What Size System To Build?

[HomeBrewDan]

I'm sure this is a newbie question and has possibly been discussed before, but here goes!

I'm currently putting together a plan to get into full mash brewing and I'm wondering what size system to set up? I have found a store on EBay that sells stainless pots quite cheap (approx $200 for a 71ltr). They only sell pots in the following sizes though.
25ltr
36ltr
50ltr
71ltr
98ltr.
My theory is, I can make a small quantity in a large pot but not a large quantity in a small one! So having said that I'm thinking of the 71ltr pot.

I guess the main question is this. Are most recipes a standard volume? If so, what is that volume? I do keg my beer using the 18ltr kegs so I guess it would be smart to make my final volume a multiple of those, give or take a little bit.

If I go for the 71ltr, is it fair to assume that my final volume would be around 55ltrs to 60ltrs? Thats 3 kegs per batch plus a few bottles.

Thanks in advance for the replies everyone!

Cheers Dan

 

[Pennywise]

I would go the 70ltr, you'll be able to do double batch's of normal strength beer easy & it's not too over the top for single batch's. Not sure you'd get 3 kegs out of it though, remember you'll have evaporation, losses to trub, dead space. You'd easily get 2 though, I've just got myself 2 x 66L pots for this very purpose

 

[raven19]

Are you BIAB'ing? or 3 Vessel or otherwise?

Are we talking your kettle, MT or HLT?

If its your Kettle - I would wager you are looking at around 30L preboil for a cube/keg full of final beer.

But if you want to brew double batches you will want 60L plus some headspace, so yep 71L would be ideal.

a 50L for you MT and HLT will support the above also - assuming regular gravity batches.

Keep us posted on the build!

 

[Leigh]

I'm sure this is a newbie question and has possibly been discussed before, but here goes!

I'm currently putting together a plan to get into full mash brewing and I'm wondering what size system to set up? I have found a store on EBay that sells stainless pots quite cheap (approx $200 for a 71ltr). They only sell pots in the following sizes though.
25ltr
36ltr
50ltr
71ltr
98ltr.
My theory is, I can make a small quantity in a large pot but not a large quantity in a small one! So having said that I'm thinking of the 71ltr pot.

I guess the main question is this. Are most recipes a standard volume? If so, what is that volume? I do keg my beer using the 18ltr kegs so I guess it would be smart to make my final volume a multiple of those, give or take a little bit.

If I go for the 71ltr, is it fair to assume that my final volume would be around 55ltrs to 60ltrs? Thats 3 kegs per batch plus a few bottles.

Thanks in advance for the replies everyone!

Cheers Dan

I brew 21L and 42L batches as that's 1 or 2 kegs at a time, with a few bottles on the side and losses to trub. The boil volume for the 42L batches is generally 55ish L, so you may not have enough spare space for the boil for a triple batch.

Cheers and welcome to the slippery slope!

 

[argon]

I'm sure this is a newbie question and has possibly been discussed before, but here goes!

I'm currently putting together a plan to get into full mash brewing and I'm wondering what size system to set up? I have found a store on EBay that sells stainless pots quite cheap (approx $200 for a 71ltr). They only sell pots in the following sizes though.
25ltr
36ltr
50ltr
71ltr
98ltr.
My theory is, I can make a small quantity in a large pot but not a large quantity in a small one! So having said that I'm thinking of the 71ltr pot.

I guess the main question is this. Are most recipes a standard volume? If so, what is that volume? I do keg my beer using the 18ltr kegs so I guess it would be smart to make my final volume a multiple of those, give or take a little bit.

If I go for the 71ltr, is it fair to assume that my final volume would be around 55ltrs to 60ltrs? Thats 3 kegs per batch plus a few bottles.

Thanks in advance for the replies everyone!

Cheers Dan

Do you plan to go for 3V or BIAB?
A "standard" brew length is typically 20 - 23L. If you're kegging you typically want about 21L into fermenter to fully fill your keg.

Regardless, if it were me starting from scratch i'd go for the 71L option. A good size for both singles and doubles. Although when doing singles, your evap rate will be relatively high due to the large surface area of the pot. But it will be very comfortably be capable of double batches.

 

[Pennywise]

Just thinking, you know, you probably could get 3 kegs out of it if you brewed higher gravity and diluted post boil. DrSmurto pointed me to this method when I started AG because I couldn't boil full volume, hop's take a hit though if you go too far, I think he recomended diluting no more than 20-30% before you really start using heaps of hops for the same result. And I guess consistency would be an issue as well, just a thought

 

[Bribie G]

3 kegs is a weird quantity really as I've found out with my two 40L electric urns (BIAB)

You may be pushing it a bit with the 71 litre although you could also try topping up regularly with boiling water. Then you have the problem of fermenting. Assuming you can actually get enough wort , then you would need to run 3 fermenters with a fair amount of headspace in each, because two 30L fermenters would end up nearly full to the top and you would have serious foaming problems. If you have the means of temperature controlling 3 fermenters then go for it.

If you can only handle 2 fermenters at a time then you could brew over gravity and top up each keg with deoxygenated water.

Edit: PW beat me to it - looks like that could well be an option.

 

[cdbrown]

If it's a kettle then go for the 71L to allow plenty of space during boils if doing double batch. I've only got a 50L kettle and have to add 10L post boil to bring the final volume to 42L. Get yourself a 60L fermenter for the double batches. Bit heavy to move around but 2kegs at a time is great. Increase your batch size to include some bottles as well if you want as there's enough head room in the kettle and fermenter for it.

 

[stux]

If it's a kettle then go for the 71L to allow plenty of space during boils if doing double batch. I've only got a 50L kettle and have to add 10L post boil to bring the final volume to 42L. Get yourself a 60L fermenter for the double batches. Bit heavy to move around but 2kegs at a time is great. Increase your batch size to include some bottles as well if you want as there's enough head room in the kettle and fermenter for it.

And a 60L fermenter is good for triples too

 

[Pennywise]

Yep, the 60L mark on mine is about 5 inch's from the top, might need a blow off tube for some yeasts (3068), but I don't doubt it can be done. Not sure I'd like to move the thing around though, hard enough with 44 litres in the bloody thing, so heavy I've only used it a few times, just to catch up

 

[Pollux]

I use a 40L urn as my HLT, a 50 keggle as a mash tun and an 80L Al pot as my kettle. I can easily pump out two kegs worth of moderately heavy beer with this setup. As I only ever bottle for case swaps this works out perfectly for me.


If I had my time again, I'd probably go a larger HLT and MT, just to make things a bit simpler, as at the current moment I have to fill the HLT, heat the liquor, mash in, refill the HLT, leave it to mash, drain mash tun and then have a two stage batch sparge.

 

[bconnery]

Another way to look at it is what is the batch size you intend to do most?
If you intend to make a double batch once in a blue moon the 71L appears overkill, as you could easily squeeze a double into a 50L, maybe with a little of the dilution as mentioned above.

For me personally (and I appear to be very much in the minority on this) having 38+ litres of the same beer isn't something I really want. I love to do single batches and get more variety.
If you are pretty sure you'll want to do double batches fairly regularly then a 71L gives you this easily...


I'd imagine there is at least a reasonable price difference between a 50 and a 70, so before spending that money I'd want to be sure I'd get use out of it...

 

[beerbrewer76543]

Do 200L batches and sell off 3 quarters of it to mates in stolen kegs h34r:

 

[argon]

Another way to look at it is what is the batch size you intend to do most?
If you intend to make a double batch once in a blue moon the 71L appears overkill, as you could easily squeeze a double into a 50L, maybe with a little of the dilution as mentioned above.

I agree... it's pretty easy to get a double batch out of a 50L Kettle. Although you have to be very attentive with a typical 42L pre-boil and a few litres top-up post boil.

I like doing doubles so i can ferment them at the same time then have one half age a little more. As is always said, "a keg blows once it really gets to it's best". With doubles, you just change the keg and have a beer at it's peak waiting.

or, with no chilling, i do the same base beer and cube hop each cube differently for 2 different beers.

 

[ekul]

This guy here has really cheap stockpots for sale. Linked is a 120L one for $188 including delivery. I've seen his 140L one and it s pretty solid, should last a fair few years, i'll be buying one as soon as he lists another one. With a 120L pot you'd be able to knock out triples (69L) really easily. Check out this thread for info on using two bags http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=52148

 

[Bizier]

I always do double batches in a 100L kettle, and a triple every blue moon. While I could have got away with 70, I have never regretted the extra space. I really like being able to pitch different yeasts or do different things to exactly the same wort. It is very rare that I would ever pitch and ferment a double batch identically.

 

[jackson]

I purchased the 71l of ebay and it looks like a quality pot, but after a water trial run rust marks appeared on the inside of the pot about an inch off the base. I think its a weld seam? I have called & emailed the supplier with no response. I don't know if it will be an issue in the long term but I think Im pretty well stuck with it especially after I have drilled 4 big holes in it. Time again I would probably go for a good quality aluminum one.

 

[HomeBrewDan]

16 replies in 2 hours! Now that's what I call helpful. Thanks guys.

I did forget to mention that I plan on building a Brutus Ten, or in my case a Brutus 70ltr! LOL

Is there a calculation that can be done to workout the average final volume from initial volume of the mash tun!

 

[HoppingMad]

I always do double batches in a 100L kettle, and a triple every blue moon. While I could have got away with 70, I have never regretted the extra space. I really like being able to pitch different yeasts or do different things to exactly the same wort. It is very rare that I would ever pitch and ferment a double batch identically.

+1. I have a 105L. Extra room for vigorous nice rolling boil means less flavour issues later. Particularly on paler beers like lagers and pils which can get DMS if not boiled properly. When I used to do lagers in a 50L (when doing double 40L) I used to encounter this as all you can do is 'simmer your wort'.

I only do doubles in my new 105L but love the fact I don't have to worry about boil overs and watching the top of the pot like a hawk incase I wind up with brew all over the shed. I can go quickly check on the kids inside, fix a snack then come back without any stress.

Hopper.

 

[Pollux]

To add to the above, if it's a matter of $20, always go for a larger kettle, although I do 46L batches and tend to only have 51L preboil I like knowing that the odds of a boilover are near on zero. That said I had my first one the other day, but that was an insane hopburst that I accidentally oversparged so I had a preboil volume of 60L and added just over 530g of hops during the boil....