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What should I be looking for in a New Brew system.

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  • What should I be looking for in a New Brew system.

    Hello all,

    We have been open 6 months and I am currently brewing on a Pyshobrew style system. Which is pretty much a large home brew system. We are exploring options for upgrading to a 10 or 15BBL Direct fire system. I am not hugely aware of the process on these larger, more traditional systems and am not sure what to look for when purchasing one. Can any one give me any pointers?

    Josh

  • #2
    prepare some specifications first:

    what style of beers are you going to want to make: lagers/ ales/ kooky belgian stuff/ barrel aged/ sours?
    how much beer do you expect to make in the next 2,3,5 years?
    how many different beers to you want to have available at any given time?
    are you going to sell it in kegs to licensees/ taproom
    in bottles at your shop/ distributor/ retail?
    in cans?
    what kind of shelf life do you need?

    make a business plan. how much can you spend, how much carrying costs can you handle?


    then look at shiny things such as equipment, and maybe visit/ talk to brewers who use equipment from the same manufacturers to see what they like about it or not.

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    • #3
      We are on track this year to do around 1000-1200 BBLs this year on our current system (5 bbl). We would like to upgrade to a system that can put us in the 3500-4000 bbl range. We do a wide range of beers from barrel aged stouts, to long term barrel aged sours to IPAs and Belgians. We sell in house and currently distribute to two counties. We would be adding an additional two counties to start once this new system is in place. I have run all the numbers and we are in a good place to make this happen. I just have not brewed much on a traditional system and want to make sure I buy something that will work for us long term. I am looking at day to day use kinds of things. How is the grain out process? Does it Lauder the way I want it to? those kinds of questions. But was just curious is there something else for the day to day use that I need to consider?

      Josh

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      • #4
        Visit some of you local breweries to see what they like. We currently have a JVNW system and have been very happy with it. Its a 15 bbl system (I wouldnt buy anything smaller given your numbers) and it is a system that they had already used in several other breweries so it was a well proven system. You want to look at instillation JVNW did ours so it went together quick and painlessly because again thats what they do and they know exactly what they need to get it up and running quickly. We recently added sprinkman tanks and I have been happy with them. If you can make it up to CBC this year all the manufactures will be there and you can meet and greet it is a great way to see and learn alot in a short period of time. One last suggestion DO NOT buy anything from China, I have heard and seen first hand all the non stop problems that seem to happen yes, the price looks good but when tanks arrive with rust on them your in for a long tough road
        Mike Eme
        Brewmaster

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        • #5
          If you are going to embark on a $500,000+ project and aren't confident in equipment, maybe it would be good to hire somebody as a consultant to help you get equipment that will work well for you.

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          • #6
            One thing that is often overlooked, especially on the smaller (say sub-30bbl) systems, is a hot liquor flow meter. I highly recommend having one included in any system. It makes it so much easier to determine strike and sparge volumes. I wouldn't be without it.

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            • #7
              awesome stuff guys. /\ /\ /\ these are the types of things that I am interested in for sure. I am lucky enough to have some stainless welding skills and am looking at new equipment and also a local used system that I might go with. Just want to know the process things like above that I should take into consideration. All of our equipment is american made and I would like to keep it that way. Any other small tid bits like above? little things that make life easier?

              Josh

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