Hi all,
Recently i have been thinking about my brewing time and the time i have available and where i would like to take it next.
I rarely drink purchased beer and would like to increase my output while reducing my time spent for standard house brew swill.
I would like to explore different options to produce 4 cubes or 4 kegs worth of wort per brew and so far it would seem i can either go to the concentrated method with 2 keggles or urns and dilute the wort in the fermenter or huge maxi with a 100 plus litre pot.
Pros and Cons so far
I think mistakes would be easy to make with the twin keggle set up and would require a very clear checklist, but would be much cheaper to set up as i already have a second keg sitting there and all i would need is another bag and burner.
Alternatively from what i read the the 100 plus litre set up suffers from efficiency loss, requires a dunk sparge, a custom heavy duty bag or steel cage, beefy bag lifting device ( no problem for me ) but it has the convenience of a single vessel single brew.
Im sure there is much more for me to consider so would appreciate comment and criticism on each method or perhaps there is another option?????
Post #2 made 11 years ago
Brendan, I have two 70 litre kettles and this works really well to produce 4 batches that give me a total of 76 L into packaging.
I would strongly suggest two kettles over one because...
1. You can brew two different styles on the one day.
2. The weights are much easier to manhandle.
3. The time is reduced as you effectively have two burners working compared to one.
4. More below...
To do two double batches well, you will need the 70 L kettles. You will still be topping up with around 10 litres before the boil on an average gravity brew (no sparging needed though). That shows you how inadequate a 100 L kettle is to do 4 batches well,let alone three batches of say 21 L into fermentor each batch. It simply should not be done.
Doing 2 brews simultaneously isn't too hard and will get easier as your experience levels grow. Keeping equipment simple will help you rather than hinder you. You can also stagger the brews by ten or fifteen minutes, or if you use an immersion chiller, then stagger the brews by the amount of time that chilling takes. Also, weigh hops, crush grain and lay out and set up your equipment the day before if you can. This, psychologically, makes a big difference in how smoothly things will run.
On my brew day, about 5 mins after flame out, I drain half the wort from the kettle into a no-chill cube. Once that is drained, I chill the remainder. This means from each kettle, I get a brew I can pitch straight away and another brew I can pitch when the first one starts running low.
Two kettles is a real bonus Brendan. You can do so many things you can't do with a single kettle. You can even be one of the few brewers that can do accurate side by side experiments.
Go the two kettles
,
PP
I would strongly suggest two kettles over one because...
1. You can brew two different styles on the one day.
2. The weights are much easier to manhandle.
3. The time is reduced as you effectively have two burners working compared to one.
4. More below...
To do two double batches well, you will need the 70 L kettles. You will still be topping up with around 10 litres before the boil on an average gravity brew (no sparging needed though). That shows you how inadequate a 100 L kettle is to do 4 batches well,let alone three batches of say 21 L into fermentor each batch. It simply should not be done.
Doing 2 brews simultaneously isn't too hard and will get easier as your experience levels grow. Keeping equipment simple will help you rather than hinder you. You can also stagger the brews by ten or fifteen minutes, or if you use an immersion chiller, then stagger the brews by the amount of time that chilling takes. Also, weigh hops, crush grain and lay out and set up your equipment the day before if you can. This, psychologically, makes a big difference in how smoothly things will run.
On my brew day, about 5 mins after flame out, I drain half the wort from the kettle into a no-chill cube. Once that is drained, I chill the remainder. This means from each kettle, I get a brew I can pitch straight away and another brew I can pitch when the first one starts running low.
Two kettles is a real bonus Brendan. You can do so many things you can't do with a single kettle. You can even be one of the few brewers that can do accurate side by side experiments.
Go the two kettles
,PP
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Post #3 made 11 years ago
Thanks again Pistol,
I will advise SWMBO that this is what i would like for my birthday, by the way what type of thermometer/s do you use?
Cheers
Brendan
I will advise SWMBO that this is what i would like for my birthday, by the way what type of thermometer/s do you use?
Cheers
Brendan
Post #4 made 11 years ago
Brendan - Don't ask PP about thermometers. Hopefully he will not see your post & my link will suffice!! 
See this posthere
See this posthere
Last edited by mally on 19 Jun 2013, 14:47, edited 2 times in total.
G B
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
-
- SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From Great Britain
-
Post #5 made 11 years ago
Thanks mally ill shop for the best I can and check them against my existing.
Hopefully the last question in this subject does anyone sell large volume bags?
My sewing skills do not not exist
Hopefully the last question in this subject does anyone sell large volume bags?
My sewing skills do not not exist
