Insulation on a brew kettle

[brain medicine]

I'll describe how someone I know did something similar. your mileage may vary.

high temp adhesive, pumice type stones, rockwool insulation rolls.

they shaved the stones to lay flat against the round tank, and then to sit just below the height of the rockwoll. about 2inch if I recall. they glued the stones around the tank near the bottom, middle and top.

they wrapped the rockwool around the tank, notching it wherever the stones were. they then took stainless steel banding and wrapped the rock wool to keep it in place. (remember the stone is just below the face of the rock wool). it compressed the wool just enough to hold it in place, but no so much as to defeat the insulation properties.

kinda itchy, not pretty, but easy to do. if I recall they'd replace the top roll every so often as it would get wort and crap stuck into fibers, and it wasn't really something you could wash out. but it was cheap enough that they didn't care.

[paul farnsworth]

I would like the insulation information also

Hey Red
Could you pm me the insulation link please?
Thanks
Paul

Iron John BC
Tucson

[Andrew_Kulp]

Hey Rick, the insulation you are talking about is readily available, as are the pins to attach it. I'll PM you some info.

I'm interested in that info too. I'm trying to insulate a single wall 7 to 10 bbl tank for use as an electric HLT.

[StoutTanksMike]

Insulation on a brew kettle

I would highly recommend insulation on all tanks. Especially 3 bbls and bigger. I wouldn't want to lose my business over a few bucks from an accidental burn. In my opinion without insulation it's only a matter of time before someone gets a permanent scar or worse.

Safety - with insulation the odds of a burn are much less
Efficiency - Much more efficient with insulation. I've had results of getting to a boil 15 mins faster with insulation. If you are brewing 3 times a week that adds up to 37.5 hrs at 50 weeks! This is 2 week vacation paid for by the insulation. Without insulation the heat escaping kettle into the brewery will put a bigger toll on your AC and make bill higher for cooling the brewery. Also putting more strain on the AC unit and shortening the lifespan.

SAFETY is my biggest concern. To me a few bucks to ensure that I don't lose my dream brewery to an accidental burn is worth the small cost of insulation.

I hope this helps. If you need any pricing for some insulated tanks please feel free to reach out to myself or any of our other experienced brewers. For our tanks it's typically around $800-1000 for insulation.

Cheers,

Mike Paladino
Brewery Design Consultant
support@stouttanks.com
Stout Tanks and Kettles, LLC
https://conical-fermenter.com/
The Craft Brewery Experts:
Beer, Kombucha, Wine, Cider, Mead, Cold Brew Coffee
503-372-9580 (Office)
503-766-3206 (Direct)

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[Bigredwelder]

I would be interested in that info as well. Is it rockwool?

torque2 I PM'd you.

[torque2]

I would be interested in that info as well. Is it rockwool?

[Bigredwelder]

I used to work at a refinery... wish I had access to the insulation they had laying around.......

Hey Rick, the insulation you are talking about is readily available, as are the pins to attach it. I'll PM you some info.

[TemplarBrewing]

It also depends on how the kettle is heated. There is not really a reason why that would create a code violation if the kettle is steam or electric heated. Foam or batting wrapped around the kettle and protected from soaking and physical damage could be workable.

Thanks for the info! Lots of stuff to consider.

[WaterEng]

It also depends on how the kettle is heated. There is not really a reason why that would create a code violation if the kettle is steam or electric heated. Foam or batting wrapped around the kettle and protected from soaking and physical damage could be workable.

[TemplarBrewing]

Brick works- 1 layer of fire brick and one for the outside to look nice.

https://www.portstreetbeerhouse.co.u...chment/grittys

Interesting!

[Ted Briggs]

Brick works- 1 layer of fire brick and one for the outside to look nice.

https://www.portstreetbeerhouse.co.u...chment/grittys

[TemplarBrewing]

I am getting ready to use a 400 gallon single wall tank with direct fire as a BK myself. I was trying to find some way to insulate the sides as well. I was thinking maybe some ceramic insulation like they use on boilers, just haven't figured out how to attach it yet.

I used to work at a refinery... wish I had access to the insulation they had laying around.......

[jawsfree]

I am getting ready to use a 400 gallon single wall tank with direct fire as a BK myself. I was trying to find some way to insulate the sides as well. I was thinking maybe some ceramic insulation like they use on boilers, just haven't figured out how to attach it yet.

[TemplarBrewing]

Not recommending it, but it could be manageable. I used to have an old 600 liter (functionally 4 bbl) Letina wine fermenter as a brew kettle, had a wok style gas burner underneath. The burner had a heat shield around it to focus heat up to the kettle, but the kettle was uninsulated. It was HOT in the brewhouse on brew days , but I used it for about 2 years, and managed not to seriously scald myself. I bought it used from another brewery that had used it for a few years, and have now sold it to another start up that is on a budget and planning on using it as a hot liquor tank. I now have a nice professional insulated 7 bbl kettle from Forgeworks, and I am extremely happy with it.

So, manageable? Yes. Recommended? I will leave that decision to you.

Good luck.

Thanks for the help!!!

[backslope]

Not recommending it, but it could be manageable. I used to have an old 600 liter (functionally 4 bbl) Letina wine fermenter as a brew kettle, had a wok style gas burner underneath. The burner had a heat shield around it to focus heat up to the kettle, but the kettle was uninsulated. It was HOT in the brewhouse on brew days , but I used it for about 2 years, and managed not to seriously scald myself. I bought it used from another brewery that had used it for a few years, and have now sold it to another start up that is on a budget and planning on using it as a hot liquor tank. I now have a nice professional insulated 7 bbl kettle from Forgeworks, and I am extremely happy with it.

So, manageable? Yes. Recommended? I will leave that decision to you.

Good luck.