Here is history of the brewery and it's current status. I've been brewing since 2008 and I was reading a friends blog and it occurred to me I've done a lot of design work in the brewery. I wanted to capture it here.
Stands:
System 1:
Kitchen with electric stove doing 5 gallon extract batch with 7.5
gallon pot. This lasted for 1 batch since the stove couldn’t produce enough
heat to get a rolling boil.
System 2:
Outside turkey fryer doing 5 gallon extract batch with 7.5 gallon
pot. This lasted 1 batch because I wanted to go all grain.
System 3:
Outside turkey fryer and a cooler mash tun to do all grain. Works
ok. I wanted to be able to heat my mash tun and wanted a larger pot to prevent
boilovers.
System 4:
Outside turkey fryer with converted kegs. Works better. Lifting
heavy kegs with no pumps.
System 5:
Brutus clone without automation and with regular turkey fryer
burners. I liked the single tier but the burners weren't great. This system
lasts a while in this configuration. Brew outside in the weather. Wind affects
boil off. Uses a lot of propane and temperature affect propane. Brutus was
setup as a direct fire RIMS system. Then I converted the HLT and was able to
use Brutus as HERMS system. HERMS was harder to control mash temperature due to the weather.
System 6:
I bought a used gravity top tier at a price I couldn't pass up. I
liked the burners but I missed the pumps. This lasted one batch, then I modified
the top tier to have 1 pump and built a control panel to control the pump. I liked the single tier setup better but the
blichmann burners were really nice on this stand. Still brewing outside in the weather. Wind affects boil off. Uses a lot of
propane and temperature affects propane.
I used this system while I built the next stand.
System 7:
Electric Brutus: Modify Brutus setup to use electric instead of
propane. Brutus runs as a HERMS system with Blichmann Boilermakers. I now brew
in the garage out of the elements. I replaced the stainless elements that were showing rust after 9 months with a higher quality all stainless element. My control
panel is attached to the stand via bolts, so I can remove from the stand if I want. This is my current setup.
Pots:
7.5 gallon aluminum pot - too small.
3 converted kegs with ss scrubie - kettle clogs. Heavy - volume
losses.
3 converted kegs with center braided line - kettle clogs. Heavy -
volume losses
3 converted kegs with center copper pickup and stainless perforated
false bottom - works great unless you use copious amount of pellet hops. Heavy
- volume losses
3 Morebeer pots with aluminum bottom and perforated false bottom. -
Heavy - good pickups.
3 Blichmann boilermakers -
Nicest pot so far. Current setup.
Blichmann Hop blocker is kind of a pain to use but it filters well.
But I can't use whole hops unless I bag them. Next test is to use a custom
perforated false bottom above the kettle pickup tube. Not tested yet.
Chillers:
3/8" Copper immersion - tubing leaks, slow
1/2" Copper immersion - hard connect - works good - turns
dark and then shiny after using. Didn’t like the copper discoloration and stuff
ending up in beer.
1/2" Stainless immersion - hard connect - works slower than
copper but acceptable - easy to clean
1/2" copper counterflow - works good - pain to clean since it
need to be recirculated to clean.
Blichmann Therminator - works good for ales, not good enough for
lagers unless it's really cold out. pain to clean since it need to be
recirculated to clean.
Pain to clean and maintain.
I actually prefer 1/2” stainless immersion chiller but I have
counterflow and Therminator for different brews at times.
Sparging:
Batch sparge vs. fly sparge vs no sparge.
I find this argument all over the place when it comes to homebrewers
and I don’t understand it. I used to batch sparge when I brewed outside because
I couldn’t control the temperature when fly sparging.
I now fly sparge because I brew inside and can control temperature
better. Sometimes I batch sparge when I don’t have a lot of time. Sometimes I don’t sparge because I want a beer
to taste a certain way.
Fermentation:
I use glass carboys more than conical because I like smaller batches
and usually pitch different yeasts.
I use 1 gallon jugs for cider experiments and for messing around
with sour cultures.
As I replaced or upgraded components I sold the old components that
I didn’t use anymore.
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| Electric Brutus Mashing |
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| Electric Brutus Chilling |
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| Electric Brutus Element Upgrade |
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| Electric Brutus control panel |
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| Electric Brutus control panel wiring |
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| Serving: refrigerator |
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| Conditioning: freezer with analog temp controller |
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| Fermentation:freezer with two stage digital Love temperature controller |
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| Fermentation: inside gfci outlets (1 on, 2 temp) |
