The Sherman Brewhouse

With the brewery finally situated I thought I'd memorialize my new set of brewing procedures at this blog site.  For those bored enough to come along on this journey, here goes:

1. Pre-Brew Hot Water Rinse (Hot side) and Sanitization (Cold side)

Circulate 5 gallons of 170-180 degree water through the entire brewery for approximately 15 minutes to remove any dirt or dust that has accumulated in the kettles and/or lines since the last brew day.  Sanitize all cold-side equipment, including chillers, racking lines and carboys. 

Brewer Details

·        Fill HLT with 5 gallons of cold water and heat to 180 degrees F

·        Connect hose A to HLT valve (out) and Pump (in), and hose C to pump (out)

·        Prime pump by opening HLT valve (out) and pump valve (out), turn pump on and hose out HLT for 5 minutes.  Turn pump off.

·        Re-direct end of hose C into MT valve (in), connect MT recirculation hose, and turn pump on and hose out MT until HLT is empty.  Turn pump off.

·        Disconnect hose A and hose C from pump and set aside; connect hose B to MT valve (out) and direct opposite end into BK.

·        Open MT valve (out) and hose out BK until MT is empty. 

·        Drain BK into 5 gallon bucket and dispose.

2. Liquor Preparation

Prepare the full volume and chemistry of brewing liquor in the HLT.  Full brew volumes required are dependent on the final batch size, length of the boil, and the pounds of grain mashed.  All other variables are brewery constants.  Depending on the recipe, liquor chemistry is changed with appropriate salts.

Brewer Details

·        Fill HLT with full brew volume desired from cold water faucet, and add brewing salts per recipe specs.

·        Connect hose A to HLT valve (out) and pump (in), and hose B to pump (out).

·        Prime pump by opening HLT valve (out) and pump valve (out), connect hose B to MT valve (in), and turn on pump to fill MT to just above false bottom.

3. Mash

Add grains to MT, remainder of mash water, and heat to appropriate temperature, holding 148 – 155 degrees for 1 hour.  Since this brewery is a Recirculation Infusion Mashing System (RIMS), no stirring of the mash is needed.  Wort is recirculated through the mash tun via the pump for the entire duration of the mash.

Brewer Details

·        Add grains on top of the pre-fill water in the MT and turn pump on to fill MT with remainder of mash water (NOTE:  Mash water volume is equal to the desired water to grist ratio, times the pounds of grain used, divided by 4.  Therefore, the appropriate volumes left in the HLT after the mash volumes are reached will equal the full brew volume minus the mash volume)

·        Stir the mash briefly, and lightly place second false bottom on top of grain bed.

·        Disconnect hose A from HLT valve (out) and pump (in) and set aside, and connect hose C from MT valve (out) to pump (in).

·        Prime pump by opening MT valve (out) and pump valve (out) (Note: Siphon will only be created when hose B is disconnected from MT valve (in) and lowered below MT level).

·        Re-connect hose B to MT valve (in) and turn pump on to start recirculation.  Restrict pump valve (out) to allow slow flow back to MT in order to create a gentle whirlpool through the MT recirculation hose.

·        Fire MT burner and hold mash temp according to recipe specs.  Recirculation is for entire duration of mash.  Start HLT burner 40 minutes into mash and heat sparge water to 160.  When finished, turn pump off.

4. Sparge

Drain sweet wort from MT into BK and rinse all residual sugars from grains with a continuous “fly” sparge, for approximately 30 minutes, with 160 degree water.  

Brewer Details

·        Disconnect hose C from pump (in) being careful not to spill too much sweet wort out the end of the hose onto the pump, and place end into BK.

·        Connect hose A from HLT valve (out) to pump (in).

·        Prime pump by opening HLT valve (out) and pump valve (out) (Note: Siphon will only be created when hose B is disconnected from MT valve (in) and lowered below MT level).

·        Re-connect hose B to MT valve (in) and turn pump on to start sparge.

·        Close down MT valve (out) and pump valve (out) to reduce out and inflow so that BK takes about 30 minutes to fill.  Make sure liquid remains 1 inch above second false bottom screen for duration.  Start BK burner.

·        Measure the gravity of runnings when boil volumes are attained.  Plan any extract additions and/or boil off volumes at this time, in order to achieve a corrected OG.  Measure batch efficiency.

·        Turn pump off, disconnect hoses and place in laundry sink. 

5. Boil 

Boil wort and isomerize hops for at least 1 hour, but depending on the recipe specs, and any OG correction coming out of the sparge.  

Brewer Details

·        While BK is heating up, remove MT from stand and dump spent grains.  Clean out both false bottoms of grain, rinse out MT, and replace MT back to stand.  Put 5 oz of powdered brewery wash (oxy clean) into HLT.

·        Tend to hop schedule as prescribed by recipe.

·        15 minutes before end of boil, place immersion wort chiller into BK to sterilize.  Hook water intake up to cold water faucet.  Clamp water output into HLT. 

·        Turn off BK burner, and turn on cold water to begin chilling wort and filling HLT with residual hot water from heat exchange.  Fill HLT with 5 gallons.  Remaining water must be directed into 5 gallon buckets, schlepped to the laundry sink for draining through the entire chill. 

·        Turn on HLT burner to heat wash water the rest of the way to 180 degrees.

6. System Wash, Rinse and Dry 

A hot water PBW/Oxy Clean wash is circulated through the entire brewery for approximately 30 minute, followed by a cold water rinse circulation for another 30 minutes.  Both the wash and the rinse are 5 gallon volumes each.  All kettles are toweled dry and stored for the next batch. 

Brewer Details

·        Connect hose A to HLT valve (out) and Pump (in), and hose C to pump (out)

·        Prime pump by opening HLT valve (out) and pump valve (out), turn pump on and wash out HLT for 5 minutes, scrubbing any build up with brush.  Turn pump off.

·        Disconnect hose C from pump valve (out) and connect to MT valve (out) and place other end in BK temporarily.  Connect hose B to pump valve (out) and prime pump by creating a siphon by opening HLT valve (out).

·        Connect hose B to MT valve (in), turn pump on and fill MT with hot wash.  When HLT is empty, turn pump off.

·        Disconnect hose A from HLT valve (out) and pump (in) and set aside, and connect hose C to pump (in).

·        Prime pump by opening MT valve (out) and pump valve (out) (Note: Siphon will only be created when hose B is disconnected from MT valve (in) and lowered below MT level).

·        Re-connect hose B to MT valve (in) and turn pump on and wash out MT for 10 minutes.  Scrub above and below MT false bottom.  Turn pump off.

·        Disconnect hose C from pump (in) and gravity drain MT hot wash into BK.  Make up any heat loss of wash water by firing BK burner.

·        Connect hose B from BK valve (out) to pump (in), and hose C from pump valve (out).  Prime pump by opening BK valve (out)  and pump valve (out).  Turn pump on and wash out BK for 10 minutes, scrubbing build up with brush.  Turn pump off.

·        Drain wash into 5 gallon bucket and discard.  Add 5 gallons fresh cold water to HLT and repeat above steps to rinse.  Towel all kettles dry. 

Electric Brew Update with photos

(THis blog was written bottom up. Sorry not use to the format.)

This is another overall shot that shows the basement window with a fan. I have a window that opens inwards and up. i have a sheet of alluminum protecting it as a moisture barrier. can't tell you yet how good it works as this is my first real test.

Here is an over all pic of the setup. I didn't say it was nice to look at. The silver case is angled as it is cuz the thermocouple (temp sensor) that came with my PID is only 3 feet. i have a longer one on order. I welded the stainless fittings. Not pretty. I used a MIG setup with shielding gas. The gravity nature of stainless welding with that setup is difficult to do on a round threaded pipe to a keg. It takes some practice but even then my welds are not pretty ...but water tight.

this picture shows the end of the sink and the shower valve. I wanted hot and cold water on site, sort of speak. I didn't want just a faucet. I wanted a long hose with a spray gun on the end. THe showervalve with a washing machine hose (hi temp) and a garden sprayer (with trigger) does the trick. Its also plumbed for a drain.

This photo shows the electric kettle with CFC (40+fooot) below. The silver case is the control panel. I made everything portalble or plug n play. I can take the case off and work on it in the garage. its setup to run a mash and HLT but i am not ready for that yet. Of course i would have to purchase another PID etc. The PID i am using is off of Ebay. Works fine. with SSR. its holding 150 veryy nicely (floats to 152 down to 148 in Auto Tune mode).

I am brewing for the first time with the electric kettle. I am steeping grains as i type this. The water heated from 54 F to 150F in 20minutes on the nose. I am using a 220V 4500W heater.

Electric Brew Update

I have had nightmares about dropping carboys.....what a mess!!! not to mention the work one puts in. my heart goes out to you.

Friday night i was up til 1 am working on the electric brew...and by Sunday night it's fully operational and i did a test (water only) run.

Water: I have installed a shower valve and a flexible hose (instead of a shower head) to have hot and cold water.
Sink: i have a sink installed with drain for rinsing gear and most importantly for draining the counter flow chiller.
Counter Flow Chiller: this is was the first time i was able to use this. I made it well over 6 months ago but have just not gotten to use it. And it work beautrifully. It takes boiling water down to 58 degrees. It worked TOO well. i had to really back down the cold water going in to raise the temp back to 68 or so. I can dial in the out flow temp by throttling back the cold water in. beautiful. The time to chill is just the time gravity takes to drain the wort out of the keg thru the 3/8" tube. I'll time in next time. By the way, this is not a 25foot cfc, i can't remember if this is 40 or 50Foot.
Ventillation: I am using the Sherman Ventilation system which worked well. its a fan in a basement window with a plywood surround. It worked very well.
Pump: ordered.

Thats the update. Pics to follow at some point. my camera is packed away in a moving box.

Next up: Sankey Keg Fermentor. I want to ferment in a sankey keg and not a glass carboy. A few modifications and i should be good to go.

friday the 13th

it's friday the 13th and i just dropped and broke a carboy full of 5 gallons of wort. oh boy.

Q6, Nate's Unorthodox Ale review

Still have half a corny keg of this one. It turned out quite bitter. Estimated IBU's around 70. But it is malt forward and has enough finishing hops to balance the bitterness. A success yes, but with the next edition, I will try for less bitterness. In discussing how to mess with the malt flavors, it has become clear that I should become an all grain brewer. As soon as my fellow contributors get their apparati together, maybe they'll let me try an all grain version of this beer so I can fine tune it further.

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus

Otherwise known as Pliny the Younger.

Nephew of Pliny the Elder, Officer of the noble order of knights, senator, Prefect of the treasury of Saturn, Superintendent for the banks of the Tiber, and most importantly, a triple IPA brewed by none other than Russian River Brewing Company.

On tap today at Belmont Station.  I'm there.