Resources for "brewhouse"

Whether a brewery has two or five vessels in their Brewhouse, there are  five key process steps that cannot be skipped, truncated, avoided, or bypassed:  Milling and weighing up, Mashing, Wort extraction(including spent grains removal), Wort boiling, Wort cooling (including trub separation). Generally speaking, these steps create one linear brew cycle. In this second installment in our series of articles about ways to get more production out of your brewhouse, we will be discussing boiling, whirlpooling and wort cooling.

A team from MillerCoors and Revolver Brewing stopped in at Sprinkman’s factory in Waukesha recently to inspect their new 10-bbl/3-vessel Sprinkman brewhouse currently being prepared for shipping to Revolver Brewing in Arlington, TX.

Known for their strong hop profile and popularity, IPA’s require an extra step in the brewing process known as dry hopping, where more hops are added late in the brewing process. Like most breweries, Rogue Ales simply included the extra hops through the top of the tank. But there was a problem with that.

Yeast is the magic catalyst in beer production, and yeast brink storage vessels are not just for the big breweries anymore.  An agitated yeast brink that is glycol cooled is an exceptional collection vessel that is available and recommended for any size craft brewery today.

There are several key factors to keep in mind when choosing a yeast storage vessel. Graham Broadhurst, Sprinkman’s Director of Brewing Operations and industry veteran, suggests the following:
 

A brewery’s fate may ultimately depend on its ability to brew quality, consistent batches of beer. However, even the most skilled brewer, with the best recipes and superior ingredients, cannot overcome the distasteful effects of improperly cleaned equipment.  The cleaning process isn’t rocket science, but it can require an inordinate amount of time and labor it to do it effectively and no matter how many gallons of chemicals you throw at it, you will not be able to overcome a poorly designed system.

The Lauter Tun is arguably “the heart of the brewhouse” and where the magic truly happens in the brewing process. Two objectives brewers shoot for here are lauter efficiency and repeatability.

To accomplish this, Sprinkman Brewing Systems prefers a seemingly oversized lauter tun or mash/lauter vessel with automated controls for water distribution.  “The Sprinkman vessels are oversized to great benefit,” according to Daniel Heisler, head brewer at Blackberry Farm Brewery in Walland, TN, “They provide me the ability to have a considerable range of wort gravities for working with average to very high strength beers with ease.  I can keep my mash bed thin, even with high gravity brews.”  Sprinkman’s goal is to provide brewers like Daniel with flexible and highly efficient equipment based on the beers they brew.  Consider asking the following questions when it’s time to find a lauter tun for your system:

FRANKSVILLE, WI (November 2013) - Do you remember when having power windows in a car was not “standard equipment” but a luxurious add-on?  Once innovative competitors started to offer many of the creature comfort options as part of their Standard package, we all started to wonder how we ever could have lived without them.  Granted it might be a bit of a stretch, but you could make some similar observations in how the tanks and processing equipment in modern Brewhouses are offered to today’s Craft Brewers.  Based on W.M. Sprinkman’s experience, here are five options to consider that provide benefits above and beyond the initial investment:

So you made the decision to purchase a new 30-BBL, 3-Vessel Brewhouse. Congratulations! You have the facility, you’ve lined up financing; have your Brewmaster extremely excited about the new “toy” that is on order. What could go wrong? Well, plenty, but the good news is that some planning can alleviate the biggest headaches. Here are four areas that you should not overlook in order to ensure a smooth installation and start up: