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Home Photo Galleries Equipment Galleries Michael Overstreet • Rogers, Arkansas

My plan was to control every aspect of the brewing process to produce the same product over and over again. I worked for about two years to complete this brewery. The woodworking was tedious, but it exceeded all my expectations and brewing is now more enjoyable for me.

This is a HERMS configuration that uses 220 volt to heat the hot liquor tank. The hot liquor and mash tanks were fabricated out of scrap kegs. The stand and “barrels” are white oak. The system heats quickly, keeps temperatures within a degree using PID controllers, which have fuzzy logic and can be programmed for a multiple step infusion mash.

HERMS Brew System
The mash/lauter tun is covered with high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The line entering the top goes into a sparge arm. Depending on how the valves are set, it will either re-circulate mash from the mash/lauter tun, or flow water from the hot liquor tank onto the mash during a sparge.

Mash/Lauter Tun
This is the mash/lauter tun top and sparge arm. The sparge arm is adjustable and provides a gentle flow across the grain bed.

Sparge Arm
I designed my system to be user friendly. The mash/lauter tun is positioned low with a removable top, which makes it easy to clean. The false bottom can also be quickly removed by taking off one wing nut. It is designed to drain completely to keep water from standing when cleaning is complete.

User Friendly
There is a heater element, coil, and temperature probe in the hot liquor tank. The hot liquor tank and mash/lauter tun are located on the oak stand.

Hot Liquor Tank
White oak was used for both the base and barrels of the hot liquor tank and mash/lauter tun. Both are converted kegs that are insulated and covered with oak slats which I crafted to make them look like wooden barrels.

White Oak
The kettle is a jacketed unit from a system that was parted out and sold on eBay. The fermenter is temperature controlled. My plan was to control every aspect of the brewing process to produce the same product over and over again. I worked for about two years to complete this brewery. The woodworking was tedious, but it exceeded all my expectations and brewing is now more enjoyable for me.

Kettle


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