Brewing More Beer; Scaling from 5 to 10 gallons

Extracts with ADD note system

Trying to cool my first batch

I'm starting year 3 as a brewer and challenging myself to do more.
Year 1 was about extract kits and understanding the process.  During year 2 I moved to all-grain brewing and concocting my own recipes.  Year 3 is going to be about volume and consistency.  Over the last year I've been up-scaling my brewery from 5 to 10 gallon batches.  My 8 gallon Polarware pot has been replaced with two 15 gallon beer keggles.  My 7 gallon Mash Tun cooler has been replaced with a 12 gallon cooler.  Upgrading wasn't a drain on the pocketbook, my old equipment was sold to fellow brewers for a fair price, brewing equipment holds its value very well! Over the summer I kept my eyes open for old kegs and was able to pick one up by trading a little beer and a Corny keg, and the other I bought from some college kids for $40.  A friend with a plasma cutter helped me out!

Sharpie outline of the cuts needed

HLT

Now it's all about volume, while keeping costs under control.  That $30 5 gallon batch is looking more like $70 @ 10.  I have to find a way to save on ingredients.  Base malt and yeast seem to be the places to focus.

Milling 31 lbs of barley

24 lbs of 2-row barley costs around $30 milled at Northern Brewer whereas a 50lb bulk bag of unmilled 2-row barley costs $35,  about a 45% savings.   A 50 pounds sack of grain is great, but it doesn't come milled!  I bought the 3 roller Monster Mill from Northern Brewer for $240.  It doesn't come assembled, and there are many pieces to fasten together.  You'll need an hour, so if you're brewing the next day, plan accordingly.  ROI is 2 years for my operation.



When you upscale there are a few things to consider.

Sturdy and tall

1) HLT:
A vessel containing 10+ gallons of water is very heavy (8.34 lbs per gallon), and at 180 degrees, its also very dangerous!  If you are planning to use gravity to feed your system, be sure you have a sturdy platform that is tall enough to feed your mash tun. Don't plan on moving vessels, especially once your strike water is heated.  Pumps are an option as well.

My old 7 gallon mash tun

2) Mash:
Make sure your mash tun is big enough!  I upgraded from a 7 gallon cooler to a 12 gallon cooler, and ran out of room for a 31 lbs Black IPA grain bill.  I had to mash 2 lbs of grain in a separate cooler (panic!).  Granted I did make a pretty big beer this round, but still, if you are planning to upgrade, plan on a vessel with a 15 gallon capacity, you'll be happy you did.  I'll be upgrading again soon.

3) Boil:
After your mash it's time to boil.  My first 10 gallon batch started with an 11.5 gallon boil.  That's a LOT of hot liquid!  Be careful! And, think ahead to your transfer from kettle to fermentation vessel, gravity only works one way.  Note: you aren't going to lift 10 gallons of wort to a table top.  As it turned out, I boiled the kettle on the garage floor, gravity didn't work so well when trying to transfer to my carboys.  Which leads me to #4.

4)  Fermentation:

Uneven trub! 6 g on left and 5 g on right

There is volume to consider.  I had a 6 and 5 gallon fermentation vessel.  I started filling the 6 gallon first, and filled it to the 5 gallon mark.  I then moved to the 5 gallon and realized I hadn't marked it gallon by gallon (dumb)!  It wouldn't have mattered because by the time I got to the bottom of the kettle all the residue from the 10 oz's of hops I put in made their way into the second fermentor.  So, how much DO I have in the 5 gallon?  Hard to say, which leads to problem #5. (side note, I aerated with an oxygenation kit.  with this much liquid there would be no 'sloshing'.)

5) Yeast:
I bought 2 Wyeast smack packs of American Ale and started it with a 32oz to 1 cup DME starter.  Because I couldn't tell exactly how much wort was in each fermentor I had to guess how much yeast to pour into each, I split it equally. Completely unscientific, and utterly impossible to replicate should it turn out.   I'm thinking I need another 6g fermentor, then need to stir up the wort prior to transfer to try and equal out the sediment in each????  I'm not quite sure how to fix this without buying a 15 gallon fermentation vessel.

Well, that's where I'm at right now.  I'll have to move the two batches to two secondary fermentors in a few weeks, I think I'll blend them together when I do so to keep taste and flavor consistent.  Then comes bottling.  I don't have a 10 gallon bottling bucket!  Grrr. Regardless, as cliche's go... If you aren't learning, you aren't trying..  Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn..  The difference between ordeal and adventure is all attitude.. and I'm enjoying this every misstep of the way.

Cheers,
-Chris