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I just got a Penguin 2HP XL a few days ago. I'll be using it for three 5bbl unitanks and two 5bbl BBTs. I was impressed by the assembly of the unit. They have now gone to all stainless cabinets for these larger units and I got one of the last non-stainless models which was $2800 including tax. It is not compact but that is OK. I hope to use mine in Sept.

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Nice set-up!! Are thoose jacketed or coiled fermenters?
 
Nice set-up!! Are thoose jacketed or coiled fermenters?

They are jacketed and insulated. Each unitank and BBT has dual zones. The unitanks weigh over 600 lbs when empty. I will have a traditional glycol loop using individual controllers and solenoids. This is a commercial brewery.
 
They are jacketed and insulated. Each unitank and BBT has dual zones. The unitanks weigh over 600 lbs when empty. I will have a traditional glycol loop using individual controllers and solenoids. This is a commercial brewery.
And all that off of a 2hp? That is pretty incredible. I would have assumed that it would have taken much more. Thanks.
 
And all that off of a 2hp? That is pretty incredible. I would have assumed that it would have taken much more. Thanks.

It is the 10k BTU/hr that is important. Many people use the UBC 3/4HP chillers from Foxx equipment. I was going to buy two of those, but went with the Penguin. It should be more efficient. BTW, my brewery is actually in Western NC in the mountains. Hog Mtn Brewing is what I called my home brewery.
 
Can anyone comment on the adequacy of the volume in the reservoir while running with multiple vessels? I find it a bit odd Penguin's 1/3 and 1/2 both have a 2gal capacity. The Icemaster 100 holds a whopping 8gal. This could be meaningless. Maybe the Penguin is just that good at very quickly cooling the return glycol and the system is overall more efficient as it's holding a smaller volume at temp. I use Spike CF10s and CF15s with their coils that are 3/8". I would hate to have to add extra liquid to the reservoir to make sure there is enough when accounting for the volume in the coils and tubing for multiple fermenters. If they weren't in use at the moment I'd simply measure. I'm probably overthinking this but keep remembering that I'm always surprised by the volume contained in the tubing on my brew system.

Cheers!
 
Can anyone comment on the adequacy of the volume in the reservoir while running with multiple vessels? I find it a bit odd Penguin's 1/3 and 1/2 both have a 2gal capacity. The Icemaster 100 holds a whopping 8gal. This could be meaningless. Maybe the Penguin is just that good at very quickly cooling the return glycol and the system is overall more efficient as it's holding a smaller volume at temp. I use Spike CF10s and CF15s with their coils that are 3/8". I would hate to have to add extra liquid to the reservoir to make sure there is enough when accounting for the volume in the coils and tubing for multiple fermenters. If they weren't in use at the moment I'd simply measure. I'm probably overthinking this but keep remembering that I'm always surprised by the volume contained in the tubing on my brew system.

Cheers!

I have the 1/2 hp unit. Yeah, a 2-gallon reservoir. When you look at how much of the reservoir the coils consume, it's easier to understand how they can use only a 2-gallon reservoir. The recovery is insanely fast.

You'll note in the pic below that the coils are doubled.

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Can anyone comment on the adequacy of the volume in the reservoir while running with multiple vessels? I find it a bit odd Penguin's 1/3 and 1/2 both have a 2gal capacity. The Icemaster 100 holds a whopping 8gal. This could be meaningless. Maybe the Penguin is just that good at very quickly cooling the return glycol and the system is overall more efficient as it's holding a smaller volume at temp. I use Spike CF10s and CF15s with their coils that are 3/8". I would hate to have to add extra liquid to the reservoir to make sure there is enough when accounting for the volume in the coils and tubing for multiple fermenters. If they weren't in use at the moment I'd simply measure. I'm probably overthinking this but keep remembering that I'm always surprised by the volume contained in the tubing on my brew system.

Cheers!
Im not quite sure about the reservoir size but Because the penquin chillers are made from reengineered window air conditioners they have much larger evap units than most purpose built chillers rated at the same size which are laid out a bit differently. This may enable them to recover temps quicker?
They do make a lot of professional beerline chillers with a small reservoir, the one I use at home has a 3gallon tank and it was an expensive unit. the tank on mine looks a lot like the penguin pictured above.
A lot of them find thier way into places where size is a concern so they are small and compact.
 
You can also use 100% water and not set the chiller as low. Works fine set at 40F. Depending upon your needs this can save the cost of the glycol.
 
Thanks, Nate. I finally pushed the button and purchased a Icemaster 100. So far, I'm two weeks into my first brew with it, my first lager (which this lets me do). It holds my fermenter temp at 50F effortlessly, and what a relief it is to not to have to change out ice bottles in my "Igloo chiller" once or twice a day in my 80F garage. We'll soon see how it handles a 35F cold crash, but I am confident it will have no problems.
 
My guess?? Small resovoir so a fair amouny of customers have probably used too little. 50/50 is safe. Also then you can just top up with distilled water- no need for more glycol.

even a 33% mix will protect down to 8 degrees, not recommended to run that low, will likely freeze the beer on the coils. i mean, 50/50 doesn't hurt and at $30/gal for glycol, talking about $10 extra in glycol to go 50/50 in a 2 gal reservoir. i run 33% in my penguin, no issues.
 
Thanks, Nate. I finally pushed the button and purchased a Icemaster 100. So far, I'm two weeks into my first brew with it, my first lager (which this lets me do). It holds my fermenter temp at 50F effortlessly, and what a relief it is to not to have to change out ice bottles in my "Igloo chiller" once or twice a day in my 80F garage. We'll soon see how it handles a 35F cold crash, but I am confident it will have no problems.

My Icemaster 100 handled 36F easily. I only wanted to crash for 48 hours but ended up being a week. My glycol mix is 25% glycol, 75% water. There is no need for a 50/50 mix based upon all the charts out there.....

Good luck!

EDIT: Actually, I used two gallons of glycol and six gallons of water since I did not want to store a half gallon. So the mix was 25/75. Even with that percentage, it is overkill.
 
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I am using a 1/3hp chiller to control temps and lager (4) 110 gallon conicals with no issues I dont cold crash beyond 40 degrees with this setup however... a 1/3 chiller should be more than enough power to control temps on (4) 15 gallon conicals.
in fact my home setup uses a 1/3hp beerline chiler to control 3- 12.5g and one 8gallon conical...for about 5 years now.
After refilling cooler with ice daily, about to pull the trigger on a Penguin after reading a bunch on Penguin, BrewTech, IceMaster. Any reason not to spend the extra $100 to move up from 1/3 to 1/2 hp? I will rarely have more than 2 fermenters going with 5-10 gallons each. Maybe a third at some point. Do these guys ever go on sale?
 
I’ve had my 1/2 hp penguin for over a year and I love it. It’s on one 20 gal conical and looking to hook up a second conical on the same chiller. Very happy with this purchase.
 
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After refilling cooler with ice daily, about to pull the trigger on a Penguin after reading a bunch on Penguin, BrewTech, IceMaster. Any reason not to spend the extra $100 to move up from 1/3 to 1/2 hp? I will rarely have more than 2 fermenters going with 5-10 gallons each. Maybe a third at some point. Do these guys ever go on sale?

Dude... think you already answered your own question.. lol... just another $100 today... or maybe the life long regret tomorrow you didn't get the 1/2 hp???
Do it!

(Just my opinion not based in any facts)
 
Dude... think you already answered your own question.. lol... just another $100 today... or maybe the life long regret tomorrow you didn't get the 1/2 hp???
Do it!

(Just my opinion not based in any facts)
I did. Ordered the 1/2 HP this afternoon.
 
It stands for HorsePower, an 18th Century unit for mechanical work and not power as the name misleadingly implies.
 
It includes a compressor (a sort of pump) and for those they still tend to use these outdated units.
 
I'm using a DIY solution as chillers are overkill and too expensive if you don't plan to have more than one fermenter.
 
It stands for HorsePower, an 18th Century unit for mechanical work and not power as the name misleadingly implies.

Not quite. It is the rate that work is done. One horsepower is 550 foot-pounds per second.


I'm using a DIY solution as chillers are overkill ...

I think that he was asking what unit of measure you prefer. Joule/seconds?
 
Bringing this one back - does that small reservoir fit four pumps in it? I’m wondering if I can run my 2 brew buckets, and 2 CF5s on the 1/2 hp model.
 
The 1/3HP can fit 4 of our standard glycol pumps, no problem.

If you are trying to use something other than our standard pump / Spike’s pump / SSbrew’s pump - can’t guarantee you’ll get 4 in there though.
 
1/3hp is enough to cool 4 15 gallon fermenters without issues... I use a 1/3hp micromatic chiller to control fermentation temps and crash (4) 110gallon conicals to 40 degrees (not crash all at the same time).. also a commercial brewpub setup. I now have (4) 1/2hp tankless chillers to use with my new 3.5bbl unitanks. the only reason im going this route is for redundancy and the chillers were free.
 
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The 1/3HP can fit 4 of our standard glycol pumps, no problem.

If you are trying to use something other than our standard pump / Spike’s pump / SSbrew’s pump - can’t guarantee you’ll get 4 in there though.

Yeah I’m nervous about the pump size. I read on a review it would only fit the four pumps if they were Penguin pumps but I already have the systems with ssbt and spike.
 
Yeah I’m nervous about the pump size. I read on a review it would only fit the four pumps if they were Penguin pumps but I already have the systems with ssbt and spike.

SSBT and Spike pumps are same size as ours. It’s pumps other than those 3 you’d have to worry about.
 
The 1/3HP can fit 4 of our standard glycol pumps, no problem.

If you are trying to use something other than our standard pump / Spike’s pump / SSbrew’s pump - can’t guarantee you’ll get 4 in there though.

Can the 1/3HP chiller handle two of spike’s CF15s?
 
Yes, the 1/3HP can handle 4x CF15’s provided the ambient conditions are “normal” / favorable. If there are extenuating circumstances in regards to ambient temps it may be necessary to adjust chiller sizing to compensate.
 
Anyone have issues with excessive condensation/leaking from the unit? The room the unit is in is usually never above 80 and cooled via AC even humidity runs high but I have quite a bit of condensation coming out that I need to find a drain pan for it. It’s also not 100% level, which I’m currently working to fix
 
Anyone have issues with excessive condensation/leaking from the unit? The room the unit is in is usually never above 80 and cooled via AC even humidity runs high but I have quite a bit of condensation coming out that I need to find a drain pan for it. It’s also not 100% level, which I’m currently working to fix
Never a drop from my unit at all.
Now- the lines of coolant that run up to my fermenter- thoose dang these condense and leak a waterfall, especially when crashing. I use the insulated Spike lines. Especially bad wheb crashing.
I use a drain pan (ok, a tupperware bowl) to catch it.
Only happens when crashing.

Is it your unit or your glycol lines?
 
Never a drop from my unit at all.
Now- the lines of coolant that run up to my fermenter- thoose dang these condense and leak a waterfall, especially when crashing. I use the insulated Spike lines. Especially bad wheb crashing.
I use a drain pan (ok, a tupperware bowl) to catch it.
Only happens when crashing.

Is it your unit or your glycol lines?

it’s the actual unit. I checked again today after getting back from a weekend vacation and it’s a bit more off then I thought it was... titled back to corner where the water is leaking from. Bought an adjustable base for appliances and will install it once I get it to level out and hopefully that fixes it
 
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