The Psychology (psychosis) of my 1 Burner Brewery

OK...better late than never. This post is supposed to be about how I came up with my home brewery design. Hummmm.....let's think about this.

I was then using a 5 gallon homemade 3 tier gravity setup and was working my a#* off just to make 5 gallons of beer at a time. Not to mention all the long hours of being in my driveway in the HOT blistering Florida sunshine. Believe me...NOT fun! That system incorporated 2 turkey type burners and the 7 or 8 gallon aluminum kettles that came with the kits. I used this system for about 3 years, and towards the end, I grew very tired of jumping up and down on a ladder to stir the mash and other things. Also I viewed the entire setup, with the HLT (hot liquor tank) on the top tier a rather dangerous system to work with. I had to be on my toes at all times, and really had to watch my visitors as it was a very large liability if someone had gotten injured. Pretty scary stuff!

So I started thinking about the necessary steps that are taken when anyone brews up a batch of beer. Each step would be the same no matter of size of brewery or who was brewing it. There are several basic steps that must be performed in sequence, to produce a decent beer.

The steps would be:
1). Heat up enough water to supply the mash the proper amount, add to the mash tun when proper temperature has been reached, dough in the grain, then attain the starting mash temperature of your mash program.
2). Heat up a proper amount of hot water to be able to have sparge water in the correct volume.
3). Collect and boil the collected wort add hops etc...then cool the wort as fast as you can.
4). Transfer to primary fermenter....and so on.

It occurred to me that I have been wasting a lot of propane and energy by using 2 burners. 1 to heat the water...and the other to boil the wort. Completely redundant! I thought that if I could heat the water, add it to the mash tun, then keep it hot during the entire process, I could recirculate the wort from the mash tun, through my immersion chiller, then back to the top of the mash tun, therefore maintaining proper temperature, and giving me the possibility the option of performing multiple step mashes. Nice!

So...how can I store hot water for later usage? How about using a picnic cooler? It has great insulating qualities and could hold 15 gallons of hot water! Perfect for my 10 gallon batches!

Sooo...I figured that if I had a decent burner and a decent boil kettle, I could heat the water for the mash tun to the proper temp. that I needed, pump it into the mash tun...add my grains..then proceeded with the mash program. While mashing, we can hold the hot water in the kettle, then transfer it just before it was time to sparge and collect the wort, then pump it into the HLT then be ready to sparge.

Now...I also would need 2 pumps to support the operations. 1 to recirculate the wort from the mash tun, and another to transfer hot water from the kettle to the tun and HLT.

So...besides the fermentation equipment, where would I throw my money? It is my opinion that any brewer should not scrimp when it comes to purchasing their boil kettle. The boil kettle is the heart of the system and actually is used the most. You should get one that is plenty big enough for you to perform the size brews you want to create. I have just received my new boil kettle, a 28 gallon Italian kettle from MoreBeer.com . It is a MONSTER! I love it. I just finished setting it up and washing it and it looks great! Perfect for the planned 20 gallon batches that Brad and I have planned! Talk about excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK...sorry for the ranting....I have discovered that you really need 1 burner for your brewery, a great boil kettle... an easy and efficient mash tun (i use the Hobby Beverage mini-Mash Tun and LOVE it.) more about that on a future post.

So I guess what I'm saying is, throw your money at: Boil Kettle, a great burner, I have a banjo burner, also called a hurricane burner, Mash Tun, Pumps and QD's, and very importantly, your fermentation process (i'll be covering that in future posts).

I hope that I made some kind of sense on this post as this is a rush job of a post. Shown below is the new boil kettle, and a new shot of my mash tun and Hot Liquor Tank (modified cooler) and other stuff that's about the garage.

I'll be attending our brew club's annual "Brew in the Park" event on 03/24/2007, and will be getting ready for that, as I will be bringing my brewery to the event to brew up one of my original APA recipes. Other's will also be brewing there and I will certainly have a few pics to share. It's always a lot of fun!

I'll be talking more about the 1 burner brewery next week, and will go in depth about the mash tun. Pics will be furnished, followed by a quiz!

Thanks for visiting...and remember that we do thankfully accept any donations you may want to send! See left nav bar to do that.

Take care....brew on!
(_)3



Reconfigured brewery setup. I lowered the HLT
and place it next to the Mash Tun. A LOT easier
to work with! I also revamped the plumbing situation
as well.




Out with the old and in with the new! The old
Boil Kettle is on the left..and the new one is..well...
the big one??? It's huge!