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Brewzilla 35l generation 3.1.1 vs. Grainfather S40


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12 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Being off work I (un)fortunately spend too much time surfing the net and I feel like I wanna get into allgrain or brew in a bag brewing. Does anyone has any experience using one off these two ?   Brewzilla 35l generation 3.1.1 vs. Grainfather S40

Brewzilla 35l gen 3.1.1 user. Good way to get into AG, reasonably cheap and user friendly. 

Only thing going against it is the position of the panel, which has never bothered me. 

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25 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Being off work I (un)fortunately spend too much time surfing the net and I feel like I wanna get into allgrain or brew in a bag brewing. Does anyone has any experience using one off these two ?   Brewzilla 35l generation 3.1.1 vs. Grainfather S40

I'm eying a Brewzilla 4.0 but there are a fair few BZ 3.1.1 users here and @Red devil 44just got himself a GF S40. From what I hear, both are good machines and are easy to use for beginners.

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1 minute ago, Aussiekraut said:

I'm eying a Brewzilla 4.0 but there are a fair few BZ 3.1.1 users here and @Red devil 44just got himself a GF S40. From what I hear, both are good machines and are easy to use for beginners.

 

15 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

Brewzilla 35l gen 3.1.1 user. Good way to get into AG, reasonably cheap and user friendly. 

Only thing going against it is the position of the panel, which has never bothered me. 

Someone has the Grainfather on special for $300 bucks less

 

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9 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Being off work I (un)fortunately spend too much time surfing the net and I feel like I wanna get into allgrain or brew in a bag brewing. Does anyone has any experience using one off these two ?   Brewzilla 35l generation 3.1.1 vs. Grainfather S40

bz35l  3.1.1   this is a full all grain setup   which is the model before the bz35 gen4    and is very good  little brewing setup  and you can either use this system in both biab style or as a full All grain type of set up and has its own  built in pump  for recirclating or you can attach your wort chiller to this to cool ya wort via immersion chiller in an eski of ice  or through a counter pressure wort chiller.    or   you can just use the immersion chiller with a hose connected  to cool the wort down    and then fill your  FV from the tap. and you can program  the ststem for you as well run manually (dont confuse this in the way bz35l gen4 works or how grainfather works as there is no wifi or bluetooth connectivity)

the downside to bz 3.1.1  is the your control panel is down the bottom (unless you wish to move into the bz35l gen 4) but  it shouldnt be a deal breaker

S40  is the entry level  for grainfather and is very similar  to bz35 3.1.1 and has no connectivity (bz 35l 3.1.1 also no connectivity) or Programable features and will only be able to use manual mode.    

both these units  can be used as biab style as well    

in my thoughts if the s40 was about when i went all grain  i may have brought this model  due to i think the proramable features of the brewzilla 3.1.1 was not worth  it for me  as i always manual mode and felt more in control with system  

however if you want something programable specially if your want to do step mashes  the program feature of the 3.1.1 is a good thing in that regard and you still can turn it back into manual mode.   the other good thing is you can get your water ready the night before and set it to warm up so all you have to do is drop the grain and mash  saving on time


i  have both bz35l 3.1.1 bz35l gen4 models   and later down the track i am contemplating either the gen4 65l or just going all out either with a g70 or g40 in grainfather


either model you will not  be dissapointed



 

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12 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

 

Someone has the Grainfather on special for $300 bucks less

 

The Brewzilla 3.1.1 35 litre is around 400 dollars, so someone is selling a Grainfather for 100 dollars? Go for it.

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1 minute ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

430 instead of 730

Ah ok, i misunderstood. I thought you meant less than the Zilla. If its second hand and in good nick i still say go for it, brand new definitely go for it.

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25 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

430 instead of 730

there is a good reason  why the s40  has had a price reduction

1 its entry level stem

2 it cant do the same things as its competitors version (yes they all make beer)

while the bz 35l gen4 was not available    the s40 could hold its price for what it is  
and dont get me wrong i know people with the s40  and yes they are good system
but if your going to try to sell something with minimal features you dont do that against something that has  better features

@ $430 for the s40  over the bz 3.1.1  at $399  it becomes more affordable   and competitive


this is the difference i would be looking at   you can add to boiler extender and recirc extender to these things as well as extending the mash tun in the 3.1.1 
you cant do this with any of the grainfather products yet...    

so look at what you can add  to benifit your system mate   35 litres suddenly becomes into around 47litres which will give you good solid 2 kegs worth


but  s40 is a nice unit @ $430  dollars   

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On 7/20/2022 at 6:12 PM, Aussiekraut said:

I'm eying a Brewzilla 4.0 but there are a fair few BZ 3.1.1 users here and @Red devil 44just got himself a GF S40. From what I hear, both are good machines and are easy to use for beginners.

Yeah the S40 went well on its maiden voyage,I had a double batch in there and it handled it easy enough.

Controls up the top, no wifi but no biggie for me.

Got up to temp no worries, I had the S40 & a Digiboil (for mash water) running off the same power board and it kept tripping, so moved the Digiboil to a seperate power point and all went well. 
All round it’s a good system and I couldn’t resist the EOFY sale being reduced from $720  to $420, I still like the Gen 4.0 but I’m happy with my bargain. 

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23 minutes ago, Red devil 44 said:

Yeah the S40 went well on its maiden voyage,I had a double batch in there and it handled it easy enough.

Controls up the top, no wifi but no biggie for me.

Got up to temp no worries, I had the S40 & a Digiboil (for mash water) running off the same power board and it kept tripping, so moved the Digiboil to a seperate power point and all went well. 
All round it’s a good system and I couldn’t resist the EOFY sale being reduced from $720  to $420, I still like the Gen 4.0 but I’m happy with my bargain. 

Mate  they will lose sales in my opinion if they bump back to original price of s40.

Mate having WiFi or Bluetooth capability should never be the deal breaker

I think brewing manual mode better it gives more control. 

 

Good to see you enjoying your s40 mate

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1 hour ago, Red devil 44 said:

Yeah the S40 went well on its maiden voyage,I had a double batch in there and it handled it easy enough.

Controls up the top, no wifi but no biggie for me.

Got up to temp no worries, I had the S40 & a Digiboil (for mash water) running off the same power board and it kept tripping, so moved the Digiboil to a seperate power point and all went well. 
All round it’s a good system and I couldn’t resist the EOFY sale being reduced from $720  to $420, I still like the Gen 4.0 but I’m happy with my bargain. 

Sounds like all systems go RD, that is a good saving.

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44 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

Mate  they will lose sales in my opinion if they bump back to original price of s40.

Mate having WiFi or Bluetooth capability should never be the deal breaker

I think brewing manual mode better it gives more control. 

 

Good to see you enjoying your s40 mate

Yeah no wifi doesn’t bother me

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  • 2 weeks later...
Just now, Classic Brewing Co said:

Same unit but I added items separately. They are a great unit to start with, I am more than happy with mine & it's only upwards from now on.

Look, got my tax return and invested it into something I enjoy doing. Still will do K&K as I have still some kits left, but my first brew will be a Chocolate Stout, as my daughter bought me an all grain kit.

 

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Just now, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Look, got my tax return and invested it into something I enjoy doing. Still will do K&K as I have still some kits left, but my first brew will be a Chocolate Stout, as my daughter bought me an all grain kit.

 

I also like the idea of the hotcube, as I don't like to waste water

 

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Just now, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Look, got my tax return and invested it into something I enjoy doing. Still will do K&K as I have still some kits left, but my first brew will be a Chocolate Stout, as my daughter bought me an all grain kit.

 

That's good, go for it, I still do k & K just to get bottle stock, it is nice to have both beer on tap & bottles.  Good luck with your first brew.

TIP: Don't underestimate the weight of the malt when you are lifting it out to sparge, it's hot & heavy - I had a scary time with my first go but I have it under control now !!

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Just now, Classic Brewing Co said:

That's good, go for it, I still do k & K just to get bottle stock, it is nice to have both beer on tap & bottles.  Good luck with your first brew.

TIP: Don't underestimate the weight of the malt when you are lifting it out to sparge, it's hot & heavy - I had a scary time with my first go but I have it under control now !!

Kind of got an idea, during my time of after surgery I watched quiet a few different videos, I also like your set up with the platform

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1 minute ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Yea, Hot Cube is the only way to go, the supplied chiller is to slow & uses way too much water.

My second ever brew was a Coopers Australian Pale Ale ( which by the way was absolutely delicious). Being absolutely inexperienced the wort was far too warm to pitch the yeast, so I left the FV Outside on the veranda to cool down over night. So I did the right thing without knowing

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