SMALL BATCH BREWING - EARLY ISSUES
Back in the early 90's, several complex brewing issues stood in the way of
small batch reliability. Pubs and Micros which were appearing around the
country were busy attempting to develop recipes that could help them 'stake-
their-claim' in the new uncharted world of craft brewing. They experimented
with recipes using their larger breweries and in the process, discarded
thousands of gallons of bad beer as well as thousands in wasted dollars. The
desire for a truly repeatable small batch pilot brewing system was
tremendous.
At the same time and in similar fashion, home brewers were arming
themselves with stove pots and plastic coolers in an attempt to re-create last
years favorite holiday brew. In spite of a written recipe however, very few
could ever make the same product twice in a row. Unfortunately, pubs,
micros and home brewers for the most part have little trust in small brewing
systems when it comes to repeatability. But, what an advantage it would be
for obvious reasons.
Here's a few of the things that go wrong with typical small batch breweries:
Back in the early 90's, several complex brewing issues stood in the way of
small batch reliability. Pubs and Micros which were appearing around the
country were busy attempting to develop recipes that could help them 'stake-
their-claim' in the new uncharted world of craft brewing. They experimented
with recipes using their larger breweries and in the process, discarded
thousands of gallons of bad beer as well as thousands in wasted dollars. The
desire for a truly repeatable small batch pilot brewing system was
tremendous.
At the same time and in similar fashion, home brewers were arming
themselves with stove pots and plastic coolers in an attempt to re-create last
years favorite holiday brew. In spite of a written recipe however, very few
could ever make the same product twice in a row. Unfortunately, pubs,
micros and home brewers for the most part have little trust in small brewing
systems when it comes to repeatability. But, what an advantage it would be
for obvious reasons.
Here's a few of the things that go wrong with typical small batch breweries:
- Poor temperature control
- Stratification of heat in the mash
- Grain husk effects caused by stirring
- Caramelization effects from heated surfaces
- Chronic low yields
- Hot-side aeration
- Frothing and foaming
- Turbid runoffs
- Poor grain mixing
- Stuck' mashes
- Bacterial infection from poor equipment
- Less than repeatable brewer methodology
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