I recently got my hands on a brand new 40g wine tank from a family friend that I wanted to use as a big as fermenter.
My issue is that I am confused about the most efficient way to brew on a larger scale with smaller equipment.
Right now I am brewing with a 10 gallon cooler (mash tun) and have 2/ 14 gallon brew kettles (one of which I use as my HLT).
What is the best way to brew (for the sake of discussion) 30 gallons of beer on this type of system? Do I just brew 4(ish) 7.5 gallon batches and blend it in the fermenter or is there a simpler, cheaper, more efficient way to get this done?
Thanks so much!
Brew 4 batches back to back (or staggered if you can) and blend all in fermenter.
Or brew 2 or 3 higher gravity brews and top off with water to reach amount needed.
Four back to back will be a long day. There will also be a challenge when it comes time to package all of that. Six cornie kegs or about 300 twelve oz bottles :shock:
Lots to transfer too. Does the tank have a spigot of some sort?
I’m sure you will work it out. Big batch is the way to brew!
I remember before kegging, each batch I bottled was about 220 bottles and an 8 hour ordeal.
If you have 2 14G kettles, I would say brew two pre-boil volumes of 12 gallons each at high gravity, and dilute down in the fermenter (you would need to find another burner).
The real constraint you have is the mash tun to produce anywhere near enough wort.
What about using it as a solera for sour beers? This way you can drain and fill it over multiple brew days, 5-10 gallons or so at a time.
