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Hey everyone – we're considering having one of our tank suppliers build a yeast brink for us that would have some of the following specs:
6bbl glycol jacketed tank with dish bottom
Sanitary mixing paddle installed through the head that would be powered by a VFD'd motor that could be programmed to gently stir the slurry at a set interval for a set time period, and then also would let us stir to homogenize the slurry prior to collecting a sample to count the yeast.
Port for an o2 stone should we want to use it as a propagator
Ultimately we're tired of sanitizing and prepping our 8 or so 1/2bbl converted brinks, then shaking and counting each one, and etc etc.
Given the cost of these types of builds – one quote was $24,000.00 I've got some questions about how it should be used.
We have one house ale strain that we harvest regularly and if we went to one collection vessel, we'd likely have to harvest from tanks while some previously harvested slurry was still left in the brink, thereby mixing different slurries with respect to both generation and the tank/gyle they came from. Obviously in a perfect and apparently super wealthy scenario we'd harvest one from one tank into the brink, and then pitch that slurry until its gone and not harvest again until its been cleaned and sani'd again. This would require multiple expensive brinks. In the real world I just can't see this sort of SOP working for us given that undoubtedly it would hold up other beers from getting dry hopped, or harvested from which would reduce viability as it waits in the cone after soft crashing etc.
We have, at times, been forced to pitch a portion of slurry from a previous generation or harvest due to a lack of slurry on hand and how much beer we're brewing, and although it felt wrong, it always seemed to work out fine. Also, maybe it's worth mentioning we only run our yeast to 6-7 generations anyway.
So – are we overthinking this or asking for trouble? Also, I'd much rather considering purchasing one of the conical type brinks on skids/casters that don't have a motor and mixer, but if so and if anyone has those, how are you mixing the slurry to get an accurate cell count, or are you not and if so, how do you know accurately what the density of the slurry actually is? The beauty of the keg brinks is that we can mix them up individually – not possible to a 3-6bbl tank.
Any thoughts or advice is welcome.
6bbl glycol jacketed tank with dish bottom
Sanitary mixing paddle installed through the head that would be powered by a VFD'd motor that could be programmed to gently stir the slurry at a set interval for a set time period, and then also would let us stir to homogenize the slurry prior to collecting a sample to count the yeast.
Port for an o2 stone should we want to use it as a propagator
Ultimately we're tired of sanitizing and prepping our 8 or so 1/2bbl converted brinks, then shaking and counting each one, and etc etc.
Given the cost of these types of builds – one quote was $24,000.00 I've got some questions about how it should be used.
We have one house ale strain that we harvest regularly and if we went to one collection vessel, we'd likely have to harvest from tanks while some previously harvested slurry was still left in the brink, thereby mixing different slurries with respect to both generation and the tank/gyle they came from. Obviously in a perfect and apparently super wealthy scenario we'd harvest one from one tank into the brink, and then pitch that slurry until its gone and not harvest again until its been cleaned and sani'd again. This would require multiple expensive brinks. In the real world I just can't see this sort of SOP working for us given that undoubtedly it would hold up other beers from getting dry hopped, or harvested from which would reduce viability as it waits in the cone after soft crashing etc.
We have, at times, been forced to pitch a portion of slurry from a previous generation or harvest due to a lack of slurry on hand and how much beer we're brewing, and although it felt wrong, it always seemed to work out fine. Also, maybe it's worth mentioning we only run our yeast to 6-7 generations anyway.
So – are we overthinking this or asking for trouble? Also, I'd much rather considering purchasing one of the conical type brinks on skids/casters that don't have a motor and mixer, but if so and if anyone has those, how are you mixing the slurry to get an accurate cell count, or are you not and if so, how do you know accurately what the density of the slurry actually is? The beauty of the keg brinks is that we can mix them up individually – not possible to a 3-6bbl tank.
Any thoughts or advice is welcome.