Am I Insane? Minimal Investment 1 BBL Setup

[Dirtyoldguy366]

I attend a party each Labor Day Weekend. Increasingly, more and more of the beer for this event is homemade.

I recently acquired 2 40 gallon stainless steel pots. Evil villain plots ensued.

Here's what I have in mind.... Because I'll only need to brew at this scale a few times each summer, I don't want to invest heavily in big batch equipment... pumps, stands, fittings, fixtures, etc... All that stuff is expensive as all get out.

Here's what the mad genius has worked out...

I have a steep hillside with around 12 ft of vertical drop with flat ground at the top and the bottom. I intend to construct a 3 tier brewing system using the contour of the hill to allow gravity to transfer my hot water to my mash tun, and the wort into my brew kettle, and the boiled wort into many 5 gallon buckets.

Water will be conveyed to the HLT via buckets and heated.
Hot water will flow through a long hose to the 120 qt mash tun (equipped with a braided mesh hose filter) located on a flat spot dug into the hillside halfway up the small hill with a shovel.
First runnings will flow into a 40 gallon kettle at the bottom of the hill via a long hose.
During mash, sparge water is transferred to HLT (via 5 gallon bucket) and heated at the top of the hill.
Batch Sparge.
Boil in large kettle at bottom of hill.
Transfer 1 BBL of Wort to 6 5g buckets.
Keg in 2 1/2 BBL Kegs (Prime to carbonate, purge/pressurize with CO2)
Transfer to site several weeks before party.
Purge Gunk.
Drink. Enjoy.

I will need:
Two stands capable of supporting 320+ lbs
Propane burner capable of heating 38ish gallons to boil
Fermcaps!
A bunch of grain, a bunch of hops, some mondo starters, a good recipe, and a lot of help (which I can muster).

Worries:
It will be a pain in the ass! (unlikely, as long as I have enough help)
I'll need to adjust my strike water temp for the loss due to distance between HLT and mash tun (manageable)
I'm an idiot. (I know.)

Am I insane?

What burner should I get, and what would make a good stand?

 

[grathan]

The kab6 burner will support 40 gallons.

I would almost consider burning wood if I needed that much heat.

 

[CanAusBrewer]

The kab6 burner will support 40 gallons.

I would almost consider burning wood if I needed that much heat.

This sounds like the most awesome possible way to make beer.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Definiitly ambitious. gonna need some thirsty people.

 

[mblanks2]

Got to post pictures of this build.

 

[Dirtyoldguy366]

The kab6 burner will support 40 gallons.

I would almost consider burning wood if I needed that much heat.

Wood is my backup plan!

 

[Dirtyoldguy366]

Thirsty people aren't that hard to come by.

 

[wilserbrewer]

A one or two gallon pitcher is your friend! Rather than building a rig on a hillside and "digging in". A small vessel can easily and quickly move say 25 gallons of sparge water. Even running your mash into 5 gallon buckets and moving to the kettle 3-5 gallons at a time.

You have a lot more to worry about than the wort path flow, that's the easy part IME.

Boiled and chilled wort can even be moved to fermenters with a sanitized pitcher.

Walking up and down the hill during a brew session sounds exhausting...

Very sorry if this comes off as a killjoy buzzkill, this is just my experience when doing an occasional "large" batch.

 

[podz]

A moonshiner used to live on your property.

 

[hio3791]

I think that's a lot of work, effort and energy to brew 1 BBL just once or twice a year. I would simply plan on brewing 3 10-gallon batches in 1 weekend, blend the fermented beer and get 6 kegs out of it. Or, since you got the pots, you could do 2 15-gallon batches. The logistics are much simpler with the smaller batches.

If, however, you plan to brew 1 BBL from here on out, then that's another story.

 

[broadbill]

Dude, just buy a F*cking pump and fittings already! You want to brew big-boy batches but half-ass it with some rube-goldberg gravity setup?

You have to buy a couple of hundred of bucks worth of equipment to get even this idea off the ground....about about pony up a bit more and do it about a kazillion times more easily? (rough approximation)

If you are going to cry proverty because of the pump cost, I'm going to tell you to shouldn't be doing 40 gallon batches. Go buy a couple of kegs of Coors light for the July 4th party, and save yourself the effort.

I'm all for improvisation, but even MacGyver had to open his wallet to buy his swiss-army knife.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Now that is a rig I would like to see.

Do/Are you getting 2 burners? It would probably be easier with 2 burners to have one under the HLT and one under the BK and that way have a kind of 2 tier where you can bucket the water from the HLT into the MLT (side by side), then drain down into the BK to save trekking up (or digging out) the hill. It would also allow you to maintain HLT temps and make adjustments accordingly and start heating your first runnings while you are sparging.

Additionally, make sure you have plenty of backup propane. I am sure you will freeze a few tanks up or run out mid boil or heating your sparge water.

 

[Dirtyoldguy366]

Yea I will be getting two burners.

And to the naysayers, I likely will eventually put together a more permanent system for brewing at these scales, but this way lets me break up the investment into more manageable chunks and lets me brew on it before its completely finished.

I've thought about my propane needs as well and will be sure to be prepared in that regard as well...

Thanks for all the input guys! I'll be sure to post pics once its all put together.

 

[mgortel]

Do it! And post pics!!!!! No reason it wouldn't work.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Do it! And post pics!!!!! No reason it wouldn't work.

No doubt it will work, I just feel that manually lifting 150 lbs of sparge water, first runnings or boiled wort 20 - 30 lbs at a time will be much easier than incorporating a hill into the brewery.

At some point you either need too carry raw materials, equipment, or finished beer either back up or down the hill....maybe on a 10 BBL system where you are fermenting at the lower end daily....

Just cause the wort path is favored by gravity doesn't necessarily mean the work path is favored by gravity.

Ok enough Debbie downer, can't wait to see the pics!
Cheers!!!


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[Hermit]

Am I insane?

Why yes, yes you are. :rockin:

I can gladly send you the certificate for $25 + shipping and handling.

 

[broadbill]

And to the naysayers, I likely will eventually put together a more permanent system for brewing at these scales, but this way lets me break up the investment into more manageable chunks and lets me brew on it before its completely finished.

I get the incremental upgrade, but you have committed some money to this project as you plan to buy stands. Ghetto-rig the stands (cinder blocks and lumber), and instead spend the money on the pump/fittings. Heck, you may not need the stand at all at this point.

A pump takes the whole gravity, gotta-schlep-stuff-up-a-hill idea off the table. I don't know what you need to buy stands first.