon batches). The grain pipe (basket) holds up to 35 pounds of crushed malt, and a pipe with included silicone hose on top feeds the recirculated wort from the pump evenly on top of the grain bed.

Requires 220 volts to operate and plugs into a Nema-6-15R or Nema 6-20R 220 volt outlet. 26” by 26” by 34” tall with the grain pipe removed.


 

  • For a short time William’s Brewing has this on for $384.99.
  • Shipping is free or reasonably priced flat rate to addresses in the contiguous US depending on your order size for most items.

Brewzilla 65 Liter Gen 3.1.1

Save Another $30 (Ends 12/11)!

William’s Brewing is discounting most orders by up to $50 based on order size. Excludes grain, sugar, gift certificates, Blichmann and Behmor. Coupons in graphic above.

William’s Brewing Holiday Coupon Sale

Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4 All Grain Brewing System

This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

Visit William’s Brewing – Web Only Clearance Sale

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability.

If you Missed Out… I found one shops that’s still offering Grainfather Deals!

  • Grainfather Discounts are rare.  Why?  Grainfather gear is under a MAP agreement.  MAP = Minimum Advertised Price.  It’s an agreement between sellers and manufacturer’s not to sell an item below a certain price.  Generally speaking, the Grainfather gear is not discounted.
  • Grainfather has authorized a black friday sale. Multiple vendors are running great deals.

The sale includes electric brewing systems, conicals, glycol chillers and more.

Update: Most retailers ended this sale on 11/27. As of this update, MoreBeer still has most Grainfather gear marked down. I have no idea how long this will last so I’d suggest acting sooner rather than later.

Grainfather at MoreBeer!

This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

:watch 

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability. tag:grainfather tag:itsapage

If you Missed Out… I found one shops that’s still offering Grainfather Deals!

  • Grainfather Discounts are rare.  Why?  Grainfather gear is under a MAP agreement.  MAP = Minimum Advertised Price.  It’s an agreement between sellers and manufacturer’s not to sell an item below a certain price.  Generally speaking, the Grainfather gear is not discounted.
  • Grainfather has authorized a black friday sale. Multiple vendors are running great deals.

The sale includes electric brewing systems, conicals, glycol chillers and more.

Update: Most retailers ended this sale on 11/27. As of this update, MoreBeer still has most Grainfather gear marked down. I have no idea how long this will last so I’d suggest acting sooner rather than later.

Grainfather at MoreBeer!

This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

:watch 

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability. tag:grainfather tag:itsapage

Save on Grainfather Electric Systems, Conicals & Glycol Systems – Multiple Shops + My Pick for the Best Deal!

  • Grainfather Discounts are rare.  Why?  Grainfather gear is under a MAP agreement.  MAP = Minimum Advertised Price.  It’s an agreement between sellers and manufacturer’s not to sell an item below a certain price.  Generally speaking, the Grainfather gear is not discounted.
  • Grainfather has authorized a black friday sale. Multiple vendors are running great deals.

The sale includes electric brewing systems, conicals, glycol chillers and more.

Considering the 15% back component… AIH is the best deal happening right now

Check sale or product page for current availability & pricing

This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

:watch 

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability. tag:grainfather tag:itsapage

Hands on Review: Blichmann Engineering BrewEasy Compact

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Blichmann Engineering BrewEasy Compact

Blichmann came out with the BrewEasy in 2014. It was when all-in-one units were starting to pop up in the market everywhere. Blichmann went in a different direction, by building on the strength of their existing kettles, and finding an innovative way to connect them together. They came out with a revised model in 2021 that they call the BrewEasy Compact, but they still offer the original configuration and call it the BrewEasy Classic. This review will focus on the BrewEasy Compact.

Bottom of Mash Basket

The BrewEasy Compact is a similar layout to other all-in-one brewing units in the market. There’s a kettle with malt basket that sits inside. When mashing, the grain sits in the basket, and a pump is used to continually recirculate wort through the grain. When mashing is finished, you lift the basket of wet grains out, drain them, and then the kettle changes focus to boiling the wort that is left. The Compact comes in both gas and electric power (120V or 240V). The electric version can come with either the Boil Coil heating element inside the kettle, or Blichmann’s new BoilerMaker Surface with the heating element bonded to the underside of the kettle. The Boilermaker Surface has the same kettle up top, but the heating elements are sealed away in their own space, like a basement apartment. This makes the kettle’s overall height about 6” taller (10-gallon Surface is 22” tall, and standard G2 kettle is 16.4”), but makes the kettle interior very uncluttered for ease of cleaning.


Compare Models, Prices and Availability, Review Continues Below:

Continue reading

Closeout… Robobrew BrewZilla 65L All Grain Brewing System – on sale for… $379.99

Brewzilla 65 Liter Gen 3.1.1

Brewzilla 65 Liter via William’s Brewing

More Info

From the product description, check product page for current description, price and availability:

• Recirculation Pump

• Mash & Boil, and Chill

• Mash up to 35 pounds

• Distilling Options

• Includes free Wort Chiller Tubing Kit

The Gen 3.1.1 Brewzilla with Pump from KegLand features a recirculation pump, as well as a false bottom and grain pipe to both protect the pump from clogging, and hold the crushed grain above the bottom for good wort circulation. The Unit holds 18 gallons, although we do not recommend boiling more than 12 gallons (perfect for 10 gallon batches). The grain pipe (basket) holds up to 35 pounds of crushed malt, and a pipe with included silicone hose on top feeds the recirculated wort from the pump evenly on top of the grain bed.

Requires 220 volts to operate and plugs into a Nema-6-15R or Nema 6-20R 220 volt outlet. 26” by 26” by 34” tall with the grain pipe removed.


 

  • For a short time William’s Brewing has this on for $379.99.
  • Shipping is free or reasonably priced flat rate to addresses in the contiguous US depending on your order size for most items.

Brewzilla 65 Liter Gen 3.1.1

William’s Brewing Freebies! + Stacking Deals

Hands on Review: BrewZilla Gen 4 All Grain Brewing System

This post may contain affiliate links. We may make a commission when you use our links. This will never cost you extra. Thank you for supporting Homebrew Finds!

Visit William’s Brewing – Web Only Clearance Sale

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability.