Servus from Germany!

[stahlsau]

Hi all,
I've just found this forum on my search for more information, and it proved a good source so far ;-) At the moment I'm browsing the DIY threads, since I'm building a new system atm.
I was brewing quite a bite some 20 years ago, somehow that stopped when the kids and the house came up, but now I'm ready to start over.
My last brew, iirc, 20 years ago, was a Pilsener, about 70 or 80 l (20 gallons?) for which I cleaned 160 bottles. I will never do that again...so now I've bought some corny kegs and all the additional stuff to make it work (splurged a wee bit, that stuff is damn expensive at the moment).

I plan on building sorta 3 tier plant, since my space is a bit limited, and I'm afraid of cleaning lots of pumps and hoses. I figured I'll use the 20 gallon pot as heater for strike water and sparges, and later for boiling the wort (with a gas burner). With the added pump I'll only pump hot water, first into the mash tun (15 gal thermo pot, ss), second, after reheating, into the HLT, for infusion and / or sparging (another thermo pot). Then I can lauter into the big pot, start heating while sparging and lautering, and finally boil. Or so I think, hope that'll work out as planned ;-)

Well I hope that's enough for the moment (if someone even cares) ;-)

 

[doug293cz]

Welcome to HBT. You'll find a lot of useful information, and many helpful and knowledgeable people here.

Brew on

 

[doogie]

Hi all,
I've just found this forum on my search for more information, and it proved a good source so far ;-) At the moment I'm browsing the DIY threads, since I'm building a new system atm.
I was brewing quite a bite some 20 years ago, somehow that stopped when the kids and the house came up, but now I'm ready to start over.
My last brew, iirc, 20 years ago, was a Pilsener, about 70 or 80 l (20 gallons?) for which I cleaned 160 bottles. I will never do that again...so now I've bought some corny kegs and all the additional stuff to make it work (splurged a wee bit, that stuff is damn expensive at the moment).

I plan on building sorta 3 tier plant, since my space is a bit limited, and I'm afraid of cleaning lots of pumps and hoses. I figured I'll use the 20 gallon pot as heater for strike water and sparges, and later for boiling the wort (with a gas burner). With the added pump I'll only pump hot water, first into the mash tun (15 gal thermo pot, ss), second, after reheating, into the HLT, for infusion and / or sparging (another thermo pot). Then I can lauter into the big pot, start heating while sparging and lautering, and finally boil. Or so I think, hope that'll work out as planned ;-)

Well I hope that's enough for the moment (if someone even cares) ;-)

Welcome! That's pretty much my process, except I'm brewing 5 gallon batches. Lots of good information here. Here's some photos of my brewing setup taken a while ago
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bpLxeXdyK6HLtLhx9

 

[stahlsau]

thanks guys, I'm still browsing the forums for inspiration ;-)

 

[ncbrewer]

Welcme to HBT.

 

[ITV]

Welcome!

When I went all grain I used a 3 tier approach using gravity in my garage. I have since moved my brewing operation into my basement, mainly due to avoid moving my equipment from the basement to the garage. I have a gas burner to heat strike water and boil. A cooler mash tun with a RIMS for mashing , a seperate 10 gal cooler for storing heated sparge water, CIP solution and starsan. I now have two pumps, one for moving strike water to the mash tun and moving wort to the fermentor and a second pump for recirculating through the RIMS and fly sparge.

I have saved considerable space by utilizing pumps as opposed to my 3 tier gravity approach.

Enjoy the hobby, Prost!

 

[stahlsau]

thanks guys!
I'm a bit sceptic regarding cleaning the pump after pumping wort. But I see people using hardplumbed racks with even plate coolers in line, so I really wonder how it is cleaned. Really cip with acids and such alike? I think I'll keep it simple for the moment ;-)

 

[ITV]

thanks guys!
I'm a bit sceptic regarding cleaning the pump after pumping wort. But I see people using hardplumbed racks with even plate coolers in line, so I really wonder how it is cleaned. Really cip with acids and such alike? I think I'll keep it simple for the moment ;-)

I use a hot water rinse followed by hot PBW then another hot water rinse and finally starsan recirculating through my pump, hoses and plate chiller. I perform this routine after pumping the wort into the fermentor which is easier to clean up rather than waiting until the next day when the wort has has a chance to gum up.

 

[stahlsau]

had to google pbw ;-). starsan is known here, too. Well, sounds like you know what you do (and your experience shows it works).
Thanks for the intel.

 

[ITV]

had to google pbw ;-). starsan is known here, too. Well, sounds like you know what you do (and your experience shows it works).
Thanks for the intel.

Glad to help out.
By recirculating back into my 10 gal cooler, with dumping the initial runoff, I am able to reduce chemicals and water while cleaning up my brewing equipment. By switching out the hoses, I can clean all of them as well.

 

[PCABrewing]

Hi all,
I've just found this forum on my search for more information, and it proved a good source so far ;-) At the moment I'm browsing the DIY threads, since I'm building a new system atm.
I was brewing quite a bite some 20 years ago, somehow that stopped when the kids and the house came up, but now I'm ready to start over.
My last brew, iirc, 20 years ago, was a Pilsener, about 70 or 80 l (20 gallons?) for which I cleaned 160 bottles. I will never do that again...so now I've bought some corny kegs and all the additional stuff to make it work (splurged a wee bit, that stuff is damn expensive at the moment).

I plan on building sorta 3 tier plant, since my space is a bit limited, and I'm afraid of cleaning lots of pumps and hoses. I figured I'll use the 20 gallon pot as heater for strike water and sparges, and later for boiling the wort (with a gas burner). With the added pump I'll only pump hot water, first into the mash tun (15 gal thermo pot, ss), second, after reheating, into the HLT, for infusion and / or sparging (another thermo pot). Then I can lauter into the big pot, start heating while sparging and lautering, and finally boil. Or so I think, hope that'll work out as planned ;-)

Well I hope that's enough for the moment (if someone even cares) ;-)

Welcome, sounds like a great project.