jonny24
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I'm going to lead off with my own experiences, but I'm posting with the hopes that this spurs some discussion from everyone about how they brew for volume.
Background: I'm getting married in August, and I'm planning on serving my light lager recipe during dinner and possibly throughout the evening (still working out liquor license stuff). If restrictions let up by then our guest list is 180 people, so I've been working on high-volume brew days in preparation.
Figured I'd share what I've worked out, and see what other methods people are using to get the most out of their systems.
My setup: 48qt cooler MT, one 10 gallon Spike HLT/BK, 1 Avantco induction burner, 4 glass + plastics carboys, 8 kegs, 1 serving fridge (fit 4 kegs), 1 ferm/lagering chamber (fits 5).
Limits and effects:
-10 gallon kettle means 5 gallon boils (6.57-7 in, 5.5gal into the fermenter)
-One of the biggest is that having only one burner/kettle, I can't heat strike or sparge water while I'm boiling.
-I can fit 20lbs + 8 gallons in my MT, perfect for a double batch. I can fit up to 30lbs with somewhat less water
-Fermenor space - easily and cheaply expanded. I experimented with high-gravity fermenting, diluting at kegging, but quickly decided to just get more fermenters as needed.
-Temperature control - I only have the one controlled freezer, originally built as a ferm chamber. My dedication to lagering these beers means I have gone with warm-fermenting yeasts that can handle my mid-60's ambient basement temps.
-Kegs/Keg lagering/ Keg serving space - I find my lager is best with at least 3 weeks of lagering, and I like to carbonate for at least one of those weeks. Fridge space is the most difficult and expensive thing to expand, which means at most a 4-keg/week cycle through the serving fridge. The actual choke point is the lagering fridge, it can fit 4 kegs but a 2 week lagering period prevents the 4-keg/week cycle, meaning either less throughput or compromising lagering time.
Note - no way would I ever need to keep up with this kind of production, it's very much a hypothetical limit.
There are various ways one could approach brewing for volume and which makes the most sense will depend on a particular setup, what aspects a brewer is willing to change to accommodate it, and their own personal circumstances (space, money time, preferences).
My own variations:
- Brewing single batches more often. Not very efficient - it generally takes me about 5 hours to brew a single batch.
- Double batch - specifically, 2x volume for mash and sparge, 2x separate boils. Pros: only minor added time to heat up more water, no need for another vessel to heat up strike water at the same time as brewing. Cons - The second batch sits around in buckets while the first boils. However, since in my case it is a dry lager, not terrible. For true consistency, I could blend both after the boil. Takes about 7 hours.
- Triple batch, from a single mash and 2 boils. 3x the grain, 2x the water for mash and sparge, 2 boils that are 1.5x the gravity, diluted with water when transferring to the fermentor. Pros - minor added time vs a double batch (more water to heat, time spent blending). Cons - Efficiency suffers, and the tun is pretty maxed, so it's hard to make up for with extra grain, and it's hard to mash in/otherwise handle when that full. I only did this twice, but I want to say around 8 hours. Even though it works to out a low hours/batch, the extra finicking around with the extra full mash tun and blending made was not that enjoyable. I may revisit this, not sure. Maybe depending on how many open fermentors are available.
- Quad batch - basically 2x double batches, back to back. I just did this for the first time today, and it took exactly 12 hours. I still have work to do, the last batch is chilled but still in the kettle, my last fermentor is oxy-soaking overnight so it's not available yet, but this could be fixed on future brew days. The first 2x grain was milled last night, the second 2x grain was milled during one of the boils. 3 hours a batch is pretty good, and it is simple compared to the triple batch, I had time to have breaks and make lunch or watch tv. There was some efficiency gained by getting the mash for round two started during the boil, for which had to use a second big stock pot I use for storing starsan usually, and our spaghetti pot on the kitchen stove upstairs.
Other things I could have done:
What many people have done, buy a bigger kettle. Easy way to make a "single batch" produce twice as much beer. However, I do continue to brew 5gal batches of many other ciders, and my goal was to upscale without new equipment. I'm happy with what I have.
Another route, which I cobbled together toady, is having a separate Hot Liquor Tanks and Brew Kettles - 2 pots, 2 burners. Not sure about this yet - I brew with on induction burner on my work bench in the basement, and don't really want to buy another burner and wire another plug for it. Maybe I'll reconsider if I end up using the kitchen stove too often.
If someone was more limited on space, I could see high gravity brewing being a more attractive option, if you diluted at packaging. I did this once before I bought another fermentor, but it was kind of messy and hard to get volumes and ratios correct while splashing around with an auto-siphon, trying not suck up yeast. For those with more sophisticated transferring methods, this may not be a concern.
I could just bulk-brew ales instead of lagers, and the whole lagering/kegging schedule wouldn't even be a factor. The brew-day considerations would all be the same.
As mentioned, I do just brew single batches often as well, it's not all just mass-lager production. I just have fun pretending to be a mini 18-century Heineken or Budweiser, gradually increasing and optimising a brewery operation. Only instead being a business and cost/profits drive growth and decision making, as a hobbyist I'm limited by spare time / effort /required / limited growth ceiling - I'm not actually trying to sell as much beer as possible!
How do you guys approach this, if at all?
Background: I'm getting married in August, and I'm planning on serving my light lager recipe during dinner and possibly throughout the evening (still working out liquor license stuff). If restrictions let up by then our guest list is 180 people, so I've been working on high-volume brew days in preparation.
Figured I'd share what I've worked out, and see what other methods people are using to get the most out of their systems.
My setup: 48qt cooler MT, one 10 gallon Spike HLT/BK, 1 Avantco induction burner, 4 glass + plastics carboys, 8 kegs, 1 serving fridge (fit 4 kegs), 1 ferm/lagering chamber (fits 5).
Limits and effects:
-10 gallon kettle means 5 gallon boils (6.57-7 in, 5.5gal into the fermenter)
-One of the biggest is that having only one burner/kettle, I can't heat strike or sparge water while I'm boiling.
-I can fit 20lbs + 8 gallons in my MT, perfect for a double batch. I can fit up to 30lbs with somewhat less water
-Fermenor space - easily and cheaply expanded. I experimented with high-gravity fermenting, diluting at kegging, but quickly decided to just get more fermenters as needed.
-Temperature control - I only have the one controlled freezer, originally built as a ferm chamber. My dedication to lagering these beers means I have gone with warm-fermenting yeasts that can handle my mid-60's ambient basement temps.
-Kegs/Keg lagering/ Keg serving space - I find my lager is best with at least 3 weeks of lagering, and I like to carbonate for at least one of those weeks. Fridge space is the most difficult and expensive thing to expand, which means at most a 4-keg/week cycle through the serving fridge. The actual choke point is the lagering fridge, it can fit 4 kegs but a 2 week lagering period prevents the 4-keg/week cycle, meaning either less throughput or compromising lagering time.
Note - no way would I ever need to keep up with this kind of production, it's very much a hypothetical limit.
There are various ways one could approach brewing for volume and which makes the most sense will depend on a particular setup, what aspects a brewer is willing to change to accommodate it, and their own personal circumstances (space, money time, preferences).
My own variations:
- Brewing single batches more often. Not very efficient - it generally takes me about 5 hours to brew a single batch.
- Double batch - specifically, 2x volume for mash and sparge, 2x separate boils. Pros: only minor added time to heat up more water, no need for another vessel to heat up strike water at the same time as brewing. Cons - The second batch sits around in buckets while the first boils. However, since in my case it is a dry lager, not terrible. For true consistency, I could blend both after the boil. Takes about 7 hours.
- Triple batch, from a single mash and 2 boils. 3x the grain, 2x the water for mash and sparge, 2 boils that are 1.5x the gravity, diluted with water when transferring to the fermentor. Pros - minor added time vs a double batch (more water to heat, time spent blending). Cons - Efficiency suffers, and the tun is pretty maxed, so it's hard to make up for with extra grain, and it's hard to mash in/otherwise handle when that full. I only did this twice, but I want to say around 8 hours. Even though it works to out a low hours/batch, the extra finicking around with the extra full mash tun and blending made was not that enjoyable. I may revisit this, not sure. Maybe depending on how many open fermentors are available.
- Quad batch - basically 2x double batches, back to back. I just did this for the first time today, and it took exactly 12 hours. I still have work to do, the last batch is chilled but still in the kettle, my last fermentor is oxy-soaking overnight so it's not available yet, but this could be fixed on future brew days. The first 2x grain was milled last night, the second 2x grain was milled during one of the boils. 3 hours a batch is pretty good, and it is simple compared to the triple batch, I had time to have breaks and make lunch or watch tv. There was some efficiency gained by getting the mash for round two started during the boil, for which had to use a second big stock pot I use for storing starsan usually, and our spaghetti pot on the kitchen stove upstairs.
Other things I could have done:
What many people have done, buy a bigger kettle. Easy way to make a "single batch" produce twice as much beer. However, I do continue to brew 5gal batches of many other ciders, and my goal was to upscale without new equipment. I'm happy with what I have.
Another route, which I cobbled together toady, is having a separate Hot Liquor Tanks and Brew Kettles - 2 pots, 2 burners. Not sure about this yet - I brew with on induction burner on my work bench in the basement, and don't really want to buy another burner and wire another plug for it. Maybe I'll reconsider if I end up using the kitchen stove too often.
If someone was more limited on space, I could see high gravity brewing being a more attractive option, if you diluted at packaging. I did this once before I bought another fermentor, but it was kind of messy and hard to get volumes and ratios correct while splashing around with an auto-siphon, trying not suck up yeast. For those with more sophisticated transferring methods, this may not be a concern.
I could just bulk-brew ales instead of lagers, and the whole lagering/kegging schedule wouldn't even be a factor. The brew-day considerations would all be the same.
As mentioned, I do just brew single batches often as well, it's not all just mass-lager production. I just have fun pretending to be a mini 18-century Heineken or Budweiser, gradually increasing and optimising a brewery operation. Only instead being a business and cost/profits drive growth and decision making, as a hobbyist I'm limited by spare time / effort /required / limited growth ceiling - I'm not actually trying to sell as much beer as possible!
How do you guys approach this, if at all?
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