In the craft beer industry, the choice of brewing equipment is crucial to beer quality, production efficiency, and cost control. For small breweries, home brewers, or craft beer enthusiasts, the three-vessel brewing System is a common and efficient choice. Micet Group engineers will introduce the construction, advantages, and application scenarios of the three-vessel brewing system in detail and illustrate its application in craft beer production by giving examples.
What is a 3-vessel beer brewing system?
The 3-vessel brewing system is a set of professional-grade equipment consisting of three components: a mash tun, a lauter tun, and a boiling pot. Each container has a specific purpose, ensuring optimal control of the brewing process. The system allows for simultaneous operation, which means you can mash, lauter, and boil simultaneously without waiting for one step to complete before starting the next. It is a favorite of brewers who want to improve batch consistency and shorten brewing time.
The main features of the three-vessel brewing system
- Efficiency: Simultaneous processes reduce overall brewing time.
- Scalability: Suitable for small to large operations.
- Control: Independent vessels allow for precise temperature and process management.
- Customization: Accommodates a variety of brewing styles and batch sizes.
Advantages of 3-vessel brewing system
- Improved brewing efficiency: Since the 3-vessel system allows multiple steps to be performed simultaneously (such as heating water, mashing, and boiling at the same time), waiting time is reduced and batch capacity is increased. For example, when the mash tun is mashing, the hot water barrel can simultaneously prepare the hot water required for the next batch, thereby reducing the waiting time of the entire brewing process.
- More accurate temperature control: The mashing process requires precise temperature control to ensure maximum enzyme activity. The 3-container system allows for more stable temperature management. For example, water of different temperatures can be prepared in the HLT for the gradually heated mashing process, improving mashing efficiency and wort quality.
- Improved wort quality: Since the 3-container system provides a clearer filtration process, the wort has a higher degree of clarity, reducing the amount of spent grain residue entering the boiling process, and improving the taste and flavor of the final beer.
- Strong scalability and suitability for scale-up: For small breweries or craft beer enthusiasts who want to expand their production capacity, the 3-container system provides a more flexible production capacity. It can be upgraded with larger capacity equipment to accommodate larger batches without affecting brewing quality.
- Suitable for a variety of beer styles: The 3-container system supports a variety of mashmethods (such as single-step mash, step mash, and German three-step mash), which can adapt to the production of various styles of beer such as lager, ale, stout, etc.
The brewing process of a 3-vessel brewing system
- Heating brewing water: First, heat the water in the hot water barrel to 70-78°C in preparation for mashand rinsing malt.
- Mash Tun: Add the crushed malt to the mashbarrel and mix it with hot water, keeping it between 60-70°C, so that the enzymes can convert starch into fermentable sugars. This step usually lasts 60-90 minutes.
- Lauter Tun: After mash, the wort is transferred to the lauter tun to separate the spent grains, while the residual sugars are rinsed with hot water to increase the extraction rate.
- Boiling and adding hops: The filtered wort is transferred to the boiling barrel and heated to 100°C for boiling (60-90 minutes), and hops are added at different time points to give bitterness and aroma.
- Wort Chilling: After boiling, use a chiller to quickly cool the wort to 18-25°C (depending on the yeast type) for fermentation.
- Fermentation: The cooled wort is transferred to a fermentation tank, yeast is added, and primary fermentation is carried out for 1-2 weeks. After that, secondary fermentation or maturation may be required depending on the beer style.
- Packaging: After fermentation is complete, the beer is filtered, carbonated, and bottled or kegs before drinking. This 3-container system is efficient and controllable, suitable for home craft brewing and small commercial brewing.
What features does a three-vessel brewing system have?
Wort Tub
- Starch conversion: The wort tub is where the ground grains come into contact with hot water. This interaction activates enzymes in the malt, converting the grains’ starches into fermentable sugars. This sweet liquid is called wort and is the basis of beer.
- Temperature Grading: Some brewing recipes call for different temperatures to activate different enzymes at different stages of mashing. Modern mash tuns are equipped with advanced temperature controls to enable multi-step mashing.
Lauter tun
- Wort-to-grain separation: After the mashing is complete, the wort needs to be separated from the grain bed. The lauter tun has slotted plates at the bottom that allow the liquid wort to pass through while retaining the solid grain bed.
- Flushing: This is the process of flushing the grain bed with hot water to extract any remaining sugars. The lauter tun facilitates flushing by evenly distributing the hot water over the grain bed.
Boil Kettle
- Boiling and adding hops: The collected wort is boiled in a boil kettle. Hops are added at different stages of the boiling process to add bitterness, flavor, and aroma to the beer.
- Sterilization: Boiling wort has another key function: sterilization. The boiling process kills any harmful microorganisms, ensuring a clean subsequent fermentation process.
- Vortex formation: Some boiling pots have a vortex function, where the liquid circulates to form a vortex. This helps to settle solid particles in the center, making it easier to extract clear wort from the sides.
What are the types of three-tank brewing systems?
The brewing industry offers a wide variety of equipment to suit the needs of different brewers. Popular for their efficiency and streamlined process, three-tank brewing systems come in a variety of types, depending on factors such as size, design, and intended use. Here are the main types:
|
System Type |
Description |
Features |
Price Range |
|
Homebrewing System |
Designed for hobbyists and homebrewers, compact enough for a garage or dedicated brewing space. |
Primarily manual control, but may include some automatic temperature regulation features. |
$500 – $3,500 |
|
Nano Brewing System |
A bridge between homebrewing and commercial brewing, offering larger capacity while still fitting in small spaces like cafés or experimental brewing labs. |
Semi-automated design, suitable for more frequent brewing. |
$4,000 – $15,000 |
|
Microbrewery System |
Designed for craft breweries that produce beer for a wider market but remain smaller than large-scale commercial breweries. |
Higher automation, can include additional fermentation tanks. |
$20,00 – $100,00 |
|
Commercial Brewery System |
Built for large-scale production, used by established breweries producing beer in high volumes. |
Fully automated, equipped with advanced monitoring systems, and often customizable. |
$100,00 – $1,000,0 |
What are the applications of three-tank brewing systems?
- Homebrew: For many people, homebrewing is more than a hobby, it’s a passion. Enthusiasts often start with a basic setup but quickly graduate to more complex systems, such as a three-tank setup. At home, these systems enable people to make unique beer recipes, experiment with flavors, and enjoy the art of brewing.
- Craft breweries: The success of the craft beer revolution is largely due to three-tank brewing systems. Craft breweries, known for their innovation and flavor diversity, rely on such systems to maintain consistency while scaling up production.
- Brewhouses and taverns: These venues brew beer on-site, ensuring freshness and direct contact with customers. The three-tank system in brewhouses provides transparency, as customers can often see the brewing process, which enhances their overall experience.
- Brewing education and training: With the rise of craft beer, there has been a surge in the number of educational institutions offering brewing science courses. These schools use three-tank systems to provide hands-on training, ensuring that students gain practical experience.
- Pilot brewing at large breweries: Large commercial breweries often develop new recipes on a small scale before mass production. The three-tank system can serve as a pilot system, allowing them to test and refine recipes, ensuring the beer meets their standards as they scale up.
- Collaborative brewing: Collaboration between breweries is a tradition in the beer world. Breweries work together to brew unique, limited-edition beers. The three-tank system, especially at a mid-sized scale, provides the flexibility needed for such collaborations.
- Specialty brewing: In addition to traditional beer, the three-tank system can be used to produce specialty beverages such as non-alcoholic beer, gluten-free beer, and even kombucha. The precision and control these systems offer are invaluable for producing such niche beverages.
- Research and development: The beer industry, like other industries, thrives on innovation. Research institutions and innovative breweries use the three-tank system to experiment with new brewing techniques, yeast strains, and ingredients.
How to build a 3-vessel beer brewing system?
Selecting equipment
The first step in building a 3-vessel beer brewing system is to choose the right equipment. The system consists of three main parts: the mash tun, lauter tun, and boiler kettle, and the hot liquor tank (HLT) is used to heat and store hot water. The mash tun is responsible for converting the starch in the malt into sugar, the lauter tun is used to separate the spent grains and wort, the boiler is used to boil the wort and add hops, and the hot liquor tank provides the required hot water for mashing and rinsing.
System layout
In terms of layout, the placement of the 3 vessels can usually be arranged in a straight line or a stepped arrangement. The straight line arrangement is suitable for limited space, while the stepped arrangement uses gravity to flow the wort, which helps improve efficiency. The pipes in the system should ensure a smooth flow of wort from the mash tun to the lauter tun and then to the boiler. Make sure the distance between each vessel is appropriate for easy operation and maintenance.
Installation
When installing the equipment, you first need to assemble the hot water tank (HLT), make sure the heating element or gas stove is firmly installed, and connect the temperature probe to ensure that the water temperature is controllable. Then, the drainage system of the mash tun and lauter tun needs to be connected to the pipes through valves to ensure smooth flow of wort. The heating system of the boil tun should ensure that the wort can be heated to boiling in the required time. All equipment must be installed according to the operating manual and ensure that the pipes must be connected correctly to avoid leaks or other problems.
Installation
When installing the equipment, you first need to assemble the hot water tank (HLT), make sure the heating element or gas stove is firmly installed, and connect the temperature probe to ensure that the water temperature is controllable. Then, the drainage system of the mash tun and lauter tun needs to be connected to the pipes through valves to ensure smooth flow of wort. The heating system of the boil tun should ensure that the wort can be heated to boiling in the required time. All equipment must be installed according to the operating manual and ensure that the pipes must be connected correctly to avoid leaks or other problems.
Pipe connection
All containers need to be connected through pumps and pipe systems. The hot water tank (HLT) delivers hot water to the mash tun for mashing and rinsing malt. After the mashing process, the mash tun delivers the wort to the lauter tun through the pump, and the lauter tun delivers the clarified wort to the boil tun through the drain valve. During the boiling process, hops are added to the wort, and finally, the cooling system quickly cools the wort and prepares it for fermentation.
Testing and debugging
After installation, the system needs to be tested and debugged. Check that all pipes, valves and heating systems are working properly to ensure smooth flow of wort and accurate temperature control. Conduct a small-scale trial brew to check whether each step is operating smoothly, whether there are leaks, temperature fluctuations or unstable flow rates. If problems are found, they should be adjusted and repaired in time to ensure that the system can operate normally.