A 5 barrel brew day! Warning: lots of brewery pr0n pix.

[red96jeep]

wow i want all of that, did he mention anything about why they have the setup placed out the way they do or anything else on the logistics of it?

 

[Clayton]

LUCKY!!!! gosh...

 

[thorongil]

Duh... I was thinking heat exchanger = HERMS coil, not plate chiller... Is the mash tun directly fired for temperature control?

Quote:
Originally Posted by thorongil
Questions:

1. What does he use for a heat exchanger?
2. What about hops filter (for the kettle)?

Looking to glean ideas from one of the "big guys"...

1. That big blue thing with the big bolts going through it. Says, "Meuller Accu-Therm Plate Heat Exchanger" on it.

2. Nothing. I specifically asked this. All he does is whirlpool.

 

[nostalgia]

I have a question... what was used to get all the grain out of the MLT? Did you just reach in and pull it out with a shovel or something?

He just reached in the top with the stainless mash paddle and pushed it out the front door. When it was almost done he used a squeegee to scrape the rest out.

Also - all that wort/yeast and whatnot ending up on the floor - does he just wash it down at the end of the day? or is a cleaner used?

Yep, just washed it down the drains in the floo rwith a garden hose.

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Any idea how much backpressure the steam condenser causes?

Nope.

How is the beer in those serving tanks kept cold?

They're in a walk-in freezer. The yeast was in there too.

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

wow i want all of that, did he mention anything about why they have the setup placed out the way they do or anything else on the logistics of it?

They had to fit everything in the space they already had.

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Is the mash tun directly fired for temperature control?

hehe I asked that too. We homebrewers must think the same

No, the MLT is just an insulated tank.

-Joe

 

[944play]

To finish/adjust the carbonation, he uses a carbonation stone (like for the O2 aeration) with CO2 inline during the transfer to the serving tanks.

You could get one of these:

And rig up something like this. 2.5g corny in the middle with carbonation lid, keg on right w/spunding valve. You'll only get 2.5g of truly inline-carbonated beer, but you asked.:cross:

 

[magnj]

Thanks for all the photos, I didn't know they even existed sadly. I'll have to make the trip over there some time and drop your name
I'm thinking of asking a local brewpub here to let me help them brew next year while I'm in between school...how did you get into that conversation?

 

[nostalgia]

Thanks for all the photos, I didn't know they even existed sadly. I'll have to make the trip over there some time and drop your name
I'm thinking of asking a local brewpub here to let me help them brew next year while I'm in between school...how did you get into that conversation?

Heehee. Let me know when you're in the area and I'll buy the first round

I started by asking if they do a brewery tour, then mentioned I'm a homebrewer and would love to see an active brew day. I figured if it was OK, they'd offer. If not, oh well, I can still drink their beer

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Oh! Another neat thing I forgot. While cleaning out the MLT, we got to talking about grain and sugar extraction. Dave told me to taste some of the grain, which I did. It tasted like pretty much nothing.

Then he found a little dough ball that hadn't been broken up during the mash. When I tasted that, I was amazed at how sweet it was. It was actually really tasty

It's one of those things you know in your head - the grain has sugar in it - but when you see it demonstrated like that it's just cool.

-Joe

 

[fixie]

That was awesome. Thanks for all of the pics, must have been an great day. I'm jealous.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

A GREAT read! Thanks!!

I'm another that was particular fond of the pipe patch panel

 

[slimer]

A GREAT read! Thanks!!

I'm another that was particular fond of the pipe patch panel

Agreed. That thing is sick.

 

[dap325]

Very very cool pictures. Sounds like you had a great day. Thanks for sharing. :rockin:

 

[zanemoseley]

Makes 5 gallon batches look pretty puny however its cool to see much of the process is identical except for the scale. I'm not sure about you guys but I could definitely see how prepping and brewing such large batches every day could suck the fun out of brewing quite quickly.

 

[Jaybird]

Best thread all week! Thanks for sharing.
Cheers
JJ

 

[fretsforlife]

I had that "field trip" feeling I used to get in grade school the whole time while reading.. Awesome thread! thanks!

 

[magnj]

Heehee. Let me know when you're in the area and I'll buy the first round

I started by asking if they do a brewery tour, then mentioned I'm a homebrewer and would love to see an active brew day. I figured if it was OK, they'd offer. If not, oh well, I can still drink their beer

-Joe

Be careful I might take you up on that lol. The brewpub in question is Harvest Moon in New Brunswick...I guess a good start would be spending some more time at the bar huh.

 

[WortMonger]

Ahh, that makes me miss the brewery. I hated mucking out the mash tun, talk about making your sack sweat. Great pictures, I know you had to have an awesome time. It was some of the most fun days I ever spent working, that is for sure. I think everyone should get the opportunity to see it and talk to a brewer like that first hand.

Now, I'm going back to look at the pictures again.

 

[LakeErieBrew]

Awesome thread. Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[ernie111]

Very interesting, great job with the pics and the narration!

 

[PhunkyPhresh]

Great Brew Pub I have been there a few times only becasue it is so far from Bergen County where I live otherwise I would be there constantly. Looks like you had a great time and learned a few things along the way. Great post

 

[bad coffee]

sweet writeup.

Did anyone else notice the controller was made by DME? I thought these guys were pros!

hahahah

B

 

[nostalgia]

Be careful I might take you up on that lol. The brewpub in question is Harvest Moon in New Brunswick...I guess a good start would be spending some more time at the bar huh.

Nice place, I've been there many times.

Yeah, spend time at the bar and make friends with the bartenders and servers. Be polite, be friendly. Tip well Once you start to talk about homebrewing you'll usually find someone who's interested enough to ask questions, and you're in.

-Joe

 

[Long-Haired_Brewer]

Well i must say, that is rather impressive! Looks like you had an awfully terrific time!

 

[nostalgia]

Well i must say, that is rather impressive! Looks like you had an awfully terrific time!

I did have a wonderful time. They showed wonderful hospitality.

The fact that the food and service there are consistently excellent doesn't hurt, either I had a really nice blackened catfish for lunch.

-Joe

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

My puny brain keeps trying to think of a way to build a practical PVC pipe patch just for sh!tz and giggles. Totally stupid and unecessary idea, but I can't stop thinking about one!.....Fess up, anyone else been wondering?

 

[Bobby_M]

Be careful I might take you up on that lol. The brewpub in question is Harvest Moon in New Brunswick...I guess a good start would be spending some more time at the bar huh.

Being a member of a local homebrew club certainly helps. They recently held a homebrew contest where the winner would get to scale up the batch and brew along side with Matt. I think the Whales represented 10 of the 11 entries so one of the guys will be brewing a Braggot at Harvest Moon next Friday.

 

[magnj]

Being a member of a local homebrew club certainly helps. They recently held a homebrew contest where the winner would get to scale up the batch and brew along side with Matt. I think the Whales represented 10 of the 11 entries so one of the guys will be brewing a Braggot at Harvest Moon next Friday.

I'll look into the club...not sure I'm up to snuff though. I was more daydreaming than anything, about how nice it would be to do an "internship" type deal at Harvest between semesters if I end up in grad school.