The MaxOut Brew Station

[MaxOut]

Summary-

Bought a 5 gallon recipe from local HBS called “North of the Boarder” Cervesa. Not my favorite style beer but wanted to try a “cervesa” style beer for some friends who helped with the build.

Not sure exactly what is in it as it is a proprietary recipe. All In all it added up to 8.25lbs of grain and two hop additions. Used smack pack of Wyeast 2007 pilsen lager yeast.

Without getting too detailed I did a single infusion 60 min mash at 154 while reticulating, mash out , fly sparge and 75 min boil and ended up with exactly 5 gallons in the fermenter. Thanks to the BCS-462 and Beersmith2 I nailed my volumes and temps. My OG ended up 1.041.

I am still a rookie and this is my 4th brew so appreciate any criticisms and advice.

In Pictures - Whole malt, fill HLT/HT EX with water right below mash temp and BK with strike water volume below strike temp. Instant hot water heater shaves an hour of brew day. I recirculate in the HLT to keep temps even through out.

 

[bucfanmike]

im going to say what everyone is thinking.. To be doing your 4th brew on that is so totally wrong, and congratulations . Those of us who say that though, its just outta jealousy so dont take it seriously. Kudos for you to take the time to build it and understand it and not just drop the $$$ on a prebuilt system as a new brewer, At least it shows some understanding of what your system is doing, and why.

Its friggin awesome.

 

[MaxOut]

Heating strike water and heat exchanger the rest of the way with the BG-14’s under BCS control. BCS will hold temps and sound buzzer when temps are reached. Prepped the mill over the mash tun and grind the malt. Check my crush? MM3 with gap set at .039. I was milling into a large pot the dumping into mash tun but was losing allot of the fine powder so I decided to do this one directly into the mash tun.

 

[MaxOut]

I transfer the strike water from the BK to the mash tun dough in and let rest. After about 10 min I started recirculating and maintained 154 degrees for 1 hour. Through testing and brewing I have learned that to maintain temps during recirculation I need the HLT about 3-4 degrees above actual desired mash temp. This is due to heat loss in the tubing and pumps. Took a lot of testing to dial it in. I’ve also learned that wort reacts slightly different than water did during testing and has required some tweaking since I started brewing. Last two batches I have been able to set it and just watch. Feels good to get to that point and the wort really get cleared up.

 

[MaxOut]

Finished mashing and mashed out. I sparge with water that was pre-heated to 168 in the HLT during mash out. I move the output from the mash tun through a pump and into the BK. I take the output that was hooked to the mash tun during recirculation and hook to the output of the HLT. This way all the wort that is in the heat exchanger, pump and lines gets pushed out by the sparge water coming from the HLT. Cleans the system and saves all the wort. I keep an eye on the HLT level to measure the desired sparge volume and target pre boil volume. Take a pre-boil gravity reading and start boil.

 

[MaxOut]

Boiled for 75 min with two hop additions, one at start of boil and one at 60 min. During boil I clean mash tun, sanitize fermentor and tools, drain HLT and fill with ice preparing for cool. I also tried to recirculate in BK this time during boil to help with hop utilization. Seemed to make a little difference. Boiled down to desired volume, flame out. Circulate through heat exchanger to cool while whirl pooling in BK. Cool to desired temp and let rest so large particle can settle before transferring to fermener.

 

[RichBenn]

So one question:

When do you find time to brew?

 

[MaxOut]

Last but not least I take my post boil gravity reading, transfer to fermentor from BK with siphon, oxygenate with med grade O2 regulated a 2 ppm for 2 min, pitch yeast, install air lock, label bucket and place in primary fermenter….wait. At this point I put Saniclean in the HLT circulate through both pumps and heat exchanger and let sit over night to sanitize system for next use. Drain the following day.

 

[Layne]

Good looking process to go along with that great looking rig.
Awesome documentation!

 

[MaxOut]

So one question:

When do you find time to brew?

I'm on a much needed break from work and taking care of all the things I have been putting off including posting here SWIMBO has a bunch of honeydoos for me to do and in between I'm getting my brew on! Ive been building this rig for 6 months and it feels good to finally have some home brew in the pipeline to show for it!

Just in time too as my state just raised the sales tax on alcohol to 9%. Recession = higher alcohol sales and high debt = new taxes. Hit us were it hurts.... Home brewing is my way of avoiding high taxes.

 

[MaxOut]

im going to say what everyone is thinking.. To be doing your 4th brew on that is so totally wrong, and congratulations . Those of us who say that though, its just outta jealousy so dont take it seriously. Kudos for you to take the time to build it and understand it and not just drop the $$$ on a prebuilt system as a new brewer, At least it shows some understanding of what your system is doing, and why.

Its friggin awesome.

Thank you, and everyone for the kind words,

building the system has been challenging and as much fun as brewing. Your right. If I just dropped the coin on a Brew Magic I would not have learned as much as I did building my own nor would I appreciate the results as much. I think the DIY aspect of brewing is what really got me started and only DIY'ers can understand that. This has quickly become my favorite hobby and I am constantly looking at my system and thinking how I can make it better.

 

[drocu]

Congratulations on a fine setup! This is amazing. I am completely envious of your work and your "Garagemahall". Some day I aspire to have something just like this...

 

[emetcalf]

Awesome system. It's a good thing you like homebrewing, it would suck to finish your first batch and think "This is lame, I just want to buy some beer from the store".

Also, it's kind of late but I think the hops on your cervesa were meant to be at the start of your boil, then 15 minutes before you end the boil. It sounds like you did 1 package for 75 minutes, then added the second package 15 minutes later at 60 minutes. I just re-read that post and I'm not sure which way you did it. Either way, your set-up still rocks.

 

[4x4jeep74]

Awesome build, you sure did do your homework. Brew on.

 

[horseinmay]

I find it weird that you are brewing only your 4th batch of beer on one of the raddest homebrew systems around. Good on ya!!
I'm on the 4th iteration of my system, and have yet to get anywhere near your level of stainlessness. I just built a new wooden brewstand out of timber I found at work.
Since your system and process is so pristine, you might want to make upgrading your fermenters the next step. I've found fermenting in corny kegs to be one of the best moves I've made. I won't go back to glass or buckets, but I may upgrade to a sanke fermenter eventually. Cheers.

 

[kmat123]

I find it weird that you are brewing only your 4th batch of beer on one of the raddest homebrew systems around. Good on ya!!
I'm on the 4th iteration of my system, and have yet to get anywhere near your level of stainlessness. I just built a new wooden brewstand out of timber I found at work.
Since your system and process is so pristine, you might want to make upgrading your fermenters the next step. I've found fermenting in corny kegs to be one of the best moves I've made. I won't go back to glass or buckets, but I may upgrade to a sanke fermenter eventually. Cheers.

Agreed! fermenting in corny kegs is the way to go unless you have a couple grand to drop on some conicals, which I have a feeling the OP does...amazing system man!

 

[stratslinger]

Wait - is that your fourth batch ever, or simply your fourth batch on this rig?

If it's your fourth ever, color me even more amazed!!! I've been watching this thread progress the past couple days, and you've got some amazing work here - but to do it all before ever brewing a batch just boggles the mind!

Keep with it - with gear like this and your obvious capacity to learn new things to an impressive level of detail, I've no doubt you'll be making some amazing beers!

 

[dragonlor20]

Living on the beach is great, but space near the west coast isn't something that is afforded to a garage... You make me want to live in Nevada - I think I could buy the whole state for a year's salary...

 

[pola0502ds]

The rings on the hoses are just colored zip ties. The igniters I got from a local HVAC supply company, I can give you their name and number if you like. They were the Honeywell Q3450 Intermittent Hot Surface Ignition With pilot. I couldn't find a "deal" on the igniters I think they were around $70.00 each. Work really well and light every time no matter what.

I just used the standard grill ignitors. I bought 3 for 25 bucks. I covered the wires with high temp fabric and placed the ignitor right next to the burner. Works like a charm everytime and have not had any issues with the heat affecting the wires or anything else.

 

[pola0502ds]

So what kettle do you put a lid on and why? I don't use any lids as it lets all the impurities out.

Also, did you polish your kegs? I am about to and I want to get an idea of how long it is going to take me.

Nice setup.

 

[MaxOut]

So what kettle do you put a lid on and why? I don't use any lids as it lets all the impurities out.

Also, did you polish your kegs? I am about to and I want to get an idea of how long it is going to take me.

Nice setup.

I use the lids on the HLT/ heat exchanger and the Mash Tun during recirculation and one on the BK after the boil. I do not cover the BK during the boil. The lids help maintain temps and post boil protect from infection. I agree it is not a good ides to cover during boil to let all the impurities out. Thank for the tip.

I did polish my kegs with an angle grinder with a fine 4" Gator polishing pad and it took about 20 min and 1 pad per keg on this rig I built using a Minn Kota trolling motor to continuously rotate the keg. I started a thread titled " Polishing a keg with a Minn Kota" in the DIY section. Check it out if you like. It worked good and gave my kegs a unique look. I did not want a fully polished look to keep clean and wanted it to blend with the rest of the system. I am happy with the results but make sure you wear a mask during this process as it creates allot of fine metal dust that leaves a metallic taste in your mouth. After the first keg I looked like I was snorting pencil dust and consuming too many brews to get that taste out of my mouth.

 

[MaxOut]

Awesome system. It's a good thing you like homebrewing, it would suck to finish your first batch and think "This is lame, I just want to buy some beer from the store".

Also, it's kind of late but I think the hops on your cervesa were meant to be at the start of your boil, then 15 minutes before you end the boil. It sounds like you did 1 package for 75 minutes, then added the second package 15 minutes later at 60 minutes. I just re-read that post and I'm not sure which way you did it. Either way, your set-up still rocks.

Trust me I started out with a smaller plan but grew out of control. Like you said I was worried that I was not going to like brewing too but I think the more I invested the more I was determined not to fail. Hopefully I'm not on some artificial high and will continue to brew for the rest of my life.

Yes the hops were 1st addition at start of boil then the last one 15 min before end. Thanks. I made a mistake with my first batch. The last addition was supposed to be 2min before end of boil so at 58 min I threw them in. Then I realized I had calculated my water volumes for a 90 min boil...so they ended up 32 min before end. I just added a .25 oz more 2 min before the end. Should be ok in secondary now. I drank the sample I pulled before racking to secondary and it's good! Can't wait to get a fully aged taste.

 

[MaxOut]

Wait - is that your fourth batch ever, or simply your fourth batch on this rig?

If it's your fourth ever, color me even more amazed!!! I've been watching this thread progress the past couple days, and you've got some amazing work here - but to do it all before ever brewing a batch just boggles the mind!

Keep with it - with gear like this and your obvious capacity to learn new things to an impressive level of detail, I've no doubt you'll be making some amazing beers!

My fourth batch on this rig and basically ever. The only other brewing history was a couple beer in a bucket kits 18 years ago. Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[MaxOut]

I find it weird that you are brewing only your 4th batch of beer on one of the raddest homebrew systems around. Good on ya!!
I'm on the 4th iteration of my system, and have yet to get anywhere near your level of stainlessness. I just built a new wooden brewstand out of timber I found at work.
Since your system and process is so pristine, you might want to make upgrading your fermenters the next step. I've found fermenting in corny kegs to be one of the best moves I've made. I won't go back to glass or buckets, but I may upgrade to a sanke fermenter eventually. Cheers.

I do plan on upgrading to stainless fermentors and considered corny kegs but they will not fit in my current fermenting chambers. I am looking at a small walk in box a friend of mine wants to give me but that is down the road a little. I would love to get a couple 15 gallon conicals and set them up in the walk in or fab them into my existing fermenting chamber. Before I take that step I want to get a little more brewing experience under my belt. Thanks for your comments.

 

[pola0502ds]

Im like you max. I built a very nice rig, dropped 3 grand or more into it without ever brewing. Ive brewed 3 times on it and i love it. Everyone told me to skip extract and go straight to all grain.

 

[Yooper]

OMG. I just had to wipe the drool off of my chin! That's an awesome set up and it's beautiful besides. I'm so jealous!

Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and letting us live vicariously through you.

 

[Bersquack]

Can I move in?

 

[MaxOut]

OMG. I just had to wipe the drool off of my chin! That's an awesome set up and it's beautiful besides. I'm so jealous!

Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and letting us live vicariously through you.

Thanks! I could have never done it without the information I've gotten here.

 

[onthekeg]

This just goes to prove what you can have for about 5K rather than just buying a premade system for the same amount. Wise shopping, and a little ingenuity goes a long way.

 

[JonW]

Wow, I think you have "maxed out" your allotment of stainless steel!


That is one sweet man-cave. I love the bargain shopping and repurposing of equipment. It's what makes your system unique from so many others.

Nice job!