What would you do?

A friend recently delivered a 50 gallon stainless steel hot water tank used in a local food production facility. Said friend just happens to be the individual who fastens, manufactures, alters this stainless steel to food grade standards. He claims he can turn it into pretty much anything I need it to be.

So I am asking anyone willing to offer suggestions.... How should I use this... Mash tun? Lauter tun? Brew kettle? And how should it be fashioned?

Lastly.... It is quite likely he can get me more.

Thank you, in advance!

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Maybe you can put some kind of screen in the bottom and use it as a lauter tun and sparge basin? And if youre getting more then how about a brew tank?

Pretty clear there's a lot more going on there than "water tank", what with the jacketing and all. Which actually cuts down the utility of that huge chunk of stainless.

Wonder what the scrap value would be?

Cheers!

Nope.... That's all that has ever been in it. Hot water. Not sure its specific use. That is also all he paid for it... scrap prices... Not even stainless steel scrap because this factory throws all of its metal together instead of separating. In exchange? "Ahh... I'll just take a few beers from time to time". Deal!

As I originally stated, he can alter it an any way.

Clearly though, your vote is that it's useless?

The presence of the jacket makes me think trying to transform that beast into anything I could see in my own brewery would be a costly pita...

Cheers!

As stated above, my friend is willing to do whatever is needed... Gratis.

Yeah, I got that. But I wonder if he'll still feel that way once he starts trying to convert one of those into a single wall vessel that could then be used for pretty much anything you want - BK, HLT, even MLT - with some valves 'n' stuff - and a crap ton of sanitary welds...

Cheers!

I must be missing something. What do you mean by single wall? There is only a single layer of metal to this tank.

It seems the last picture makes it appear as though there are two walls... But there are not.

day_trippr said:

The presence of the jacket makes me think trying to transform that beast into anything I could see in my own brewery would be a costly pita...

Cheers!

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I disagree. If it is jacketed and structurally sound, it wouldn't be too bad to pick up a steam generator. Then you have a steam based vessel, which is completely awesome. Worst case, an angle grinder would make short work of the jacketed bottom portion if you want to direct fire, and as long as proper venting is done up top you'd have much more efficient heating.

So the basic suggestion would be large mash/lauter tun, and potentially a HERMs setup (if you're going big anyway...). Other options include the HLT (not very creative, but very useful!) and a boil kettle.

Lastly, you should check out cones/funnels from places like Toledo Metal Spinning. If you can get a sanitary 60 degree cone welded on, can maintain/extend the jacket (if there is one), and your Buffy can do the sanitary welds, you just got yourself some cheap conicals!!!

Whatever you use them for, congrats. That's a great find, and I'm sure you'll figure out the right uses for you.

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sell it to someone that brews barrels at a time and move on. unless you are ready to go big time? it would take some serious heating requirements to boil in that dude. either step to the plate and brew huge batches our sell to someone that will for a profit. ............ I came across a 60 gal steam kettle under similar circumstances and had no choice but to sell ( at a hefty profit). don't bite off more than you can chew

My intent was not necessarily to fill it to the top. However, I think it would be great to be able to make 10 or even 20 gallon batches. As of now I am still mashing in a rubbermade cooler (not a big fan of heat and plastic) and an 8 gallon kettle which constantly boils over and often times need to collect more than what it will hold and add as evaporation makes room.

I figured if I had at least one more... If not two... I could have a pretty sweet set up.

Thank you, Brewguyver, for at least offering a few positive words.

Again, there is only one wall, not two.

I don't see why it would take any longer to heat up 14 gallons of wort in here than it would in any other vessel...?

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well in my complete unprofessional, non-liable, opinion ( yea UPNLO didnt work but i laughed) I think its easiest and best use is a HLT, i dont know hoe they heated it previously or how thick the bottom is though. As a mash tun that would be a beast to clean wouldnt it? I mean if your friend can fabricate at will then I guess anythings possible, but it seams it is already a HLT sans hoses, no? It could be a damn fine fermenter with a little work as well, a not so conical fermeter....

oh $hit I just re read that, 50 gallons? IDK what do you envision this thing becoming?

Either a ferm or brite tank with some mods.. If u dont brew that much than i agree with a few others.. Fab it up so its a usable vessel (ferm, brite, mt, hlt etc) and make a profit.. Get all three (i think u said) fab on of each and you have jus shy of a 1bbl system that you could sell.. (Maybe a local restaurant that wants to brew) to small for a nano or micro but maybe a small place looking to start

Or fab em up and upgrade yourself.. Lol either way you pretty much seem to know what can be done with them.. Either upgrade or make money is what i see

Hey... I am just an hour north of you in Hesperia.

DrBrewDC said:

It seems the last picture makes it appear as though there are two walls... But there are not.

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Wow. My apologies, but that shot totally did sell the idea it was a double-walled vessel, with an in and out on top. My bad.

That makes a huge difference in the practical utility of that monster, of course - if you actually need a monster vessel.

So, do you? Or is this all just spit-balling?

Cheers!

Sweet didnt even notice.. Im on my phone 90% of the time so i dont see location unless i look for it.. But yea either upgrade or make money is what i see.. The hide out brewery could use some fermentation tanks..lol there still doing those blue barrels haha

my first thought would be to make it into a fermenter.

Another vote for fermenter.

JUST_BREW_IT said:

sell it to someone that brews barrels at a time and move on. unless you are ready to go big time? it would take some serious heating requirements to boil in that dude. either step to the plate and brew huge batches our sell to someone that will for a profit. ............ I came across a 60 gal steam kettle under similar circumstances and had no choice but to sell ( at a hefty profit). don't bite off more than you can chew

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If that tank is as clean as it looks (no pitting on the inside), and you have the space, I'd hold onto it even if you can't use it now. The lid and porting on the top looks pretty good, and it can be hard to find tanks you can trust (e.g. weren't used as vats to hold photo chemicals like I keep finding on Pittsburgh Craigslist). That said, if your friend can mod this as a 1bbl fermenter and you can sell it at a good price (1k+ profit), you'd be we'll on your way to funding a brand new 20gal brewery.

DrBrewDC said:

I don't see why it would take any longer to heat up 14 gallons of wort in here than it would in any other vessel...?

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14 gallons heats the same in the same environment, but that sucker probably has a lot more mass then a standard kettle. More mass means more heating time and energy. Consequently it also takes more energy to cool it down.

If you don't go fermenter, I still say mash tun. I use a 72qt now and I'm constantly risking overflow. That *shouldn't* be a problem with 200 qts , unless you do a group mash.

How about cutting a section out of the middle and then welding it back together to reduce its effective volume to a more usuable 20-25 gallons? Grind the welds down flush so there arent any little nooks for crud and bacteria to hide. It will reduce your total mass of the tank which will make it easier to move, easier to heat up, and since it will be smaller you can more easily reach inside it to clean.

Hmmm.... interesting!

I agree with some of the others and would go with it as a fermentor if I had it. Spend the money to make it a conical? Probably not a bad idea. I definitely would set it up with CIP so you don't have to ever attempt to move that hulk!

Second option would be to make it a MLT. I like this idea because you can do some serious sized batches, partigyles, etc.

You have a nice problem to solve. Best of luck!

Thank you!

See if it will hold pressure then turn it into a keg. That would be epic.

Impractical, but epic nonetheless.

Ha! Oh, I suppose it could be done. ...However, then I am back to the whole conundrum of filling it with my current 5 gal batch system.

DrBrewDC said:

Ha! Oh, I suppose it could be done. ...However, then I am back to the whole conundrum of filling it with my current 5 gal batch system.

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Marathon brew days making the same recipe .

not nearly enough time in a day!

DrBrewDC said:

not nearly enough time in a day!

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You'd get really, really good at it though.