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  • Deciding on equipment upgrades - new brewer

    Hey there everyone,

    I'm forecasting some equipment upgrades, and wanted to get a little feedback from the community on where to invest first.

    Currently we have a 5hl system: Mash tun, Kettle, Brite tank, one of each, all 5 hl capacity. We have 4 FVs 5 hl capacity.

    No other fancy production-side equipment or vessels. We currently do no-sparge brewing, and heat all of our water in a direct-fire kettle (which takes forever)

    We have an adequate mill and pump, however our plate chiller is small and requires a small pump to operate. It takes over an hour (maybe even two?) to chill 5 hl of product.

    We can whirlpool in the kettle, and recirculate our mash. Our mash tun is equipped for a grain hopper and grist hydrator, however we have not yet installed.

    Automation is minimal at this point.

    My gut instinct is to first invest in a boiler / HLT. How do many brewers here keep on-demand hot liquor? Much of our brew day is wasted waiting for water to heat up. Second focus would be faster chilling, third would be automation. What are your thoughts? I've heard from the community to have as many brite tanks as you do FVs. Why operate this way as opposed to 1 unitank (combo fv and brite) per product?

    Greatly appreciate any and all feedback, just getting into commercial brewing here.

    Cheers

  • #2
    the best thing we did when we went from 1.5 bbl to a 3.5 bbl set up(over size mash ton to step up to 7 bbl) was we got an industrial on demand hot water heater. a rinnai (model RU98i)and the industrial thremostate (mcc-91-2)
    we now have water from 110 to 185 when ever wee need it been running it for 2 years thing is great we use it for a strik water and sparge water have a activated charcoal filter be for it to clean the water up a bit and chlorin taste out city water replace it often hook up was easy need are hvac guy to run the gas line we did all other install a good place to start all togeather cost us about 2500$
    cheers and best of luck
    matt 3GB

    Comment


    • #3
      So, you're able to tell your on-demand heater what temperature to output at (strike vs. sparge) with a thermostat? Does it take time to heat up / cool down between temperature intervals? Also, what flow rate are you getting with your combination water filter / on-demand heater, and are you using a cartridge-based GAC filter?

      Thanks again


      Originally posted by 3guysandabeerd View Post
      the best thing we did when we went from 1.5 bbl to a 3.5 bbl set up(over size mash ton to step up to 7 bbl) was we got an industrial on demand hot water heater. a rinnai (model RU98i)and the industrial thremostate (mcc-91-2)
      we now have water from 110 to 185 when ever wee need it been running it for 2 years thing is great we use it for a strik water and sparge water have a activated charcoal filter be for it to clean the water up a bit and chlorin taste out city water replace it often hook up was easy need are hvac guy to run the gas line we did all other install a good place to start all togeather cost us about 2500$
      cheers and best of luck
      matt 3GB

      Comment


      • #4
        No cool down times just walk over to the stat turn it too what ever you want. First few gal. Is a little warmer after that all good for flow rate I'm getting 2.5 gals a min at 185 f and about 3 to 4 gal min at 170 for sparge the thermastat has setting to check what your gal a min are and temp going and out. Stuff like that

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        • #5
          not sure if an on demand HWH works so well for a 5HL brewhouse. Thinking of 30-40 minutes to get enough strike water. Reason why peeps use HLT is they turn them on the night before so water is hot when you come in.

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          • #6
            Would you require a 6hL + HLT? I'm thinking, you use half the water for your mash, then heat up the second half and use it to sparge, emptying the HLT. Is that correct?



            Originally posted by Beluedog View Post
            not sure if an on demand HWH works so well for a 5HL brewhouse. Thinking of 30-40 minutes to get enough strike water. Reason why peeps use HLT is they turn them on the night before so water is hot when you come in.

            Comment


            • #7
              HLT are usually 1.5 - 2x brew length. all depends if you are double or triple batching and how your heating it. so many varibles hard to say what makes the most sense for you.

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