"Numb Tongue Brewery" my 1 Barrel Home Brewery

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Tomabrew

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I am starting a new thread on my version of my home brewery. I believe I have some creative ideas to share as well as showing some of the DIY projects that I put together from ideas others shared. I thoroughly enjoy viewing others home brew set ups and the gadgets that go along with them. I love brewing beer but as much as I love that, I love R&D that comes with home brewing.

I have been home brewing for the last fifteen years and am on quest to brew that perfect Czech Pilsner. So I only brew German and Czech Lagers. I am very close to accomplishing that goal but have only one slight flaw, ok huge flaw in my opinion. I cannot get that freakin carmely/malty intense flavor that you find in the German/Czech lagers. Is there any brewery in the US that does? When and if I accomplish that I may just give all my stuff away and quite brewing, but what the heck I having to much fun.

I have attached pictures of my brewery and interesting gadgets that I use that I have not seen a lot information on.

Prost!

Tomabrew

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I mash in a 60 gallon steam jacketed kettle. I am happy with the kettle but it can be finicky when trying to hit target temps. It is great for a 2 - 4 degree range but it can be tricky hitting an exact number. I have not found much information on the use of steam jacketed kettle in home brewing and temp control so it has been a trial and error for the most part. I need to focus on two temp readings. The first is the internal temp of the kettle, the second is the mash temp. You can hit exact temps but it would take hours to hit it. So I need to apply at a minimum 20 more degrees of temp inside kettle then the target mash temp. The trick is to know when to back of the heat to hit equilibrium at the desired mash temp. There was a lot of stirring involved. Being the whimp that I am, I decided to build a mash mixer. Again, some information but not a lot. So I was pretty much on my own. There was a lot of general info but nothing real specific. I looked on some pro threads related to brewing and whenever the topic was brought up the person asking the questions was told to either man up or the whole idea was a waste of time for anything less then a 15 barrel system. I had read that or Euro brother home brewers use mash mixers on a regular basis. "No supporting data for that statement, just a repeat of someone else" But that is the great part thing about home brewing, the R&D

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I am starting a new thread on my version of my home brewery. I believe I have some creative ideas to share as well as showing some of the DIY projects that I put together from ideas others shared. I thoroughly enjoy viewing others home brew set ups and the gadgets that go along with them. I love brewing beer but as much as I love that, I love R&D that comes with home brewing.



I have been home brewing for the last fifteen years and am on quest to brew that perfect Czech Pilsner. So I only brew German and Czech Lagers. I am very close to accomplishing that goal but have only one slight flaw, ok huge flaw in my opinion. I cannot get that freakin carmely/malty intense flavor that you find in the German/Czech lagers. Is there any brewery in the US that does? When and if I accomplish that I may just give all my stuff away and quite brewing, but what the heck I having to much fun.



I have attached pictures of my brewery and interesting gadgets that I use that I have not seen a lot information on.



Prost!



Tomabrew

Awesome set up (jealous)!
Give some more info re recipes, mash temps, ferm temps, lagering times, etc.

My initial "guess" would involve grain bill, mash temps, & yeast.
 
Damn, looking good!

As far as the malty/caramel taste you're looking for, have you tried decoction mashing? Playing around with that would be a good idea. I've never done a traditional triple decoction because it would be a nightmare on my equipment, but I've done a single and it produced some nice results.

Brew on! :mug:
 
Awesome set up (jealous)!
Give some more info re recipes, mash temps, ferm temps, lagering times, etc.

My initial "guess" would involve grain bill, mash temps, & yeast.

3 lbs Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 4.0 %
60 lbs Czech Sladovny (1.5 SRM) Grain 2 80.0 %
5 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 3 6.7 %
4 lbs Acid Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.3 %
3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.0 %
20.50 oz Saaz [2.47 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 6 27.6 IBUs
1.80 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 -
16.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 11.8 IBUs
5 Gallon Urquell Lager (Wyeast Labs #2001) [124.21 ml] Yeast starter

128 Protein Rest (Not needed but does help with head retention) 20 minutes
158 Sach 60 Minutes
172 Mash out 20 min

Ferment 48 degrees for up to 6 weeks
Cold lager minimum 4 weeks.
 
Damn, looking good!

As far as the malty/caramel taste you're looking for, have you tried decoction mashing? Playing around with that would be a good idea. I've never done a traditional triple decoction because it would be a nightmare on my equipment, but I've done a single and it produced some nice results.

Brew on! :mug:

I have tried a decoction mash with not much impact. Lots of labor without a dramatic impact if any. Mainly with color. I have tried triple, double and single decoctions. Because of the amount of extra work and the little impact I moved away from it, but have considered trying again. My arms hurt just thinking about doing a 1 barrel mash decoction.
 
I am almost embarrassed to say this but I was having trouble with getting that big hop aroma and hop flavor in my beer. It seemed to get worse every year. I added more hops to my recipes, fW hopping, late wort hopping you name it. Well it finally dawned on the me, 5 years later, that it wasn't my recipes but the cheap hop bags I was using in the boil kettle. I had over used them and after time they clogged just enough to have a dramatic negative impact on the hop flavor and aroma in my beer. All because I tried to save a few bucks. I wonder what my wife would have called me if she knew I tried to save a few bucks on the hop bags. Does "dumb A##S" maybe sound right. Anyways I purchased a nice hop boil filter or hop spider and solved that problem immediately. You can see the hop filter hanging on the cupboards in the background. To stubborn to ask for help, had to suffer for years before it dawned on me.

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Nice set up. Love the jacketed kettle. Are you operating it manually or do you have a controller? If you're doing it manually i'd highly suggest a PID. It would really benefit a system like that.

I hope you have a lot of thirsty, german beer loving friends! 1 barrel?! Yowza!
 
Don't commercial breweries have a caramelizer in the brew kettle? A heat stick or something like it that the wort splashes on and caramelizes.
 
Don't commercial breweries have a caramelizer in the brew kettle? A heat stick or something like it that the wort splashes on and caramelizes.


I've never heard of that but I've heard of something similar after the beer is done. Couple years ago I went to the Griesbrau Brewery in Germany for a long saved up trip to visit our friends stationed out there. They had sort of a souped up heat stick that they would stick in the stein of beer and it would drastically change the taste (by carmelization) of that beer. Never heard of it anywhere else.
 
Don't commercial breweries have a caramelizer in the brew kettle? A heat stick or something like it that the wort splashes on and caramelizes.

Never heard of that concept but very interested in learning more. Any leads on where to information on that?
 
Nice set up. Love the jacketed kettle. Are you operating it manually or do you have a controller? If you're doing it manually i'd highly suggest a PID. It would really benefit a system like that.

I hope you have a lot of thirsty, german beer loving friends! 1 barrel?! Yowza!


I use a pid to control the internal temperature of the kettle. I have another pid that only measures the temp of the mash. The mash mixer stirs the mash so that it takes heat out of the kettle to more evenly heat the mash. If I try to raise the mash temp from 128 to 152 I could set the PID at 152 and raise the internal temp of the kettle to 152. It would take forever to hit that target temp on the mash side. It heats pretty quickly to 140 but then it takes for ever to get to 152.
I can raise the temp of the kettle to 172 or even 192 and hit the 152 fairly quickly but then Stopping the heating process in the kettle becomes a process. The steam cools quickly but the hot water does not. It continues to bleed heat into the mash. So in order to hit target temps I need to stop heating at 144 and hope I don't have to much or not enough when trying to hit the target temp.

I have always tried to stay with in ramp times of no more that 1 - 2 minutes as a high and a low. Which means if I want to raise from 120 to 150, I should not hit the target temp of 150 no sooner than 30 minutes and longer than an hour when direct heating. Any thoughts on that?
 
Never heard of that concept but very interested in learning more. Any leads on where to information on that?

I know someone that contract brews at Knee Deep and that is what he told me they have in their brew kettle. I have never heard of it either before he told me. But it makes sense tasting some lighter beers with a little caramel flavor.
 
Toma,
We use the following devices to control our steam temp at our rubber compression presses.

Steam Flow:
http://www2.spiraxsarco.com/us/pdfs/SB/bseries_cntrlvalves.pdf

We use air pressure to operate the valve.

Valve control:
Transducer
http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Product/Valves/CurrenttoPressureTransducers/Series2700-2800#specs

This translates the 4-20mA output of the PID to 0-30PSI the valve needs.

PID
http://files.redlion.net/filedepot_download/213/3931

Although quite expensive, these items work impeccable for us. We are able to maintain 1% of setpoint. Hopefully they give you an idea or two. May be worth the effort finding cheaper versions.

'da Kid
 
Correct. Google steam calandria. They are very common in large brew kettles to improve heat transfer in steam driven brewhouses (which is most large commercial brewhouses). You wouldn't want wort caramelizing on the calandria, it will dramatically reduce your heat transfer and steam efficiency.
 
Take this for what you will, but I recently had a "stone" ale, made in the (really) old fashioned way. The boil was done by adding heated stones to the wort. The stones are removed and reheated, I believe, during the boil to keep the boil going. It had an incredible caramel flavour that I haven't had in any other beer I've tried.

If that's what you're looking for, it may be an option. Obviously, with your great setup, you wouldn't need the stones to actually boil the beer, but adding hot stones may help develop a caramel flavour, if that's what you're looking for.

I've never done this, but getting them hot may prove tricky. You probably wouldn't want to add them directly out of a fire due to the ash and what not. Perhaps put them in the fireplace (If you have one) wrapped in tin foil?

Not tradition pilsener technique, but something to think about!
 
Old thread, I hope the OP is still around.

I love the look on the dog's face in picture 2.

I've gotten that one from many a bouncer. "No way buddy, you ain't comin in here."
 
I will try to get some pics tomorrow to share. I need to tidy it up a bit first.
 
Couple things that helped me with caramel/malt : while boiling the wort, 5 gallons, drew off approx 1/2 gallon and boiled in different pot, high heat, and low quantity caramelizes fairly quickly. Then added back to full volume of wort. Also have had good luck with aromatic malt, malt is def noticeable.
 
I seem to recall reading somewhere that the way to get those intense flavors is to boil the decoction down until it becomes almost syrupy. Wish I had more info to give you. Good luck.
 
I was wondering about the boil length. I thought about moving from a 90 min. boil to a 120 min. boil. But I may try to pull out 5 gallons of the boil try a more an intense boil. A decoction has crossed my mind also but it seems like more work than necessary. I have tried in the past with 10 gallon batches, not sure I am ready for the work with a 1 barrel batch. I get hints of that caramel flavor as the beer warms, so I know it's there. I just want to highlight it even more. Thanks for the ideas.
 
Here the pics of the inside of the walk in. Let me know what you think. Very cluttered right now. I have smaller fridge for fermenting in. All I need to do is heat it so the temp does not drop below my desired fermentation temp. I brew all lagers so I typically ferment between 48 to 50 degrees.

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I was kinda hoping along with that malty flavor issue I was having, I was hoping somebody would have some thoughts on the mash mixer. One of the most useful pieces of equipment I have to keep a consistent mash temp when raising and sitting. I did not see a lot of info on them for the home brewer so I kinda flew by the seat of pants concerning angle, speed and direction of mix. I still not sure that I have maximized it.
 
I dont think many constantly mix their mash...most use a herms or rims or just let them sit with one or two stirs before mashout.
I dont mix it at all after dough in...I recirculate using a rims and this way the wort is filtered naturely through the grainbed and the wort becomes clear... since I am recircultaing and keeping the liquid at a constant temp the mash stays consistently and evenly heated...I almost always get over 75% efficiency this way...

I would think more of the husk and broken down solids would find its way into the wort with constant mixing?

I used to use that same kettle (and repaired it a few times) to make sauce at an Italian restaurant I worked at for 15 years or so during/ after high school we certainly had to mix often since it had hot spots otherwise.
 
Yeah most of us aren't using a 60g mash tun, but I think you may be borderline if recirculating will be enough. And yes, your mash rake is bad@ss! :rockin:
 
I mash in a keg and use a stirrator/mash mixer running constantly. Here's a link to the BT article about constant mash mixing;

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.6/put.html

I built the mixer for the same reason, no temp stratification and the ability to hold a consistent mash temp. I also use a 1000w band heater to maintain a consistent sparge temp. Currently using a 60rpm motor which is a little fast, but not getting any aeration. Designed the mash paddle similar to the noted BT article. One of these days I'll reduce the shaft speed closer to 30 rpm and maybe add a rest/reversing feature. I use a PLC to control the process so it would be fairly easy to program a timer in to alternate paddle rotation.
 
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I've gotten really nice malt flavors with this mash schedule. It's a long mash but it bring some nice flavor for the effort. I don't decoct I just ramp through the ranges with a Herms set up. I'm sure you can find a digital thermostat that would work with your kettle. I'm a chef and the kettles are not really designed for precision temp control. In the kitchen we bring them to a boil and back them down to a simmer for soups and stocks. Have you played around with an external temp prob? I would think that could help achieve better temp control than the internal temp control inside the kettles.
 
It's a 90 to 120 min boil as well. I have a 10 gallon kettle I picked up cheap on the secondary market but I have been struggling with precise temp control so It's just sitting in my brewery waiting for the time and effort to make it work. Maybe I should sell it to you so you can decoct with it. You could go old school !
 
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I've gotten really nice malt flavors with this mash schedule. It's a long mash but it bring some nice flavor for the effort. I don't decoct I just ramp through the ranges with a Herms set up. I'm sure you can find a digital thermostat that would work with your kettle. I'm a chef and the kettles are not really designed for precision temp control. In the kitchen we bring them to a boil and back them down to a simmer for soups and stocks. Have you played around with an external temp prob? I would think that could help achieve better temp control than the internal temp control inside the kettles.

Wow that's 5 hours of mashing. No thanks. I thought protein rests were in the 110 to 120F range. Seems excessive to have so many low temp rests and only one sac rest.

My 3 step mash schedule goes like this. 10 min at 120F. Raise to 145F and sit for 45 min, raise to 156F and sit for another 45 min, raise to mash out.
 
I mash in a keg and use a stirrator/mash mixer running constantly. Here's a link to the BT article about constant mash mixing;

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.6/put.html

I built the mixer for the same reason, no temp stratification and the ability to hold a consistent mash temp. I also use a 1000w band heater to maintain a consistent sparge temp. Currently using a 60rpm motor which is a little fast, but not getting any aeration. Designed the mash paddle similar to the noted BT article. One of these days I'll reduce the shaft speed closer to 30 rpm and maybe add a rest/reversing feature. I use a PLC to control the process so it would be fairly easy to program a timer in to alternate paddle rotation.

Your article is where I actually got the idea:)
 
I've never heard of that but I've heard of something similar after the beer is done. Couple years ago I went to the Griesbrau Brewery in Germany for a long saved up trip to visit our friends stationed out there. They had sort of a souped up heat stick that they would stick in the stein of beer and it would drastically change the taste (by carmelization) of that beer. Never heard of it anywhere else.
Sounds like a "stachlbier", basically putting a hot poker (stake) into a beer to carmelize sugars. The way I understand it, it's a gimmick invented by farmers after they've imbibed a few. Here's a picture from a place in Munich that does it at a Christmas market. The pokers are heated in an electric oven, probably a modified toaster oven (second picture). :)
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