Nano - build out!

[nbspindel]

I'm going with two of these:
http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=2803

and one of these:
http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=3152

The plan is to double batch brew, putting one each into the 60's, then after fermentation is complete, pump them both over into the 110, which will be in the cold room, to 'brite' the beer, and keg from there after 3-5 days.

Would you have to worry about oxidization with these (isn't that plastic permeable?)? Also, one would also be concerned with the light affecting the beer since these tanks are opaque. Do the UV stabilizers fix that issue, or does that just mean that the plastic itself won't dry and crack under uv light?

Those do look great for fermenting larger batches, and definitely something i'll consider in a few years when i go commercial. Thanks for the product info!

 

[Inhiding]

We used on of these for a mash tun and a fermenter when our club did a barrel aged barleywine. http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/3060 We used the 300L model.

We were able to mash about 300 pounds of grain and with a homemade copper manifold we achieved 80% efficiency. Then we emptied it out and cleaned and used it for a fermenter. Worked real well for us.

 

[Inhiding]

Hey all,

First, thanks for the corrected link - I should get my sh*t together!

Let's see, for brew water into the MT and HLT, I fill straight off my Noritz 6.9gpm tankless heater, with a GE water filter inline before the heater.

From this tankless I can dough in within minutes - the Noritz has a digital keypad for temp control in 5* increments up to 176*.

FWIW, Green Flash brewing here in SD uses three of these same brand units, albeit larger ones, for their brew water.

The burner I'm using is "the monster" in fact it just got delivered today. I bought it from www.tejassmokers.com, scroll down on this page: http://www.tejassmokers.com/castironburners.htm till you see this, "Maximum Heat MONSTER Cast Iron Burner". That's my huckleberry.

I'm going to form the heat shield around the bottom drain on the boil kettle (which is indicated by the two concentric circles in the diagram on the edge of the BK). The heat shield will form a box around the MAX burner and the 3/4" bar stock will get the boil kettle up to allow waste gasses to easily vent out from under the pot.

Thanks for the input! Any more?

Could the same tankless water heater be used if one is using an RO system? The water where I live is really hard and would need to dilute with at least 50% RO water to bring the levels down to earth. I still need to modify with salts to achieve desired water. So would a RO system work before the water heater? This sounds like a cool idea on keeping to a 2 kettle system. Thanks for your info, I am keeping this handy as I am entering into the process of going pro and going Nano!

Aaron
Cambria Brewing Co

 

[John Beere]

Could the same tankless water heater be used if one is using an RO system? The water where I live is really hard and would need to dilute with at least 50% RO water to bring the levels down to earth. I still need to modify with salts to achieve desired water. So would a RO system work before the water heater? This sounds like a cool idea on keeping to a 2 kettle system. Thanks for your info, I am keeping this handy as I am entering into the process of going pro and going Nano!

Aaron
Cambria Brewing Co

I have a noritz natural gas tankless hotwater heater (~199k btu) on my house, it is truly badass. I thought about adding one to the brewery, but it is overkill for me at this point.. From that though, I think I can answer your question- since it auto enables / regulates itself on demand, there is a minimum flow / pressure through the heater for it to kick on. I don't think you could do that behind an RO filter unless it's output was massive.. now you (I) could just use a whole house water filter before it, those would for sure have enough output flow to kick the heater on and off.

 

[mikefromcu]

I think they only need 1/2 gpm so unless you do have that output, you're right. However, apparently smarter minds than mine have figured out a way to hook up a collection tank, demand pump and valve to store up the needed water and push it through the Noritz so they start with instant-hot RO. If I could figure out how to do that, without great expense, I'd consider that too. But for now, just a whole house filter in front and city water.

 

[GreenMonti]

Could the same tankless water heater be used if one is using an RO system? The water where I live is really hard and would need to dilute with at least 50% RO water to bring the levels down to earth. I still need to modify with salts to achieve desired water. So would a RO system work before the water heater? This sounds like a cool idea on keeping to a 2 kettle system. Thanks for your info, I am keeping this handy as I am entering into the process of going pro and going Nano!

Aaron
Cambria Brewing Co

Your gonna need a tank/reservoir to hold your RO water. Not sure what your units output is but mine runs 100GPD. With of course lots of waste water. Of course if your gonna go pro, then a skookum water treatment setup may not be to far out of reach. I wonder if anyone has used the cold sterile system for brewing water?

 

[Inhiding]

Your gonna need a tank/reservoir to hold your RO water. Not sure what your units output is but mine runs 100GPD. With of course lots of waste water. Of course if your gonna go pro, then a skookum water treatment setup may not be to far out of reach. I wonder if anyone has used the cold sterile system for brewing water?

Am I missing something? I can't find anything related, at least I think it is not related, to the skookum water treatment setup.

 

[GreenMonti]

Am I missing something? I can't find anything related, at least I think it is not related, to the skookum water treatment setup.

I was just in reference to a really nice filter setup. Skookum is another way of saying that something is really nice, or top shelf. The reference to cols sterile is a real water treatment process. Not sure I spelled it correctly....but it uses a resin bead product that can be renewed over and over again and is "supposed" to filter water just as good as an RO or RO/DI unit. IIRC they are really fast too.

Now, having said that I have no experience with those units or process. I run a RO/DI unit.

Here is a kold sterile unit.
http://www.marinedepot.com/kold+sterile-si.html

 

[nbspindel]

I would imagine with either RO/DI or the kold sterile unit that a brewer would have to add particular nutrients and chemicals back into the water to reach the desired levels since these systems would remove all that?

Why would someone purify their water? I figure to eliminate bad stuff (chemicals, tastes, etc) from the city water. Any other reason? I mean, if my water tastes fine and i've been brewing with it and all is well, wouldnt this just be 2 added costs (1. filtration system 2. nutrients and chemicals)? Or is a commercial brewery required to do stuff like this?

Thanks. Hope that's not too many questions.

 

[GreenMonti]

I would imagine with either RO/DI or the kold sterile unit that a brewer would have to add particular nutrients and chemicals back into the water to reach the desired levels since these systems would remove all that?

Why would someone purify their water? I figure to eliminate bad stuff (chemicals, tastes, etc) from the city water. Any other reason? I mean, if my water tastes fine and i've been brewing with it and all is well, wouldnt this just be 2 added costs (1. filtration system 2. nutrients and chemicals)? Or is a commercial brewery required to do stuff like this?

Thanks. Hope that's not too many questions.

Without getting this thread any further off track, your the one who asked about using RO water. If this is a specific topic you want to know about, then star a thread on it.

 

[nbspindel]

Without getting this thread any further off track, your the one who asked about using RO water. If this is a specific topic you want to know about, then star a thread on it.

no, that's a good point. please don't answer that anyone. I'll search elsewhere.

now back to the build-out.

 

[mikefromcu]

Sorry guys, I missed some of your questions and comments. Thanks for your suggestions and questions.

if you haven't cut the metal yet give a shop vacuum a think or two.
Suck the spent grain out like who dun it.

I hadn't thought of that, which is funny, because I'm the only guy I know who uses a shop vac to suck the dirt out of my post holes. I put a fence up around my 2.5 acre property and dug the holese with an auger on a bobcat, then cleaned all of them out that way. Perfect little holes with smooth sides all the way down.

In any case, I want to be able to tip - I currently brew on a 2050 and love that feature.

Those are very affordable alternatives to the SS fermenters we usually see. I noticed that the website said the tops are not vented. Do you plan on modifying them at all to vent them or for blow off?

Definitely going to rig up a blow off assembly on the tops, probably in the lid. I'm also adding in a thermocouple for my RANCO temp controller as both the 60's will fit inside my double glass door merchandiser.

Just curious, what 65 gallon kettles are you using? I was looking for a larger kettle and havent come across anything bigger than the blichmann. Thanks and good luck, looks awesome!

I'm having them custom build by a local fabricator. They will be 25" x 30.5" and have all the NPT and tri-clover fittings welded in place. The MT and the WP will be 18 ga, the BK will be 18 ga sides welded to a 14 ga bottom.

Also, one would also be concerned with the light affecting the beer since these tanks are opaque. Do the UV stabilizers fix that issue, or does that just mean that the plastic itself won't dry and crack under uv light?

I haven't heard that this is an issue with this tanks - in any case they will be inside my GDM with the windows blacked out anyway and the larger one will be in my cold room. I'm not positive if the RESIN of these conicals is UV protective, but I think that can be checked by calling Ace.

 

[DrawTap88]

Another question about the fermenters. Are you going to be replacing them yearly? I ask because on the 11/23-24/08 brew strong I heard that bad stuff can accumulate in the pores of food grade plastic buckets, and no amount of scrubbing or sanitizing will remove that bad stuff. (bad stuff=wild yeast, bacteria, etc.)

Edit: Could have been the 6-12-05 Sunday Session I heard it on.

 

[mikefromcu]

Are you going to be replacing them yearly?

Heck no! These aren't the same plastic - the Ace Induction tanks are far sturdier and hardy than a standard plastic bucket - not to say you'll be scrubbing with a wire brush, but they should last for a long time with care.

I plan on cleaning upon emptying (not letting it sit), using OxyClean and my powerwasher. Many other nanos use these and have for years.

 

[DrawTap88]

Heck no! These aren't the same plastic - the Ace Induction tanks are far sturdier and hardy than a standard plastic bucket - not to say you'll be scrubbing with a wire brush, but they should last for a long time with care.

I plan on cleaning upon emptying (not letting it sit), using OxyClean and my powerwasher. Many other nanos use these and have for years.

Great to know.

 

[mikefromcu]

Hey all, what's the temp rating for the gaskets in tri-clover fittings?

For my Bk drain, I'm putting the burner off-center as was suggested and building a heat shield to protect the outlet port of the kettle. Now figuring on whether I should weld a TC ferrule or a 3/4" NPT fitting to the bottom of the kettle.

I'm thinking NPT just because I don't want to ding up the ferrule when I clean the kettle but still curious about the gasket heat rating.

Thanks.

 

[GreenMonti]

Hey all, what's the temp rating for the gaskets in tri-clover fittings?

For my Bk drain, I'm putting the burner off-center as was suggested and building a heat shield to protect the outlet port of the kettle. Now figuring on whether I should weld a TC ferrule or a 3/4" NPT fitting to the bottom of the kettle.

I'm thinking NPT just because I don't want to ding up the ferrule when I clean the kettle but still curious about the gasket heat rating.

Thanks.

IIRC boona gaskets are rated to 250*.

 

[magnj]

Hey how is this going? Great read for me so far, never considered a tankless water heater as a way to...heat water.

 

[AiredAle]

PTFE (TEFLON) gaskets have an upper use temperature of 500 F. The gasket will creep at that temperature so it could leak under pressure.

 

[sicabeer]

How do you plan on carbonating? Will you be using something for a bright tank? I was planning on using plastic conicals as well for fermenters. This is it off to kegs, bottles, cans??

 

[ImperialLover]

That's a good question. How would you go about carbing 60 gal of beer without bright tanks?

 

[mikefromcu]

Chill, rack to kegs brite beer, force carbonate in the kegs one at a time, 40# CO2 for ~ 16.5 minutes per 1/2 bbl. Easy peasy. Been doing it for a year now.

 

[bajabrewer7]

At what point are you filtering your beer? If I remember correctly you even filtered the jucundus at your anniversary last week, or maybe I'd had way too many glasses by the time I got to that one. Great beer, great party, will be going back as soon as my growler is empty. Greetings from Tijuana.

 

[mikefromcu]

We don't ever filter our beer, nor use anything but kettle finings. Gravity, time and temperature are all we need!
Thanks and hope to see you here again soon. That was a blast!

 

[cruelkix]

Mike,

I have the 85 gallon Ace Roto tanks. I saw in your blog you moved to the 110 gallon. How did you go from the 2" fitting on the bottom to a 1.5" TC fitting? (Part # and where you bought it would rock :crossI can't seem to find anything that reduces easily in a semi sanitary way?

Thanks and great to see the progress on your blog!!
Craig