Brewery Brewing update 02/07/2014

Was planning to brew tonight or tomorrow but the brewery's water source is frozen due to the ice storm. So no brewing until I can run the spigot.

I have another project in mind to keep me busy tonight after I finish up with work.
Hint below...

Brewery history

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:

Research here: http://jdladyluckbrewing.blogspot.com/2012/07/fermenter-experiment.html

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.

  

Electric Brutus Mashing

Electric Brutus Chilling

Electric Brutus Element Upgrade

Electric Brutus control panel

Electric Brutus control panel wiring

Serving: refrigerator

Conditioning: freezer with analog temp controller

Fermentation:freezer with two stage digital Love temperature controller

Fermentation: inside gfci outlets (1 on, 2 temp)

Tap List Updated 03/29/2014

Tap 1 - Holy smoke, a Lenten Lager! Rauchbier - 5%

Tap 2 - Sneaky Mrs. Claus - Belgian Golden Strong - 7%

Tap 3 (Nitrogen) - Sledwrecker - Russian Imperial Stout aged on Merlot oak - 8%

Tap 4 - Cookie Monster's Beer - English Brown Ale brewed with Sweetzel Ginger Snaps- 5%

Tap 5 (Funky) - Thing Blue: Flanders Brown aged on Blueberries 2/2012 6%

Beer Engine (cask) - empty

Upcoming:
Whitbread X 1917 (mild) open fermentation cask
Whitbread X 1917 (mild) closed fermentation cask
Little Joe's Pale Ale on cask

Brewery construction January 2014

I added a welded port to the HLT and Kettle.

Diagnosed a intermittent problem with the controller that runs the kettle. The sensor for the kettle had an internal solder joint that wasn't solid. Fixed it and got the OHM resistance readings I was looking for.

Here's some pics of the new kettle ports and setup. 

All stainless now, I am satisfied with the build. Almost.

I need to run through a full brew session to fully commit to be satisfied. Almost.

New book in the mail today!

Yea!

I read the book the last two evenings and it was a very interesting read. I picked up some brewing knowledge, reviewed some interesting recipes, and enjoyed Ron's narrative.

I need a bitter stat - 1962 Fullers PA

Got home from work tonight and decided I needed to brew a little something something.
How about a nice bitter/pale ale/mild? I just happen to have some washed Fullers yeast getting hungry.
Here's what I brewed:
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2009/07/lets-brew-wednesday-fullers-1962-elp-lp.html

1962 must have been a pretty good year from what I've seen,

Stout Uncle - January 5, 2014

I attended a funeral a few days ago for my Uncle Jim who I always got along with well. Jim enjoyed his Guinness and I have a soft spot in my heart for Guinness. At the funeral, I was talking to my cousin Anne who was in town to attend the funeral.  Anne's father Frank is also an uncle I am fond of, but never had the opportunity to spend much time with (he lives in England). In the few times with him we enjoyed a few pints.  Uncle Frank isn't doing so good either, so I figured I would brew something in honor of my two uncles.

I brewed a 1923 Courage Stout from Ron Pattinson's blog "Shut up about Barkley Perkins". 

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/11/lets-brew-wednesday-1923-courage-stout.html

I love Ron's blog which contains his old brewing log research and an interesting view into his world.

Brew day went well and I just beat the deep freeze as a nasty cold front rolled in. Two days later we had a high of 7 degrees, coldest in a few decades.

Guinness, my chocolate lab of 13.5 years is also not doing so well. Here's a shot from when he was a puppy.