Brewpub equipment is absolutely a must for anyone who wants to start their own microbrewery. But first you have to know what types of equipment you must get on the first few days of production. All equipment should be scrutinized and thought of in relation to its function in your business. Should you buy a large one or a smaller one? Is this efficient enough? Will it be able to produce the right amount of ingredients needed for the final product? These things should be considered so that the production will be as smooth as possible.
So what are the types of brewpub equipment that you should be taking note of?
One is the brew kettle or mashing tun. The mashing tun is also called the mashing kettle and it is used for mixing water and malt and then heating the mixture. The process of doing it is called mashing. There are two types of mashing though: one is infusion mashing and the other is step mashing. The kettle on the other hand (also known as the boiling kettle) is used to boil wort that comes from a lauter tun. This has hops or other adjuncts. Boiling and mashing can be done either in a single vessel or two separate ones and it depends on the size of your brewery. If you have a bigger space, then you can definitely boil and mash separately using two different vessels.
Another type of brewpub equipment is beer fermenter. This equipment is also known as Cylindrical Conical Tanks or CCT, unitanks, or primary fermenter. This is used for laagering and fermenting. A fermenter is important equipment for your brewery, since you can never make beer without fermenting. Fermenting is when the yeast converts the wort into your most loved beer, after that laagering happens – which is the period of time for the beer to settle and age after the fermentation. This gives the beer the taste of age that you are able to experience every time you get a sip. Beer fermenters are usually made of stainless steel to make sure that the ingredients that touch will always remain clean even after the process is done.
Brewpub equipment is never complete without beer filters. This plays an important role in making beer. Beer filters are what you use in order to be able to filter the yeast, other proteins and some other impurities that the beer contains when it is being transferred to tanks or particularly, clear beer tanks. These tanks directly transport the beer to bottles or kegs, so they should be able to contain purified beer – meaning the beer that is transferred to them should not contain any more of the bits that should have been removed before making the final product. This equipment is necessary if your goal is to make clear beers. Beer filters can have a frame and plate filter, or otherwise known as the frame and plate press – with filter pads. These filters will be able to prevent the impurities from getting into the bulk of beer that is to be stored in the tanks.