Our First 10 Gallon Batch

Today we put our new equipment to full use by brewing a 10 gallon batch for the first time. We made our IPA so that we’ll have 15 gallons of it for the Super Bowl. We’re also planning on brewing another batch of our stout. We are now fermenting in temperature controlled chambers for more consistent flavors. We also used our new pH meter and our first batch hit the target pH exactly. Here are some pictures of the new equipment. Big thanks to Kelly for getting the fermentor, and Brian and Rory for helping us brew today.

After crushing the 23 pounds of grain for this batch we stirred it in the mash tun to steep. The mash tun is a 10 gallon cooler which was just enough to fit our mash. We have a second cooler acting as the hot liquor tank.

We got the RIMS tube dialed in and circulating the wort. We pulled off samples throughout the process in order to monitor ph. After the boil, we cooled the wort with our plate chiller and moved it in to our new fermentor. The fermentor is impermeable to light, and allows us to dump the trub from the bottom so we never have to change fermentors. It’s capable of holding over 20 gallons and we plan on eventually doing consecutive 10 gallon brews to fill it.

This is our new temperature controlled fermentation chamber. The conical fermentor will go in here after we build a solid bottom shelf for it. There is a temperature controller wired to a heating element and the freezer’s electronics.

Here’s a sneak peek at the paint job on the new keezer. The lid is chalkboard paint so we can write what is on tap right on there. I bought the rest of the pieces today and we’re hoping to build the collar this weekend and finish this bad boy up. We’re wiring the temperature controller tonight so we can use it as a fermentation chamber for now.