New equipment - Fermenters and Fridge

[Richard]

Sounds like a plan  

[Kyle]

Sounds good!  

[fakr]

Trying out one of the new fermenters with 20GAL of SMASH using 2-row and amarillo.

The filling and pitching process was very easy.

Hooked up the blow off keg to the fermenter, and the spunding valve to the keg.  Precharged the whole system up to 8psi, and used the spunding valve to adjust the pressure down to 5-6psi.

Here are a few pics of the fermenter all setup and spunding.

by the way, for those who have spunded before, I removed the liquid dip tube from the keg and replaced it with a gas dip tube bought from OBK.  No chance of backwash into the fermenter.

[attachment=1:q9sdjbjq]spumding.jpeg[/attachment:q9sdjbjq]

[attachment=0:q9sdjbjq]spunding 2.jpeg[/attachment:q9sdjbjq]

[chrismccull]

What are your plans with the big batches?  Are you just hoping to have to brew less than before?

[Jake]

I can help you drink it if you're planning on brewing as frequently

[brew]

Ill be interested to hear how easy / hard it is to clean? I am using a 58L keg for fermenting and im always wondering if ive cleaned it well enough for the next batch?

[fakr]

I'll probably continue making 15 gallon batches like I used to, but wanted to try filling the fermenter up the first time.

I have buddies that come over and help with the brewing process.  They typically pitch in on material and take a keg home with them when its ready.  

Special events, like super bowl, drain the beer surplus pretty quick.  Last super bowl drained 2 full kegs down to maybe a gallon left in each.

[fakr]

Cleaning these fermenters is quite simple actually.  I have a rotating clean in place ball (CIP) that gets clamped into the 4" lid on the top.  I'm using a high output sump pump to circulate cleanser through the fermenter.  Just let it run for 10-15 minutes, then pass a fresh water rinse through, then a pass of starsan.  Cap all orifices and it's ready for brew day.

I've contacted a cleaning product company that sells caustics and acids to breweries for their CIP systems.  Their products need to be purchased in minimum 5GAL containers, but the prices are really good.  $116 for 5 GAL of concentrated caustic cleanser, and $90 for 5GAL of acid brite to passivate stainless steel.  I've also aske for a quote on their acid sanitizer, same idea as starsan.

Once I get pricing + shipping on all 3 products, I'll post on the forum to see if anyone would be interested in a club bulk purchase.  I believe John and I will be splitting on 5GAL of each product, but we can order extra if you guys want to split 5GAL 5 ways or something.

According to the head brewer at the pump house, you can fill your keg with caustic solution, let it sit for an hour or so, and it is spotless, no need to scrub or anything.  He told me this after hearing me complain about cleaning out kegs that were fermented in.

[brew]

This sounds cool - i remeber another post about cip as well. I need to read up on cip...

[fakr]

It's not a great pic, but here is a pic of the CIP ball.  when fed with high pressure water, it spins and sprays 360 degress in every direction...cleaning the entire inside.

After seeing how slick this works, and since I already have a sump pump to power it, I think I'm going to buy smaller 1/2" cip balls and install them on the lids of my mash tun and boil kettle....do a little CIP cleaning in those too.

The fact that you start the pump and walk away makes them more than worth the cost of the CIP and pump.
[attachment=0:1h8dzwmb]IMG_1272-2.jpg[/attachment:1h8dzwmb]

[Kyle]

Is that TC stuff all from brewershardware? I'm think of picking up some of their stuff. Was there a lot of duty at the border?

[fakr]

yeah, got all the parts from brewershardware.com.  Their prices are very good and they have a large selection.

I just had about $90 in parts shipped directly to me and cost $20 shipping.  Not sure what kind of bill I'm going to get for the duty, but it can't be that bad.

All the other parts John and I ordered for our fermenters were sent to Houlton for pickup.  John was over for 48+ hours so no big duty charges.

[brew]

To bad those CIP balls didn't come with a 2" TC connector - for using on a keg... sizes go from 1" to 3" - bummer...

Mind if I ask how big is your sump pump? It have good pressure? Also wondering where you're getting your acid solutions? I'd like to read about them...

[fakr]

the sump pump I bought is a 1/2HP flotek high output that is rated for 4680 GPH, so roughly 78GPM.  I have a 1/2" line setup from it and it does a great job.  I've ordered a few 1" fittings for the fermenter and pump so my output will be much better.  1/2" is good enough, but more will reduce the cleaning time.  
Got the pump for about $180.  Sounds like a lot, but the pump is quite versatile.  I'll also be using it as an automatic drain.  Put it in a bucket with a hose attached running outside...when the water in the bucket hits a certain level, the pump turns on and drains the bucket.  The pump will pass 3/4" particles too I believe.

Brew, you could always buy a 2" TC end cap with a 1/2" or larger NPT thread.  Then screw a cip into it.   Yes, threads are exposed but who really cares seeing as though you're using it for cleaning.

[fakr]

forgot the acid solution question.

The manufacturer is Birko corp (http://www.birkocorp.com/brewery/).

The 3 products I'm looking at is:

1. Acid Brite #2 - for conditioning and passivating Stainless
2. Cir-Q-Late - Heavy duty caustic for CIP cleaning
3. Birk-OX - Rinseless acid based sanitzer, like starsan

Because they supply bigger breweries, they sell in 5Gal and 1Barrel formats.
Once I get final information from them, I'll put up a post in case anyone in the club wants to do a bulk club purchase.

The stuff is pretty cheap in those quantities.  Kicks the crap out of five star pricing.