Brewery Layout

[brew4you_]

I've found a potential opportunity to add a brewery to a restaurant. This works well for me as I don't want anything to do with food sales. I walked through the location today - good news is that they haven't opened yet so renovation plans can be modified. We identified a few spots in the location that might work - but nothing that is all together. Has anyone ever had to seperate brewing, fermenting, and brite tanks? I might be able to fit the brewing and 3 FV's in the main area and put the serving tanks in another - but would most likely have to run some hose through the cieling to transfer it. Any advice? Tips?

[gitchegumee]

I've done it several times without much trouble. Instead of hoses, I recommend two stainless lines; one for product and one for balance (CO2). As long as you have a portable pump for cleaning these two lines are all that is needed between fermentation and serving. Good luck!

[Gregg]

Ss pipe over hoses seconded. Hygiene & reliability justify the additional cost.

[brew4you_]

ok great. Any suggestion for placement of the filter? How about keg filling machines? I'm thinking of putting the filter near the FV's and the Keg filler near the brite tanks.

Also, anyone have a chart showing brewing capacity for 7 and 10 BBL systems based on the # of FV's? Assuming 1 brew a day with matching sized FV's.

I'm thinking if I have only 3 FV's I can do like 840 BBL's a year on a 10 BBL system... sound right?

[burcher]

you may find this helpful:

http://www.specific.net/systemsizing.htm

[gitchegumee]

Filter should be with the FV. Keg filling machine? Unless you have cleaning in mind, why not just a simple coupler & hose from a bright?

[brew4you_]

Filter should be with the FV. Keg filling machine? Unless you have cleaning in mind, why not just a simple coupler & hose from a bright?

I do have cleaning in mind. Makes outside sales so much easier to have the machine to clean and fill.

[beermkr]

My brewing and fermenting is located in the brewery and the serving is down the hall in the walk-in. I do not have the luxury of installed piping and use long hoses (about 75 feet). I actually like the hoses because I can set up and clan and sanitize them in the brewery before I transfer.

I bleed pressure off the server and use CO2 to pressurize the FV when transferring. Probably not the most efficient use but hey it works.

My filter is on wheels and is pulled out when needed. I do not have a keg cleaner so I have rigged up a system using a bucket and my transfer pump as a keg cleaner. I have to clean, breakdown, and then sanitize but based on the fact that we do not go through lots of kegs it works fine. Basically I set up and clean once every couple weeks.

My filler is a fill head on a hose that I carry into the cold room.

Vintage 50 in Leesburg has the brew system out in the open, the FV's down the hall towards the door and the serving tanks the opposite direction behind the brew system.

It can be done. Just depends on how you want to work and the space you have to work from.

R/