Yeast Brinks and Load Cells Versus Metering Pump for 30,60 & 100 bbl

[brewgood]

We are adding 60 and 100 bbl tanks. Wonderful, but...
First, who makes the best yeast brink? Affordable? Any feedback on GW Kent brink? I don't see many suppliers offering 120 - 180 gallon yeast brinks...what about Stout Tanks, brewhemoth, or Blinchmann Engineering? Or Dayuwz, Chinese supplier? Do you adapt a fermenter?
Who makes a yeast propagator in that size range? Again, any experience with the GW Kent?
Do you recommend load cells on each brink? Or a metering pump? (What type of pump? see my thread on yeast pumps in the pump section)
Thanks for your help.
Cheers,
Brewgood

[brewgood]

Yeast Brink Info Anyone?

Still hoping for some feedback on yeast brinks and yeast pumps.
Cheers

[TGTimm]

DIY brink

We made our own from a 3 bbl jacketed, insulated serving vessel (Tielmann):





You'll need a vessel, preferably jacketed and insulated, four load cells (or one per foot of the tank), a totalaizer, a scale/display, and some welding and electrical skills. I don't recall where we bought the parts for the scale, but PM me and I'll find out. We use a Johnson A419 thermostat and a solenoid valve to control the temperature.

The most difficult part was calibrating the scale. If you live in or near a large town, you should get a pro to do this. I had to weigh lots of scrap metal on a known calibrated scale to get my calibration weight right, then balance it on the brink of the brink.

The one thing we still need is an agitator for yeast prop and uniform pitching. Very expensive, but we'll likely be adding one in the future.

[brewgood]

Adaptability- Great!

Love it Timm. Thanks for posting the pictures. They help explain a lot. I am also considering this option. One option I am considering is using a peristaltic pimp to move the yeast rather than a agitator. If the peristaltic pump has the flow rate range, you could use it to pump the yeast into the brink, circulate the yeast within the brink, and then inject the yeast into the knock out line, as well as pump the yeast in a tank bottom to tank bottom transfer.

Are the load cells more accurate and/or less expensive than using a big scale?
When I was doing 7 bbl batches I used a corny keg and a simple weigh scale.

Do you inject oxygen at any point, such as before pitching?

Great set up!
Cheers

[TGTimm]

The scale/load cell combo we used reads to the nearest 1 lb. or 0.5 kg. and can handle up to 1,000 lb. More accurate set-ups can be found, but usually sacrifice capacity for accuracy.

By a "big scale", do you mean a balance, like an old livestock scale? Any digital scale would use load cells, and be pretty much what we have. A balance scale can be more accurate, but must be perfectly level and requires frequent calibration. Because of the four load cells feeding a totalizer, our brink will still read accurately when pretty badly out of level, and our two large load cell-based systems (brink and grain delivery) have kept their calibration for years (I test occasionally using improvised weights).

We use CO2 pressure to pitch the yeast, and dose based on weight. Fill the brink (either from a cone or by propagation), zero the scale, and off you go. No math, just read the weight and ignore the - sign.

We oxygenate our wort inline after the HX, so no need to add oxygen when pitching.

[brewgood]

Load cells vs metering by pump

The load cells sound great. I've been thinking of using a variable speed peristaltic pump to meter yeast into the knock out line, or pump directly from tank bottom of a fermentor into the knock out line or for collecting yeast into brink.

However, with your last comment it looks like load cells are needed to measure the amount of yeast in the brink.
Can't use a sight glass in the brink and don't know about measuring from the top - sonar- or by pressure from the bottom of the tank, both of which require dedicated fittings.

Our yeast is too thick to move around with CO2, especially now that 60 and 100 bbl tanks are arriving this month.
Looks like I need a pump and a brink with load cells.

What are your thoughts on mixing the yeast with a pump versus a mixer?

Cheers

[TGTimm]

Our yeast is thick enough to stand up 10-12" high on the floor when we're dumping it, and it still moves under CO2 pressure. We pitch ferms from 35 to 110 bbl.

I think the idea of using an expernal pump to circulate and agitate the yeast is a great idea. Lack of uniformity in our pitches due to differences in yeast cell density from the bottom of the brink to the top is a problem in getting consistent pitches. As I mentioned, the cost of a sanitary, low-shear, SS, in-tank agitator is prohibitive for now. I'll be looking into your idea and see how or if I can use it on our brink--

Thanks--