3 bbl system

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santero

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Messages
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Location
tecate
finally a 3 bbl system ! a lot of work a lot effort !

IMG_22701 copia.jpg
 
thank's union ! I'm going nano I started doing 10,20,30 gal than I update to this ! with a noritz thankless water heater this thing is a beauty !
 
thanks hill ! well this is my set up took me almost like a year to buy all this and all the learning experience to put all together plumbing, electricity figuring how to solve all the problems that you can think about it and hours and hours using all the info on this site, its been a really hard work for some one like me with no experience at all and the best thing learning the process of brewing good beer ! I will post more pictures for sure !

(2) 30 gal mash tun blichmann
(2) 55 gal kettle blichmann
(2) wort chillers blichmann
(1) 20 gal kettle for sparge
camlocks connectors
1 control panel with love controls and selonoid valves
4 march pumps
1 380 000 LP noritz thankless water heater
5 burners LP
(18) 5 gallons ball locks we usually force carbonation
(32) 6.5 gallons glass carboys
(120) 5 gallons glass carboys
2 basements 12 x 15 and 12 x 6 temperature 68 F all year around
1 grain mill

cheers !
 
Awesome!

120 Glass carboys? WOW Why not a few larger SS fermentors?

You said 3 BBl, isn't that closer to a 100 gallon system?
 
Awesome!

120 Glass carboys? WOW Why not a few larger SS fermentors?

You said 3 BBl, isn't that closer to a 100 gallon system?

Totally agree! Seems like picking up a couple 20 or 30 gal conical fermentors would be a good idea. Squeeky detailed some info here in the past : https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/super-simple-15g-plastic-conical-276378/index4.html

Direct link to where you can pickup 15 - 85 gallon fermentors that seems to work pretty well for others (at least from what I have read): http://www.agrimart.net/inductor-tanks/

Hope this helps!

BTW - Very nice setup!
 
How are you chilling? I'm putting together a 3 vessel system but don't particularly feel like adjusting all my recipes for a big hop stand/whirlpool.
 
Meant more process- are you running straight through? or recirculating back into the kettle. With the therminator, even with the larger surface area AND a prechiller, you're still going to be flowing the wort pretty slow which really screws with hop utilization/flavor/aroma because the vast majority of your wort is staying near-boiling for a really long time. The concern with recirculating the chilled wort back into the kettle for faster mass temp drop would be clogging the chiller with cold break.
 
thanks blue ! one of the reasons that we use glass carboys don't need to worry about off flavors using plastic fermenters I know for some of you will find it more practical ! also I'm a supplier of the 5 gallons glass carboys in san diego area so thats not a problem also is temporarily within a couple of months we will invest in something like this !

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thank's daksin ! for sure you will need to adjust your system you know efficiency is very important and for the therminator I go straight through don't need to recirculate I try to keep water temperature on the low 50's @ 5.0 GPM That's the key also I use hop rocket as a in-line filter that helps a lot, I will up load a picture of my wort chiller set up that works for me !
 
Meant more process- are you running straight through? or recirculating back into the kettle. With the therminator, even with the larger surface area AND a prechiller, you're still going to be flowing the wort pretty slow which really screws with hop utilization/flavor/aroma because the vast majority of your wort is staying near-boiling for a really long time. The concern with recirculating the chilled wort back into the kettle for faster mass temp drop would be clogging the chiller with cold break.

thank's daksin ! for sure you will need to adjust your system you know efficiency is very important and for the therminator I go straight through don't need to recirculate I try to keep water temperature on the low 50's @ 5.0 GPM That's the key also I use hop rocket as a in-line filter that helps a lot, I will up load a picture of my wort chiller set up that works for me !
 
Nice set up and nice looking equipment.

2 basements 12 x 15 and 12 x 6 temperature 68 F all year around

Just to confirm, you're not controlling your fermentation temperatures? Just letting the carboys sit at ambient room temperature for fermentation?
 

Hole-lee-chit - Wow! That is a full-fledged, no messin' around, fo' real setup.
Nicely done!

(LOL - You are the supplier of the carboys! That makes way more sense. Heck, pick a couple more up just for the spares :mug: :ban:

Seriously impressive!
 
Nice set up and nice looking equipment.



Just to confirm, you're not controlling your fermentation temperatures? Just letting the carboys sit at ambient room temperature for fermentation?

correct ! I try to brew all the recipes that specified the temperature on that range and every day I have to open the basement door for 30 min and let the fresh air in that's why I can keep the temperature steady around 68 f
 
correct ! I try to brew all the recipes that specified the temperature on that range and every day I have to open the basement door for 30 min and let the fresh air in that's why I can keep the temperature steady around 68 f

I'd like to offer some unsolicited advice especially you've invested some serious money into your system and because you're also going Nano. Invest in some form of temperature control. Temperature control during fermentation is critical to producing a consistent and quality product. I'm sure your basement's ambient temperature is around 68, but fermenting beer puts out heat and given the volume you're producing, this effect is also going to be exacerbated.

I'm assuming you're sticking to yeasts like Wyeast 1056 that have a stated range of 60-72 F. To stay within the midpoint of that range, you would need to ferment at 62-63.
 
I'm sure your basement's ambient temperature is around 68, but fermenting beer puts out heat and given the volume you're producing, this effect is also going to be exacerbated.

I'm assuming you're sticking to yeasts like Wyeast 1056 that have a stated range of 60-72 F. To stay within the midpoint of that range, you would need to ferment at 62-63.

assuming that he is still using the 5 and 6.5 gal carboys, the heat from the fermentation wouldn't affect it very much from ambient temperature.
very cool setup btw, do u bottle as well?
 
assuming that he is still using the 5 and 6.5 gal carboys, the heat from the fermentation wouldn't affect it very much from ambient temperature.

Untrue. You can see upwards of 10 degrees above ambient during active fermentation of 5 gallons of wort. I have observed this rise anecdotally, and this is a pretty nicely cited answer http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/q...ature-rise-in-the-primary-due-to-fermentation .

And here's a thread that someone on homebrewtalk put up with 2 fermenters 1 finished fermenting (and sitting at 64, and one rocking along at 69) https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/fermentation-heat-output-video-comparison-207426/
 
assuming that he is still using the 5 and 6.5 gal carboys, the heat from the fermentation wouldn't affect it very much from ambient temperature.
very cool setup btw, do u bottle as well?

thanks hethacker ! yes we bottle with 2 blichmann guns but also we're working on the 4 bottle filler I believe texas big beer brewery build on the first manual bottle fillers using counter pressure as you can see on this link .

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.468742283169093.112269.243139459062711&type=3
 
thanks darwin and dryboro for the info ! I use white labs ! fermentation range goes from 65 to 70 and that works for me never have any problems at all, as you can see look's very steady !

IMG_23521111.jpg


IMG_2357.jpg
 
Untrue. You can see upwards of 10 degrees above ambient during active fermentation of 5 gallons of wort. I have observed this rise anecdotally, and this is a pretty nicely cited answer http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/q...ature-rise-in-the-primary-due-to-fermentation .

And here's a thread that someone on homebrewtalk put up with 2 fermenters 1 finished fermenting (and sitting at 64, and one rocking along at 69) https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/fermentation-heat-output-video-comparison-207426/

That is good information, I stand corrected, haha.

thanks hethacker ! yes we bottle with 2 blichmann guns but also we're working on the 4 bottle filler I believe texas big beer brewery build on the first manual bottle fillers using counter pressure as you can see on this link .

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.468742283169093.112269.243139459062711&type=3
very cool design, this gave me some new ideas on bottle filling :D thanks for the info.
 
santero lives in tecate CA, population of 207! You can supply all of Tecate beer! How awesome.
 
Very cool brewery, awesome in fact. Here's one to you... :mug:
152 glass carboys has to be back breaking work though.
I am just curious about one thing. Did you ever consider going with PET carboys? They are easier to handle (not as hard on the back) and safer than glass, especially on the scale you are brewing. I wouldn't be able to move the day after brew day.
Not knocking anything you are doing because I am very, very impressed.
Please keep us informed and more pictures!
 
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