1 bbl Brewery Build, "Cerveceria Coahuila"

hi there, i have seen some 1bbl brewery builds in this site, and im currently in the build of one, so i decided to share it with you all, and hope you can help me with your ideas that will be awesome.

first let me share with you some pictures of the HLT, MLT, BK.

HLT


MLT


SPARGE ARM


FALSE BOTTOM


BK


ALL 3 OF THEME


the HLT, MLT, BK are from www.conical-fermenter.com

here some schematic of the automation that im thinking of using, it is a BCS-460. it still on the development phase.



the idea is to the BCS-460 is to control: 3 gas valves, 6 liquit valves, 4 temp probes (HLT, MLT, BK, CHILLER OUTPUT).

I'm developing the stand, ill post some squematics as soon i have something.

STAND UPDATE. (01-31-11)

Heres an update of the stand.

the draft.


the processes


as you can see the grates where remove, as they where in the draft, thanks to all you help me desing the grates, you now how you are, keep the good ideas coming.

is a tipical stand, with the adition of a stand to put the laptop to control de BCS-460

BURNER UPDATE.

here are some links to the valves im thinking of using to automate the burners.

honeywell 24v combo gas control.



Pilot Burner

thermocouple

any one had used these valves???

best regards.

Nice pots!

So the mash will be direct fired to maintain temp?

yes will be direct fire with a recirculating system, changing the sparge arm with a 90 degree elbow.

Beautiful. I've been looking at those for quite sometime. I was thinking of buying just a BK because I have a keggle system that could make more if I just had a bigger BK. How much was the BK?

I'm assuming you bought the three tanks from their advertised 1 bbl system, but did you also get that conical fermenter that goes with it?

yes i got them from the 1bbl system they have advertise.

for the moment just bougth the 3 pots, but yes im planning to buy from them a couple, custom build fermenters (ones with a SS coil inside them for temp control insted of a outer jacket). but in the mean time im gonna buy a plastic one, something from: www.usplastics.com or www.minibrew.com, i already own a couple 6.5 gal conical plastic fermenters like this one. and really like them. but i now in the long run SS is the way to go.

Sweet! Do you know how much they charged you for the BK?

$712, i havent check if these are current prices, i bougth this june las year, if i recall correctly.

That's how much they charged you for the whole package (HLT, MLT, and BK), right?

All 3 are closer to 2k I believe..

That is gonna be one sweet setup. I am wondering though at 1 bbl at a time is this for personal consumption or a brew pub?

jcaudill said:

All 3 are closer to 2k I believe..

Click to expand...

Yeah, for sure, my bad...

is for commercial purpose, but no sure which way to go, i think the most sure way will be a brew pub, hopefully it will expand from there...

afalconc said:

is for commercial purpose, but no sure which way to go, i think the most sure way will be a brew pub, hopefully it will expand from there...

Click to expand...

Wow, way to hit the ground running!

which do you thing is better desing for the grill of the burners, the one to the left or the right???

The right side; it appears that it will allow more direct heating than the left side (blocked somewhat by the grates).

Great looking setup and best of luck.

I would think twice about blocking the burner with your grate. You're not giving yourself any latitude to adjust the burner height any closer to the bottom of the pot than the depth of the grate plus some because it wouldn't be realistic to have the burner right at the bottom of the grate. By the time all is said and done, you might be 3" away from the pots, and find you need to be 2.5" because of some unforseen circumstance. I'd just remove the X from the center square if you want to keep the same look. That is going to be fun to weld!

Nice brother. Looks like a good plan. I agree with the grate blocking too much of the heat, especially with a 1BBL boil with gas.

Where did you get that burner? I'm constructing a 1BBL brewery myself and I'm looking at using 2 SP-10 burners on my BK. I bet it would be easier to control with just one large one. Is there a large difference in their performance? I have a 30psi regulator BTW.

heres a 3rt option for the grill, my main concern in putting a grate is to help with the weigth of the full load pot, in this case im shooting for a MLT ful with grain and liquit to a 660 lbs, with this 3rt option all the perimeter of the pot is sustain, but the center dosen't, can the weigth deform the bottom of the pot??? the pot is 24 gauge.



the hidden line in the pic is the pot outline.

ImperialLover said:

Nice brother. Looks like a good plan. I agree with the grate blocking too much of the heat, especially with a 1BBL boil with gas.

Where did you get that burner? I'm constructing a 1BBL brewery myself and I'm looking at using 2 SP-10 burners on my BK. I bet it would be easier to control with just one large one. Is there a large difference in their performance? I have a 30psi regulator BTW.

Click to expand...

the burner i get it from a local industrial kitchen store, it is like 6" wide, heres a link to some

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/cast-burner-55000-btu.html

but im not sure if its the same as mine

afalconc said:

heres a 3rt option for the grill, my main concern in putting a grate is to help with the weigth of the full load pot, in this case im shooting for a MLT ful with grain and liquit to a 660 lbs, with this 3rt option all the perimeter of the pot is sustain, but the center dosen't, can the weigth deform the bottom of the pot??? the pot is 24 gauge.

the hidden line in the pic is the pot outline.

Click to expand...

Ya I think it is a legitimate concern - that is a lot of weight for sure! I would bring the 4 corner angles in more - they don't have to match the diameter of the pot and whatever burner you end up with won't need quite that much room. You probably need something around a 8-10" radius in the middle - but I would let the burner determine that.

Speaking of which: it seems to me direct firing 1BBL is a tall order. I thought somewhere between 20-25 gallons it starts to become impractical to direct fire and that's when you start thinking about other methods like steam. I may be wrong, and I am by no means an expert here. I'm just curious if you're researched that one and ran across anyone doing the same thing with reasonable results (that's the key: reasonable).

Since you are using gas, did you consider a commercial tankless water heater in pace of an HLT? The high-end residential ones can go to 180F and are 83% efficient, and the mid-range commercial ones are 92% efficient.

jcaudill said:

Ya I think it is a legitimate concern - that is a lot of weight for sure! I would bring the 4 corner angles in more - they don't have to match the diameter of the pot and whatever burner you end up with won't need quite that much room. You probably need something around a 8-10" radius in the middle - but I would let the burner determine that.

Speaking of which: it seems to me direct firing 1BBL is a tall order. I thought somewhere between 20-25 gallons it starts to become impractical to direct fire and that's when you start thinking about other methods like steam. I may be wrong, and I am by no means an expert here. I'm just curious if you're researched that one and ran across anyone doing the same thing with reasonable results (that's the key: reasonable).

Click to expand...

probably your rigth, but i think that that when the brew kettle starts to fill with the must, when lautering, it will be a small ratio, thats when i can start the fire in the BK, so it will be heating up a small amount of wort, than rather waiting for the BK to fill up and the start the fire. what do you think??

CoolHandLuke said:

Since you are using gas, did you consider a commercial tankless water heater in pace of an HLT? The high-end residential ones can go to 180F and are 83% efficient, and the mid-range commercial ones are 92% efficient.

Click to expand...

yes indeed, in fact, in the future i wil put one, to help the HLT with inicial temp, and the burner below the pot to maintain the temp, those that make sense???

Go electric especially if you think you might be going pro with this unit. The savings are huge and the control is much better. Brumation can supply the electric system and its easy to install. You just need a 50 A breaker. We used to run a 20 gallon system with propane and upgraded to a 1bb system using electric. We brew 1-2 times per week and are getting ready to double that.

Boar Beer said:

Go electric especially if you think you might be going pro with this unit. The savings are huge and the control is much better. Brumation can supply the electric system and its easy to install. You just need a 50 A breaker. We used to run a 20 gallon system with propane and upgraded to a 1bb system using electric. We brew 1-2 times per week and are getting ready to double that.

Click to expand...

havent cross my mind that option, but wath is you kilowatt used per bacth?? aprox?? because, im in mexico the electricity cost a little more than propane.

here is like 0.54 dlls the kilowat, and a thank of 20 lbs of propane is 6.15 dlls.

maybe it worth the time to calculate the kilowat per 1bbl bacth, whats your number????

afalconc said:

yes indeed, in fact, in the future i wil put one, to help the HLT with inicial temp, and the burner below the pot to maintain the temp, those that make sense???

Click to expand...

Why couldn't you use it in place of the HLT?

heres is a brewery update, with the stand and the kettles, be advice is a working progress, any suggestions help.




the Liquit maniful



Mash Tun burner, a no soo high output burner, just to keap mash temps in range



the HLT and Brew Kettle burners, 32 tip jet burners, here you can se the method i use to regulate the distance from the kettle



the burner with the honeywell valve soon to be install.



the control box, still working on it

Any updates?? Salud por la revolucion de la cerveza artesanal en Mexico!

Desde Tijuana.

Interesting, I'm just across the rio grande from you in eagle pass. I wish I had that setup. I am going biab on the stovetop with a heatstick. Ghetto, I know, but I am making some great beer. Too bad things are so crazy over there, I wouldn't mind checking out your operations.

finally manage to purchase the fermenters and brite tanks.

update ?

CrankyBeaverBrewery said:

update ?

Click to expand...

well yes, a small one, the glicol system, will try to post a photo soon.

thanks for the follow.

cheers

what are you running glycol too as your fermenters dont look to have jackets? Are you happy with the finish inside the fermenters and brights?

Hockadays said:

what are you running glycol too as your fermenters dont look to have jackets? Are you happy with the finish inside the fermenters and brights?

Click to expand...

no they dont have a jacket, insted, they have a coil inside, and theres where the glycol go. and the finish is excellent, no complains there.

cheers.

Is the temp controlled on separate controllers for each fermenter ? And how consistent is the temp control with those coils ?

CrankyBeaverBrewery said:

Is the temp controlled on separate controllers for each fermenter ? And how consistent is the temp control with those coils ?

Click to expand...

the temp is control with a BCS-460 (http://www.embeddedcontrolconcepts.com/) and it controls different temps for each fermeters, 3 in total, with a circuit with 3 selenoid valves, and initial test with water at 41 degress in the chiller system, make the fermenter drop and mantain 57.2 degress, and the system turn in 15 min, and on stand by 45 min,

i think that with glicol in the system i can reach as low as 41 degress in the fermenters for cold crash.

ill try to post some pictures for more detail.

cheers

Here are some update pics.

Update of the cool room.

Finally the brite tanks have a resting place.

looking good
thanks for posting the pictures it helps