I wanted to give an update as I have not keep this page current. I am still building out the home brewery, and I have made some major updates since my last post.
I have installed a glycol chiller and three conical fermenters, a 1/2 bbl Spike Brewing Uni-tank, and two Stout Kettles a 15 and 10 gallon. All of the beers that I have made in the past were all fermented in glass carboys, and temperature controlled in a refrigerator.
I have now successfully completed several batches and I must say that the quality of the beer from the conical fermenters is far superior to the beers that were made in the glass Carboys.
The conical fermenters allows me to dump the settlement (trub, hot break) from the wort which can effect the flavor.
Trub is the material and hop debris left in the kettle after the wort has been boil and cooled. It is prefer that the bulk of the trub be left in the kettle rather than stay in contact with the fermenting wort. Trubs presence can impart off-flavors in the finished beer.
The glycol chiller gives me more precise temperature control (with-in 1 degree) as the temperature is controlled by the temperature of the wort inside the fermenter. When I was using refrigerator’s to control the temperature there could be a couple of degrees temperature swing due to the heat of fermentation. This temperature swing can effect the final flavor of the finished beer.
I have made several other upgrades and have many more in the works. I will post more on them later.
Cheers,
RW's Brewing 