What size tanks for 15 gallon batches..

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

i wanna start doing 10-15 gallon batches.. half and half for each..

and now im looking at the stout tanks specifically over the blichmanns...

am i wrong for going for 20 gallon MT, HLT and BK ?

or should it be different ?

 

[day_trippr]

The BK and HLT are probably fine at 20 gallons (though you might want to pick up some Fermcap just to preempt boil over) but if you ever want to do a big 15 gallon recipe, a 20 gallon MLT might be undersized for 15 gallon batches...

Cheers!

 

[stevehaun]

If you want to do 15 gallon batches, get 25 gallon BK and MT. If you never make big beers, you could get by with a 20 gallon MT. 15 gallons should be plenty for a HLT.

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

Yah except those stout tanks go from 19.8 gallon tanks to 30 gallon tanks..
So if I had 3 30 gallon kettles doing say a 10 gallon test batch would that be not efficient.

 

[rvklein]

Given yesterday was national PI day, the Stout 19.8 kettles give approx .84 gallon per inch of kettle (v=PIr^2). So for a 15 gallon batch (17.5 gallons of wort) you'd only have about 2.75 inches of space to contain the boil

you'd really need to control that boil for a 15 gallon batch....

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

So your saying go for a 30 gallon BK and 19.8 hlt and mash tun ?

 

[rvklein]

The "standard" is 2 x final batch size for boil kettles. i had to make the same choice but I stuck with the 19.8 because i'll typically be doing many more 5 gallon batches then 15.

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

You think mash tun at 19.8 gallons for 15 gallon batches would be good and 19.8 hlt ? Ten stick with 30 gallon bk

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

so straight 30 gallons across then ?

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

The BK and HLT are probably fine at 20 gallons (though you might want to pick up some Fermcap just to preempt boil over) but if you ever want to do a big 15 gallon recipe, a 20 gallon MLT might be undersized for 15 gallon batches...

Cheers!

well if i get big enough pots i might not have to use femcap eh ?

 

[ekoorjr]

Go for broke and get the 1 barrel set!

 

[StMarcos]

I make 15gal (well, 16.5-17gal really) batches, and I wouldn't want anything less than my 25gal stockpots. You can get em from online restaurant places... same thing as megapots - they say update international on the bottom, and save yerself $50 a pot. I'm not sure how big my cooler MT is, either 120 or 150qt. You could get by with a smaller HLT, but you'd have to add more water to it during the mash to heat up. As it is, I need about 25gal (lipping the brim) of 175-180degF water to get 17gal chilled in the fermentor, for normal gravity brews. Batch sparge btw. BK is gas and has a welded nipple, the HLT electric, 4500w, with Ag brazed connections.

Works great.

 

[maida7]

yeah I'd go with the 30 gallon for all 3. How will you heat these?

What will you use for a fermenter? How will you temp control it?

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

gunna be heating with a rims system and 10" banjo burners... gunna get Brew Steel to make a custom badass2 stand for me.. with 2 SS march pumps and for fermenter i gunna use a brewhemoth in a stand up freezer temp controller.. or try their immersion coil with gylco through it.. also be using a freezer with 6-8 carboys in there

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

Go for broke and get the 1 barrel set!

i would love too... but this is kind my tester system for a year or so.. i think 1bbl or 36 gallons is a bit much for testing lol.. i mean i do have 6 beer league hockey teams i play on and yes they drink at least 60 beer between them after the games.. i think finsihed 15-16 gallons of beer is fine every 2 weeks..

im gunna upgrade to the 3.5bbl system in 2 years from the stainless steel guys.. they got nice systems..

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

so final answer ... for 15 gallon batches... 30 gallon brew kettle.. 20 gallon MT and 20 gallon HLT

 

[BBL_Brewer]

so final answer ... for 15 gallon batches... 30 gallon brew kettle.. 20 gallon MT and 20 gallon HLT

Like everyone pointed out, it's doable, but doesn't leave much wiggle room. I have a 40 gal MLT and I brew 30 gallon batches. Same ratio that you are working with. My MLT is 25% larger than my batch size. If I want to brew a whole 30 gallons, I can't brew anything larger than about 1.070 OG or I'm out of room. 30 is great for the bk, 20 is fine for the HLT, but I would go with 30 over the 20 for your MLT. But again, totally up to you and how you intend to use it.

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

30 BK 30 MLT and 19.8 HLT... sounds about right.. just wanted confirmation since Stout tanks prices jump from 19.8 to 30 gallons..

 

[BBL_Brewer]

30 BK 30 MLT and 19.8 HLT... sounds about right.. just wanted confirmation since Stout tanks prices jump from 19.8 to 30 gallons..

I feel ya man. I actually got screwed when I ordered my kettles. I got them off ebay and they were advertised as 45 gallon. Only ended up being 40. I'm making it work, but it does kind of suck. The only thing comforting about the whole thing is that I got them wicked cheap. If I had it to do over, I think I would just go with 55 gallon SS drums.

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

how often do you brew since you have such big batches

 

[BBL_Brewer]

how often do you brew since you have such big batches

Well, it kind of depends. I only brew big batches in the winter since I use an immersion chiller and my summertime tap water temp climbs into the high 70's. Plus, I brew in the basement and it gets wicked hot down there in the summer when I'm crankin my 32 tip jet burners. If I run out, and I always do, I have to resort to 5 gallon batches until fall. I also have a friend that has gotten into homebrewing and he splits batches with me once in a while. We just mash together and then split the wort between the BK and HLT for our boils. If I could brew big ones year round, I would only have to brew about 4x per year for myself. As it stands, I brew about 4 or 5 big batches, a couple of which get split with my friend and then a handfull of 5 gallon batches while I'm waiting for cold weather.

 

[SavoryChef]

I went with 25 gallon pots and had plenty of room with a 1.070 15 gallon batch. I even made a 5 gallon barley wine with no problem. Got them from homebrewstuff,com

 

[CrankyBeaverBrewery]

hmmmm interesting... 30 gallon could be overkill...