Closed System Brewing Kettle....Project

Call me overly paranoid, but I had an idea to create a complete closed system brewing system. It isn’t quite done, but this is the first step. Here is how I envision it working.

1. With about 15min left in the boil prop the lid on the edge of the kettle with the cooling coils in the boil.
2. With about 1min left seal the lid down. I still need to build a clamp that goes through the keg handles, put a silicone seal around the lid’s perimeter, and install a HEPA filter in the lid to allow the kettle to breath.
3. Start my pump and the cooling coil to create Jamil’s whirlpool immersion chiller.
4. After cooled I can let the trub settle for a long time and not worry about contamination as the kettle is sealed.
5. In the meantime I will fill a carboy with sanitizer and drain it with MoreBeer’s Sterile Siphon Starter.
6. Finally I will connect my kettle to the Sterile Siphon Starter to fill my fermentor.

Now I just need to figure out how to aerate and pitch the yeast.

+1 on you being paranoid. I know we all build some crazy systems, but a sealed kettle with a HEPA filter? This just seems like too, too much!

slight overkill....fun idea though. Why are you so paranoid though? have you had contaminated batches or what?

Ouch. No bad contamination issues, but I did get sick of covering my kettle with foil while cooling. It is very windy in central Montana and I don't like dirt blowing into my cooled wort. At first I was just going to mount my chiller into the lid so I wouldn't have to waste foil, then I figured why the hell not take it to the extreme. Heck with this system I would feel comfortable leaving the wort overnight if my yeast starter wasn't ready or if it was a late brew and I wanted sleep. But my main reason is ... because I wanted to see if I could.

fifelee said:

Ouch. No bad contamination issues, but I did get sick of covering my kettle with foil while cooling. It is very windy in central Montana and I don't like dirt blowing into my cooled wort. At first I was just going to mount my chiller into the lid so I wouldn't have to waste foil, then I figured why the hell not take it to the extreme. Heck with this system I would feel comfortable leaving the wort overnight if my yeast starter wasn't ready or if it was a late brew and I wanted sleep. But my main reason is ... because I wanted to see if I could.

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Its a cool idea I really like your lid I think I might make something like it to hold my chiller in place. I dont like the idea of puting a lid on a kettle untill flame out so I might make mine w/ a hinge and hinge 1/2 of it so I can keep it open untill flamout. I will have to work on some sort of a O2 injection system
Cheers
JJ

fifelee said:

Ouch. No bad contamination issues, but I did get sick of covering my kettle with foil while cooling. It is very windy in central Montana and I don't like dirt blowing into my cooled wort. At first I was just going to mount my chiller into the lid so I wouldn't have to waste foil, then I figured why the hell not take it to the extreme. Heck with this system I would feel comfortable leaving the wort overnight if my yeast starter wasn't ready or if it was a late brew and I wanted sleep. But my main reason is ... because I wanted to see if I could.

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I lived in Kalispell and Whitefish for a while so i know where your coming from. Personally i have a sanatized carboy handy and i pour the wort in semi hot and let it cool with foil over that. I never had a problem leaving that overnight. Its a cool project- i didint mean to seem condescending however its alot of money for copper and supplies when its something you could do with foil. Good luck

scinerd3000 said:

I lived in Kalispell and Whitefish for a while so i know where your coming from. Personally i have a sanatized carboy handy and i pour the wort in semi hot and let it cool with foil over that. I never had a problem leaving that overnight. Its a cool project- i didint mean to seem condescending however its alot of money for copper and supplies when its something you could do with foil. Good luck

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Already had the lid and cooling coil so no extra expense. No worries. I just built a trebuchet out of 100% duct tape to see if I could, so I am used to people thinking my ideas are a bit off . By the way, I just left Kalispell. Worked for Semitool for 7 years. I sure miss that area.

what are the little white keepers you put your copper tubing through? Where did you get them?
JJ

Jaybird said:

what are the little white keepers you put your copper tubing through? Where did you get them?
JJ

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They are pieces of plastic that I machined to fit tightly around the copper pipe.

fifelee said:

They are pieces of plastic that I machined to fit tightly around the copper pipe.

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Nice! Looks like I have a bit of work to do.
Cheers
JJ

I never thought I would ever see someone more sanitary than myself. I think you are over a bit but I do have a suggestion. I think you need a brewing shack and to make a boiler with a stack like the breweries have. This way you could have an air conditioner or a whole house type fan with filter for the shack. I have thought of doing this myself as we do get some windy hot days and this would keep out the bugs, leaves, etc from getting into the wort as well as keeping myself more comfortable too. I think steam heating of the vessels would be the best way to go with the steam boiler outside. I would have access to the wort via a door on the boiler and use a counter-flow chiller/ice bath on the way to the fermenter. You do realize that you can not totally close the boiler due to DMS, right? Maybe this shack is over the top.

WBC said:

I never thought I would ever see someone more sanitary than myself. I think you are over a bit but I do have a suggestion. I think you need a brewing shack and to make a boiler with a stack like the breweries have. This way you could have an air conditioner or a whole house type fan with filter for the shack. I have thought of doing this myself as we do get some windy hot days and this would keep out the bugs, leaves, etc from getting into the wort as well as keeping myself more comfortable too. I think steam heating of the vessels would be the best way to go with the steam boiler outside. I would have access to the wort via a door on the boiler and use a counter-flow chiller/ice bath on the way to the fermenter. Maybe this is over the top.

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I thought about building a laminar flow cleanroom for my brewery, but decided the cooling coil thru the lid approach a bit less time consuming and more compact.

fifelee said:

I thought about building a laminar flow cleanroom for my brewery, but decided the cooling coil thru the lid approach a bit less time consuming and more compact.

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dude.....i would love to see that. If i ever have more room i would build a small one with a hood for yeast culturing etc.

fifelee said:

I thought about building a laminar flow cleanroom for my brewery, but decided the cooling coil thru the lid approach a bit less time consuming and more compact.

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Do you still leave the lid off for the major part of the boil so any DMS is boiled off?

Where are the pictures of the trebuchet??? I really gotta move to Montana. A guy a know here owns a big chunk of property (at least by Cleveland standards) out there, and he built a catapult in his back yard.

JayC said:

Where are the pictures of the trebuchet??? I really gotta move to Montana. A guy a know here owns a big chunk of property (at least by Cleveland standards) out there, and he built a catapult in his back yard.

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I want pictures too....

And one of the only good things about delaware is the annual punkin chunkin. Every year people build homemade cannons and to a huge farm and shoot pumpkins. Some of these go close a mile!

World Championship PunkinChunkin

Thought about just fermenting in the boil pot?

WBC said:

Do you still leave the lid off for the major part of the boil so any DMS is boiled off?

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I haven't tried it yet, but I plan on having the lid off all but the last minute. I can prop the lid on the edge if my kettle with the coils in the boiling wort. This will leave the kettle almost completely open for the last 15min.

conpewter said:

Thought about just fermenting in the boil pot?

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Hummmmm. You got me thinking.

JayC said:

Where are the pictures of the trebuchet??? I really gotta move to Montana. A guy a know here owns a big chunk of property (at least by Cleveland standards) out there, and he built a catapult in his back yard.

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Don't think I took any pics (that was dumb). I donated it to the local science teacher, so sneak into the school would be needed. The thing was only about 2ft tall and would fling bottle caps about 15 ft. I have a small 25 acre field in my front yard. Some day a trebuchet will reach the other end. Will defiantly take pictures of that. :rockin: