Nano - build out!

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mikefromcu

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I'm getting about ready to weld this up, so I thought I'd check through here for commentary and have another set or a hundred sets of eyes to look it over first.

This is for my new licensed nano-brewery in San Diego, Hess Brewing. For those interested in going pro, we've put a lot up on our blog at blogspot.hessbrewing.com.

This is a system designed like a MoreBeer 2100 but with 65 gallon kettles so I can net out 51 gallons per batch - two standard 1/2 bbls and 4 sixtels per batch, and with an extra kettle - whirlpool - so I can get two batches out just a couple hours after the first.

This is the schematic showing the top down and front view. The piping is not quite done, but the 2x2 is all in place.
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/341/brewerystand.png

And this is detail of the tippy dump bracket and journal (and casters).
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/8969/tippybigger.png

In this photo, I put a white translucent box over the top of the tippy junction - that will be milled out and the half round welded in place.

Thanks!
 
Looks good. Can't wait to see the finished product on the blog. (I'm sure more experienced brewers will chime in with something more substantial for you).
 
I'm getting about ready to weld this up, so I thought I'd check through here for commentary and have another set or a hundred sets of eyes to look it over first.

This is for my new licensed nano-brewery in San Diego, Hess Brewing. For those interested in going pro, we've put a lot up on our blog at blogspot.hessbrewing.com.

This is a system designed like a MoreBeer 2100 but with 65 gallon kettles so I can net out 51 gallons per batch - two standard 1/2 bbls and 4 sixtels per batch, and with an extra kettle - whirlpool - so I can get two batches out just a couple hours after the first.

This is the schematic showing the top down and front view. The piping is not quite done, but the 2x2 is all in place.
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/341/brewerystand.png

And this is detail of the tippy dump bracket and journal (and casters).
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/8969/tippybigger.png

In this photo, I put a white translucent box over the top of the tippy junction - that will be milled out and the half round welded in place.

Thanks!

Just from my own curiousity, what type of burner are you using to heat 50 gallons of wort to boiling and how long does it take? What type of hot water heater are you using for strike and sparge water? I looked at you drawings and mechanically, your brew stand should be fine.
 
Hey all,

First, thanks for the corrected link - I should get my sh*t together!

Let's see, for brew water into the MT and HLT, I fill straight off my Noritz 6.9gpm tankless heater, with a GE water filter inline before the heater.

From this tankless I can dough in within minutes - the Noritz has a digital keypad for temp control in 5* increments up to 176*.

FWIW, Green Flash brewing here in SD uses three of these same brand units, albeit larger ones, for their brew water.

The burner I'm using is "the monster" in fact it just got delivered today. I bought it from www.tejassmokers.com, scroll down on this page: http://www.tejassmokers.com/castironburners.htm till you see this, "Maximum Heat MONSTER Cast Iron Burner". That's my huckleberry.

I'm going to form the heat shield around the bottom drain on the boil kettle (which is indicated by the two concentric circles in the diagram on the edge of the BK). The heat shield will form a box around the MAX burner and the 3/4" bar stock will get the boil kettle up to allow waste gasses to easily vent out from under the pot.

Thanks for the input! Any more?
 
Probably rude of me for asking, but it would be interesting to know what sort of investment was required to get up and running. Any nasty surprises?
 
~ three thousand for the brewery build out, couple thousand for kegs, paid little over 4 grand for our cold room, plus some more for getting it hooked up, pay a buck a foot for warehouse space. Grand for a bond. Soon the "miscellaneous" column I'm sure will be quite large!

Surprises? Well, I don't know if it's a surprise, but the sink requirement at the DEH has been surprising.

So far, it's been fun. We haven't sold anything yet though...'course it's just been a week or so since licensing.
 
Very nice. I came across your blog not too long ago and have been following. I'd also be interested in start-up investment related issues/questions like Spiny, as I plan to get something started in a few (hopefully less than 5) years. Start up costs being my biggest hurdle. Maybe we can stop by for a beer and chat one of these days when you're not too busy (chuckles).
 
Man, start up costs are always the hurdle. Takes money to make money I guess. I have about a half dozen business ideas kicking around (brewery being one) that could all be ran from a large warehouse. If only I owned a large warehouse!
 
That's propane. I spoke at length with the owners who heard my concern about just crapping gas all over the place and he told me it was very efficient. We shall see!
 
if you haven't cut the metal yet give a shop vacuum a think or two.
Suck the spent grain out like who dun it.
 
After reading your blog I have come to the conclusion that government control over opening a business in this industry is FREAKING RIDICULOUS! Tyrannical would be a good descriptor.

I guess not a big surprise from the same people that brought you the fining of children for operating lemonade stands.
 
Interesting thread.. while I'm not going pro (yet), my new brewery will be very similar in size to yours.. I plan on ~47 gallon batches to fill 3 sankeys. What are you using to ferment? I haven't seen many options this size except to split the batches..

I am using natural gas and found this 14" burner for my boil kettle: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A2RD94HAYE44NQ&v=glance

They also make a propane version if the burner you bought doesn't work out..
 
Interesting thread.. while I'm not going pro (yet), my new brewery will be very similar in size to yours.. I plan on ~47 gallon batches to fill 3 sankeys. What are you using to ferment? I haven't seen many options this size except to split the batches.

I make 40 gallon batches and put the majority into one of these http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_53_146&products_id=11163 . Its not cheap, but if you're brewing on this scale on a regular basis it is well worth it. I'll usually put about 35 gallons in mine and put the remainder into a carboy with a different yeast for experimentation purposes. I bought mine on the 50 State Sale that Austinhomebrew had recently and I saved over $120.

Another option is to use a 55 gallon food grade Brute trash barrel. This would handle your 47 gallon batches, just don't leave your beer in it for more than a couple weeks because since its plastic it is oxygen permeable.

I think I have pictures of both at our thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/squam-lakes-brewery-pictures-144764/
 
(not intending to hijack this thread....but might be relevant to some who are reading it)

For those of you in the 45-50 gal batch club, I will give a shout-out to a local (Willamette Valley) welder who specializes in sanitary welding on brewing and food service tanks who made this custom bad boy for me. 85 gal (plenty of head space), tri-clover outlet, open top with ss lid. The bottom is flat (a lot cheaper than a conical bottom). After draining finished brew into sanke or corny kegs, the remaining 2-3 gal are agitated to re-suspend the yeast slurry which is collected for re-use.

He does custom jobs up to macro brewery sized tanks. I have seen his stellar work for a local micro.

PM if you need contact details.

newfermenter.jpg

tcport.jpg

tcvalve.jpg
 
(not intending to hijack this thread....but might be relevant to some who are reading it)

For those of you in the 45-50 gal batch club, I will give a shout-out to a local (Willamette Valley) welder who specializes in sanitary welding on brewing and food service tanks who made this custom bad boy for me.

He does custom jobs up to macro brewery sized tanks. I have seen his stellar work for a local micro.

PM if you need contact details.

How about an inside shot?

He is better then most I have seen.
 
Ah, I see.. good idea. 'BrewPal', those are definitely awesome as well.. might have to contact you about that.

Mike, what are you using for kegging equipment? To wash and fill sankes.. Sabco makes a sanke keg with a 4" port on top to clean and fill, but they are $370 each.

Also, what are you using for CO2? I'm really curious if my best option would be to get one of those large CO2 cylinders you see at fast food joints..
 
I'm going with two of these:
http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=2803

and one of these:
http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=3152

The plan is to double batch brew, putting one each into the 60's, then after fermentation is complete, pump them both over into the 110, which will be in the cold room, to 'brite' the beer, and keg from there after 3-5 days.

Those are very affordable alternatives to the SS fermenters we usually see. I noticed that the website said the tops are not vented. Do you plan on modifying them at all to vent them or for blow off?
 
I'm getting about ready to weld this up, so I thought I'd check through here for commentary and have another set or a hundred sets of eyes to look it over first.

This is for my new licensed nano-brewery in San Diego, Hess Brewing. For those interested in going pro, we've put a lot up on our blog at blogspot.hessbrewing.com.

This is a system designed like a MoreBeer 2100 but with 65 gallon kettles so I can net out 51 gallons per batch - two standard 1/2 bbls and 4 sixtels per batch, and with an extra kettle - whirlpool - so I can get two batches out just a couple hours after the first.

This is the schematic showing the top down and front view. The piping is not quite done, but the 2x2 is all in place.
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/341/brewerystand.png

And this is detail of the tippy dump bracket and journal (and casters).
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/8969/tippybigger.png

In this photo, I put a white translucent box over the top of the tippy junction - that will be milled out and the half round welded in place.

Thanks!

Just curious, what 65 gallon kettles are you using? I was looking for a larger kettle and havent come across anything bigger than the blichmann. Thanks and good luck, looks awesome!
 
I'm going with two of these:
http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=2803

and one of these:
http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=3152

The plan is to double batch brew, putting one each into the 60's, then after fermentation is complete, pump them both over into the 110, which will be in the cold room, to 'brite' the beer, and keg from there after 3-5 days.

Would you have to worry about oxidization with these (isn't that plastic permeable?)? Also, one would also be concerned with the light affecting the beer since these tanks are opaque. Do the UV stabilizers fix that issue, or does that just mean that the plastic itself won't dry and crack under uv light?

Those do look great for fermenting larger batches, and definitely something i'll consider in a few years when i go commercial. Thanks for the product info!
 
We used on of these for a mash tun and a fermenter when our club did a barrel aged barleywine. http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/3060 We used the 300L model.

We were able to mash about 300 pounds of grain and with a homemade copper manifold we achieved 80% efficiency. Then we emptied it out and cleaned and used it for a fermenter. Worked real well for us.
 
Hey all,

First, thanks for the corrected link - I should get my sh*t together!

Let's see, for brew water into the MT and HLT, I fill straight off my Noritz 6.9gpm tankless heater, with a GE water filter inline before the heater.

From this tankless I can dough in within minutes - the Noritz has a digital keypad for temp control in 5* increments up to 176*.

FWIW, Green Flash brewing here in SD uses three of these same brand units, albeit larger ones, for their brew water.

The burner I'm using is "the monster" in fact it just got delivered today. I bought it from www.tejassmokers.com, scroll down on this page: http://www.tejassmokers.com/castironburners.htm till you see this, "Maximum Heat MONSTER Cast Iron Burner". That's my huckleberry.

I'm going to form the heat shield around the bottom drain on the boil kettle (which is indicated by the two concentric circles in the diagram on the edge of the BK). The heat shield will form a box around the MAX burner and the 3/4" bar stock will get the boil kettle up to allow waste gasses to easily vent out from under the pot.

Thanks for the input! Any more?

Could the same tankless water heater be used if one is using an RO system? The water where I live is really hard and would need to dilute with at least 50% RO water to bring the levels down to earth. I still need to modify with salts to achieve desired water. So would a RO system work before the water heater? This sounds like a cool idea on keeping to a 2 kettle system. Thanks for your info, I am keeping this handy as I am entering into the process of going pro and going Nano!

Aaron
Cambria Brewing Co
 
Could the same tankless water heater be used if one is using an RO system? The water where I live is really hard and would need to dilute with at least 50% RO water to bring the levels down to earth. I still need to modify with salts to achieve desired water. So would a RO system work before the water heater? This sounds like a cool idea on keeping to a 2 kettle system. Thanks for your info, I am keeping this handy as I am entering into the process of going pro and going Nano!

Aaron
Cambria Brewing Co

I have a noritz natural gas tankless hotwater heater (~199k btu) on my house, it is truly badass. I thought about adding one to the brewery, but it is overkill for me at this point.. From that though, I think I can answer your question- since it auto enables / regulates itself on demand, there is a minimum flow / pressure through the heater for it to kick on. I don't think you could do that behind an RO filter unless it's output was massive.. now you (I) could just use a whole house water filter before it, those would for sure have enough output flow to kick the heater on and off.
 
I think they only need 1/2 gpm so unless you do have that output, you're right. However, apparently smarter minds than mine have figured out a way to hook up a collection tank, demand pump and valve to store up the needed water and push it through the Noritz so they start with instant-hot RO. If I could figure out how to do that, without great expense, I'd consider that too. But for now, just a whole house filter in front and city water.
 
Could the same tankless water heater be used if one is using an RO system? The water where I live is really hard and would need to dilute with at least 50% RO water to bring the levels down to earth. I still need to modify with salts to achieve desired water. So would a RO system work before the water heater? This sounds like a cool idea on keeping to a 2 kettle system. Thanks for your info, I am keeping this handy as I am entering into the process of going pro and going Nano!

Aaron
Cambria Brewing Co


Your gonna need a tank/reservoir to hold your RO water. Not sure what your units output is but mine runs 100GPD. With of course lots of waste water. Of course if your gonna go pro, then a skookum water treatment setup may not be to far out of reach. I wonder if anyone has used the cold sterile system for brewing water?
 
Your gonna need a tank/reservoir to hold your RO water. Not sure what your units output is but mine runs 100GPD. With of course lots of waste water. Of course if your gonna go pro, then a skookum water treatment setup may not be to far out of reach. I wonder if anyone has used the cold sterile system for brewing water?



Am I missing something? I can't find anything related, at least I think it is not related, to the skookum water treatment setup.
 
Am I missing something? I can't find anything related, at least I think it is not related, to the skookum water treatment setup.


I was just in reference to a really nice filter setup. Skookum is another way of saying that something is really nice, or top shelf. The reference to cols sterile is a real water treatment process. Not sure I spelled it correctly....but it uses a resin bead product that can be renewed over and over again and is "supposed" to filter water just as good as an RO or RO/DI unit. IIRC they are really fast too.

Now, having said that I have no experience with those units or process. I run a RO/DI unit.

Here is a kold sterile unit.
http://www.marinedepot.com/kold+sterile-si.html
 
I would imagine with either RO/DI or the kold sterile unit that a brewer would have to add particular nutrients and chemicals back into the water to reach the desired levels since these systems would remove all that?

Why would someone purify their water? I figure to eliminate bad stuff (chemicals, tastes, etc) from the city water. Any other reason? I mean, if my water tastes fine and i've been brewing with it and all is well, wouldnt this just be 2 added costs (1. filtration system 2. nutrients and chemicals)? Or is a commercial brewery required to do stuff like this?

Thanks. Hope that's not too many questions.
 
I would imagine with either RO/DI or the kold sterile unit that a brewer would have to add particular nutrients and chemicals back into the water to reach the desired levels since these systems would remove all that?

Why would someone purify their water? I figure to eliminate bad stuff (chemicals, tastes, etc) from the city water. Any other reason? I mean, if my water tastes fine and i've been brewing with it and all is well, wouldnt this just be 2 added costs (1. filtration system 2. nutrients and chemicals)? Or is a commercial brewery required to do stuff like this?

Thanks. Hope that's not too many questions.


Without getting this thread any further off track, your the one who asked about using RO water. If this is a specific topic you want to know about, then star a thread on it.
 
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