7kg Grain Bill in a 35l Brewzilla?

[Little Rock Brewing]

Hi All. I've got a Trappist Rochefort all grain kit to do but the 7kg grain bill in my Brewzilla concerns me.

Also the recipe calls for a stepped mash, which I find always results in a stuck mash and a couple of hours of faffing.

Is it possible to do two separate mashes and combine the 2 worts into the 26 litre boil?

 

[Rwilts]

I did a cloud 9 clone a few years ago which had almost an 8kg grain bill, was way to much for the brewzilla 3.1.1 and didn't make for a relaxed brew day.

I see no reason why you can't mash twice, I think I have seen a few brewers recently who have used the first mash as strick water for a second mash with new grains for imperial stouts etc .

So combining two mashes with half grain should be fine.

 

[Empty bottle]

I don't see any reason as to why you couldn't.

 

[Caramel Ox]

I have had 6.8kg in my klarstein unfortunately I can never remember how similar each system is. I assume your kit is all in one bag, as if it was separated not all of the grain would technically need to be in the mash?

 

[Little Rock Brewing]

Yes, all mixed up in one bag.

 

[Stewart Brewing]

Hi All. I've got a Trappist Rochefort all grain kit to do but the 7kg grain bill in my Brewzilla concerns me.

Also the recipe calls for a stepped mash, which I find always results in a stuck mash and a couple of hours of faffing.

Is it possible to do two separate mashes and combine the 2 worts into the 26 litre boil?

Hi Little Rock.
I have a Brewzilla 35l, I have mashed with 6.5kg of malt in it and possibly a bit more. Have you considered only mashing at 6.5 kg and making up the rest of the gravity with sugar after the mash. That’s how I would do it rather than doing two mashes. Two mashes on one day sounds a pain.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I have a 35L bz, you will struggle with 7kg mine was brimed with 6.7kg and efficeincy was well down

 

[Little Rock Brewing]

Hi Little Rock.
I have a Brewzilla 35l, I have mashed with 6.5kg of malt in it and possibly a bit more. Have you considered only mashing at 6.5 kg and making up the rest of the gravity with sugar after the mash. That’s how I would do it rather than doing two mashes. Two mashes on one day sounds a pain.

The recipe already calls for 2kg of sugar in the boil!
I might have to deploy my old cool box mash tun, but no chance of a stepped mash with that.

 

[Redgrave_3]

@Rodcx500z makes a great point re efficiency. I don’t have the same system as you but when I pushed mine to a comparable limit my efficiency was way down. Two mashes if you have the patience sounds like a solid plan.

 

[Stewart Brewing]

The recipe already calls for 2kg of sugar in the boil!
I might have to deploy my old cool box mash tun, but no chance of a stepped mash with that.

Add another 500 grams of sugar or dry extract. Its not going to make much difference if you are already adding 2 kg. Separate mash if you have the kit sounds good also.

 

[Slid]

I am not familiar with the Brewzilla, but to get a really strong brew from the GF, the most practical approach is known as the Parti-Gyle. This involves mashing a large amount of grain (a Gyle) more than once. You mash the big 7kg grain once, remove say, 10 -12L of wort and boil that up to be your strong beer.
At or around the same time, add more mash water @ 65C and mash a second time, not for the full hour, and possibly adding Crystal or other malts not needing a long mash time.

I have only done this a couple of times, as the really strong beers were interesting, but not really to my taste, TBH. It is a LONG brew day and requires much thought before, much juggling during and much clearing up afterwards. Unless you actually are a big fan, I would suggest a 5.5kg - 6KG grain bill, stirring the mash once (or even twice) during the 60m and adding DME and sugar later in the process.

Since Elizabethan times, First, not Second, the re-iterated mash has been known as "a waste of both grains and men".

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I have done a reiterated mash for large grain bill in a robobrew.
Mash half to two thirds of grain, pull the grains squeeze and sparge a little.
Then put in remaining grain mash that sparge and boil.
Your efficiency will be better this way than a very thick single batch mash.
Long brewday and boil.
Overnight mash first part can help.
I stepped up to 70 litre unit to solve this problem, but high gravity is a challenge and third go I managed brewhouse efficiency of 66%.
I partigyled the remaining grain and so actually ended up with combined bhe of 86 percent.

 

[Little Rock Brewing]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll put this one off until I've got more time I think.
The recipe says it should be 11.3% ABV and to be honest I don't mind too much if I don't achieve that!

 

[ecirpian]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll put this one off until I've got more time I think.
The recipe says it should be 11.3% ABV and to be honest I don't mind too much if I don't achieve that!

I regularly do at least two brews in a day and find the extra time is not a problem. I guess you’ll be setting aside the first batch and boiling together (an extra 1.5hrs?). I never do a full clean in between, just hose everything down whilst the next batch’s water is heating.

Another option if you are likely to be doing a lot of big beers is to look at the brewzilla expansion kit, not sure how good they are but worth a look.

 

[sifty]

I did a RIS in the 35l BZ with a 7.6kg grain bill (plus 1.1kg sugar).

It's do-able. Was a very thick mash though, think I did a bit of stirring throughout...

 

[J P]

I run 2 x 35l Brewzillas simultaneously for double batch brew days. Usually different recipes but have mashed a RIS separately and combined the wort into one 30L pre boil volume. Don’t see why you can’t do the same but cube the first wort batch after the mash at say 85c then add back into the kettle after the second mash.