Brewery Plumbing

[Mattese]

Hi guys,

Planning to put together my brew stand this festive season (Finally!!), and was wondering about the plumbing. What materials does everyone use? It will be a basic two tier with the HLT gravity feeding to the MT. I have the bits to set up a heat exchanger, but will probably add that later.

Does everyone use 1/2" silicon tube, or is 3/8" enough? I know it would add to brewing time but was wondering about it.

Out of interest, does anyone use copper piping for brewery plumbing?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[itguy1953]

If it is not under pressure ie gravity feed, then the cheaper 1/2" silicon hose is the go. You need the heavy duty stuff for use with pumps.

I currently use pumps and gravity feed so use a fair bit of the heavy duty silicon hose.

I am making a stand over the XMas break and I plan to put copper tubing on the stand, and connect this to the vessels via silicon hose and clamps. Later on I will change the connections over to 1/2" SS camlocks. The hassle I have with silicon and clamps is that the silicon gets damaged by the clamps over time, and needs to be cut shorter. Eventually the pieces will be to short, and then I will need to buy more.

The only hassle with copper is that you cannot circulate caustic through it to clean your brewery out. I use hot water and Napisan (no smell one) at the moment to circulate through all vessels, hoses, heat exchangers and pumps. This does a terrific job at cleaning, but does NOT kill all bugs. The boiling water sure gives them a major headache and will kill most of them. I figure that I do not need to kill all bugs anyway, as the wort will eventually be boiled and they will be killed in the boiler.

Cheers

Hi guys,

Planning to put together my brew stand this festive season (Finally!!), and was wondering about the plumbing. What materials does everyone use? It will be a basic two tier with the HLT gravity feeding to the MT. I have the bits to set up a heat exchanger, but will probably add that later.

Does everyone use 1/2" silicon tube, or is 3/8" enough? I know it would add to brewing time but was wondering about it.

Out of interest, does anyone use copper piping for brewery plumbing?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[raven19]

I use 1/2 inch ball valves & camlocks.

Half inch silicon hose works a treat also for me, no issues with the March Pump. (Edit - I use Craftbrewer Heavy Duty 12.7mm hose)

I have seen a number of brewers with plenty of copper in their setups - with no ill effects in their respective beers.

 

[MeLoveBeer]

I use 1/2 inch ball valves & camlocks.

Half inch silicon hose works a treat also for me, no issues with the March Pump. (Edit - I use Craftbrewer Heavy Duty 12.7mm hose)

I have seen a number of brewers with plenty of copper in their setups - with no ill effects in their respective beers.

+1, am currently using stainless ball valves, camlocks and sillicon in my setup (all 1/2") and it works a treat

 

[cdbrown]

I use 1/2" silicone hose for the majority of piping with s/s 1/2" ball valves and barbed fittings. The HERMS coil and mash return manifold are copper. I'd like to go to camlocks at some stage but for the moment I can easily slip the silicone off the barb when it's time to clean up after a brew. If hard piped with copper consider implications for cleaning.

 

[Mattese]

Where is the best place to source camlocks? They seem to be the obvious way to go, but I actually know very little about them!

Finances allowing, I'm inclined to spend a little extra to get a better setup, mainly for ease of cleaning etc.

I'm a bit of a lazy bugger at the best of times...

 

[razz]

Geordi in Cheltenham, Melbourne.
http://www.geordi.com.au/Products22d.htm

 

[Mattese]

Thanks for all you help guys. It gives me an idea of how things are going to look at least. I'll keep you updated as to how it all goes.

 

[Paul H]

Where is the best place to source camlocks? They seem to be the obvious way to go, but I actually know very little about them!

Finances allowing, I'm inclined to spend a little extra to get a better setup, mainly for ease of cleaning etc.

I'm a bit of a lazy bugger at the best of times...

Tony Powell, helpful guys & not far from you. http://www.tonypowell.com.au/index.php?opt...t&Itemid=44

Cheers

Paul

 

[Mattese]

Tony Powell, helpful guys & not far from you. http://www.tonypowell.com.au/index.php?opt...t&Itemid=44

Cheers

Paul

Thanks Paul, that is very handy. I'll try to figure out exactly what I need and pop out in the next week. Cheers for that.

 

[TidalPete]

Tony Powell is great for a lot of good brewing hardware Mateese & I'm planning to get camlocks myself ASAP. Budget-wise those brass click-on connections (pickle them) do a great job until you're ready to do the bling thing.
Perhaps we can have a chat about your brewery plans one day?

TP

 

[Mattese]

Sounds like a plan TP. Should be up your way next week. I'll send you a PM a bit later. I'm too busy scrutinizing your brewery pics for inspiration...