Fully Automated System

[Eve]

I am so excited about this new brewhouse! This system is a fully automated 1/2 barrel (15 gallons) brewing system. It has a water filtering system along with a built in cooling coil. Everything is controlled from a PLC which will run a batch, start to finish, with minimal supervision. The system fills the hot liquor tank and heats to strike temperature, then moves the heated water to the grain bed while filling the HLT back up to set the fly sparging temperature. Once the grain has soaked it will recirculate the grain bed and move the product to the boil kettle while fly sparging at the same time. Once everything is moved to the boil kettle, it will boil for the designated time you set in the recipe. As the boil completes the allotted time, it with automatically cool the wort for the fermentation process. The system can also be used in manual mode so you can control the valves and pumps with the HMI touch screen. This system is ideal for test batching.

 

[stlbeer]

Please post this in the for sale forum.

 

[AJinJacksonville]

Please post this in the for sale forum.

You beat me to it. Was thinking the same exact thing...haha.

 

[crane]

I see you have so solenoid valves instead of motorized ball valves. How many batches have you run through this? I have read that these type of valves will clog over time if you pass wort through them.

 

[Straykiller]

Going to do the same thing, I am a controls engineer and already bought the plc.

 

[dryhopgulch]

Just curious, what PLC are you guys using? And what is being used for level sensing?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Not fully automated though, right? I mean...it's not going to drink the beer for me, accept an invitation to go to the strip club on a weeknight, spend too much on shots and junior college tuition, then make me think I'm going to die while sitting at my desk the next morning still wearing the glitter and shame from the night before, right? I can do that myself.

 

[jasonrhaas]

Wow that is serious stuff. Did you put that all together manually or did you get some of it pre assembled?

 

[BrunDog]

Not fully automated though, right? I mean...it's not going to drink the beer for me, accept an invitation to go to the strip club on a weeknight, spend too much on shots and junior college tuition, then make me think I'm going to die while sitting at my desk the next morning still wearing the glitter and shame from the night before, right? I can do that myself.

Unequivocally the best post I have read on any forum, ever!!!

 

[kladue]

Not sure what to to call this setup, automated somewhat, fully automated not a chance.
If a system can take grain and elevate it to the mill, grind and dough in, step mash, boil and chill wort, and oxygenate wort as fermenter is filled, then it can be considered nearly fully automated.
Here is a construction picture of the flash boiler powered brewing system
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO2eRVJP0W9Ej_EWxcRXA3cJ42bx_B1W0bv7Hsg_FMjqoFv5i4mABHsSWBwUp-nGg?key=VGxXd0R4cnpHWkkxY0FXT1NVNUhn

 

[day_trippr]

^hard core^

 

[jtp137]

What kind of kettles are those?

 

[BrunDog]

Linky no worky?

 

[augiedoggy]

What kind of kettles are those?

look like your typical aluminum pots to me..

My question is how do you clean it? With hard plumed lines to each kettle and not having bottom draining kettles I would think its not the easiest to clean after a brewing session... Thats the main reason I didnt do that completly with my setup anyway.. That and its easier at these sizes to lift and dump the mash kettle directly to empty the spent grain.

 

[BrunDog]

Bottom drains are the bomb-dizzle. Not sure why everyone doesn't use them... although a non-tri-clad kettle is needed.

 

[day_trippr]

The unfired MLT, of course, could be bottom-drained, but on the gas fired HLT and BK that's not going to work well.

The real question is why everyone (including me) isn't using 'lectrics...

Cheers!

 

[BrunDog]

Oh yeah! That's why the tri-clads exist! Doh... I forgot!