What batch size should I jump to?

[soGGy]

I've been making 5 gallon mini mash batches for far too long. I have big dreams of going commercial and I understand that economies of scale is everything in the craft beer world. I'm planning on building a HERMs system and I can't make up my mind on batch size. I know I want to go 10 gallons + but the question is how much.

When you get your TTB license anything under a 1bbl system is unfeasible, even a 1bbl system isn't very efficient.

Yet as a homebrewer fermenting batches over 10 gallons seems like a PITA and the cost of conical fermenters for batches 10 gallons - 1 bbl are too steep for any sort of reasonable ROI. Yet I can only fit so many plastic buckets in my closet and racking batches is labor intensive which is equally inefficient.

There's another homebrewer in my city who just recently got his TTB. He's brewing on a 20 gallon morebeer sculpture and he's stated he will need to scale soon.

Another individual who's BJCP stated 20 gallon batches were the best balance from HB to commercial and that 20 gallon recipes scaled easy.

ATM I'm thinking just a 10 gallon HERMs system for the time being until I scale to at least a 3 bbl pilot system. :rockin:

Thoughts?

 

[bgraham]

i've thought about this a lot as well. keep in mind with a herms you just have to strike with a certain temp water to hit your mash temp and then maintain it... so your mashtun can be plastic. only the heat exchanger needs to be fired or have an element in it.

as for fermenters...

http://www.tank-depot.com/product.aspx?id=854

http://frugalconicalfermenter.blogspot.com/

in theory only your boil kettle and hlt have to able to be direct fired... or you could use your boil kettle as a hlt and stash your wort in another plastic container... all of which and be found on that tank-depot site.

you wouldn't want to scale up beyond 10 gallons until you were actually producing beer to sell. ...although i do know people who brew 1 bbl batches two or three times a year and thats it.

i'm not sure if herms type systems have size limitations, but i wouldn't think they would and that would allow someone to build a decent sized brewery on a shoestring budget.

... but then you have to deal with carbonating the beer. maybe carbonate in the kegs? i don't know. there are a lot of issues.

 

[japhroaig]

i've thought about this *way* too much, and run waaay too many numbers. what is basically comes down to is this.

if you are a handy person and can get stainless, 55 gallon barrels on the cheap, then build it. otherwise anything other that a 10/15 gallon is a waste. in most cases if you want to go pro, practice on your 10 gallon rig and save up for a 5 BBL rig. unless you can get a 1 BBL rig *cheap* (aka cheaper than a 10 gallon) there is little to no benefit in regards to going pro. in fact, build your own 10 gallon from scratch with all the addons--that will probably be a better benefit.

 

[JoeBuch]

I like to experiment a lot, so I like to produce at 10 gallon. If there is a house beer I love, well I'll just have to make more of it.