Wolstan Haven Brewery

[johnrm]

Nice, love the cladding.
Where did you end up with the Boiler Element Brian?

(Isn't Chartreuse a liquer?)

[JimmyM]

I've been wondering how to incorporate a brewery into the shed pub I've been dreaming about.

This is a beautiful setup.

youve got a shed beside your wagon?
now that IS backwards.

Nice build Brian. Im gonna get one a them when i grow up.

If you ever say that to me again, I'll put your head through the wall.

Haha ok Fintan.

[DEMPSEY]

Nice, love the cladding.
Where did you end up with the Boiler Element Brian?

(Isn't Chartreuse a liquer?)

As you might remember this thread it is holding up fine.http://nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,263.0.html. I have run a few boils of water in it and it does the job fine. The timber adds insulation as well as protecting my delicate skin from being scorched when I go near it. The last issue I need to complete is the Heat Exchange after boil. I have a counterflow unit made but I really want to chill down the wort in the Kettle before transfer,so,I have being toying with the idea of installing an immersion chiller into the Kettle.

[Dr Jacoby]

Have you thought about how you would separate the cold break if you use a chiller inside the kettle?

[DEMPSEY]

Have you thought about how you would separate the cold break if you use a chiller inside the kettle?

Well the picture of the inside of my Kettle does not show it yet but I had planned to fit a screen plate like what I have in the mash tun. This will hold back the hops and let the wort be drawn from underneath this plate. The cold break should be settled with the whole hops.

[Dr Jacoby]

I use a hop stopper in my boiler and I found that although it's great at filtering pellet hops (as long as you use a siphon tube on the outlet to ensure a steady flow), the hazy cold break material often gets through. To help clear the cold break I was thinking of draining the wort out through the hopstopper and chilling it in a secondary vessel and then siphoning off the trub. It's an extra step but not too much hassle. Another option would be to add a hop back as a sort of secondary filter downstream from the boiler. I'd love to give this a go but it would require using whole leaf hops, which I tend not to have in stock very much.

In any case, if you plan to chill in the boiler you'll probably need to use a very fine mesh for pellet hops, unless you'd prefer to prefer to take corrective action at a later stage (e.g. aging the beer at cold temps, using finings or filters etc.)

[DEMPSEY]

I never used hop pellets before so I was asking others who have how best to go about them and the reply was to put them in a hop sock and then into the Kettle. I am currently re-examining my options and am now rethinking the use of my counterflow. I am looking at using it first to recycle the wort until the temp have dropped and then run it to the fermenter.

[Dr Jacoby]

Putting pellet hops in muslin bags definitely avoids filtering problems; just be sure not to put too much in each bag or you'll get dry clumps. I find that 30g works well.

Out of interest, what advantage do you see in using a standard chiller over a counterflow one?

[DEMPSEY]

When you switch off the Kettle your hops are continuing to isomerize until you get below 60C,so if you are taking along time to transfer via the counterflow the remaining wort is still hot in the kettle. The other issue is the cold break,by cooling and transferring straight to the fermenter you bring it with you. 

[imark]

If you recirculate and create a whirlpool would that work?

[Dr Jacoby]

An immersion chiller can take time to chill the wort down so alpha acids can still be drawn out. I don't think this offers a clear reason to choose one over the other (but one may still be slightly better than the other).

In terms of cold break, this can be a problem in both setups. It all depends on how it's filtered out. With an immersion chiller I find that I get the best results by letting the wort settle for 10 minutes after it has cooled and then gently siphoning it off the trub. But I always lose two to three litres this way so as not to disturb the trub. Some people use devices like the hop stopper to try to filter cold break material out after chilling, but as I said earlier I don't think it works very well.

With a counterflow chiller you could also use a hop stopper, but as you say there is still the problem of filtering the cold break out downstream of the chiller before it gets to the fermenter. Short of actually using a proper filter (3 to 5 micron would do it) I think the best option is to recirculate in such a way that you create a whirlpool in the boiler. Let the trub settle in a cone in the middle and then gently drain the boiler from the side. This is what many breweries do and it works a treat if you can chill the wort quickly and get a really good cold break.

[DEMPSEY]

I am going to go the recirculation method,(I think). I can maybe have a filter between the outlet tap on the Kettle and the pump before it returns to the Kettle and creates a whirlpool. What sort of design of a filter would suggest.

[Dr Jacoby]

If you use a whirlpool there is probably no need to use a fine mesh filter. A false bottom that prevents whole hops clogging your pump would be sufficient (assuming that you don't use mountains of pellet hops, which might also lead to clogging). The whirlpool would then do most of the separation work for you. All you would need to do is to figure out a way to drain the wort away from the trub cone in the middle of the boiler.

[DEMPSEY]

Now I have a thought on that. I was considering the false bottom to have no drainage in the middle,this is where the dip tube pipe goes through to the very bottom. The whirlpool should cause the hops and general gunk to form in the middle on top of this plate and allow the wort to drain off the sides of the plate and under it. From here it is then siphoned by the dip tube and pumped through the counterflow and back to the top of the Kettle.

[Damien M]

The Trub will approach the center of the Whirlpool down the walls and along the bottom of the vessel and may clog your outer diameter drainage holes or the edge of the false bottom and potentially get dragged out at drain down.

I reckon a false bottom that had only holes  in the outer third (as you mentioned)  and angled so they are pointing to the center or raised slots tangential to the center will keep the trub flowing into the middle. An inner diameter lip at the interface between the perforated and non perforated section facing in at a 30 to 40 deg angle allowing the trub into cone  and the trapping it would  then hold it in there. Also having the drainage coming up from the middle and off  to the valve will have a negative effect  on stable vortex  generation, the drain down probably needs to be from below.... but if all the above worked all the solids would collect in the center!   

Ok! so where do we send the patent application!!! Lads we need to go into manufacture!!! Hang on a sec is this in the Members only area. Nope! Ah dammit! We could of been millionaireeeeeeessssss!!  :