Finally saved up enough sheckles and miscellaneous gear to try and put my own system together.
What I have that I was thinking of starting with:
(4) 25 gal. tri-clad bottom crab steaming pots with (4) 3/4" holes around the bottoms. Got them real cheap and figured to sell one or two after I get somebody to plug weld the holes and grind them in real nice.
Have a “brew room” with its own heat, a S/S triple sink, and avg. 58 degree well water. Brew water goes through R.O.-D.I. system and .5 micron pre-filter before being remineralized to a neutral pH. Room has an 8’ ceiling so I wanted to set up a gravity flow stand.
(2) 10 gal. Gott coolers
Cajun Cooker turkey fryer burner
LP burner of unknown origins that looks very similar to Cajun Cooker burner
Spare upright freezer
Thinking of buying:
Stoudt 15 gal. fermenter w/ butterfly valves
20 gal. Mega pot
-Therminator & Flomometer
Mainly like IPA’s and Trappist ales (Orval, Duvell, etc,), and occasional wheat beer… and so do my friends, family, and neighbors, so looking to keg and bottle.
Would like to run 10 gallon batches.
We grow a lot of fruits, everything from boysenberry and Paw Paw to nectarines and kiwi. Six varieties of apples, four types of grapes, many peaches, other berries, you name it pretty much. Also keep bees and a few dwarf citrus trees in a greenhouse, so lots of raw materials to work with, which is good since the wife number last likes wine and not suds. So I’m also looking to upgrade the wine making efforts.
10 gallon coolers are a little small for 10 gallon batches especially high gravity beers. I use a 15 for my 10 gallon batches and have to do more than one sparge.
I use a 10 gal cooler for 10 gal batches with batch sparge, and have had no issues up to O.G. of about 1.070. I do have to run two batch sparges sometimes instead of just one, but no biggie. So if you already have the 10 gal on hand, you will probably be just fine.
We have a 14gal Stout conical fermentor with a thermowell and love it. If you are welding, I would recommend tri-clover connects and clamps for everything possible, they are such better quality than (and not much more expensive, if not equal in price to) the quick disconnects. Have you considered having the welder weld you a brew stand as well?
We have a therminator and its key for these size brews.
You could also mash in your crab pots. Our mash tun is a 20 gallon Stout SS kettle and we rarely lose any temp even in winter. We do have a recirc coil in the hot liquor tank to recirculate the mash and raise temp if we need to though.
The only things I would add to the list are 1-2 pumps, small heating element and a dual-stage temp controller for the freezer. Temp control is critical for the ales you like to make.
What are you planning to do for yeast propogation? Do you have a large erlenmeyer flask and stir plate? We have a 5 liter erlenmeyer that we for our 14 gallon batches, which is a good size. Most times though, I will just do a 5 gallon brew-in-a-bag to grow yeast for a 1/2 bbl brew.
