1bbl+ brew day.

[FSR402]

I preparation for a 50 gallon barlywine project that my homebrew club is doing on May 2nd I added a few things to my rig so that I can brew most of it at one time.
Yesterday was the first run for this new gear. It went better then I thought it would.. lol

First I got it all set up and ready.

I then heated 14 gallons to 180* using my flash boiler (the rocket ship looking thing on the right). I then transferred the water to my holding tank (the green 20 gallon cooler)
I let it sit in there while eriktlupus and I finished crushing the last 50 pounds of grain.
Then I transferred that water to the 55 gallon MLT (the gray duct tape thing on the left sitting on the bricks) to preheat that.

Here is the inside of the MLT.

I let that water sit in there until the strike water was up to temp. To do this we used the FB to heat the water as it was going into the HLT. Then we drained that into the holding tank and repeated this. to get the volume that we needed.
I calculated the water temp needed to be at 166* so we started at 176*. After the water was transferred to the MLT we checked the temp. We were at 169*. With the mash paddle we mixed the water until it hit the 166. This only took a few minutes. then we added the 70 pounds of grain. Mike dumped the grain as I stirred.
I was only able to check the temp 4 inches down and at that I was at 149* so I called it close enough. We put the lid on it and set the timer for 60 minutes.

 

[FSR402]

After the hour mash was done we pulled the FB over, hooked the pump to the MLT and the FB. Then for the next 30 minutes we pumped the wort from the MLT thru the FB (at low flame) and back into the MLT. The wort coming back in was at 170*. This was our "mashout".

Then we heated 36 gallons to 175* for the sparge and then gravity feed the sparge water in and pumped the wort out, thru the FB and into the kettle. The wort going into the kettle from the pump was at 191* so it took very little to get it to a boil.
Sparge water going in.

 

[FSR402]

Here is the kettle.

We then boiled for 60 minutes. (no pics)
After the boil was done I hooked up the pump and CFC. Pumped the wort thru the CFC and back into the kettle for a few minutes to sterilize the pump and hoses. Then I turned on the cold water and cooled the wort as it was pumping back to the kettle. After about 30 minutes the 37 gallons was cooled to around 140*. At this time we started filling the fermenters from the CFC instead of pumping it back to the kettle.

 

[FSR402]

when that was all done and the fermenters were all full and yeast was pitched it was cleanup time.

Here is the spent grains.

And here are the five fermenters.

I started at 8 am and was done and cleaned up by 5:30.

After that some people came over for burgers on the gill and beer. My old man was there for half the the brew day was cut off at 9 pm and I told him it was time to leave.

It was a great day.
While we were doing this big batch eriktlupus was brewing a 5 gallon batch.

He did his sparge and boil and cooling all in the time it took us to mashout and sparge. lol

 

[nibiyabi]

Wow. Impressive work --can't wait to see the end result!

 

[jmp138]

Where do you get those big fermenters from, I've been looking for one of those? Nice work to man, I think big batches are the way to go.

 

[eriktlupus]

what nothing of our ugly mugs?

 

[McKBrew]

Holy wow, that is cool.

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

Wish I could have been there, had to work unfortunately.

Looks like everything went pretty well though. Nice to have your maiden voyage go off without a hitch.

 

[FSR402]

what nothing of our ugly mugs?

no one needs to see that.

 

[FSR402]

Wish I could have been there, had to work unfortunately.

Looks like everything went pretty well though. Nice to have your maiden voyage go off without a hitch.

Maybe the next one you will be able to make it.

 

[JMD87]

Looks like fun!

I am curious what the "Corrosive" Fermentors used to actually hold though....

 

[FSR402]

Looks like fun!

I am curious what the "Corrosive" Fermentors used to actually hold though....

They held a cleaning solution for cleaning dairy tanks and lines. It's all good, just rinse them out really well with hot water and you're good to go.
I get them from a milk farm that I own a "milk share" at.

 

[mmb]

That's simply awesome! At least that 30 Gallon brewday goes quicker than three 10G batches.

 

[FSR402]

That's simply awesome! At least that 30 Gallon brewday goes quicker than three 10G batches.

yes yes it does.

 

[eriktlupus]

i did a bad thing in that i forgot my yeast on saturday and as such didn't get my yeast piitched until sat nite @8:30pm. this morning i have high krausen, whew!

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Dang, very nice!

 

[FSR402]

i did a bad thing in that i forgot my yeast on saturday and as such didn't get my yeast piitched until sat nite @8:30pm. this morning i have high krausen, whew!

You should have said something I have an asston of yeast in the fridge.

 

[Joe C]

Do i spy an OB SRT-4 next to the R/T?

Looks like a fun day! crazy set up too!

 

[FSR402]

Do i spy an OB SRT-4 next to the R/T?

Looks like a fun day! crazy set up too!

Nope the orange car next to my RT is my wife's Eclipse GT.

 

[fixie]

Sweet Pics, makes my operation seem so tiny. Glad to see it go off without a hitch.

 

[eriktlupus]

Sweet Pics, makes my operation seem so tiny. Glad to see it go off without a hitch.

you aint kidding there i kept looking at my little 5g setup and then at his 55g kettle going jeez mine looks like a toy sitting there.


fsr402 eh the yeast is no biggie just my own dang fault for not deciding to go ahead and brew till i woke up at 4 am, i was bound to forget something besides the mash spoon.

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

Originally Posted by eriktlupus
what nothing of our ugly mugs?
no one needs to see that.

Thats like looking at porn and the camera zooming in on the guy moaning. Nobody wants to see that. LOL :cross:

 

[anemic]

so you are a marathon runner brewer too! are you tuned up for the 25k this weekend?

i'm out. hate to miss. wonder what the course decision will be today. run, paddle, fast portage, paddle, run, like a multisport adventure event.

 

[FSR402]

so you are a marathon runner brewer too! are you tuned up for the 25k this weekend?

i'm out. hate to miss. wonder what the course decision will be today. run, paddle, fast portage, paddle, run, like a multisport adventure event.

Yes I do marathons although at 260 pounds you would neer guess it.
I'm not ready for the 25K, I have not ran more then 11 miles since I ran the Grand Rapids Marathon last Oct. So I'm under trained. Have been trying to talk myself into just doing the 10K. I'm in the first few weeks of training for a Half Ironman and I really don't want to beat myself up and not be able to train for two weeks.
We will see, maybe friday I'll drop down or man up. who knows.

 

[eriktlupus]

hey troy,

i finally racked the simcoe blonde into a keg this morning. that makes what 4wks in primary and 2 in secondary right? eh no matter it so ****ing good that i don't think i'll be bringing it up anytime soon, mike and your dad would kill it real quick.


when is the next group brew for the primetime crew?

 

[tklarose]

What did you do with the spent grains? And how is clean up?

 

[FSR402]

hey troy,

i finally racked the simcoe blonde into a keg this morning. that makes what 4wks in primary and 2 in secondary right? eh no matter it so ****ing good that i don't think i'll be bringing it up anytime soon, mike and your dad would kill it real quick.


when is the next group brew for the primetime crew?

I'm not sure when we will do another one. I will most likely brew again in a month or two. I have beer on hand.
I understand why you would not bring it up. A 5 gallon batch wont go far with us drinking it. lol

What did you do with the spent grains? And how is clean up?

I rolled them out to the field across the street and dumped them. Cleanup is no harder then any other all grain day. Just a little more grain.

 

[Yooper]

I'm drooling here. You know, I have a little bitty brewpot and a little bitty MLT and a little bitty HLT. I'm so wishing I was about 500 miles closer, and could pop in on a brew day with you!

 

[eriktlupus]

yooper,,, trust me i had serious case of system envy going on. my hlt is only 4g and i have a 5g round for a mt with a 7.5g fryer pot bk. but like was said earlier i did my whole brew between his mashin and sparge. as in done cleaned up and put away(mostly).


and we wish you lived at least on the other side of the big water.

 

[FSR402]

I'm drooling here. You know, I have a little bitty brewpot and a little bitty MLT and a little bitty HLT. I'm so wishing I was about 500 miles closer, and could pop in on a brew day with you!

yeah we all wish you lived closer too.