WHBC is nearing completion of the recent equipment upgrade. While there are a few pieces remaining, the operation is one again up and running. The latest batch is an Old Oak English Ale that will round out to about 5.5% ABV and be a Hoppy Ale with an Oak finish.
The latest addition includes the pumping aparatus which allows for sparging without having to lift the hot liquor tank. I suffered a small injury last time I tried that, and as such haven't brewed since. The pump provides the ability to move water from the HLT to the Mash Tun, and recirculate the mash. During sparging, the pump pushes water from the HLT through the sparge arm, and wort is gravity fed from the mash tun to the boil kettle. More pictures of WHBC can be found on Flickr.
The next upgrade will add either a counter-flow chiller, or a plate chiller, and the finished beer will be pumped into the fermenter instead of using a gravity feed. I'm also considering adding some sort of filtering. Weld-less thermometers are needed for each kettle, and I'm considering adding new glass sight glasses to make them more consistent. I also need a larger fermenter to accomodate bigger batches.
In other news, Rob has been weighing the purchase of a full blow system for the Denver arm of WHBC. The focus lately has been on Sabco's Brew Magic system. While it may be a bit pricey, I think that in the long run it will prove to be a great investment.
