Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Help with 7 bbl Pub Brewhouse

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Help with 7 bbl Pub Brewhouse

    Hey all - I've just taken a new job at a startup brewpub where an old 7 bbl Pub system is in place already. It's a copper clad system with a combi mash tun/hot liquor tank. I'm trying to find out if anyone out there has a similar system and can tell me what the volume of the kettle and HLT are. If I want to make a dipstick for the kettle, how many inches = 1 bbl? Also how many inches = 1 bbl on the HLT?

    I know I can climb in and measure everything and figure it out that way, but I'm not on location and a bit pressed for time so if anyone out there is using this system and can tell me that would be a huge help.

    Cheers!

    Hutch Kugeman
    Head Brewer
    Crossroads Brewing
    Athens, NY
    Hutch Kugeman
    Head Brewer
    Brooklyn Brewery at the Culinary Institute of America
    Hyde Park, NY

  • #2
    Get a jug with a known volume and a marker! Just make sure you have small enough increments at the bottom, but higher up you can go larger. I am sure that this is not what you wanted to hear, but with this size, it is the only way you can be sure.
    Roger Greene

    Comment


    • #3
      See if you can talk to your plumber and get/borrow a water meter to flow the vessels (dm3 - cubic decimeters is the ideal unit for the flow meter) Mark a stick appropriately as you fill.

      The tank to tank variation, on small tanks especially, can be quite startling. This, of course, depends on the manufacturer and their level of precision in rolling the steel body of the tank and assembling the tank components.

      This can make it virtually impossible, in some cases with small brewing systems to accurately gauge volumes from design drawings.

      Pax.

      Liam
      Liam McKenna
      www.yellowbellybrewery.com

      Comment


      • #4
        You can measure the diameter and height of the tank, and then just figure out how much water it takes to fill up each inch. For instance: if the tank is 48in diameter and 72in high, the volume is:130,228 cubic inches. This is 564 gallons. Each inch is 7.83 gallons. If there is a dish bottom, you will probably have to dump measured buckets of water in there until that fills up, and then start with your inch measurements.

        By the way, I didn't have to get out my high school geometry text for this. There are cool calculators online that help you figure out cylinder volume without even knowing the formula. Also, I didn't double check my work here, so it might be totally off.
        Troy Robinson
        Quirk Brewing
        Walla Walla

        Comment


        • #5
          HI Hutch!
          I'm working on a 7bbl pub here in WY. Feel free to e-mail direct.
          Assuming your trying to max production, Volume for boil is 9.5 bbls with blow-over in fermentors about 10% of the time. End boil volume 270 hot/260 cold. between 245-255gl in servers with plenty of head space.
          Dip stick is 6.5 inches for 50gl. 27gl at the top of the hop dam, 100gl at the top of the first ladder rung and 205gl at the top of the second.
          I don't know the volume of the hlt. I start with it full and have to top it off a bit for the sparge. (Mine has a flow meter)
          Mash tun is a bit small and you'll have to reduce volume for anything over 16p. and plates don't fit well so i crush course and recirc for 30 Min's. Efficiency is in the low 80's.
          Ted Briggs
          brewmaster@landerbrewing.com
          And have fun pollishing that copper
          Brewmaster, Minocqua Brewing Company
          tbriggs@minocquabrewingcompany.com
          "Your results may vary"

          Comment


          • #6
            Thanks Ted! That's exactly what I was looking for. I'll do my own calculations when I have time, but I'm brewing our first batch on the fly a bit. Good to know that the HLT is small for a 7 bbl sparge. I'll have to prep for that. Do you mash-in out of the kettle?

            I worked on a 15 bbl Pub system at the Pelican, but it was a long time ago...
            Hutch Kugeman
            Head Brewer
            Brooklyn Brewery at the Culinary Institute of America
            Hyde Park, NY

            Comment

            Working...
            X