55 Gallon Brew Day

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DeathBrewer

Maniacally Malty
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50 + 5, that is. Last Sunday, my friends brewed a 50 gallon batch, and I did a 5 gallon batch for competition while I helped a bit.

Here is the 50 gallon setup:

brewsetup-65014.jpg


The boiling pot, also used to heat the mash and sparge water:

50galboilingpot-64995.jpg


Here's the burner under the boiling pot:

50galburner-64997.jpg


The jacket:

50galjacket-65003.jpg


Boiling pot in action:

50galboilhotliquor-64992.jpg


50galboilingpot2-64996.jpg


50galboil-64990.jpg


50galboiling-64993.jpg


50galboilempty-64991.jpg
 
And the 5 gallon setup was actually quite cozy:

5galstand-64988.jpg


5galboilingsetup-64979.jpg


Here's the run-off with a view of the other burner (and foil for splash-sparging)

5galmashrunoff-64984.jpg


5galfoil-64982.jpg


Mash run-off:

5galmashrunoff2-64985.jpg


5galrunoff2-64987.jpg


The Mash Hops and First Wort Hops for my English IPA:

5galweighhops-64989.jpg


Teh boil:

5galboil-64977.jpg
 
I was just talking last week about a 3 gallon carboy on a stir plate. I guess it works? The reason is I can get a 3 gallon carboy for $15 bucks but a 4L flask cost me almost $40. Do you have to use a special stir bar for it? Does it work alright?
 
It uses a larger-than-normal stirbar, but we've tried different sizes and the really big ones don't work. It had trouble kicking up the yeast when it started to really flocculate at the end of the yeasts' peak, but it works very well, as you can see from the picture.

How well it works for you all depends on the stirplate.
 
Holy crap that's a lot of freakin beer! How do you manage to drink all of that? That's like 500 beers! lol :rockin:
 
Is that a stainless 55 gal drum the bottom part of your kettle?
Awesome setup!!:rockin:

I was gonna say the same thing. I am in awe! I'm trying to brew on a grad student wage so setups like theses are hard to wrap my head around. Today has been a good day as I have witness true beauty. :)
 
This is my friend's setup. He works with metal :)

We previously did this with four mash tuns (kegs) before the big one was finished.

Batch before that was one keg and extract, before that just extract. All excellent batches.

Damn...I should have taken a picture of the cooling setup...most of his brews are lagers. Next time.
 
See the burner on the floor to the left in this pic?

5galmashrunoff.jpg


Same burner. My buddy gets them from a chinese shop...they are made for woks, but most pots will fit on them. We are using them today for oak barrels beer week event...we mounted them to the sculpture.

The boiling pot is made from a dewar. The outside jacket contains the heat within so there is very little heat lost from the burner. It took less than an hour to get 50 gallons of cold water to a boil on it's first test.

Beer Week:

http://www.sfbeerweek.org/schedule

Homebrewing Demonstration with Local Brewmasters
Oak Barrel
1443 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702

Details:
February 11
5:00pm - 9:00pm

Admission: No Charge
Attire: Anything

Description:
Bay Area Mashers homebrew club & Oak Barrel are sponsoring a demo brew by several professional brewers: Rodger Davis (Triple Rock), Christian Kazakoff (Iron Springs), Ron Silberstein (ThirstyBear), Adam Lamoreaux (Linden St.) & more. Oak Barrel's Homer Smith will be BBQing; there will be commercial & homebrewed beer. RSVP to [email protected].

My friend and I will be the ones brewing the beer. You wouldn't believe how tasty Homer's BBQ is.

There will be a new page of photos after the event :)
 
This appears to be a very similar burner, with the same inside piece to produce the flame and the same stand. However, it does not have the same controls/ignition.

B4-1.jpg


http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Cast-Iron-Wok-LP-Burner-Propane-Stove-100K-BTU-Heat_W0QQitemZ350282020804QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Commercial_Ovens_Ranges?hash=item518e6f77c4

This has a similar ignition/control to it, but looks more like a bayou burner inside:

stove.jpg


http://cgi.ebay.com/New-H202-Cast-Iron-Wok-Burner-Propane-Stove-High-Heat_W0QQitemZ310158963204QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Commercial_Ovens_Ranges?hash=item4836ea3204
 
I have one of those chinese wok burners (the black one in the second pic) and it did not seem to have many BTU's in my tests, that chimney jacket must really help with efficiency.
Great big barrels of beer! that's a cool looking fermenter, too.
 
Are you sure it's the same burner? They make a lot of similar ones, but this baby is the beast that can get the job done.

The jacket certainly helps, tho :)
 
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