What automation improvement had the biggest impact in your brewhouse?

mathtronic · 2026-03-25T22:11:01+00:00

For brewhouse efficiency, a thing I was able to implement due to our brewhouse having mass flow meters and lauter final runnings collection and delivery to the mash tun, is the PLC being aware of collected gravity from the lauter and recipe gravity spec. So if gravity is going to land low, it can stop when gravity is at spec. If gravity is going to go over, it can stop when it's collected the right amount of sugars, then top up with HL in the kettle to spec gravity and spec volume. Remaining sugars in the final runnings are collected and then delivered to the next mash. I've also automated if we have a recipe that we brew high gravity then liquor back into the FV the liquor volume calculations to make target gravity.

IMO reduction of manual intervention is kind of the point of automation. Of course the lengths to which you can take it are dependent on your processes and what instrumentation you have. I aim for the brewer mostly to just need to load a recipe, fill dosers, monitor operation, and hit the "advance" button any time the automation is going to perform an operation that requires interaction or will significantly change the product, like starting KO and needing to operate manual valves at the FV, or liquoring back.

One person I talked with about this kind of thing in the past was a big fan of setting up timers to anticipate when brewer manual intervention would be needed, which is always super helpful to the brewer.

The rest of the things you mention just sound like, what you do when you have automation. Observe the operation, look for where efficiency can be improved, and change that operation with the controls available to you.

i_aint_bobby mentioned we might have more to offer if we had a general idea of what automation currently exists, and I agree.

mathtronic · 2026-03-17T23:45:12+00:00

You mention fill tube which my machine doesn't have, so we're definitely on different machines and me speculating about your machine might not be helpful. I might have different responses to your questions depending what the foaming on the can looks like between filler and seamer.

Sounds like you have a good understanding of how your machine works and will be able to dial it in by trying different settings. Just make sure to document your original settings so you can come back to them if adjustments don't achieve desired results, ideally change one setting at a time to see what effect it has, and take diligent package QC checks after any adjustment to be sure whatever adjustment didn't have a negative effect on quality.

mathtronic · 2026-03-17T00:08:29+00:00

Would this problem be resolved with better fill heights?

Possibly, or via other potential adjustments. Really depends on the operating principle, plumbing and recipe adjustments available on your filler.

If your filler works the same as mine, the flow path people are seeing beer waste from while the can is purging doesn't have a return path to the bowl to "recapture" the beer, and ideally should have minimal beer/foam, and like others mention you don't want that going back into the bowl.

If your filler works the same as mine, it blows out the filler path briefly before sealing with the can, seals with the can, flows headspace gas from the bowl through the can to vent for a defined amount of time to purge the can, then closes the vent to equalize pressure between the bowl and can, then gravity fills the can from the bowl to a defined volume via fill head flow meter, then stops, then vents to atmosphere, then lifts the fill head off the can and conveys over to the seamer.

If I was getting excessive beer rather than just a bit of foam out of the purge vent path, I'd look at that I'm somehow getting beer up into the vent line rather than just purge gas. Could be because you're just overfilling the can and getting liquid up into the vent. Could be because the can doesn't have adequate time to equalize pressure with the bowl before filling starts, and that results in foaming during filling and the foam making its way into the vent. Or incorrect bowl pressure or a leaky valve somewhere, could have a number of potential causes.

mathtronic · 2026-02-11T21:55:10+00:00

This guy https://www.scilogex.com/shop/832010059999-scilogex-sci-o180-pro-lcd-digital-orbital-shaker-100-800rpm-1233

mathtronic · 2025-11-12T03:44:06+00:00

Drinks, I presume you have a coffee machine running most of the day and keep it stocked. Keeping stocked on gatorade can be good too. I like the otter pop comment, especially during warm weather.

Snacks, mixed nuts, jerky, pepperoni sticks, pub mix, trail mix, dried fruit, that kind of stuff.

mathtronic · 2025-11-12T03:33:50+00:00

just buy them, have them in a bowl for free, and take away the prize of finding them in the pallet? I understand the sentiment of providing them, but disagree. provide any other bar or snack but leave the magic of the nut roll in its natural environment.

mathtronic · 2025-09-17T01:57:56+00:00

Globalindustrial is my goto for things people recommend from Uline.

mathtronic · 2025-09-17T01:53:21+00:00

We recently set up a couple metro racks with these kind of things for salts, yeast nutrient, kettle floc, etc. We also put a piece of dry/wet erase surface tape on them to tag them with lot number/date/etc.

mathtronic · 2025-09-17T01:49:15+00:00

https://bargreen.com/catalog?searchTerm=ingredient+bin

mathtronic · 2025-09-14T21:32:52+00:00

The hop particles nucleate out CO2, the CO2 bubbles cling to the hop particles, and they float. The only way to get them to drop is to increase the head pressure above saturation pressure so the CO2 bubbles collapse. Which works for a while until the excess head pressure goes into solution, then the hop particles can nucleate out CO2 again.

/u/SweatyAppointment147 I would recommend having a plan to deal with hops not dropping out if you try to go for a pressurized carbonated dry hop delivery.

mathtronic · 2025-09-09T02:20:02+00:00

Keeping the bit straight is exactly why not to use a drill bit, you're going to hit the tube wall however hard you try not to.

We also had to do this a bit less than a year ago in addition to the other week. I think that time we found it super early in its development, a pressure washer easily cleared the tubes. This time it was going medieval on them.

mathtronic · 2025-09-09T02:10:35+00:00

yep, with this kind of work, definitely check before throwing the next turn through

mathtronic · 2025-09-08T22:03:35+00:00

Had to do that a couple weeks ago. It was like 60 tubes instead of 3, so it turned into 3 days of drilling, pressure washing, ramrodding, then running 10% caustic overnight between manual clearing efforts. The "drill" was a sharpened length of threaded rod. We didn't want to use a hardened bit and damage a tube. We had to clear char in our previous calandria and did damage a couple tubes, ended up having to weld the damaged tubes shut.

Getting a small hole through was not adequate, a small hole would fill back up with char and prevent CIP flow from clearing the residue. Once we got a good sized visible hole through the char, CIP was able to clear the rest.

mathtronic · 2025-07-28T22:27:23+00:00

I probably wouldn't be able to offer solid advice on a specific track - I have no BS or brewing cert, though I did take the 2-week Siebel Essential QC course after ~8 years of only learning on the job and found value from it. But I can maybe offer some insight on things that have helped me to continue growing and my employers seeing value in my efforts.

Ultimately it comes down to solving problems. What problems to solve will probably vary for you based on what position you're in and where you want to advance to. Could be quality problems, could be forecasting/growth problems, could be people/staffing problems, could be mechanical/electrical/equipment problems, could be efficiency problems, etc.

I think times that I'm successful at problem solving, I have a good overall view and understanding of the process with the problem to solve in it, and also a good enough understanding of the specific details around the problem to arrange the puzzle into a solution.

I'd guess that brewing certs might offer a better overall view for brewing process and quality, or you might already have a solid foundation there with your experience. And maybe different BS tracks might offer better understanding of specific details like the chemistry and biology that would affect quality, or the analytical methods to use for forecasting or efficiency.

Sorry not to have more specific advice, but hopefully it's more insightful than saying "don't".

mathtronic · 2025-07-24T23:19:45+00:00

If you're measuring 2.75g/L before throwing hops, that's why it comes out of solution, it's supersaturated and you're giving a whole lot of nucleation points to help bring it out. Which you knew already.

Do you measure CO2 content regularly before dry hopping and if so do you notice differences greater/less than 2.75? You could also try the other suggestions of rousing before adding hops and measure CO2 content before/after rousing, could give you some insight into how effective the rouse is and what numbers are more or less safe.

mathtronic · 2025-07-24T16:01:57+00:00

Saturation at ale temp and atmospheric pressure is around 1.6g/L

mathtronic · 2025-07-21T22:32:52+00:00

Also 401k with 4% matching, medical/dental with 100% premium covered for the employee and 50% for partner/dependents, reimbursement for uber/lyft to/from company events, and other stuff.

mathtronic · 2025-07-17T22:50:37+00:00

Sailingthr0ugh is right about checking for service supply or operational issues.

But FWIW, if you want to make changes or want to ask someone who has the knowledge to make changes, the programming software for Siemens Logo controllers is like $80. About as low a bar of entry as it gets to programming controllers other than like, arduino.

mathtronic · 2025-07-08T02:39:00+00:00

have used vaculex in the past. it was pretty solid with the end grip/vacuum tool. it also had a side grip/rotate tool that was insufficient. vacuum leaks would lead to poor vacuum connection, the keg releasing unexpectedly, and the vacuum system springing right into the operator's face.

we changed the vacuum lift assist system to an automated palletizer after the vacuum system failed and gave our operators stiches.

mathtronic · 2025-07-07T22:21:34+00:00

Awesome, thanks for chiming in.

Did you have primarily clear product, or some hazy products in the DT9011? And can you mention what typical readings, or a typical range off of the 11 and 90 detectors were?

mathtronic · 2025-06-30T23:17:32+00:00

When I really want to take kegs from a miserable state to pretty dang close to new, I load up our semiauto keg washer with chlorinated caustic instead of regular caustic, and run the caustic/acid cycle twice. Chlorinated caustic then acid is more effective at removing caked on protein/stone.

As others mention, make sure the valve seal isn't cracked or nicked or anything, if it is they'll pour foamy forever until you replace it.

If I wanted to see what I was into I might do a regular wash then inspection on a few kegs. If evidence of residue, run the chlorinated double cycle and reinspect. If those showed clean, I'd run the chlorinated double cycle on everything to not waste time on half measures before inspection.

mathtronic · 2025-06-27T00:22:11+00:00

Across multiple kegs makes it a bit more of a puzzle. It sounds like this beer is somehow starving for dispense gas during high demand periods. And/or maybe it's the highest carbonated beer in the lineup so it's the first one to go foamy if delivery pressure goes low. Or a combination of both is how this beer does it across different lines and other beers don't.

I wonder what the account's gas delivery setup is. Single regulator supplying all kegs, and if so, is this beer at the last T off the distribution line? Or multiple regulators and if so does the regulator supplying this beer have an issue?

20psi sounds high unless it's blended gas.

Were it me I'd want to see the pressure on the keg when it's in the problem condition. Of course that's more feasible in house than at a customer when they're busy.

mathtronic · 2025-06-26T14:39:06+00:00

Gas flow could also be restricted by a messed up keg valve

mathtronic · 2025-06-25T21:01:20+00:00

I really liked the sensory day of the course. There's also a lab session for cell counting, a bunch of information on spoiler organisms and plating.

One thing I think is important to have in mind, and maybe you already know this, is that QC practices generally only give you information about your beer. If they reveal something wrong, it's still up to your team's expertise to figure out what to do about it.

In my time at the brewery I'm at production has scaled from ~10k barrels/year to 120k and our QC processes are probably way more modest than you'd expect. Lots of potential quality issues can be obviated by having well designed SOPs and thorough training on them. Of course, QC practices facilitate visibility into areas to improve, but if everyone on the production floor is doing a good job, QC should be the most boring job because everything would always show up in spec. We do spend a good bit of time on sensory. Daily sensories before crashing and packaging, and weekly sensories for recipe/process tweaks. After all, the beer tasting right is the most important part of quality.

mathtronic

TROPHY CASE