Building A Small Brewpub - 13
The following is a fictional description of opening a brewpub
First order of business is to build the glycol system to run the fermenters.
I bought a 3/4 HP, 18 gallon reservoir glycol chiller from Foxx Equipment. I thought it was a 115v dedicated 20 amp, but it is a 230v dedicated 20 amp. Damn, I need to get the electrician out to change that plug. Still, it’s inexpensive. With a 18 gallon reservoir I need to buy 6 gallons of glycol then dilute it with 12 gallons of water.
I am positioning it above and to the right of the fermenters in the brewhouse. It’s best to have it above the two fermenters so any air bubbles will work their way out of the lines.
Then a trip to Home Depot for some 3/4 inch pvc, shut off valves and braces to secure it all to the wall. What I will make is an out and back loop going from the glycol pump out, to a shut off valve, pressure gauge, then three tees and shut off valves (two for my two fermenters and an extra for when I buy a third fermenter in the future). From the tees where the glycol goes to the fermenters I continue on and add another shut off valve which I will close off just slightly, creating a restriction in the line. From there onto three more tees and shut off valves where the glycol comes up from the fermenters and returns to the loop. Then I simply run the loop back to the inlet of the glycol reservoir.
Since I found two conical fermenters that have jackets on the cone and the sides, I have to run a braided hose from the first tees to the bottom of the jacket on the cone. From the outlet on the top of the cone I connect that with a mother short length of braided hose to the bottom of the side jacket and from there another brained hose attaches from the top of the jacket back into the glycol loop AFTER the restriction valve.
Next I bought two simple controllers from GW Kent, actually three because I will use one to control the burner on the kettle as well. I had the electrician hook these up to power with a separate power switch with an on off for each that I could turn off so as not to trigger the glycol to turn on while I’m cleaning a tank.
The temperature probe of the controller goes into the thermowell in the fermenters. It reads the temperature of the beer fermenting. I set my desired temperature to, say 70 for ales on the controller. If the temperature rises above that point, which it will during fermentation, the controller sends a signal to the solenoid valve (IMPORTANT: match the power of the solenoid valve 115v to the controller 115v or it won’t work. Ask me how I know) attached to either the fermenter where the glycol exits, or you could add it to the glycol loop itself where the glycol returns back to the loop. But in either case the controller sends a signal to that solenoid valve, causing it to open and allow cold glycol to run through the jacket, thereby cooling the fermenting beer.
This is accomplished because of that restriction valve I talked about earlier. If it is closed off just slightly, then when the solenoid valve is in the open position, the path of least resistance for the glycol loop runs through the fermenter jackets. Without this restriction, glycol wouldn’t leave the loop to cool the jackets, but instead just continue on its merry way in the loop.
To start the system up I open up the valve on one fermenter at a time, so as to work out the air in the jackets and the lines. The reason I have a pressure gauge on the loop at the beginning, just after a shut off valve is to make sure the system never goes above 15psi. If I need to adjust the pressure down, which I shouldn’t have to using a simple glycol chiller I described above, I can use that first shut off valve to restrict the flow a bit. Why 15 psi you say? because the jackets on the fermenters are rated at 15psi max. If you go above that it could burst a jacket ( Again, ask me how I know. Ouch!).
Once everything is up and running I fill the fermenters with water and set the controllers to 38 to test how they chill. Over 24 hours they do fine. So this system is up and running. Whew.
Sequence of Events
Find a suitable location - check
Draw up a floor plan - check
Check with the town zoning to see if a brewpub is allowed in that location - check
Get someone from the building department to do a walk through in the space while showing them my plan to see if they see any pitfalls - check
Set up Company - check
Set up bank account and fund - check
Draw plumbing plans - check
Draw up detail kitchen plans - check
Meet with architect and engineer - check
Apply for state and federal licenses - check
Come up with a name - check
Get insurance set up - check
Acquire additional funding - check
Sign the lease - check
Demo for plumbing - check
Hire Contractor - check
Start acquiring equipment - in progress
Start on Business System - in progress
Food Menu - check
Hook up Glycol System - check
Service System - to do
POS System - to to
Oyster! - to do
Kitchen Equipment List - check
Bar Equipment List - to do
Order Sign - to do
Order Growlers - to do
Order 32 oz. cans and labels - to do
Build draft system -check
Hook up glycol system
Do hot water brew
