What kind of brewhouse structure should I use for my brewing equipment
- Mar 28, 2022
- 105
- tiantai
Consistently producing high quality craft beer must be the first goal of any craft brewer, and the brewery equipment you purchase has to be able to provide that. Before you decide which type of brewhouse you really need , you should attempt to define who you want to be. Does your goal is distributing packaged beer, or you want to be a neighborhood brewery? To be competitive in the packaged beer market, investing in brewery equipment that maximizes daily production (brews per day) and decreases labor is well worth increased up front cost.
There are six basic parts in a complete beer brewing equipment. Including Miller, Brewhouse, Fermenter, Glycol cooling system, Control unit and CIP cart. And the brewhouse is the heart and engine of a brewing equipment. There are different types of combination of the mash tun, lauter tun, brew kettle, whirlpool tun and hot liquor tank actually, but how to choose suitable brewhouse structure for your own brewery equipment? Here are some guidance for your reference as below:
Several main brewhouse structures being popularly used:
_ Compact brewhouse
_ 2 Vessel brewhouse;
_ 3 Vessel brewhouse;
_ 4 Vessel brewhouse;
I. Compact brewhouse:
It is also called all-in-one brewhouse or combined brewhouse with multifunctional tanks in different combinations, it is more popularly used in small or medium brewery equipment. The most popular combinations are:
① Mash/lauter/Hot liquor tank(stacked) + Kettle/whirlpool tun;
② Mash/kettle/Whirlpool tun(stacked) + Lauter tun;
These combination tanks can be a more affordable way to start a brewery. Its biggest pros is saving installation space, so if you have limited installation space, you can consider it for your brewery equipment. As now two tanks are stacked, but please note your ceiling height is enough. Depending on your production goals, the combined system might be able to last your business a very long time.
II. Two vessel brewhouse:
It is the most hot sale brewhouse structure in beer brewing industry, it is widely used in brewery equipment ranges from small 100L to bigger 2000L. For most people who wanna start new beer brewing business, you can hardly go wrong with it under blind choice!
The two vessel brewhouse is suitable for infusion mashing and suitable for brewing 1~2 batches per day. The most popular combination is:
① Mash/lauter tun + Kettle/whirlpool tun + Hot liquor tank;
If you have plan to brew 2 batches per day, now the HLT capacity better be double batch capacity, as a bigger HLT could help to supply enough hot water for mashing, sparging and tanks cleaning. It can also help to recycle more hot water from heat exchanger during wort cooling.
III. Three vessel brewhouse
The three vessel vessel is quite popular used in brewery equipment exceed 1800L. The bigger capacity of the brewhouse, usually corresponding with the bigger beer production. Now the brewers may prefer to brew 1~ 3 batches per day. Three-vessel brewery systems don’t have the same output and versatility as four-vessel systems, but they will still out perform a two-vessel system and provide increased efficiency.
The most popular combination is:
① Mash Tun + Lauter tun + Kettle/whirlpool tun + Hot liquor tank;
② Mash/lauter tun + Brew kettle + Whirlpool tun + Hot liquor tank;
The pros of solution 1 is the separated mash tun and lauter tun, it makes Decoction mashing realizable; And someone focusing on lagers or feeding a distilling operation might go with this solution.
The pros of solution 2 is separated whirlpool tun, it suits for someone who pursue a better whirlpooling result, especially when having inner calandria inside the boil kettle, the separated WT appear to be particularly important.
IV. Four vessel brewhouse
A typical four-vessel brewhouse will include a Mash tun, Lauter Tun, Kettle and Whirlpool. Each of these tanks is dedicated to performing a single process, and is designed differently than similar vessel used for performing multiple processes:
① Mash tun + Lauter tun + Brew kettle + Whirlpool tun + Hot liquor tank;
The four vessel brewhouse is more flexibly on brewing multi batches per day (more brew per day). it fits for someone who pursue higher beer production, as well as higher investment at beginning. It usually work together with automatic brewing control and some auto sensor for saving operation labour.
In conclusion:
The two & Three vessel brewery equipment are typically used in brew pub operations or in small brewery operations. They can be very effective in producing good beer, and are a good choice for a cost sensitive customer. Growing past a certain production volume can be more difficult with these combination tank systems. They will require more labor to operate to achieve higher production and lack the efficiency a four-vessel system has, making it less profitable to more larger volumes of beer.
The four-vessel brewery equipment offer the highest beer output and the most versatility. With proper vessel sizing, well laid out hard piping, and well-designed Auto PLC controls, these brewhouses can be extremely large and only require one person to operate it. The ability to make more beer with less labor input, paired with gains in efficiency and quality control make the four-vessel brewhouse a worth while investment for breweries that intend to produce a lot of beer.
If you have any other questions on how to choose brewhouse, please feel free to contact with us!
Laura Hou
Sales Manager
Tiantai Beer Equipment
[email protected]
There are six basic parts in a complete beer brewing equipment. Including Miller, Brewhouse, Fermenter, Glycol cooling system, Control unit and CIP cart. And the brewhouse is the heart and engine of a brewing equipment. There are different types of combination of the mash tun, lauter tun, brew kettle, whirlpool tun and hot liquor tank actually, but how to choose suitable brewhouse structure for your own brewery equipment? Here are some guidance for your reference as below:
Several main brewhouse structures being popularly used:
_ Compact brewhouse
_ 2 Vessel brewhouse;
_ 3 Vessel brewhouse;
_ 4 Vessel brewhouse;
I. Compact brewhouse:
It is also called all-in-one brewhouse or combined brewhouse with multifunctional tanks in different combinations, it is more popularly used in small or medium brewery equipment. The most popular combinations are:
① Mash/lauter/Hot liquor tank(stacked) + Kettle/whirlpool tun;
② Mash/kettle/Whirlpool tun(stacked) + Lauter tun;
These combination tanks can be a more affordable way to start a brewery. Its biggest pros is saving installation space, so if you have limited installation space, you can consider it for your brewery equipment. As now two tanks are stacked, but please note your ceiling height is enough. Depending on your production goals, the combined system might be able to last your business a very long time.
II. Two vessel brewhouse:
It is the most hot sale brewhouse structure in beer brewing industry, it is widely used in brewery equipment ranges from small 100L to bigger 2000L. For most people who wanna start new beer brewing business, you can hardly go wrong with it under blind choice!
The two vessel brewhouse is suitable for infusion mashing and suitable for brewing 1~2 batches per day. The most popular combination is:
① Mash/lauter tun + Kettle/whirlpool tun + Hot liquor tank;
If you have plan to brew 2 batches per day, now the HLT capacity better be double batch capacity, as a bigger HLT could help to supply enough hot water for mashing, sparging and tanks cleaning. It can also help to recycle more hot water from heat exchanger during wort cooling.
III. Three vessel brewhouse
The three vessel vessel is quite popular used in brewery equipment exceed 1800L. The bigger capacity of the brewhouse, usually corresponding with the bigger beer production. Now the brewers may prefer to brew 1~ 3 batches per day. Three-vessel brewery systems don’t have the same output and versatility as four-vessel systems, but they will still out perform a two-vessel system and provide increased efficiency.
The most popular combination is:
① Mash Tun + Lauter tun + Kettle/whirlpool tun + Hot liquor tank;
② Mash/lauter tun + Brew kettle + Whirlpool tun + Hot liquor tank;
The pros of solution 1 is the separated mash tun and lauter tun, it makes Decoction mashing realizable; And someone focusing on lagers or feeding a distilling operation might go with this solution.
The pros of solution 2 is separated whirlpool tun, it suits for someone who pursue a better whirlpooling result, especially when having inner calandria inside the boil kettle, the separated WT appear to be particularly important.
IV. Four vessel brewhouse
A typical four-vessel brewhouse will include a Mash tun, Lauter Tun, Kettle and Whirlpool. Each of these tanks is dedicated to performing a single process, and is designed differently than similar vessel used for performing multiple processes:
① Mash tun + Lauter tun + Brew kettle + Whirlpool tun + Hot liquor tank;
The four vessel brewhouse is more flexibly on brewing multi batches per day (more brew per day). it fits for someone who pursue higher beer production, as well as higher investment at beginning. It usually work together with automatic brewing control and some auto sensor for saving operation labour.
In conclusion:
The two & Three vessel brewery equipment are typically used in brew pub operations or in small brewery operations. They can be very effective in producing good beer, and are a good choice for a cost sensitive customer. Growing past a certain production volume can be more difficult with these combination tank systems. They will require more labor to operate to achieve higher production and lack the efficiency a four-vessel system has, making it less profitable to more larger volumes of beer.
The four-vessel brewery equipment offer the highest beer output and the most versatility. With proper vessel sizing, well laid out hard piping, and well-designed Auto PLC controls, these brewhouses can be extremely large and only require one person to operate it. The ability to make more beer with less labor input, paired with gains in efficiency and quality control make the four-vessel brewhouse a worth while investment for breweries that intend to produce a lot of beer.
If you have any other questions on how to choose brewhouse, please feel free to contact with us!
Laura Hou
Sales Manager
Tiantai Beer Equipment
[email protected]
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