The MaxOut Brew Station

flananuts said:

You just made my train trip into NYC a true pleasure and joy. That is really a remarkable setup. After reading through 20 pages of this thread, not one person asked this question, so I will throw it out there. What the heck are you doing with plastic buckets? Why not move up to a brewhemoth conical or something similar. With a 1 barrel brewhouse why not? With all that extra refrigeration, what about plumbing in a glycol chiller to the internal coil in the brewhemoth, and if you really want high quality beer faster and fully carbonated in the conical, rig up a pressure control with spunding valve to natually carbonate the beer while fermenting. You could then transfer under pressure to your serving corny kegs and keep your beautiful beer free and clear of air contact until you're pouring it.

It just seems that using plastic buckets for your beer is like serving champagne in a solo cup.

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Thanks for your compliments. There are definitely advantages to using conical fermenters especially ones designed to hold pressure as you pointed out. I plan on going to SS conical eventually. I am running out of room in the space I have and I do not air condition it in the summer time. For now the buckets are working well and I can do a bunch of smaller brews for some variation. The recent addition of the large steam kettle has me rethinking my options allot. I like the idea of a 1 BBl conical inside a refrigerator or even using my existing refrigeration to house a glycol chiller. As I’m sure you are aware a jacketed 1 BBL conical is big $$$ so for now will have to wait a while. The way I am set up now I have 1 BBL in primary, 1 BBL in secondary and 1 BBL in serving. Total 90 gallons in pipeline. I’m going to try this out for the summer and may do some changes in the fall. I like the Glacier tanks 50 gallon conical and is probably the one I would get “Here” somewhere down the road.

That is one pathetic looking conical. If your friends ridicule you, I will take it off your hands to save you embarrassment. I'm just thinking of you...

OneHoppyGuy said:

That is one pathetic looking conical. If your friends ridicule you, I will take it off your hands to save you embarrassment. I'm just thinking of you...

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Why don't you buy it for me and when they ridicule me I can tell them it was a gift so I'm stuck with it. glad to know you got my back.

MaxOut your setup brought a tear to my eye. I've known for some time the stainless table was the way I was going. Your setup confirms that. Well done sir.

DWright said:

MaxOut your setup brought a tear to my eye. I've known for some time the stainless table was the way I was going. Your setup confirms that. Well done sir.

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I started looking at the Brutis style setups but wanted something different that incorporated a work surface as well. I have plenty of work space between the brew station and the bar behind it and this make the brew day much more organized. Check local kitchen equipment auctions and Craigslist as they have these style chefs’ tables on their all the time for a fraction of what they would cost to build or buy new. Thank you and good luck on your brew table!

I'm in the process of building my brewery right now. What is the covering on your cables called and where would I go about finding some of it? Thanks

Kristan said:

I'm in the process of building my brewery right now. What is the covering on your cables called and where would I go about finding some of it? Thanks

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You can find it here.

I wanted to update this thread with my latest additions to the MaxOut Brewstation. After a few 1 BBL brews with the current configuration I decided it was time to upgrade my mash tun. I tried using two keggles and doing dual mashes and also back to back mashes all of which were very cumbersome and time consuming. My mash tun volume was becoming the systems greatest weakness. Doing a large beer was really a pain to get the full 1 BBL volumes with good consistency and efficiency. I found a 40 gallon jacketed direct steam kettle a friend of mine was planning to convert into a large direct fire crab steamer. After some convincing him he decided to part with it. It’s a Market Forge 40 gallon, jacketed, direct steam tilt kettle.

Here is what it looked like after I got it and stripped all the plumbing I didn’t need off it. (Not to pretty)

Here is a shot of the back and the original connections. The bottom 1/2" one is for the jacket and the larger one is the dump. The other jacket tap in on the front and not viewable in this shot.

This is the plan –
• Make a false bottom out of 14 gage perforated stainless sheet with approx 2-2.5 gallon dead space.
• Tap the lid with camlocks top and bottom for recirculation and sparge (Same As Boil Kettle)
• Tig weld 1.5” Tri-Clamp ferrule to kettle dump and add 45* 1.5” Tri-Clamp, 1.5” Tri-Clamp butterfy valve with 1.5” Tri-Clamp to ½”camlock.
• Add ½” 3 piece ball valve and camlock to jacket bottom
• Add ½” camlock to jacket top
During mash use existing keggle HLT with HERMS and recirculate wort through HERMS from bottom of MT and return to lid. Recirculate water from keggle BK to bottom of MT jacket through to top and back to BK. With this set up I can BCS control the temperature of the wort and kettle jacket as needed.

This is the false bottom. I used silicone hose around the parameter to help keep it in position and create a tighter fit. I used a piece of stainless mig wire to tie the hose to the false bottom. I have 2.5 galons of dead space below the false bottom.

While my friend was cutting the false bottom on the plasma table I fabbed up stainless side and back panels and new inner door skins seen here. You can also see the 1.5” valve assembly sitting on top waiting to be TIG welded in. I also welded 5" heavy duty casters in place of the legs so I can move it in and out of position while brewing.

Here is a shot of the ferrule before I TIG welded it on the dump outlet. I had to heat and remove the brass T that was on the kettle when I received it. The dump outlet and Tri-Clamp ferrule were the exact diameter and thickness so no filler wire was needed, I just fused them together. Probably not good for a pressure connection but plenty strong enough for a drain. I kept the heat down and gassed the inside while welding and got a good clean weld with one pass.

Here are a few shots of the fitted connections including the jacket in/out, lid return and the dump valve assembly. You can also see the casters I added in the dump valve shot.

Needed a way to measure volumes so I filled the kettle gallon by gallon and marked the kettle wall with pencil. Then I transferred the marks to a couple stainless strips I formed to fit in kettle. Eventually I will attach the strips to the false bottom to assure it stays in place.

AMAZING!

Brewed my house favorite 444 Triple Lager (AKA - Triple Fo).

The grain bill was just over 58 lbs for a 1.044 gravity beer. Used a plastic tub to crush into and weighed with a large postal scale.


Notice – I brew barefoot and topless. Viewer discretion advised.

In my previous configurations I added the grain to the mash tun, heated water in boil kettle, pump strike water into the bottom of the mash tun and stir. I have that process dialed in with the help and tweaking of Beersmith. With this set setup I decided to switch up and heat the mash tun jacket, heat strike water in HLT and keggle BK then transfer to mash tun and add grain. According to Beersmith to hit my target mash temp of 154* I needed to heat the mash tun and strike water to 161*(I used the BIAB single infusion in Beersmith). With the use of the Rinnai tank-less hot water heater I was able to dial in the water temp entering the keggle BK and HLT and used their perspective burners to temper the last few degrees. Basically strike and sparge on demand.

Here's a few shots heating strike water and transfering with the mash tun in its brewing position. (sorry about the blury photo's)

Dough in and stir.

I made an extension cord for my temp probes (sitting behind mash tun) and utilized the same mash tun input position on the brewstation. I monitor the temp of the mash tun jacket, wort leaving the HERMS and wort leaving the mash tun. I verified temps in the grain bed and with the heated jacket there was little to no stratification.

Here are a few shots during mash recirculation.

Here are a couple shots of the wort filling the boil kettle while I'm fly sparging and starting boil.

During dough in I had a little grain slip by the false bottom while stirring. I was a little too aggressive and knocked the false bottom around a little. No problem, I recirculated the wort in the boil kettle through the top port and through the hop spider prior to heating to boil and got all the extra particles out. This will be my new procedure prior to starting boil. Within 5 min. the wort was completely clear of grain particles.

Hops anyone?

Had a pre-boil volume of 44 gallons and nailed my post boil gravity. After a 60 minute boil I ended up with 38 gallons in fermenters @ 1.044. Brew house efficiency was a whopping 82%. Next month I’m going to do a group brew of my other house flavor Hop On Blonde Lager and at that point my pipeline will be slammed for the rest of the summer. I'll still do some 6 gallon batches in between to keep some hoppy IPA's on tap.

Here's a shot of the grain bed post mash and my friend raking the mash tun while tilted..made clean up a beeze.

Holy Crap on a Cracker......

This is by far the finest private home brew set up I have ever seen. I am truly impressed by the planning and work that went into this project. I am working on a single vessel BIAB electric setup but don't think I will ever get close to what you have done. Very nice.

This is the most hardcore of brewporn. Unbelievable

I wish I had words, man. I wish I had words...

Thank You for the kind words everyone. I really enjoy brewing and would have never reached the level I’m at without the information shared here on this forum. Most of my designs and ideas were inspired by others I’ve seen here. Cheers!!

Now that I have a functioning 1BBL brewery and primarily brew lagers I find I’m running out of space quickly. I started searching Craigslist for a suitable lagering chamber. I lucked out and came across a poorly written add for several items one of which was a Hobart freezer. The listing simply stated Hobart freezer $100.00. It was nearly two hours away but the guy responded quickly and sounded honest. I took a chance and made the two hour journey. Much to my surprise the Hobart was in great condition. The guy got it from a building he was maintaining for free in non working condition. He took it to the local vocational school and they kept it for 6 months using it as a training tool in their HVAC program. The shelves were missing and the guy was tired of it taking up space in his garage. The vocational school only charged him $100.00 and he figured it wasn’t wort much without the shelves. To top it all off it had casters on it and was stainless!!! Sweet! :rockin:I would have removed the shelves anyway so it was a win win. I loaded it up and headed home. Here’s a picture the guy sent me on the way down to get it.

Once I got it home, cleaned and inspected it I was amazed. The vocational school replaced the door seal, complete refrigeration unit and recharged it. It worked like a champ and quickly dropped from the 90’s to the 30's. I was hoping I could get 10ea. 5 gallon Cornelius kegs in it but much to my suprise it will hold 16! I re-arranged to make room for it in my shop and found a nice spot next to the ice maker. Next I added a SSR to the compressor circuit and a temp probe inside. I tied it into the BCS for control and I was in business. I added the MaxOut Brewing badge in place of the factory Hobart and I’m ready to go. I am still amazed at the condition and capacity for $100.00, just another example of the incredible deals you can find on Craigslist “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” Eventually I will use it as a fermentation chamber for a 50 gallon stainless conical.

MaxOut said:

Once I got it home, cleaned and inspected it I was amazed. The vocational school replaced the door seal, complete refrigeration unit and recharged it. It worked like a champ and quickly dropped from the 90’s to the 30's. I was hoping I could get 10ea. 5 gallon Cornelius kegs in it but much to my suprise it will hold 16! I re-arranged to make room for it in my shop and found a nice spot next to the ice maker. Next I added a SSR to the compressor circuit and a temp probe inside. I tied it into the BCS for control and I was in business. I added the MaxOut Brewing badge in place of the factory Hobart and I’m ready to go. I am still amazed at the condition and capacity for $100.00, just another example of the incredible deals you can find on Craigslist “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” Eventually I will use it as a fermentation chamber for a 50 gallon stainless conical.

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What an incredible find!! My jealousy now has an exponent

Allot of the big ticket items in my brewery were found on the internet. Its been over the length of 2 years coming together.

Jesus loves us because he gives us threads like this...................totally awesome build man, wish I could do it.

BIGREDIOWAN said:

Jesus loves us because he gives us threads like this...................totally awesome build man, wish I could do it.

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Amen

I like this-
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice!"

What kind of set up you using for your thermalcouples? Im starting a build and contimplating ways to setup the thermos on it. Are they set dirdctly in your mash ect. Or are they in thermocouple tubes and where on your system did you place them? very nice on the setup by the way.

allclene said:

What kind of set up you using for your thermalcouples? Im starting a build and contimplating ways to setup the thermos on it. Are they set dirdctly in your mash ect. Or are they in thermocouple tubes and where on your system did you place them? very nice on the setup by the way.

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All of the welded fittings in my keggles are ½” FPT half and full couplers. I use 1/4" Compression X 1/2" MNPT Bored Through fitting’s to install my thermo probes. Seen Here

You substitute the compression ¼”collar with the included silicone O rings, hand tighten the compression nut and this enables you to slide the thermo probe in and out as needed. I use the 12” thermo probes for the BCS in all three keggles and a 6” thermo probe in the HERMS outlet. 12” probes reach to the center of the Euro kegs and they are slightly larger in diameter than the standard Sanke kegs. I have the couplers positioned in the kegs about 2” above false bottom. This positions the thermo probes in the approximate center of the grain bed for average gravity 6 gallon brews. When I first started brewing I used a hand held medical grade thermometer to calibrate all my probes and to test for stratification in the grain bed on the first few brews. What I discovered was that temp remained consistent in all areas of the grain bed due to my processes. I recirculate the entire mash and Sparge through the HERMS. This reduces hot and cold spots in the grain bed to a bare minimum as well as increases efficiency and clarifies the wort. My wort is generally crystal clear going into the boil kettle and average over 80% efficiency. It took a while to work out a suitable speed to recirculate and sparge to eliminate channeling and was simply trial and error. During mash/sparge wort/water is applied to grain bed through a fitting in the lid of the keggle. Under the lid is a piece of silicone tubing with a short piece of SS pipe and a siphon sprayer. During mash I submerge the tip ¾” below top of grain bed and during sparge I raise it to the top of the keggle and let it trickle into the water above the grain bed. These methods reduce the chance of channeling and provide even distribution of the recirculated liquid. I have pictures of the lid configurations earlier in this thread but would be happy to take some close up’s or provide you with a parts breakdown.


Hope this helps

WOW, just WOW!

Thanks that was what i was looking for. Have you considered putting the thermalcouples outside the keggle in line with the resirculating pipe? ive seen some setups like that and wonder if it would be as accurate as getting it into center of keggle. I was wondering if you looked into that as well and decided on what you got instead

Actually I do both, I monitor temp exiting the HERMS coil with an in line coupler as well as the center of the mash tun. They are normally within 1 degree of one another.

What are the parts you used for the in line setup? Im assuming you used the same compression thru hole fitting for the thermo. Did you just use a threaded "t" to put it in line? and do you have problems with pressure from pumps with that thru hole commpression leaking?