Saturday, March 6, 2010

Brewery upgrade photos

This is my 60 Liter SS boil kettle. At the top is the intake for the whirlpool. In the middle with the wire hanging off is the digital temperature sensor. And at the bottom is the ball valve. All fittings are SS.

This the inside of the boil kettle showing the whirlpool plumbing, temperature probe, and ball valve fitting. There is a false bottom that sits on the bottom, about 5 cm above the bottom, just above the ball valve intake.

This is my HLT, an aluminum 60 Liter kettle with a weldless SS ball valve. On the lid you can see a wire for the digital temperature probe for monitoring the water temperature.


And this is my mash tun, a SS 60 liter kettle with a weldless SS ball valve. Since I use a modified HERMES system the lid has some plumbing built into it. On the left is a temperature probe to monitor the mash temperature. In the center is some angled plumbing. This is the wort return and it also has a temperature probe. As the wort is pumped from the ball valve to the heat exchanger, it exits the heat exchanger and goes back into the mash tun via the wort return plumbing.

Here's what the underside of the mash tun lid looks like; all SS fittings. The mash return is angled toward the center. A silicone tube is fit over the hose nipple and extends down to the mash.

Looking down into the mash tun you can see a screen on top with a wire projecting upwards. The silicon tube is guided over the wire to direct the wort to the center of the screen. The screen is actually 2 screens overlain so that the holes are offset, to prevent channeling. Below this screen is a false bottom that is connected to the ball valve.

This is a prototype control box for the brewery. I use it to turn the pumps (2 March pumps) on/off, control the temperature display, and turn on/off auxiliary devices. Not show is the display for the flow meter. Once I set up the equipment on the new 180 cm table I'll revise the control box and rebuild it in an aluminum box which will be mounted to the table.


This is my plate chiller. I started out with an IC, then a CF chiller, and finally the PC. Water connections use garden QDs. The wort outlet on top has a temperature probe. I also have an optional inline aerator but I'm working finding a place to refill my O2 tank. For now I use an air pump with stones.

The most recent addition was SS QDs all the way around. Since I normally wear gloves when I brew, I don't have to worry about the hot QDs. All hoses and tubing are silicone, except the cold water for chilling.

I have 3 gas burners for natural gas which I use to heat the BK and HLT.

I'll post a few more photos in a few weeks after I get all the equipment set up on the new table and tested.

Cheers!

Updated the brewery (DIY heaven)

My brewery is a continuous DIY project. Of course if I was back in the US I'd just by a structure and call it done. But buying and shipping one over to Japan would be ridiculously expensive. Hence my efforts to build a horizontal brewing structure from parts locally sourced. Why horizontal? Because I live in a condominium and brew on the balcony, and have limited head space. Each year I've been upgrading and expanding. Last year I spent a fair bit of money to upgrade and early this year I've been putting it together. Now I'm very close to being able to duplicate a recipe that I like. Yesterday I brewed my 3rd generation of the Geisha Pale Ale and was able to nail it down on the numbers. There's something to be said about being able to control mash and fermenting temperatures.