HOMEMADE brew system idea!! Feedback welcome

I am a fabricator with 4 neighbours brewing the same beer. We have an Idea and would like some feed back.
30 Gallon Batch American Light

8.5 cu ft deep freeze (allows 6" of head room or more after liner insert installed
custom 304 stainless liner for inside the freezer (no lid inside freezer)
Pressure guage for monitoring fermentation with 5psi auto bleed valve
Temp probe/switch
5000KW in tank (liner) heater for boiling the initial water required (6 Gallons according to instructions)
72 degree water top up after mixing
cast yeast
Close lid on deep freeze and set in-tank 5000 kw t-stat for 69 on and 72 off
Deep Freezer stored in 69 deg controlled environment (garage)
lid locked down with positive lock system (latches) added to lid
After fermentation set t stat to 34f/0c to power freezer to chill 24-28 hrs max
After chill pressurize deep freezr with lid still locked to 6psi-8psi to push beer into filter press before kegging. (tested freezer already holds 15PSI for 10hrs) with valve stem and bulkhead fitting through lid
tank tapered slightly at the bottom for settlement
clean out at very bottom of liner/hopper style insert in the freezer
exit for beer to be 2.5" from bottom for exit to filter and kegs

I am a fabricator with 4 neighbours brewing the same beer. We have an Idea and would like some feed back.
30 Gallon Batch American Light

8.5 cu ft deep freeze (allows 6" of head room or more after liner insert installed
custom 304 stainless liner for inside the freezer (no lid inside freezer)
Pressure guage for monitoring fermentation with 5psi auto bleed valve
Temp probe/switch
5000KW in tank (liner) heater for boiling the initial water required (6 Gallons according to instructions)
72 degree water top up after mixing
cast yeast
Close lid on deep freeze and set in-tank 5000 kw t-stat for 69 on and 72 off
Deep Freezer stored in 69 deg controlled environment (garage)
lid locked down with positive lock system (latches) added to lid
After fermentation set t stat to 34f/0c to power freezer to chill 24-28 hrs max
After chill pressurize deep freezr with lid still locked to 6psi-8psi to push beer into filter press before kegging. (tested freezer already holds 15PSI for 10hrs) with valve stem and bulkhead fitting through lid
tank tapered slightly at the bottom for settlement
clean out at very bottom of liner/hopper style insert in the freezer
exit for beer to be 2.5" from bottom for exit to filter and kegs

i'm not smart enough to figure this out.

still can't figure it out....

custom 304 stainless liner for inside the freezer (no lid inside freezer)

sounds pricey... and...

complicated?

This sounds insane! Have you built this already, or is this a proposed idea? Any pictures?

basically food safe stainless liner I would cut and weld to fit inside the deep freeze.
No lid means the only lid the fermentor would have is the actual deep freeze cover or lid

Stanzela.... no .. never built yet but just wondering what I am missing.... total cost $700 with all the fittings, elemment, probe, freezer and t-stat controller, and hose with ball valves. Unit would drain out side the garage when cleaning. Would be able to make 138 litres in one shot. Divided by 4 friends is pretty cheap and easy if it would work....

I'm no engineer but this sounds like it'd be way more trouble that it's worth. And your temperatures are too warm.

why are the temps too warm. The brew instructions say 68-72??

kh54s10 said:

I'm no engineer but this sounds like it'd be way more trouble that it's worth. And your temperatures are too warm.

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I think that this is true if only the 68F ambient temperature is used. Would you be able to control the t-stat to give you an internal (wort) temp of 68 or lower, consistently throughout fermentation?

I could bring the environment down lower (garage temp) and lower the t-stat??

brewer5548 said:

why are the temps too warm. The brew instructions say 68-72??

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Too warm because fermentation is exothermic (heat producing) so if your garage is 68 and the fermenting wort is producing heat, then your wort must be warmer than the 68. Not a huge issue in a little glass carboy where a)heat can (more) easily escape and b) cool temps can penetrate in, but with a batch this size AND placing it in an insulated environment (freezer) where heat can't escape, things inside will warm up quickly.

So you're trying to take a chest freezer and are turning it into a giant electric boil kettle / fermentor. Okay. You're only boiling 6 gallons at a time, adding the hops and extract to the "kettle." Then you're adding a lot of top off water, bringing it to the required volumes, pitching the yeast and then using a temp controller hooked up to the freezer and the electric heat element to keep the temps where they should be. No mention of venting excess co2 buildup, so I'm assuming that you're attempting a pressurized fermentation. Then when the fermentation is complete, you crank up the freezer, cold crash it for a few days, then drain it through a filtration unit, using the pressure built up from the fermentation to push the beer through the filter.

Well...my guess would be that you'd have a heck of a time keeping the pressures in. I'd recommend just installing an airlock (probably six airlocks, more like it) to vent the pressures and then use a pump to push the beer through your filtration unit.

And popping a hole in the bottom side of a chest freezer gives you a pretty good probability of nicking the cooling coil, ruining your chest freezer. Perhaps you could get a siphon / pump system to go over the top instead of popping a hole. Sounds like a really interesting project. Take a lot of pictures.

Please don't post the same thing in different threads.

brewer5548 said:

...Pressure guage for monitoring fermentation with 5psi auto bleed valve...

Click to expand...

The bleed valve would build to 5psi then release pressure... At last stage before filtering he is gonna pressurize to 6-8psi to pump...

Sounds like a fun project and a good investment in community relations...

If you are dreaming, would an aquarium chiller work to drop the temp in the freezer? Or could you turn the coils on low and use the heater to keep it in range?

Not yet homebrewing...
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please draw a diagram for each part so everyone can get a better idea of what this will look like

"I am a fabricator with 4 neighbours brewing the same beer. We have an Idea and would like some feed back.
30 Gallon Batch American Light

8.5 cu ft deep freeze (allows 6" of head room or more after liner insert installed
custom 304 stainless liner for inside the freezer (no lid inside freezer)
Pressure guage for monitoring fermentation with 5psi auto bleed valve
Temp probe/switch
5000KW in tank (liner) heater for boiling the initial water required (6 Gallons according to instructions)
72 degree water top up after mixing
cast yeast
Close lid on deep freeze and set in-tank 5000 kw t-stat for 69 on and 72 off
Deep Freezer stored in 69 deg controlled environment (garage)
lid locked down with positive lock system (latches) added to lid
After fermentation set t stat to 34f/0c to power freezer to chill 24-28 hrs max
After chill pressurize deep freezr with lid still locked to 6psi-8psi to push beer into filter press before kegging. (tested freezer already holds 15PSI for 10hrs) with valve stem and bulkhead fitting through lid
tank tapered slightly at the bottom for settlement
clean out at very bottom of liner/hopper style insert in the freezer
exit for beer to be 2.5" from bottom for exit to filter and kegs"



A couple of things...I am a tinkerer/astronomer...so take this as you may

#1 I would be very concerned about the internal freezer components (compressor, evaporator) being able to handle the high boil temps. Freon, R12, R134, whatever gas is in those lines...The components are not designed to be run up the *212+ temps you are talking about. Heat equals pressure, more pressure than what the cooling system in the freezer is designed to handle....
#2 It sounds like you are going to use the heating element in conjunction with the freezerto maintain a brew temp? Maybe i am reading it wrong....
#3 You would be better set to put a temp controller on the freezer to maintain a brew temp, like many others do here, and not bother with running the element.
#4 the rubber gasket common on freezers is a mold trap unless it is cleaned frequently.
#5....#1 will be the deal breaker though



It would be so much cheaper and simpler to get the chest freezer, put a temp controller on it and brew in buckets, carboys or even kegs....

Why overcomplicate things? You wont have time to RDWHAHB cos youre too busy planning an ovethought setup. Might as well buld a real brew setup for the time and money youre investing!

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Boiling would destroy the freezer.

BrewinBigD said:

Why overcomplicate things? You wont have time to RDWHAHB cos youre too busy planning an ovethought setup. Might as well buld a real brew setup for the time and money youre investing!

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Some people enjoy this type of project. Not sure, but I believe he's using this as a ferm chanber and boiling the wort conventionally. No? I'd be concerned that by the time you finish that batch you'd be sick of it. Plus, there are limits on annual production a home brewer can produce legally. How often do you forsee doing these mega batches? For me part of the fun is tweaking the recipie to get it where I want. Little opportunity for tweaking unless you have LOTS of friends.

If I had fabrication talents I would construct a 1, 2, or 3 tier system (your preference). If you like the idea of electric check out The Electric Brewery you might be able to fabricate a lot of what you need and save $$$

Excellent idea for a fermentation chamber. I assume each of the neighbors are going to brew their portion on the same day and combine into this? I think it might be a good idea to think about the potential blow off on the system. I would be concerned about not having a sanitary lid, but am having a hard time conceptualizing it. Are you planning to sanitize with a garden sprayer?

Why not just build a pumped system out of stainless 55gal drums. Since you're a fabricator I'd bet you could do it for half the price, and be the envy of your local homebrew clubs. Plus, you could use your chest freezer as a kick ass kegerator for all of your delicious brews.

snaps10 said:

Why not just build a pumped system out of stainless 55gal drums. Since you're a fabricator I'd bet you could do it for half the price, and be the envy of your local homebrew clubs. Plus, you could use your chest freezer as a kick ass kegerator for all of your delicious brews.

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Thats more what im talkin about! Im in-process of building a simpified (and safer, more energy efficient) version of the electric brewerys system. 1 pump for HERMS, gravity to boil. Cost me half what theirs cost and will work great.

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5000KW?

You better get a big extension cord...

Diver165 said:

5000KW?

You better get a big extension cord...

Click to expand...

You better get a nuclear reactor too to keep that puppy fired up!! Isnt 5000kW the sae as 5MW??

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