Pictures or advice for a 1 to 1.5 barrel system?

[thrstyunderwater]

Myself and some members of the local homebrew club want to make a 1 to 1.5 barrel system. Nothing that fancy, just capable of making 30-45 gallons at once (Utah is a dry, dry place). I have a line on some stainless steel drums but am wondering what everyone else uses, especially for a mash tun. Looking forward to the pictures or advice!

 

[zakleeright]

My brew buds and I built 25-gal all-electric systems, using theelectricbrewery.com and other sources as inspiration. Then upgraded that to 55-gal, allowing us to do 1-barrel batches. Its a sweet system that enables you to nail your targets with repeatability. For 25-gal, (18-gal batches) we used a single heating element in the HLT, single element in the BK (2000 watt, I think). For the 55-gal system we used dual heating elements in HLT and BK, manually unplugging from the HLT after completing mash, and plugging into dual BK elements for boil. This allowed us to use a similar part-count (cost) in the control panel vs. the single-element 25-gal system.
so...those 55-gal SS barrels you have should be fine.
Cheers

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I've got some pics in my profile. I have (3) 40 gallon kettles. For a full volume boil, the most I can do is 25 gallons. I usually split the batch in half and make two different beers. Two 15 gal boils. This way I get a full 30 gallons and I can mix the beer up a little. With 55 gallon drums, I don't see why you couldn't do a full boil for 45 gallons. It would be pretty tight, and you'd have to be mindful of boilovers, but not a problem. Good luck with the build, let me know if there is any advice I can lend.

 

[thrstyunderwater]

How much were your pots? Those are gas burners below, correct? Glad you went gas over electricity?

 

[BBL_Brewer]

How much were your pots? Those are gas burners below, correct? Glad you went gas over electricity?

They've got some descent pots on ebay right now. I got mine a few years ago for a bit cheaper, but that's still a pretty good deal.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-180-QT-...t=Cookware&hash=item2ec7609d82#ht_1364wt_1402

I went gas to save money on hardware. Would I rather be electric? Yes. If you have the budget and want to go electric, I would.