Built around a 2000L cast-out

A 2000L brewhouse is the point where a brewpub moves from two brews a week to daily packaging, and where hand-turning valves stops being tolerable. The four-vessel layout we build most often — mash tun with wedge-wire false bottom, lauter tun, kettle, whirlpool — lets the cellar keep working while the brewhouse knocks out. Ginger beer and other flavored builds gain the most from the separate whirlpool, because root solids and spice slurries settle poorly in a combination vessel.

The mash tun dictates the rest of the line. Our standard unit runs a 0.7 mm slot wedge-wire screen on a slotted support grid, sized so a 1:3 grist-to-water ratio still holds a stable filter bed. Rakes are gear-driven with VFD control instead of a fixed-speed motor. On wheat-heavy or adjunct-heavy grists, lautering performance depends on that range more than on the screen.

Fabrication and material decisions

Shells are 3 mm SUS304 with 2 mm dimple jackets; 316L is available for the kettle and wort path where chloride exposure or aggressive cleaning chemistry is expected. Interior welds are TIG or orbital, ground flush, then pickled and passivated. Buyers sometimes cut that step to save cost and regret it at the first biofilm inspection. Exterior is 2B finish, with optional mirror polish on the customer-facing side. Product contact fittings are sanitary tri-clamp; steam and jacket connections are flanged, with the relief valve set below vessel design pressure.

Cleaning runs off a rotating spray ball in the top manway plus a dedicated return line, and the cabinet stores a wash recipe per vessel. Hard-piped CIP, wort and glycol runs are what make a brewhouse cleanable. Hoses everywhere look cheaper on the quote and cost more in labor over five years.

Typical configuration

Questions that come up before quoting

Steam or electric? Above 2000L, steam usually wins on ramp time and cost per brew. Electric is workable where a boiler is not permitted on site.

Can one line run ginger beer and ale? Yes, with a dedicated CIP schedule and separate hoses for the spice build. Flavor carryover lives in the gaskets, not the stainless.

What should be settled before we quote? Heating source, glycol availability, floor loading, ceiling height for manway access, and whether the whirlpool doubles as a fermenter feed tank.

Tell us your batch size, beer type, number of fermentation tanks and available space. We can recommend the tank volume, cooling area and configuration for your brewery.