The Confederate Celt Brewery

Brewery Design












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The brewery is primarily a "full mash" brewery utilizing the finest malted barley, hops, water, and yeast. The "partigyle" method, commonly used in "Old England", is used to produce both a "Big Beer" and a "Table Beer" from the same mash.



























The following are the principle components:
 
40 qt & 80 qt Adcraft Heavy Duty Aluminum Pots (for the "big" beer boil and the "small" beer boil)and lids. They were bought from "Instawares". Make sure to order the lids along with the pots.
 
Two "Cajun Cooker" propane burners were purchased for heating the mash/sparge water (in the pots prior to transfer to the appropriate picnic cooler) and the boil. The "SP-1" (140,000 BTU) and "SP-50" (135,000 BTU) liquid propane burners/cookers were purchased from "ironpotsdepot". They may also be bought from the distributor, "Bayou-Classic.com." (Barbour International). They responded to a technical question on the SP-1 burner whereas "IronPotsDepot" did not. Note: The SP-50 is very sensitive to wind.
 
Two 54 quart and one 70 quart rectangle picnic coolers were purchased from K-Mart. Walmart should have them as well. A 54 qt. cooler is used for the "hot liquor" (water) storage. The 70 qt. cooler is used for the mashing vessel (70 qt). A slotted copper pipe manifold was made to collect the wort for the boil. It and the bulkhead fittings necessary to pass the piping through the cooler wall are both well illustrated in the 2nd edition of John Palmer's "How to Brew" book. Note: use a brass 1/2" barb X 1/2" FPT and a brass 1/2" MPT nipple (1" or 1½" length, depending on wall thickness) on the inside of the cooler instead of what was illustrated in the book.
 
I bought the large food grade "waste baskets" for "primary fermentation vessels" from, I believe, Target. They can be bought from any major department store. Just make sure they're food grade. Get the 11-13 gallon size for a 5-7 gallon batch.
 
I'm using 6 and 7 gallon glass carboys for my secondary fermenters. They may be bought from PiWine (the place I bought the 6 gallon carboys from no longer sells them). PiWine carries them in sizes of 3, 5, 6, & 7 gallons. (Note: the 7 gallon size uses the 6.5 bored stopper for the fermentation lock, the other sizes uses the 7.0 bored stopper for the fermentation lock). PiWine has excellent prices. Where their winemaking equipment or chemicals are suitable for homebrewing, it is worth considering. Buy at least two at a time to minimize the effect of shipping charges.
 
The places I bought my cornies from either no longer sell them or are no longer doing business on the internet. Try E-Bay & the various on-line home brewer supply shops.
 
I bought a capper for bottling from St Pats. They no longer carry it, but it should be available from any homebrew shop.
 
I bought my (malted barley) grain mill from St Pats. My only complaint is that I wish the sheet metal for the hopper and other structural parts was a heavier grade. We'll see how long it lasts. So far, it works great. NOTE: St Pats no longer carries ANY home brew supplies. They now only carry equipment and supplies for small commercial wineries. Two other sources for mills are listed on the "links" page. NOTE: My old mill is falling apart - a piece of junk - it jams up constantly. I've ordered the "top of the line" mill from Crankandstein. I'll let you all know how it works out.
 
I have bought an electronic "kitchen" weigh scale from Instawares.
 
I have bought a refractometer (0-32 brix with ATC) from St. Pats, along with a 0-10 and a 10-20 brix hydrometer. Good prices! Note that the hydrometers each include a thermometer. Nice! St. Pats has also left the "homebrew" business, but is now serving "small commercial wineries". I guess that's where the money is. However, where wine making overlaps with brewing, they do offer some worthwhile equipment.
 
I have bought an "oxygenation system" from morebeer.com. It hooks up to a disposable oxygen cylinder available from any hardware store.
 
I bought a wort cooler from "Alternative Beverage" in Charlotte, NC.
 
Instawares
Iron Pots Depot (LP Burners)
PiWine
St Pats
Bayou Classic (LP Burners)
More Beer! (Homebrew supplies)
Alternative Beverage in Charlotte, NC
Brewers Discount (Kegging Equipment)





The "wort" is made via the "infusion mashing process". This is actually a relatively simple process. The malted barley is first crushed. It is then placed into the "mash/sparge" vessel (in this case, a rectangular insulated picnic cooler) with a copper pipe manifold in the bottom (refer to John Palmer's book). A given amount of water (usually 1.0 to 1.5 qts of water for each pound of malt) is preheated to a given temperature to result in a targetted "strike temperature" (usually 150 - 154F) when mixed with the malt. At this temperature, the enzymes in the malt are activated and convert the starches in the malt to varying, depending the the temperature and other factors, levels of fermentable and nonfermentable sugars. This is called "mashing". After a period of time, the "wort" is drained from the mash. This is usually called "sparging". Additional sparging is performed by adding additional hot water to extract additional sugars from the malt. After a given time, the wort is again drained. This is repeated until enough wort has been drained off for the "big beer", and then the "small beer". Each successive "gyle" or sparge will yield a progressively weaker (lower gravity or less sugar in solution) wort. We usually run two gyles into the first boil pot and another two gyles into the second boil pot.
      Both the big beer and small beer are then vigorously boiled. Hops are added at varying times throughout the boil to contribute bitterness, flavor, and aroma. A vigorous boil results in what is called the "hot break", where various proteins and other less desirable components coagulate and precipitate to the bottom of the pot. Additional sugars will usually be added to the second boil in order to boost the gravity. Low gravity beers don't keep as well as high gravity beers.
     After the boil is completed, the "wort" is then cooled to or close to the desired fermentation temperature. Up to this time, the brewer has produced only "wort".
    At this point, the yeast will be added to turn the wort into beer.
    "Brewers make wort. Yeast makes beer".



























John Palmer's book on homebrewing is excellent. The print version is now the 3rd Edition. The 1st Edition is "On-Line" & free of charge. The link is below:
John Palmer's "How to Brew" online book.