3 barrel system

Can anyone out there tell me the advantage of having 3 barrel mlt/hlt/bk and 6 barrel fermenters & conditioning tanks? Is it a space issue? Is it ok to have 3 bbl fermenters & brite tanks instead?

You can brew double batches on the 3 bbl system and have 6 bbl fermenters handle the batch. That might not make sense to someone who wants to brew a lot of different beers; but there are situations where it's really smart. For instance, it sounds like this is going to be used in a Nano or very small distribution brewery. If that's the case, then depending on your state laws, you might have to submit recipes to the state for approval before distribution or serving to the public. I hear that that's a long arduous process. So instead of creating 15 types of "one off" brews, they get two or three recipes approved and mass produce that recipe.

Obviously that's reading into it a bit, but it's one viable reason. It's easy to do double batch days though, especially when you have a need for a large amount of the same beer. Hope that helps! Cheers.

Often the difference between 3.5bbl and 7bbl is small. You can always put 3.5bbl in a 7bbl unitank, but fitting 7bbl in 3.5bbl is tough

I don't know where you are finding 6bbl unitanks, that is an odd size in my experience.

Multiple batches into an FV is the norm in most production breweries. And for the record, you don't have to get recipes approved by any government agency- labels must be approved, not recipes.

dedhedjed said:

Multiple batches into an FV is the norm in most production breweries. And for the record, you don't have to get recipes approved by any government agency- labels must be approved, not recipes.

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Some recipes (formulas) must be submitted to the TTB under certain conditions.

I don't have any personal experience with that, just hear say. That was relayed to me by one of the guys that works for Black Bear Brewing in Alabama. We (the state) might be bas akwards as we commonly are about alcohol laws. I'll check into it more online and try to confirm/deny.

What I found is pretty vague IMO. I think one could get around it easily based on the verbiage. Check it out:

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/tex...e=27:1.0.1.1.20&idno=27#27:1.0.1.1.20.6.374.4

Seems like you don't have to file as long as you only use barley and hops.

tally350z said:

Seems like you don't have to file as long as you only use barley and hops.

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Well that doesn't sound tasty, I would hope they would also alow some yeast and water.

Ramitt said:

Well that doesn't sound tasty, I would hope they would also alow some yeast and water.

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You've never made a beer with just the barley and hops.. its quite delicious, we don't need no water and yeast..

So....brite tanks or no brite tanks? I see many pub breweries solely use bright tanks for conditioning/serving. Is there anyone out there that just conditions in them and then kegs?

owentp said:

So....brite tanks or no brite tanks? I see many pub breweries solely use bright tanks for conditioning/serving. Is there anyone out there that just conditions in them and then kegs?

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Sure. It just adds a LOT of time & labor to your process. Cheaper in the short run, perhaps, but pound foolish IMO.

It might be cheaper up front to keg but over time the labor/personnel time, washing multiple kegs, etc. will add up to being more hassle. The only reason I would keg is if I was doing distribution. I'm not a pro brewer though so there very well may be something I don't know about.