From Work To Home

[d0ugie]

Hey guys just wondering if any one can offer me some useful ideas for converting from what i do at work to something i can do at home.

I work at a brewery helping people make there own beer with our equipment and recipes.

With our cooking stages we do the following
1. pour malt into kettle heated about 90 degrees and up.
2. Add dextrose
3. add grain (in a bag for filtering reasons) -if there is a grain-
4. stir
5. take sample of wort and start cooling as quickly as possible for yeast starter
6. close up kettle for cooking for 15 min.

stage 1 complete

stage 2: total cook time 15 min

1. remove grain bag
2. open kettle and apply first batch of hops
3. clean kettle sides close kettle for another 15 min

stage 2 complete

stage 3: total cook time 30 min

1. add 2nd batch of hops (changes with recipe or type of brew) -optional step-
2. clean kettle sides and close kettle for another 15 min
3. check temp of wort sample. if below 30 degrees apply yeast and give light whisk. Cover for protection from impurities.

stage 3 complete

stage 4 total cook time 45 min

1. add final hops with yeast nutrient and Irish moss tablet
2. clean sides of kettle and cook for another 5 min.

stage 4 complete

stage 5 total cook time 50 min

1. open kettle and clean sides
2. remove heat
3. let sit for 10 min

stage 5 complete

stage 6 total cook time 55 min

1. transfer beer out threw a hop filter and heat exchange.
2. add yeast into beer store for 2-3 weeks in 17 degree room.


Each one of these brews comes out at about 47 liters of beer so it is done on quite a big scale using a lot of equipment i don't have at home.
Any suggestions for any part part of the cook or equipment to consider purchasing to make my work to come transformation complete would be welcome .

 

[raven19]

Dougie,

Welcome firstly to the group.

With access to that kind of equipment at work, I would be keen to use work equipment if at all possible? Then just bring home the wort in a cube to ferment...

There are threads on this site from Kit and Kilo to Brew in a Bag (BIAB) all the way through to All Grain (AG) Brewing.
I've done plenty of K&K over the years, but have only recently been exposed to AG - and it was great. If you like your beer, this is the best path to go with.

Equipment can start with what you have in the kitchen at home, and build from there.

Depending on what you are keen to start with will determine your minimum requirements.

As a minimum you'll need a LHBS Starter Kit and some empty bottles... from there, the world is your oyster...

So many great threads on this site, and with a bit of searching you'll find plenty of useful hints and ideas.

Best of luck.
Cheers!

 

[Pollux]

Equipment wise, can I suggest the good old coopers microbrew kit????

It does come with all the basic equipment one would need to start a simple setup at home....

 

[Cocko]

Dougie,
Then just bring home the wort in a cube to ferment...

Cheers!

Dougie, First of all welcome!

Can you not do some over time, use the gear and take a cube home and ferment it with love?

[Cube being a food grade plastic container - search 'No Chill' if still unsure]

If you have access to this kind of equipment and some form of knowledge of the brewing process - GO FOR IT!!

If you really don't understand what you are helping happen with the brewing process, go a coopers kit and start the journey! BTW: I am not saying you don't I am just saying start from what you know!

Either way, I am sure you will get many a helpful post on this thread that will help you!

AND, Have you tasted the beer from your work? Do you like it?

I could go on and on....

Enjoy the learning.

MY $0.02

 

[GMK]

Doogie,

Would be easier to help if you filled out your location...

Is a pet hate of mine

 

[wakkatoo]

I work at a brewery helping people make there own beer with our equipment and recipes.

Just stirring the pot a little - Is it really a brewery? I 'spose given you are making beer. I dunno, I envisage a brewery as a place where commercial beer is made and the consumer is only involved at the end :chug: and people at home have a 'home brewey'. Maybe its a 'commercial home brewery'? Still a brewery I suppose, but I am easily confused

 

[PostModern]

wakkatoo, sounds like he works for a BOP (Brew On Premises). Essentially they make extract brews.

d0ugie,

What you're doing at work is easy. As others have said, you just need a fermenter and bottles and a large kettle (40 litres plus) to do the same thing at home.

 

[buttersd70]

For extract brewing, you don't even need to do full size boils, so the kettle size can be much smaller. A 15L pot will do fine. But if you plan on advancing into partial mash or AG brewing, you might as well go with the larger kettle, because you'll need it.

 

[d0ugie]

Yeah cheers guys.

Yes my work is a BOP and we are situated in Oakley Victoria on Huntingdale Rd.

Like the idea of taking the wort from work if i can but a min brew for us is about 47 liters so it is quite a bit to try and haul home hehe.

If i was to do my own cook at home any good ideas for a make shift hop filter?

 

[jeremy]

Kitchen seive will suffice, most of the remaining hop material will drop out during the ferment.

Alternatively, or collectively, you could put a tap in whatever vessel you boil in, whirlpool the wort at the end of your boil as it encourages the hop matter to move to the centre of your kettle, and leave some of your wort behind with the hops.

Cheers,

Jeremy.

 

[Doogiechap]

Yeah cheers guys.

Yes my work is a BOP and we are situated in Oakley Victoria on Huntingdale Rd.

Like the idea of taking the wort from work if i can but a min brew for us is about 47 liters so it is quite a bit to try and haul home hehe.

If i was to do my own cook at home any good ideas for a make shift hop filter?

G'day Dougie,
(Great name bloke ) :lol:
Craftbrewer sells these hop bags but depending on how you intend cooling your wort you can get by without them by whirlpooling after your boil and collecting your wort from the side via the tap/ siphon.

If you have access to the gear at work then there is nothing stopping you from dispensing the wort into a couple of cubes to transport home. The technique of No Chilling may suit your needs here quite well.

To brew at home is convenient but you have access to some fine equipment at work that is hard to replicate at home so I would go with the inconvenience of it all :lol: .
I encourage you to look further at more grain and less extract
Cheers
Doug

 

[brettprevans]

DOugie

Firstly Welcome

Im a little confused. If you work at a BOP (I assume its barleycorn brewers) surely you know how to brew and thus how to do it at home? What are you guys using for a resource on brewing method? Surely there is some sort of manual like Palmer's How to Brew or something that your using for reference? I'd be a little worried if I went to BOP and the guys making my beer didnt know what they were doing. I suppose you could work in a non-brewing capacity there, in which case your lack of knowledge is then understandable... anyways

47L is only 3x16L cubes worth. easily transportable from work to home. just get yoursef a fermentor and then ferment the wort at home. Althought im not sure your work would be happy with you using their quipment/ingredients without their consent. You could always ask them. nice little staff incentive.

Regardless, your best off looking at all the 'new to brewing' resources on the site. It will give you all the info you need about brewing, equipment etc. Have a look in the Extract/partials section and maybe even the K&K.