Element sizes for 4bbl brew

[Scotsman]

Hi guys

Can anyone tell me what size elements (kW) will boil 650 litres in a well insulated vessel in a workable time period? The calculator here suggests 12kW would bring 650 litres from 65 deg C to 100 deg C in 133 minutes. Does this sound feasible?

cheers all

Scotsman

[Martin G]

[Eadweard]

I'd got for more than that. We have three 12kw elements (probably a bit much) in the 5 1/4 bbl copper at work.

[haz66]

We have a 12kw and a 18kw in the 12bbl so divided by 12 = 2.5kw per 1bbl the 4bbl though has a 6kw and 9kw which worksout at 3.75kw per 1bbl
so i`d be working on roughly 3kw per 1bbl to get you in the right area for decent rates of brewing times.

[jamesb]

We have a 9kw and a 6kw in our's. If I had the choice I'd actually go for a 12, a 6 and a 3.

[john luc]

Is it the norm for UK micro brewery's to use Electricity as a source of energy for heating Hot Liquer Tanks and Brew Kettles. Does anyone use Steam as their source.

[orlando]

Is it the norm for UK micro brewery's to use Electricity as a source of energy for heating Hot Liquer Tanks and Brew Kettles. Does anyone use Steam as their source.

Adnams do but they're no micro. They recover their mash heat to start the boil on the "copper", incredibly efficient brewery.

[gnutz2]

Is it the norm for UK micro brewery's to use Electricity as a source of energy for heating Hot Liquer Tanks and Brew Kettles. Does anyone use Steam as their source.

Hi John, I think the problem with steam is the initial outlay, for example our boiler at work cost about 20 grand and its not that big, in comparison you can get some elements for hundreds and if you fancy a gas setup it's a few hundred plus the cost of a gas bottle.

Cheers.

[darkonnis]

Aye Steam set ups are hugely powerful and costly. Of course you could use one one just about any size but being honest electricity(direct) is probably more efficient for smaller quantities, steam comes in to its own because you can increase the coil exchanger it runs through to get the heat transfer required over an area. Where as even at our level, people note scorched wort on their elements.

[john luc]

Over here in Ireland a couple of micro Brewery's use steam jacketed systems on their equipment. The brew pub http://www.franciscanwellbrewery.com/brewery.html,
the http://www.eightdegrees.ie/about/ and the http://www.troublebrewing.ie/index.php?page=Home. Trouble bought their plant in the USA 10 HL and 8 degrees bought the http://www.carlowbrewing.com/home.php brewery when they upgraded from 15HL to 45HL. Figured that energy costs both here in Ireland and over in the UK came out the same when matched against each other. Some brewers also claim that steam jacketed heating is preferred if you have a choice. Not to sure myself if that's a bit of monyana though.

[neil smith]

hi, i use 6kw in a 1brl set up for both hlt and copper so 12kw in a 4brl might be a bit light but give it a go, i only have single phase but you might need 3 phase.
cheers Neil

[Nunez100]

Jamesb, what are the reasons behind each of the 12, 6, and 3 you suggest?

[darkonnis]

It takes more energy to heat water than to maintain a boil. So I'd say it's so he can reduce the time required to heat the wort to temperature then, by having 3 6 and 12 he has a good range of power to choose from to maintain the boil.

[asd]

Hi,
I am in the process of commissioning a 4bbl brewery. I have a 1000 litre HLT and copper. Yesterday, I ran it through a hot test with 800 litres :-

"I got the brewery up to boil today, 800 litres took 60KwH to get from 9 C to 70C and then another approx. 36KwH to get from 70C to boiling, and then 9Kw held the boil, but probably wouldn't be strong enough for wort, so will be another 18KwH for a grand total of 114 KwH to make a brew. If i were to brew back to back, that heat exchanger is so efficient, I could capture a fair bit of that heat into the next strike volume."

I have currently 3 9Kw in the HLT and 2 9KW in the copper. The logic being as Darkonnis says, it is easier to maintain a boil. However, I'll put another 9 in the copper, as it took too long to get there. Only need two to sustain. Anyway, about 114 KwH, but remember, the full 800 litres would be down to about 700 after grain absorption and then boiled down to the final 650 or so, so these figures still need refining.

Regards,

Simon

[asd]

Is it the norm for UK micro brewery's to use Electricity as a source of energy for heating Hot Liquer Tanks and Brew Kettles. Does anyone use Steam as their source.

Adnams do but they're no micro. They recover their mash heat to start the boil on the "copper", incredibly efficient brewery.

Are you saying they have a heat exchanger configured to the mash tun, so the hot mash, after run off, is used as a heat source? Excellent!