Advice on Homebrew/ Semi-Commercial Setup

[zachzama]

So I've been a long time homebrewer and avid beer enthusiast. Our family friends have multiple restaurants and we've been interested in possible expanding to a brewery/brewpub. I've participated in many all grain brews but with friends setups. So I'm looking for a great homebrew setup that could help me in recipe creation and testing.

I was looking at the brew magic V350MS system but seems way over priced (but within our budget). Also looked at the Blichmann BrewEasy but seems more geared toward quick, smaller homebrews. Think it makes more sense to build something myself but looking for automation and repeat ability (so looked at the Blichmann Tower of Power).

So really looking for some guidance from all the much more experienced brewers on here. Any guidance is appreciated but really looking for a solid setup that we can practice, grow, and easily repeat recipes on.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Do you have the ability to brew electric? How big do you want to brew? A 50 amp electric panel with 4 heating elements is scalable up to a barrel or so, maybe 1.5 bbl but you could start with a 1/2bbl system. Stout makes a cost effective setup. They usually keep 40 gallon kettles in stock and that will get you going with 1bbl batches.

I run a 1/2bbl stout system with a homebuilt panel that I built to run 4 heating elements. I only run 2 right now. Works great. I control it with a bcs which can also manage my fermentation. Lots of cool stuff. If I were to do it again I would power it with a true PLC and touch screen HMI. If you have the budget I would buy a panel from brewmation. They are beautiful and awesome. A friend runs his 3bbl nano with it.

Just some stuff to think about.

 

[zachzama]

Thanks, but now I'm gonna sound like a total noob. What's PLC and HMI? I can brew electric and was thinking between 1/2bbl to 1.5bbl. Definitely want to go with some sort of panel to help and track. I'll definitely go check out some of your recommendations though.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

If you are new to it and not electrical then a 50 amp panel for 4 elements powered by bcs from eBrewSupply is the ticket. I'd recommend spending the money on it and spending the time on probrewer.com learning the biz side of it. I guess step one is producing good all grain beer.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

PLC = programmable logic controller
HMI = human machine interface

Basically the computer brain to do stuff in a logical manner. Pretty slick stuff. Poke around the automated forum a bit. Lots of great reading.

 

[zachzama]

Thanks, will definitely check it out. If I didn't want to go electrical for the brewing any suggestions?

 

[sandyeggoxj]

No idea! Haha!

I've heard UL rated gas ranges for commercial kitchens and blingman kettles.

 

[dk21]

You should check out morebeer's brew sculptures as well. It sounds as if a lot of major breweries are using either the Brew Magic or the morebeer systems as their test batch systems, so that has always suggested to me that they're doing something right.

I'd agree that the Breweasy is not an appropriate solution. You might consider a Top Tier with Tower of Power setup, though.

 

[zachzama]

Thanks, the brew sculptures look great and and can brew a bit more than the brew magic. Not sure about the digital piece on the brew sculpture but the computer setup looks much more robust on the brew magic. I think your right with the Blichmann Tower of Power setup because you still get the digital piece but can build your own setup for cheaper.

 

[dk21]

One of these days I'd love to get a nice brewing system. I think if I had the opportunity today, I would probably order a Morebeer system. I'd go for the digital setup...your temperatures will be held automagically...always a good thing IMO.

You're correct that you could build something comparable for less if you have (or know someone who has) the appropriate skill set. I don't, so I'm glad that there are some quality systems out there!

Good luck!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Hey Zach, where are ya at in The country?

 

[orangehero]

Check out:

http://www.brewmation.com/

http://www.psychobrewllc.com/

 

[zachzama]

I'm near Sacramento, CA

 

[zachzama]

Dang, those psychobrew setups are expensive. After all the research I'm still undecided lol. The brewmation setups are awesome but the sink design people complain about is a concern. Like a lot of the electric setups, just not sure I wanna go that route. The more beer sculptures look really nice too. Guess I'll just have to flip a coin (but probably keep researching).

 

[orangehero]

Not sure where you found the sink design, but they don't make that anymore. As I understand they use Stout Tanks vessels.

 

[zachzama]

Oh well that's cool. All the videos I could find had the kitchen sink style. Also couldn't get a good feel for the system from brewmations website.

 

[zachzama]

So after more digging I saw the synergy brewing setup which is much cheaper than say the morebeer and brew magic. Couldn't you add a blichmann tower of power to the synergy setup and have close to the same as the B3 & BM? The synergy also comes with a wort chiller. Just wondering as you'd be about $3 to $4k less than the other two with close to the same functionality. Unless I'm just totally missing something which could also be the case.