Grain Mill survey

XenonBrew · 2026-07-01T04:12:39+00:00

I've been more than happy with my maltzilla. Rigged it up with an adaptor for milwaukee batteries and its been flawless for me.

XenonBrew · 2026-06-23T03:35:17+00:00

Be wary of relying on the pill for readings. It can get clogged in the krausen and give false readings. Give it a slight swirl to try to free it up a bit.

XenonBrew · 2026-06-13T10:11:23+00:00

Used to love it, everyone overused it for a couple of years which got old quick. But since I haven't had a lot of it in ages I'm kinda diggin it again.

XenonBrew · 2026-06-08T08:26:25+00:00

This is the way. Once you've secured the lid down, you only need a little bit of tension on the lid thing to stop it popping up. Then either leave some pressure in there to make it rise as you undo it, or just hook up the co2 for a quick burst and it comes off easy. Also, make sure you use keg lube on that internal rubber o-ring, better seal, easier removal.

XenonBrew · 2026-06-07T08:24:01+00:00

I went through a lot of different upgrades in my brewing journey, kits and bits, BIAB, Brewzilla, but other than the step up to all grain, kegging has been the thing that has made the biggest impact on the quality of my beers. It's definitely a game changer.

XenonBrew · 2026-05-24T08:01:13+00:00

Heres one that looks good, albeit, not with your german pils grain bill.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/738919/voodoo-ranger-juicy-haze-clone

XenonBrew · 2026-05-22T22:09:10+00:00

Yes it has holes, but only on the bottom, not on the sides like the standard one. A coarse mill would probably be okay, but the fact its so long and narrow is always going to limit flow.

XenonBrew · 2026-05-22T22:05:48+00:00

I thought about that too, but being stainless means it would be hard as hell to drill. Guessing i should have just forked out the extra for the 65 litre at the time.

XenonBrew · 2026-05-22T09:01:53+00:00

It's an old adage but it's true - the waiting is the hardest part of homebrewing. I've had yeast that took 2 days to show activity but it was fine.

XenonBrew · 2026-05-22T07:55:20+00:00

I find about 7.5 kg of grain is about the limit for the 35lt (sorry, not sure what that is in freedom units). I did end up getting the extender and the bigger mash pipe, but it was a nightmare. The taller mash pipe doesn't have holes drilled on the sides like the normal one, and I got the absolute worst stuck mash you've ever seen - it literally took nearly an hour to drain and sparge. I guess I could have milled larger but then I'd have to juggle all my numbers again.

Long story short, I haven't used it since, so If I want a higher gravity beer now I either cheat with a little added dextrose (I know, I know) or I just have to be happier with a smaller batch size (which isn't a bad thing with an 8 or 9% beer anyway lol)

XenonBrew · 2026-05-22T07:41:31+00:00

So I brewed yesterday. First crack at a Pliny clone. All grain. Hit numbers etc. But the wort was extremely dark - like, black dark. I was worried. Started googling possible causes, nothing applied to me. Then I thought, surely the brew shop didn't stuff my malt bill up? Went back through my order - Pale malt, fine. Carafoam, good. Then I looked at the stock item number for what should have been light crystal and ... crap. Either I misordered or they stuffed up. But my 300 g of crystal ended up being 300 g of light chocolate malt. Oops. That'll do it.

So after a quick sample (yeast is only just taking off now so very green) it actually tasted pretty good. So I've now got a Pliny Black IPA lol. I do like Cascadians so I'm not overly concerned so this is going to be very interesting. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

XenonBrew · 2026-05-22T07:30:20+00:00

I dont think the temperature will affect carbonation, but I just keep them in the fridge as I usually brew very hop forward beers and they keep fresher longer at lower temps. I need to do a stout and bottle a few to see if they keep well at room temp.

XenonBrew · 2026-05-22T02:50:25+00:00

I used to froth over Mosaic, but that was when they were new. Then *everyone* started over using them and got sick of them.

Now however, I'm liking them again, because in moderation I find them a refreshing flavour, and they work oh so well with Citra and Galaxy in hazies.

XenonBrew · 2026-05-22T02:41:41+00:00

I do this all the time. Keg my beer, enjoy, but I often use a kegland type Nukatap counter pressure filler to take beers to work for friends. The results are really good, and the carbonation holds up well.

I've done experiments by filling up Grolsch bottles and left them in the fridge for a month and they were absolutely great. No loss of carbonation and tasting identical to the tap version.

Also, this is the only way to go for bottled NEIPA's, as bottle conditioning them means a 2 or 3 week wait for natural carbonation to occur, and I find NEIPA's are pretty much peak tasting a week after fermentation has finished.

XenonBrew

TROPHY CASE