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Finding Frankenbrew Equipment

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  • Finding Frankenbrew Equipment

    I am in the planning stages of opening (funded and am scouting for locations). I have read Hennessy's book, as well as perused dairyengineering.com for equipment, however I feel woefully inadequate when it comes to selecting tanks which will inevitably require modification (and, gulp, installation). I am, of course, tempted to just say screw it and go with a new setup, but the upfront savings are no joke. I have two questions:

    1) For those that began or still use a Frankenbrew approach to the brewhouse/cellaring, do you regret it? Did it hamper expansion? Has the upfront savings been offset by additional labor and maintenance due to everything being non-standard?

    2) Is there a company that specializes in helping connect breweries with Frankenbrew-style equipment? Sort of like a middle-man? I know the endstate I want, but am a bit lost on the multiplicity of ways to crack the nut.

    Thanks for any insight.
    Last edited by trandahl; 03-30-2019, 11:43 AM.

  • #2
    Here’s your equipment

    Paying a middle man for frankenbrew equipment defeats the purpose of being cheap. Here you go...

    For a 7bbl Frankenbrewery:

    Mash tun: https://www.bascommaple.com/item/td240/tank_stainless/

    Hot water storage/“HLT”:
    Don’t spend any money on this and use your fermenter that you’ll be transferring into on brewday as your hot liquor tank

    Brew Kettle:
    “Econo line 7bbl brew kettle”



    Fermenter:
    Letina Z1000C tanks
    winery equipment, sanitary valves and fittings



    Cold liquor tank:
    Just place one of these in your cold room with your serving tanks:
    Polyethylene vertical cylindrical flat top tank used in agriculture and industrial managment. It supports temperatures lower than 120 degrees. It has UV inhibitors and gallon indicators molded. FDA approved. This tank has to be above ground.


    Brite/serving tanks:
    Unjacketed 900L tank:
    Black Forest has designed what has quickly become the industry standard for a cylindrical pressurized tank for fermentation, serving and storage.


    Instead of using sankes to keg off your serving tanks use corny kegs:
    When stainless steel 5 gallon ball lock kegs have too much fun, we recondition them and send them back out serve another day. Get one for yourself.


    Corny Keg washer:
    This carboy and keg cleaning washer is designed to clean and sanitize large vessels like cornelius kegs. It is quiet, easy to use, and can clean tubing too!


    Pumps:
    For hot transfers:
    The C100MD 3/4 HP Portable Transfer Pump features a water resistant power switch and a 25 ft molded cable and plug, all mounted on a SS cart

    For cold water transfer from cold liquor tank to heat exchanger:
    Jet05 pump at http://www.stpats.com/index.htm

    Hoses:
    Extreme flexible hose for suction and discharge application that meet FDA and 3-A in food and beverage processing plants. Temperature range - 22 F to + 226 F. Sold in 25', 50', 75' and 100' length.



    Heat Exchanger:


    For various triclamp parts and other fittings:
    Welcome to Brewers Hardware, Inc. Brewers Hardware offers a variety of unique and hard to find items to the home and craft brewing markets. Specializing in Tri Clover compatible sanitary fittings and other stainless steel parts and accessories, our selection is constantly expanding. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram  and Twitter to stay informed about new and upcoming products. For video demonstrations of our products, see our YouTube page.

    https://www.glaciertanks.com
    Last edited by Catfish002; 03-30-2019, 12:43 PM.

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    • #3
      And I’ve seen frankenbrew brewpubs and frankenbrew packaging microbreweries be successful and still in business many years later.
      Last edited by Catfish002; 03-30-2019, 07:55 AM.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Catfish002 View Post
        And I’ve seen frankenbrew brewpubs and frankenbrew packaging microbreweries be successful and still in business many years later.
        Thanks for the resources. I'll check them out.

        Comment


        • #5
          If you want to go more frankenbrew on the brew kettle you can get...

          Kettle
          Variable capacity wine tank made in Croatia by Letina Inox.  Made of 304L stainless steel with a bright annealed finish ( BA/IIId ), circle polished on the exterior.  Includes the floating lid, 1.5” TC butterfly valve, TC gasket and clamp, hand pump, inflatable gasket and air vent.  Variable capacity wine tanks are great for kombucha also.  Variable capacity tanks provide much needed flexibility to winemakers whose grape yields vary from one year to the next.  The tank does not need to be filled to the top.  The floating lid is placed on the surface of the wine and the inflatable gasket gets pumped up by the included hand pump and the seal is airtight, protecting the wine from harmful exposure to air.  The inflatable gasket is installed around the rim of the lid, similar to the inner tube on a bicycle tire.  This tank can be used for fermentation and also for aging. Diameter is 38” and the height is 59”.  Dollie with wheel not included.


          Stand
          Bubbas Barrels can make you a custom stand for either direct fire or electric
          Bubba's Barrels specializes in brewing hardware, 20 to 110 gallon brew kettles, and 55 and 110 gallon stainless drums and brewing supplies.


          For direct fire heating
          Cast iron jet burners, fueled by either propane or natural gas, are similar to turkey kettle burners and are typically only used in outdoor brewing. Get a new Natural Gas Jet Burner - 44 Tip #54 - 440000 BTU from Glacier Tanks, your neighborhood brewing expert. Talk to us! Brew with us! Share with us!


          For electric heating
          Three of these: https://ebrewsupply.com/products/208...t-with-housing
          With three of these:

          Comment


          • #6
            Catfish has given you plenty of great resources, but I'll throw in my 2 cents.

            We started as a 4bbl Frankenbrew, now open 3 years as a 7 bbl partial Frankenbrew, brewpub style, full restaurant, no significant distribution, around 350 bbl/year.

            The real savings for us was that I spent about a year putting my whole kit together, and could shop around. If it was within a days drive, could fit in the back of a 1998 Ford Ranger pickup, and I had the cash for it, then I would get it. Got used gear from 8 different breweries and 1 dairy farm that was switching from dairy to meat production.

            Assembled the 4 bbl brewhouse for under $6k, 200 gallon dairy tank MT, 200 gallon dairy tank HLT, 140 gallon Letina wine fermenter with a burner under it for the kettle. Around $5k for the tanks, the remainder for some welding and retrofitting and piping. I have upgraded to a real 7 bbl kettle from Forgeworks in Colorado , but still have my frankenbrew MT and HLT, love them, plan on continuing to use them indefinitely.

            Started fermenting in a few proper fermenters and a few Letina wine tank with variable capacity lids. Cleaning and labor was a huge pain in the ass for the wine tanks, but it saved a ton of money up front. I have upgraded to all proper fermenters and brites now.

            Personally, I would avoid a brazed plate HX like the Duda Diesel, and recommend spending $2k on a good professional one, but I have fouled a heat exchanger resulting in infections and tossed batches, so I love my Thermaline, which I am able to disassemble and really clean if needed. My first HX was from the old dairy, it was old, but I was able to disassemble it and clean it really well before using it for beer, and it was nearly free. But a year later when I had cash I got the Thermaline. I haven't fouled the HX in a few years due to much better processes (knock on wood), but I still am wary of those brazed Hxs, even though other folks use them successfully.

            Also, I second CPE for good quality all purpose pumps. Be ready to spend around $2k to get a good pump from them.

            All this to say, yes you can do this, yes you can make good beer on these systems, but it can take significantly more labor. I used to have more time than money, so it worked out well, and was worth my while. Since I had no debt, I was able to cashflow upgrades as needed, and now 3 years later I pretty much have everything I want in a brewhouse, I have upgraded and added tons of gear with cash.

            As Catfish noted, using a middleman does cut out much of the savings, but there is a fellow on the forum who does some good welding work on old tanks, James Gimurtru I believe is his name, I think 'Gimurtru' is his user name. Check out his posts and you can get an idea of what it would cost to have someone find and fix up tanks for you. It might be worth it for a some items. I haven't used any of his gear, but I've met him briefly and he seems like a super nice guy, and his prices seem fair to me.

            Hope this helps. Good luck.

            Comment


            • #7
              Yes “Gimurtu” has posted nice frankenbrew equipment that he makes here on probrewer. All of his tanks that he makes look really good. You should contact him as well.
              Last edited by Catfish002; 03-30-2019, 11:50 AM.

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              • #8
                Thanks for the spelling correction on Gimurtu. I was shooting from memory, and it is very fallible.

                Also, to clarify from my earlier post, about half of my frankenbrew equipment was already being used by other breweries, specifically the kettle and the letina fermenters. (The MT and HLT I modified myself.) So I didn't have to worry so much about modifying and installing, I could already see how to use it and knew it could make good beer. And, 2 years later I was able to sell it to another start up in the area when I upgraded. So, you might be able to talk to some breweries that are 1-5 years old in your vicinity that use some frankenbrew equipment, they might be upgrading and selling in the near future.

                Good luck.

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