This thread on homebrewtalk.com about valve tree setups and automation is amazing! In all my years brewing on my frame, as complex and automated as I've gotten it, I've always thought making a hard plumbed setup like the pro brew systems would be cool. Well, some of the hardware is getting cheap enough these days and I thought I would have a go at how I would layout my setup with 3-way valves in T port form...
Working through trying to decide if all the paper work, fees, licenses and head ache are worth getting wholesaler license to make/sell beer. I was working on some logos for the L.L.C. if I was going to do this. I also started talking and reading all the filing/paperwork necessary. UGH!!...it is a LOT!
Got my Brew Built IceMaster Max 2 dual vessel glycol chiller (with built-in temp controllers and pumps) in from morebeer.com today. First thing I did (after checking that pumps all worked and the chiller worked and no leaks) was to begin diving into tearing it apart. The plan was to wire in switched outlets for 120v heater pads when the controller needed heating. I didn't want to permanently modify heaters and peripherals, so just went with switched 120v outlets mounted in the back top.
Took advantage of the Black Friday specials and got a Brewbuilt Icemaster Max 2 glycol chiller for fermentation for $100 off. Upped the game on my boil to be able to do 1 BBL batches with a 30 gallon Brew kettle from SS Brewtech at 15% off. And, got a 1 BBL unitank fermenter on 15% off too! Well, guess it just got serious. I convinced myself to save the $1000 on the jacketed unitank and spend it on those other items, but it was hard passing up the jacketed version.
Brewed a 10 gallon Pilsner today to test out the whole new eBrew Panel. It went great. I did this as a pure electric brew, even though I could connect up to the gas and run that too. I had to pack 20 gallons of water in 5 gallon buckets from my soft water tap and then added some CaCL2 (0.7g / gallon) to the initial mash to help lower pH.
I have been using my HLT or BK to heat PBW cleaner for the fermenter clean up (5-7 gallons of water needed) with CIP spray ball. Normally, this would be perfect to clean just with all my brew setup, but it is less and less convenient to do then. I normally clean all the brew day stuff with scrub pad and bar keeps friend and hot water. The fermenter is 2-3 weeks later and it really screams that it wants just 3 gallons of 180'F PBW. Well, that is close to the minimum volume I can heat in my HLT and it is not great at getting all the liquid out of the vessel (it still has a dip tube and misses about 1/2 gallon on pickup).
As the weather turns colder and as I've begun to convert my system over to electric (still has natural gas option), I've begun lusting over a better insulation for my MT, HLT and BK. They are notoriously lossy during the cold winter brewing months and I've had time to think it might be easy enough for me to work some magic with a sewing machine on some 3mm thick neoprene and some nylon zippers...
