New Equipment Profile for 400L Fermenters and Pots

[johnrassie]

Hi Everyone,

Hoping to get some help out of people on here, currently i have a 3 vessel system (170L boil kettle) but i have recently taken a HUGE leap and brought 3x 450L pots and 2x 400L uni tanks which i will do roughly 400L batches in, my plan is to have the HLT with a electrical element in it so when i arrive on brew day i will always have hot water ready to go, mash tun with false bottom and a normal boil kettle. My question is what is the best way to dial this into brewsmith, with my current system it has had over 10 brews over its life and its still not fully dialed in. Feel like Im missing something i know my boil off rate, mash tun weight, dead space etc but still no luck.

And advice for set up of my new system would be amazing

[Oginme]

What part of your current system is not 'dialed in'? Knowing this may help you with modeling your new larger system.

Aside from that, what type of electrical element are you installing that will heat up 400L to your strike temperatures?  Or is this just an assist for your main source of heating?

Any other set up really follows the same process as with your smaller rig.  You will need the same figures to get the process well represented in the software.  You will probably have to do some work pumping around water to determine losses in the piping and assorted dead areas where wort will collect and not be recoverable. 

[dtapke]

Oginme, I know Glacier Tanks makes Electric tanks up to 10bbl.

John, I can't imagine you would know your boil off rate on a new system, as it will differ greatly from your current system unless you're not changing boil kettles?

what is the design of the "Mash Tun" as with a system that large you may need a separate lauter tun depending on mash tun design (usually systems that small are pretty straight forward though I would still recommend installing some form of DP measurement for lautering)

as Oginme stated, setting up a 5g cooler mash tun system is practically the same as setting up a 3bbl system. Best practice is to physically measure any and all losses, record step change times, etc. With no other knowledge of the system you have, system you had, and what wasn't "dialed in" it would be impossible to troubleshoot any issues.