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Author Topic: Dumb question about tanks  (Read 2056 times)

Offline chadchaney97

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Dumb question about tanks
« on: March 14, 2013, 10:09:01 am »
Ok guys, bear with me, trying to learn as much as I can here.  How do I decide the amount of tankage( ferms, bright, serving) that I am going to need for a particular system?  Does it come down to bbls brewed, how many beers on rotation, etc.  I can't really seem to find a routine formula or thought, is there such a thing?

Offline anthony

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Re: Dumb question about tanks
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2013, 10:48:46 am »
On the production side, you figure out what you are projecting to produce, you figure out the average time the beer will spend in the fermenter, you figure out what your batch size will be, and you solve for x.

For example:

You project that you're most likely to produce and sell 1000 BBL a year. You're brewing 7 BBL batches. Your beer spends, on average, 14 days in the fermenter. That means, at its maximum, every fermenter can ferment 26 batches.

26 cycles * 7 BBL = 182 BBL per fermenter, so you would need at least 6 fermenters to produce 1000 BBL a year in that setup.


The other tanks depend on what your overall business plan is. Is it a brew pub, is it a tap room, is it a distributing brewery, etc. And the fermenters can vary based on the same things. Maybe you project that you are going to make and sell 1000 BBL a year but that 750 BBL of that will be of the same beer. Then you would want to double-batch beers, maybe you would get 2 15 BBL fermenters and 2 7 BBL fermenters.

Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Dumb question about tanks
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2013, 10:52:33 am »
Are you going to do lagers? That means more tank time, and more tanks. A local place is mainly doing lagers, and could make 3 times the beer if doing ales.
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Offline majorvices

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Dumb question about tanks
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2013, 02:07:42 pm »
Pretty much what Anthony says. You can move some batches out faster than others. The log jam often happens at the BBT. And, of course, iof you are planning on serving clear beer you will need a little extra conditioning time or filter.

I think the double batch day makes a lot of sense. You sanitize one tank, you sanitize your hoses and heat exchanger once, you MT is already pre heated, you only add an extra 4 hours to your day to brew twice the amount.

Offline chadchaney97

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Re: Dumb question about tanks
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2013, 12:47:35 pm »
Thanks guys, that is exactly the formula and information I needed!