SMALL BATCH BREWING - EARLY ISSUES
Back in the early 90's, several complex brewing issues made small batch
production less than reliability. Pubs and Micros which were appearing around
the country were busy attempting to develop recipes that could help them
'stake a claim' in the newly forming craft brewing business. Brewers have
always been interested in using less expensive, small scale systems for recipe
experimentation purposes. Obviously a 10-15 gal. experiment is far less costly
than a 500 gal. version of the same thing.
Cost savings like this certainly permits more freedom to try alternate ideas to
finely tune recipes to perfection. The use of large brewing systems for such
purposes typically resulted in the discarding of huge quantities of undesirable
product as well as a huge monetary loss in the process. The search for a truly
repeatable small batch pilot brewing system was underway.
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 year's favorite
holiday brew. In spite of a well written recipe however, brewing an exact
duplicate of the original beer was highly improbable. Home-brewers simply
could not make the same product twice in a row!
'Small-Batch' brewing with 'small batch' repeatability was not to be found.
Here's a few of the many things that make repeatability so difficult :
After 5 years of trial, 4 prototypes and laboratory testing by brewing scientists,
the development of the first Brew-Magic System changed it all! Repeatable,
predictable brews were not only possible, but also easy to perform.
Back in the early 90's, several complex brewing issues made small batch
production less than reliability. Pubs and Micros which were appearing around
the country were busy attempting to develop recipes that could help them
'stake a claim' in the newly forming craft brewing business. Brewers have
always been interested in using less expensive, small scale systems for recipe
experimentation purposes. Obviously a 10-15 gal. experiment is far less costly
than a 500 gal. version of the same thing.
Cost savings like this certainly permits more freedom to try alternate ideas to
finely tune recipes to perfection. The use of large brewing systems for such
purposes typically resulted in the discarding of huge quantities of undesirable
product as well as a huge monetary loss in the process. The search for a truly
repeatable small batch pilot brewing system was underway.
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 year's favorite
holiday brew. In spite of a well written recipe however, brewing an exact
duplicate of the original beer was highly improbable. Home-brewers simply
could not make the same product twice in a row!
'Small-Batch' brewing with 'small batch' repeatability was not to be found.
Here's a few of the many things that make repeatability so difficult :
- 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 along with tannin astringency effects
- Stuck' mashes
- Bacterial infection from poor equipment
- Less than repeatable brewer methodology
- Stirring effects and inconsistent brewer technique
After 5 years of trial, 4 prototypes and laboratory testing by brewing scientists,
the development of the first Brew-Magic System changed it all! Repeatable,
predictable brews were not only possible, but also easy to perform.
|
Sabco is a division of Kegs.Com Ltd., Toledo, OH. , All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2009.
