Stepping up to LARGE batches

A buddy and I recently acquired 2 industrial fridges to lager in. One will be our primary lager fridge, as it will hold 4 6.5gal carboys, and the other will be the secondary lager fridge as it can hold 6-8 5gal carboys. We're biting the bullet and buying a 26.4gal (100liter) kettle to step up batch sizes with. Getting a great deal on it from a local shop for $125. Originally made as a wine fermenter, but can be used as a kettle and has a built in spigot. All SS. Anyone have experience with a pot this big?

I figure I can just take a regular recipe and multiply it by 4 for an ingredients list. We brew extract at the moment, so I'm wondering how much longer does everyone think it will take to heat/brew a batch this big. The pot will be on a double burner propane cooker. Each burner is rated at 190K btu. Going to try to span the 2 burners so there isn't a single hot spot in the center of the kettle, but rather, 2 heat sources for more even heating.

Can someone with larger batch brewing experience step in and let me know if there is anything else I might need to brew this much beer at once with? I plan on pre-boiling 26-30 gal of water the night before for the batch. Only bad thing is, I'm having to use my small wort chiller until we build a bigger one. Any idea how long it will take to cool a batch of this size? And is there an easy way to divy up the worth equally into 4 carboys? Maybe build a 4-way manifold off the spigot, drop a line into each carboy, and hope for the best? Would like to get all this sorted out so we can brew this weekend.

Jester4176 said:

Maybe build a 4-way manifold off the spigot, drop a line into each carboy, and hope for the best? Would like to get all this sorted out so we can brew this weekend.

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That's what I would do.

Also, you can help your chiller along by coiling up the intake hose in a bucket of ice water. You should be able to drop the temp of the water in the actual chiller by 10 degrees or more that way.

Have you thought about hop utilization? I would think you will get better utilization with that large a batch size.

inmersion chiller?
you may have to use glycol instead of water...
there is someone in this site that has shown something like that
don't remember the nick..

m_f said:

inmersion chiller?
you may have to use glycol instead of water...
there is someone in this site that has shown something like that
don't remember the nick..

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brewpastor...iirc, he brews 25 gallon batches... maybe he'll stop in with some sage advice for the OP

RichBrewer said:

Have you thought about hop utilization? I would think you will get better utilization with that large a batch size.

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Thanks for the replies. Actually, no...I hadn't given it a bunch of thought because I though I could multiply the ingredients and it would work the same. Thanks for bringing this up. Guess I'll pull out Papazian's and Miller's book tonight and see what they have to say about it.

If I use glycol, I'd need a loop with a way to recirculate the glycol after cooling it. I think I have something that might work.....my old pc watercooling rig. Have a dual core radiator about the size of a car heater core, tubing, and an eheim pump that's rated at like 1250gph. Maybe have a container of glycol for the pump to pull from. Then have the glycol pass through a radiator in an ice bath, then through the wort, back through a length of hose in another ice bath, then back to the pump reservoir? Seems lie a lot of work. Couldn't water going throung a big ice bath accomplish the same?

And what about the wort chiller? Would a single coil be enough for a pot that is 21" in diameter? Or should I build a dual coil (inner and outer) setup?

One word Plate Chiller. Oops thats two words. Chill it on the way to the manifold or what ever. That way you don't need to worry about the size of the pot.

sause said:

One word Plate Chiller. Oops thats two words. Chill it on the way to the manifold or what ever. That way you don't need to worry about the size of the pot.

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Like this one? http://morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=6242

Wouldn't I need a pump to recirculate the wort through the cooler until it was cooled? Don't have a pump yet, so I'm still looking to cool the wort in the pot. Unless you mean to sink the chiller in an ice bath on it's way to the chiller in the pot? If so, that's what I have planned. And aren't these hard to clean? Has anyone used one long term that can provide feedback on how hard it is to clean, and if it truly does come clean? I'm thinking with a Hop Stopper in line before it, I shouldn't have much buildup in it to clog up. Don't know though.

So the pot I'm getting is listed here as the 28gal italian kettle about 3/4 of the way down the page: http://www.northernbrewer.com/kettles.html

Plan on eventually getting a Hop Stopper for the bottom of it also so I can filter it easily on the way out the spigot. But that may have to wat a few batches.

No, that plate chiller works like a counterflow chiller - you run cold water through it.

But I wouldn't recommend it - they are a ***** to clean.

I'd just build a nice 25' counterflow chiller and put it before your manifold. Since your kettle is already tapped you're halfway there.

Eleusis said:

No, that plate chiller works like a counterflow chiller - you run cold water through it.

But I wouldn't recommend it - they are a ***** to clean.

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So I take it you have tried both?
I'm just about ready, as soon as I can afford it, to switch from my immersion chiller to a counter flow but I'm not sure which one would be better. a home made counterflow chiller would be cheaper for sure.

With a counterflow chiller, I've heard they are hard to clean as well. And would I need to prechill the water entering the chiller, or will tap water work fine? I seem to remember seeing a site with instructions for a DIY where the author wrapped the copper tubing with small gauge copper wire to increase turbulance in the water flow for more effective temperature drops. Anyone know the link offhand? I'll post it if I can find it.

RichBrewer said:

So I take it you have tried both?
I'm just about ready, as soon as I can afford it, to switch from my immersion chiller to a counter flow but I'm not sure which one would be better. a home made counterflow chiller would be cheaper for sure.

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No, not personally. I've just heard a few too many horror stories about infections with the plate chillers. They have so many little pockets and nooks and crannies in there for crap to stick... At least with the CFC it's just a smooth pipe inside.

CFCs aren't that bad to clean - it helps to have a pump to recirculate sanitizer though.

Regarding prechilling - that's gonna depend... In Houston I imagine your water isn't very cold, but if it isn't over 70 or so and you gravity feed I think it'll be fine without prechilling. just my 2 cents

Here's one DIY version - no turbulence wire though.

Decided to go with an imersion chiller thats made for the pot we have: http://morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=19524

Something else I've been wondering is what is the most efficient way to heat the pot? It's 19" in diameter, and actually spans both burners on my cooker. Is setting the pot on both burners the most efficient way to cook? Or should I get a big round aluminum plate of some kind to go under the kettle for more even heat distribution?