Brew Day Checklist

1. Enter the Issaquah Brewhouse through the right door, it has a sign that is marked “Use Other Door” but is usually open on Sunday for employees to enter through. This is the same door you will use to take the brew system outside, and a path will need to be cleared to the door.
2. The brew system is behind the partition on the right side, as well as accompanying bins and a canopy. You will have to tilt it to wheel it outside; we have had best results by removing the pots first, and carrying them out through the side door.
3. Depending on weather you may want to set up the canopy for shade or rain protection first. The setup area is on the west side of the building between the brewhouse and the hatchery. There is a door on the west wall where you will need to run power and water outside.
4. Power is available on the wall just inside the door. Make sure the door is blocked so that it doesn’t wreck the cord.
5. Water is available in the brewery by the mash tun. Make sure you use the braided 100’ hose, and that there are no leaks within the building. Later when you remove the hose take the same precautions to keep as much water off the floor as possible. The water pressure in the brewery can be very high; you will probably not need to turn it up very high. The water is also carbon filtered, so it will not need any further treatment unless your recipe calls for other adjustments.
6. Once all the pots have been cleaned and put back in place, make sure all of the temperature probes and float switches are in place and attached to the control panel.
7. While you are filling the liquor tank, attach the propane tank, and start the pilot light for the hot liquor tank burner. The instructions are in the manual (page 10), and on a laminated sheet inside the binder. Note that the pilot light will not start until you have power, have set the ATC temperature controller, and have propane. You will hear a click when the solenoids engage and a panel light “Hot Liquor Burner” will illuminate.
8. There is a folding table available to use for the brew day, it is usually located by the fermenters.
9. Rogue will leave the ingredients for the brew <fill in details here>
10. You will notice that there is both an immersion chiller and a counterflow chiller with the system. The immersion chiller is used for the RIMS recirculation system. Be sure to familiarize yourself with how the system works in the manual. The immersion chiller can also be used to drop mash temperature by putting it in a bucket of ice water and circulating the mash through it, be aware that it very efficient and can easily overshoot your desired mash temperature in just a minute or less. Ice is located in a storage room to the left of the restrooms by the bar. Tread lightly and don’t leave a mess if you need to get ice.
11. We had good results heating the bulk of the mash in the mash tun, and adjusting the temp with water from the hot liquor tank. The water temp in the HLT should be about 10 degrees above the desired temperature.
12. Mash in temperature does not drop as much as we initially anticipated. <fill in details here>
13. Be aware that the thermowell in the mash tun may get grain stuck around it and will show an erroneous reading, we had up to a 20 degree difference between the fermentap analog thermometer, and the ATC probe. You can also use the probe thermometer included in the bin to take readings elsewhere in the mash.
14. We are using Rogue’s brewsheets to keep track of the brew, they will want to see a copy of the sheet to account for grain use in the brewhouse, and we will use the sheets to track brews as well. The sheet will stay in the binder. Be sure to fill out a brew tag to attach to the fermenter. Try to keep good records so that we can track efficiency, boil off, ect.
15. Mats are available to keep the pots off the ground, avoid scratching and dinging them up, and allow them to drain.
16. The fermenter is located between the two 15 barrel conicals in the same room where the system is stored. Make sure the fermenter is clean and ready for wort. You will have to wheel it outside through the same door you took the brew system out through.
17. Grain and hops disposal is behind the brewhouse in a brown dumpster. This is for compost only, so make sure no trash makes its way into the container.
18. Make note of any consumables that need to be replaced before the next brew day, and anything that may need to be repaired or modified. Do not make any permanent modifications to the system without consulting a club officer or the head brewer at Rogue. Email any requests to a club officer so that we can contact Rogue to take care of it.