Efficiency = $$$ in a microbrewery

[Owly055]

I stopped in at my favorite microbrewery this evening and was visiting with the owner as I always do. He took one of my suggestions and tightened up his mill a bit, and the result was that he now can do the same brews with one sack less grain (15 barrel batch), for the same amount of beer. I pointed out to him that he can probably reduce mash time drastically, as he's doing an absurd 90 min mash + plus sparge time. I tasted two of his before and after brews...... before the fine crush, and after, and there was absolutely zero difference aside from the hop flavors being more assertive in the newer beer..... which is to be expected. He frequently brews "back to back", he brews the morning batch and his assistant brews the afternoon batch. I suggested taking brix measurements from the mash throughout the process to adjust the mash time down to what makes sense. There really is no reason to continue the mash beyond the point of complete conversion. As he documents the brix on every batch, this should not be a real challenge. Considering mash and sparge total time, I suspect he could probably reduce the total by close to 50%, which is a good deal for him.
In addition, he's planning on installing an HLT which will not only greatly reduce the fill time as he can transfer with a 2" pump, but will also allow him to run his hot water from the chiller into the HLT and save energy as well as time, not to mention metered water....... A really excellent energy saving stroke.
Last summer I convinced him to move his chiller outdoors to save energy......This time of year it's paying out in spades............But I'm concerned as he doesn't have a crankcase heater on the compressor. I'll take my clamp meter over next time I go there and check the start up amps. The next logical step is to mount a large radiator.... an ordinary truck radiator would do it, and utilize ambient temps. He also (at my instigation) installed an automated temp control system last summer, where each fermenter has s temp sensor and solenoid valve, and there's a supply line and a return line. The system operates like a well with various faucets, but unfortunately lacks a pressure tank, which I consider to be a critical component to reduce the number of on and off cycles. I'll get into that with him later. On / Off cycles reduce motor life and consume energy.

H.W.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Hopefully that advise is getting you a lot of craft brew on the house!

In all seriousness though, beer lovers love seeing other beer lovers succeed in their craft. Kudos to you man. Sounds like you're doing your part to help him out and keep a small business operating efficiently!

 

[bobeer]

Yea, good stuff. I have to say though that this is sort of brewing 101. I'd think a guy running a 15 bbl brewhouse would know to look into this stuff already; especially if he comes from a Homebrewing background. Good on you though for passing on your knowledge. Hopefully he's taking good care of you for saving him time and money!

 

[slym2none]

In the grain mill setting alone, you are saving him, say, $25 per brew.

He ought to shoot you a sixer every time you stop by.

 

[elerten]

Even people with great experience and successful business's succumb to the, "That's how we've always done it." It's not just small scale operations. I know in my industry we spend an obscene amount of money just dragging people from all levels into a room to figure out better ways to do things. Smaller operations might be more agile, but they have less eyes seeing the opportunities.

 

[RM-MN]

Even people with great experience and successful business's succumb to the, "That's how we've always done it." It's not just small scale operations. I know in my industry we spend an obscene amount of money just dragging people from all levels into a room to figure out better ways to do things. Smaller operations might be more agile, but they have less eyes seeing the opportunities.

Sometimes with a small operation you are so busy trying to make a buck that you miss the opportunity to tweak the system to make you 2 bucks. Having someone mention something you hadn't thought of can be a big factor.

 

[ajdelange]

Can't figure out what kind of chiller you are talking about as it sounds like a liquid to liquid exchanger (remarks about metered water) in some places and a liquid to air in others. In any case a crankcase heater is easily obtained from your local HVAC supply outfit and easy to install. They are equipped with internal thermostats so all you have to do is strap them on and wire them to power. I'm assuming a hermetic compressor here.

 

[Bobby_M]

I think he was talking about running the glycol through an outdoor water/air radiator in freezing cold weather lessening the load on the glycol chiller.

 

[Owly055]

Can't figure out what kind of chiller you are talking about as it sounds like a liquid to liquid exchanger (remarks about metered water) in some places and a liquid to air in others. In any case a crankcase heater is easily obtained from your local HVAC supply outfit and easy to install. They are equipped with internal thermostats so all you have to do is strap them on and wire them to power. I'm assuming a hermetic compressor here.

Actually I mentioned two chillers in my post. One was the huge plate chiller that comes apart for cleaning, and runs water through one side and wort through the other. This is the one he wants to save the water from. The other is a refrigeration unit that chills glycol to feed the jackets on this fermentation tanks.


H.W.