Well we started on the new brewery today. We have managed to legally obtain one 100 litre stainless steel keg, and two 50 litre stainless steel kegs. Our plan now is to get up and running in about a month.
So first things first....... Powertools. We needed to angle grind the tops out of the kegs.
Hmmnnnn that ones going to need a steam clean.
Next please...
Ahh yes that ones tons cleaner.
So thats all done. Two 50 litre and one 100 litre keg ready for some taps. That will be next.
Well heres the plan. The Whispering Cat Brewery is expanding. A friend has a larger brick built garage and we have decided to set up a larger brewery in there as a partnership. We are planning a 100 litre, three vessel system running on electricity and built around a 100 litre steel boiler with two 3kw elements in it. We also have two 50 litre steel kegs that we plan to use in tandem as dual mashtuns to feed the 100 litre boiler. We are still sorting out an HLT. We will build a custom made fermentation chamber big enough to take 4 fermenters, and will store and dispense using corney kegs.
OMG this is an exciting development. There is loads to do and it will take a while to get up and running. I will keep the 5 gallon set up so that we can pilot new brews and also make small batches of specialist beers easily. It will all get posted here as it happens.
This is a really interesting article from a bbc site whch explains the duties of a cellerman.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A2346266
Well heres my current setup. I use the urn on the left as an hlt. The mash tun is in the middle, and the boiler is on the right. Its an all electric setup and i use small solar panel pumps to move the wort around.
I also knocked up a flu for the boiler to take the steam outside. It works really well.
OMG THIS IS A BEAUTY OF A PINT. Its called Black Cat Moan after an old blues song that i used to play when i was in a band (and also due to the whole cat thing going on in the names). Its hoppy, and malty but manages to stay light. The carbonation is just right and the beer is very moreish. This is going to be one of our signature beers.
After the problems that i encountered with a very fixed system, i kneejerked my way to the opposite extreme and set up a BIAB SYSTEM which recirculated and controled the temp of the mash. I had so,e good results from that, but i realised that i am at heart a three vessel brewer who enjoys that process. I also realised that easy is not everything and i brew for many reasons. One of which is certainly enjoyment of the process. Soooo the BIAB system was deconstructed and my final (for now) system emerged.
My set up has gone through three different constructions. First i went for a three vessel pump assisted electric system with hard plumbed permanent connections between vessels. I had already done some brewing so i felt sure this was the way i wanted to go. OMG how wrong was i? I totally underestimated how difficult it is to clear out vessels and pipes that are permanetly in place. Soooooo that system had to be dismantled.
Currently in:
Fermenter 1 - Black Cat Moan OG 1050
10 parts pale malt, 1 part crystal malt, heavy hopping with fuggles and goldings.
Keg 1 - Black Cat Moan OG 1050
Keg 2- Dark Shadow Best OG 1042 (8 parts pale malt, 2 parts crystal malt, 0.1 part chocolate malt, fuggles and prospect).
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