When we set out to change careers and build a brewery, we knew from the start that we wanted as much flexibility and freedom to stay focussed on what inspired us…brewing beer! Rather than building out a facility that would corner us into pursuing distribution and sales, we decided to launch a nano-brewery that would allow us to provide a variety of fresh beers directly to our taprooms to serve local, neighbourhood communities.
Staying connected to our homebrewing roots was, and remains, important to us. This connection inspired us to designing a brewhouse with some basic priorities that led us essentially to a commercial version of our ideal homebrew setup: small, 3-vessel and lots of flexibility.
Our brewhouse is approximately 130L (Boil Kettle volume) and is fully electric, powered by four heating elements, two in the HLT, and two in the Boil Kettle. The low volume of the system, combined with the double heating elements, is very energy efficient when heating water and achieving boil temperatures.
A 3-Vessel is a classic setup that many homebrewers will recognise. A 3-Vessel system consists of one tank to heat water (Hot Liquor Tank or HLT), a second tank to mix hot water with malted grains (Mash Tun), and finally a third tank to boil the liquid (Wort) that is drained from the Mash Tun. This type of system has many advantages when it comes to the brewing process overall. There are a variety of methods that can be implemented to extract the starches from malted grains (mashing), and our system allows to explore and experiment with these methods each time we brew. This gives us the ability to make unique versions of classic styles. Also, by creatively approaching the process, and making the most of the tools and features of our system, we have the flexibility to make adjustments or problem solve in real time, always adding to our learning and experience. We never lose sight that not only brewing, but being a brewer is a process.
Slow Down Brewing 