Owly055
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- Feb 28, 2014
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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.
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.