The Club's Big Brew System

The club's Big Brew system. This was from the Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day on Saturday November 1, 2008. Kris England threw together a Bière de Garde recipe and 8 very lucky brewers took home 5 gallows of wort/beer to ferment. Northern Brewer donated the ingredients for this event; please thank them with your patronage.

Signups for spots on the club brew system are on a first come basis, but an effort is made to rotate different people, so everyone gets turns. Sign up, help out in the process, and take home wort. Spots are reserved for folks who have not participated previously.

From right to left the first kettle of the Hot Liquor Tank (HLT), the Mash Tun, and the Boiling Vessel. I've heard they can mash about 40 pounds of grain total - larger gravity beers (like a Barleywine) may require adjuncts, extract, and sugars added directly to the boil. The boil can accommodate 50 gallons, but the risk of boil over is large, so boils are generally limited to 40 gallons.

Jeff Cotton - attempting to warm water for mashing. I say attempt, because there was confusion everywhere – Kris was yelling, dogs were barking, and women were crying.

Since this brewing day Kris cut the whole system into three more easy to manage parts. The tall parts were cut down, so each part is roughly te same height now. It will be easier transport in a pickup. Pumps are now used to move liquids.