Brew in the Park Day!

Yesterday was our club's (Central Florida Home Brewers) annual "Brew in the Park" event. I have been told that we had at least a dozen home brewers on hand forging their craft, and that we produced a total of 115 gallons of beer! Brad and I were responsible for 14 gallons. We made a nice IPA that took 29.5 lbs of grain,and had a SG of 1.066. There was a total of 8 ounces of hops in this baby, and it was a real joy to brew too!

We had a real good variety of brews being made...Marzens, Porters, American Pale Ale, an English Pale Ale, IPA's and a few others as well! We had a great turn out and the club's president stated that this was the best turn out ever for this event! I had a great time as well and it was a lot of fun to see what the other members of the club were brewing on and making.

I did have an accident and smashed my 6 gallon carboy while rinsing it out and getting it ready to fill up. A fellow member that lives close to the park Mitch, went home and brought another 6 gallon carboy for me to borrow. Thanks a million Mitch! I'll get it back to you soon!

Below are some pics of the event as I saw it. I wish I had taken more, but I was a bit busy brewing!

Thanks for stopping by,
Cheers! (_)3



A nice SS setup controlled by 3 PID's. It was
this brewery's maiden run! All SS plumbing too!



Another approach, a 3 tier gravity system.



Here's my system. That's Brad explaining the
concept behind our madness!!


Here's Vic brewing up a traditional English Bitter!
(Vic is in the blue shirt)



Here's nationally recognised brewer Mark Williams
tending to his system. He makes great beers!



Another 3 tier system. They seem very popular!



Here's Mitch doing his chores.



Where's the elevator??



The most elaborate brew system there. It is a beauty!

The Mash Tun

Thanks for returning!

I have used a few types of mash tuns, from a simple 2 bucket setup, a round Gott type mash tun and now I am currently using a Hobby Beverage MiniBrew Mash Lauter Tun.

I had my doubts about the device as I tried to find out others who had used it. I did get some negative feedback with some saying that they had gotten a sort of "plastic" taste to their wort and finished beer. I was very suspicious about this claim, so I decided to purchase the unit as it has all the major features built in, and the thermal properties were just fantastic! It is made of FDA approved polyethylene (HDPE).

Here's what the MiniBrew site says about the product:

"The MiniMash Lauter Tun is a round, 15 gallon tank will hold up to 35 lbs of grain. Tank is 21 3/4" tall by 15" in diameter. 3/32" screen holes are ideal for a good filter bed. 5/16" thick walls provide mass for strength and good insulation. Transfers BTUs 100,000 times slower than stainless steel based on BTU transfer rate high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Sometimes a blanket or neoprene for insulation is needed."

The thermal properties is what sold me on this product. I have used it for a good 8 brewing sessions, and it holds the mash temperature very very well. At 70 degF ambient outdoor temps, and mashing at a temperature of 154 degF, the tun lost 3 degrees in a 90 minute timed period. An insulated blanket would only be needed for brewing outdoors in a much colder climate. You do have to make sure that you clean the tun very good before first use and after using it too. It is super easy to clean using a soft sponge and some warm water. Of the beers that I have created using the minimash lauter tun, I have not ever picked up any off flavors or "plastic" tastes to any of my beers. After my friend Brad witnessed the unit's operation and superb thermal properties, he went home and got online and purchased one! He has been very happy with it ever since, and I have been very happy with it too. For the single infusion brewer, it is a dream to work with, and you only have to add your dough-in mash water at 13 degF higher than your mash temp, and you'll hit your desired temps with no problem...and will also be able to hold it for practically the entire duration of the mash cycle!

I have my mash tun setup to recirculate through my wort chiller that's placed in my boil kettle that's kept about 5 degrees warmer than the target mash temperature. I also use a Ranco digital temp comtroller to control when the pump comes on, and can hold a mash temp to a +/- 1 degF. Works like a dream! I just have to watch the temp of the boil kettle to insure that it doesn't get too hot. This setup allows me to do very accurate step mashes as well, and is very responsive. I would very much recommend this product to all homebrewers! I love this thing!

Below are a few pics of the unit and some of the plumbing that I added to it. Have questions? Please ask!!


Looking in the mash tun we can see the false bottom
and the thermowell that houses the temp probe.




Here's a shot of the underside of the tun's lid. A
sprinkler head is fastened to the under side to use
for sparging. It works great!



some of the tuns plumbing.



Full shot of the mash tun.



Here'swhere the wort is returned from recycling.



Inside shot of the return. I had to use a 3/8
pipe tap to allow for the fittings thds.
Fitting was not included with the mashtun.



I hope you enjoyed the shots! Next week Brad and I will be going to and participating in my brew club's annual "Brew in the Park" event. We'll be brewing up a 10 gallon batch of an American IPA that Brad whipped up. The SG will be 1.069 and will take 29 lbs of grain! There will also be other brewers there and we'll all be brewing up a storm! I'll make sure to get some good pics of this event, as it is always a lot of fun!

Thanks again...and Brew On!!!! (_)3

The Psychology (psychosis) of my 1 Burner Brewery

OK...better late than never. This post is supposed to be about how I came up with my home brewery design. Hummmm.....let's think about this.

I was then using a 5 gallon homemade 3 tier gravity setup and was working my a#* off just to make 5 gallons of beer at a time. Not to mention all the long hours of being in my driveway in the HOT blistering Florida sunshine. Believe me...NOT fun! That system incorporated 2 turkey type burners and the 7 or 8 gallon aluminum kettles that came with the kits. I used this system for about 3 years, and towards the end, I grew very tired of jumping up and down on a ladder to stir the mash and other things. Also I viewed the entire setup, with the HLT (hot liquor tank) on the top tier a rather dangerous system to work with. I had to be on my toes at all times, and really had to watch my visitors as it was a very large liability if someone had gotten injured. Pretty scary stuff!

So I started thinking about the necessary steps that are taken when anyone brews up a batch of beer. Each step would be the same no matter of size of brewery or who was brewing it. There are several basic steps that must be performed in sequence, to produce a decent beer.

The steps would be:
1). Heat up enough water to supply the mash the proper amount, add to the mash tun when proper temperature has been reached, dough in the grain, then attain the starting mash temperature of your mash program.
2). Heat up a proper amount of hot water to be able to have sparge water in the correct volume.
3). Collect and boil the collected wort add hops etc...then cool the wort as fast as you can.
4). Transfer to primary fermenter....and so on.

It occurred to me that I have been wasting a lot of propane and energy by using 2 burners. 1 to heat the water...and the other to boil the wort. Completely redundant! I thought that if I could heat the water, add it to the mash tun, then keep it hot during the entire process, I could recirculate the wort from the mash tun, through my immersion chiller, then back to the top of the mash tun, therefore maintaining proper temperature, and giving me the possibility the option of performing multiple step mashes. Nice!

So...how can I store hot water for later usage? How about using a picnic cooler? It has great insulating qualities and could hold 15 gallons of hot water! Perfect for my 10 gallon batches!

Sooo...I figured that if I had a decent burner and a decent boil kettle, I could heat the water for the mash tun to the proper temp. that I needed, pump it into the mash tun...add my grains..then proceeded with the mash program. While mashing, we can hold the hot water in the kettle, then transfer it just before it was time to sparge and collect the wort, then pump it into the HLT then be ready to sparge.

Now...I also would need 2 pumps to support the operations. 1 to recirculate the wort from the mash tun, and another to transfer hot water from the kettle to the tun and HLT.

So...besides the fermentation equipment, where would I throw my money? It is my opinion that any brewer should not scrimp when it comes to purchasing their boil kettle. The boil kettle is the heart of the system and actually is used the most. You should get one that is plenty big enough for you to perform the size brews you want to create. I have just received my new boil kettle, a 28 gallon Italian kettle from MoreBeer.com . It is a MONSTER! I love it. I just finished setting it up and washing it and it looks great! Perfect for the planned 20 gallon batches that Brad and I have planned! Talk about excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK...sorry for the ranting....I have discovered that you really need 1 burner for your brewery, a great boil kettle... an easy and efficient mash tun (i use the Hobby Beverage mini-Mash Tun and LOVE it.) more about that on a future post.

So I guess what I'm saying is, throw your money at: Boil Kettle, a great burner, I have a banjo burner, also called a hurricane burner, Mash Tun, Pumps and QD's, and very importantly, your fermentation process (i'll be covering that in future posts).

I hope that I made some kind of sense on this post as this is a rush job of a post. Shown below is the new boil kettle, and a new shot of my mash tun and Hot Liquor Tank (modified cooler) and other stuff that's about the garage.

I'll be attending our brew club's annual "Brew in the Park" event on 03/24/2007, and will be getting ready for that, as I will be bringing my brewery to the event to brew up one of my original APA recipes. Other's will also be brewing there and I will certainly have a few pics to share. It's always a lot of fun!

I'll be talking more about the 1 burner brewery next week, and will go in depth about the mash tun. Pics will be furnished, followed by a quiz!

Thanks for visiting...and remember that we do thankfully accept any donations you may want to send! See left nav bar to do that.

Take care....brew on!
(_)3



Reconfigured brewery setup. I lowered the HLT
and place it next to the Mash Tun. A LOT easier
to work with! I also revamped the plumbing situation
as well.




Out with the old and in with the new! The old
Boil Kettle is on the left..and the new one is..well...
the big one??? It's huge!

Brewing With Brad

Well we sure had a great brewing session over at Brad's house.
I woke up at 6 AM and had my usual 2 cups of coffee and headed over to Brad's house.
When I got there Brad was already in the garage and was busy sanitizing the brewery hoses and pumps and plumbing. That took about 15 minutes. Then we both reviewed the printout of the day's brewing session and proceded to create the 5 gallon batch of Copper Ale. It was a spin-off of a recipe that was published in this month's Zymurgy magazine but with a couple of changes to the hop bill and grain bill as well. Brad lit the burner and proceeded to get the filtered water up to the dough in temperature of 163 degF. Our target temperature was 152 degF and he hit it right on! Needless to say that the rest of the brewing session went without a hitch, and from what Brad tells me, the beer is fermenting like crazy! He had to install a blow-off hose as it was blasting out of his 6 gallon carboy like crazy! This beer is going to be a winner, and I can't wait to try some. But wait we must....patience is the name of this game.

Below are a few shots of Brad's brewing setup which was based after my system. Speaking of my system, I have already reconfigured my plumbing situation and also lowered the sparge tank and placed it to the right of the mash tun at the same height. Doing this has simplified the plumbing layout and it will now be easier for me to monitor the sparge level in the tank. Enough already!
Enjoy the shots, and I'll see ya next week and we'll talk about the design of the 1 burner brewery.

Cheers! (_)3



Here's Brad firing up the burner at sunrise.



An over the shoulder shot of the lit burner:



Here's Brad's brewery layout and homemade stand!



The HLT, power box, pump and digital temp comtroller.



3 wise men! the HLT, mash tun and boil kettle:



Here's the mash tun and the heat exchanger, powered by a 1500 watt heating element:
The mash temp is controlled by this setup and the digital temp comtroller monitors the mash temp and runs the pump if the temps get too low. This setup can hold a +/- 1 degF all day long!
Actually, the pump only came on once during the entire 90 minute single infusion mash!



Here's a peek into the mash tun. Plenty of room for more grain!



Another shot of the setup.



Hey...it's light out!



Another shot of the HLT...



Here's the wort at full boil.





Here's the 8:15 am breakfast, ummmm Porter and doughnuts!



The heat exchanger setup again.





See ya next week! Any questions??