calumscott
Regular.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2011
- Messages
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...some very clever insulation for your shiny pots?
Still daydreaming about the brewery I can't build yet and, off the back of conversations with Rob @ TMM (as I was lusting after his shiny pots) I realised that some additional insulation products for brewery shiny makes sense.
Where it all comes together is that my brother is an insulation boffin working for one of the UK's leading commercial insulation firms - he's their guy who takes the raw materials and works out how they are best applied in the field.
So I started from the position of "if I buy a 50l pot to act as both HLT and boiler and a 36l thermopot as my mashtun what would I want to do to make it as thermally efficient as I can?". Reasons being for the HTL/Boiler saves gas and gets you to strike temp/boil quicker and for mashtun gives as near to perfectly steady mash temp as possible. I also believe in aesthetics of stuff too, I know I could make just as good beer with plastic buckets and kettle elements but it "feels" better when your gear is "proper", I see some of you guys' breweries and think "Wow, that would make me brew lots..."
So there are a couple of requirements as I see it based on the kit that I'll probably buy:
General: Insulation should be clean (so not shed any dusts or fibres). Insulation should be aesthetically pleasing. Insulation should allow the lids to be removed while the rest of the insulation stays in place - for boiling and sparging.
HLT/Boiler: Insulation has to be quite thin so it doesn't impede sight glasses etc. Insulation has to be efficient at high temperatures (70 degrees C and up), Insulation has to be flameproof if I'm going to whack an 8 kW propane burner under the pot!
Mashtun: Insulation has to be super-efficient at mash temperatures. Must hold mash temp minus less than 0.5 degrees for 90 mins based on approx 15l water + 5.5kg grain.
Basically he has come up with an idea which involves their flagship material (they use it in outer space type applications, well, he doesn't but NASA do...), custom moulded to fit our shiny pots, encased in a stainless steel skin.
Now, he'll knock me up the prototype once I sell the house, buy another one and set up my brewery which is great. But, before we get there I have questions aplenty for you guys:
1. Ignoring what it might cost for now, would you be interested in shiny insulation for your shiny stuff (or "is this worthwhile")?
2. Even if you aren't - what pots have you got (so we can get an idea of the range of shapes and sizes)?
3. Anything I've missed from the requirements?
4. Any other gear that is important to insulate that I won't be using to start with? e.g HERMS etc?
5. Anything else I should consider?
Cheers
C
Still daydreaming about the brewery I can't build yet and, off the back of conversations with Rob @ TMM (as I was lusting after his shiny pots) I realised that some additional insulation products for brewery shiny makes sense.
Where it all comes together is that my brother is an insulation boffin working for one of the UK's leading commercial insulation firms - he's their guy who takes the raw materials and works out how they are best applied in the field.
So I started from the position of "if I buy a 50l pot to act as both HLT and boiler and a 36l thermopot as my mashtun what would I want to do to make it as thermally efficient as I can?". Reasons being for the HTL/Boiler saves gas and gets you to strike temp/boil quicker and for mashtun gives as near to perfectly steady mash temp as possible. I also believe in aesthetics of stuff too, I know I could make just as good beer with plastic buckets and kettle elements but it "feels" better when your gear is "proper", I see some of you guys' breweries and think "Wow, that would make me brew lots..."
So there are a couple of requirements as I see it based on the kit that I'll probably buy:
General: Insulation should be clean (so not shed any dusts or fibres). Insulation should be aesthetically pleasing. Insulation should allow the lids to be removed while the rest of the insulation stays in place - for boiling and sparging.
HLT/Boiler: Insulation has to be quite thin so it doesn't impede sight glasses etc. Insulation has to be efficient at high temperatures (70 degrees C and up), Insulation has to be flameproof if I'm going to whack an 8 kW propane burner under the pot!
Mashtun: Insulation has to be super-efficient at mash temperatures. Must hold mash temp minus less than 0.5 degrees for 90 mins based on approx 15l water + 5.5kg grain.
Basically he has come up with an idea which involves their flagship material (they use it in outer space type applications, well, he doesn't but NASA do...), custom moulded to fit our shiny pots, encased in a stainless steel skin.
Now, he'll knock me up the prototype once I sell the house, buy another one and set up my brewery which is great. But, before we get there I have questions aplenty for you guys:
1. Ignoring what it might cost for now, would you be interested in shiny insulation for your shiny stuff (or "is this worthwhile")?
2. Even if you aren't - what pots have you got (so we can get an idea of the range of shapes and sizes)?
3. Anything I've missed from the requirements?
4. Any other gear that is important to insulate that I won't be using to start with? e.g HERMS etc?
5. Anything else I should consider?
Cheers
C