Ss Brewtech - 2BBL Unitank

Episode #1 is all getting to know Lost Bear Brews and talking about the 2BBL Unitank from Ss Brewtech.
Lost Bear Brews is a small Nano Brewery in Washington state that focus' on IPA's, Saison's and Sours. Our goal is to craft beer that sparks a conversation from curious flavors and origins.
Being a home brewer for over 10 years before starting a Nano Brewery I have tried a ton of different gear, setups and have iterated on my configuration; Building the infrastructure myself and learning along the way. I aim to make this channel a home to share the knowledge and insights, so please let me know if the comments below what you would like to see!
2BBL Unitank
www.ssbrewtech.com/products/2-bbl-unitank
1BBL Unitank
www.ssbrewtech.com/products/1-bbl-nano-series-unitank
Lost Bear Brews Merch: www.lostbearbrews.com/shop/
Music:
soundcloud.com/c2cdjs
soundcloud.com/joakimkarud/keep-on-going
soundcloud.com/liamlry/mmhhmm
Editor: www.linkedin.com/in/jason-j-fierst/
Follow Me: lostbearbrews
Website: www.lostbearbrews.com

[@anthonylinsday1906]

i'd like to know more about how you started a legal microbrewery in your garage

[@silvermediastudio]

It's pretty much the same as starting any other business. Just need some additional permits for the water, the state (which regulates alcohol sales), and from the TTB (it's all laid out on their site).

[@anthonylinsday1906]

@@silvermediastudio except it's not the same. Zoning regulations, ttb has requirements like not having and entrance from residential

[@silvermediastudio]

@@anthonylinsday1906 Pin the door. As I said, you need some permits, such as to run light industrial in limited space of residential. Varies by state. Not much different to running a small machine shop, weld shop, etc from the home.

[@justoneman1318]

It never ceases to amaze me how Americans have lost their sense of freedom and automatically turn to the nanny state for permission. I commend your initiative and courage for following your dreams!

[@pball98]

This is my first video I’ve watched, and trust me dude, you can have a hell of run on KZbin. No one else is doing videos like this.

[@thedrdroga]

this is pure gold!!!! thank you and cheers from Croatia !!!!!! :D

[@dharmon1851]

Awesome video sir! I am a current home brewer. Wanting to make the jump to a nano-brewery. Would love a video tour of your brewery, overview of your brew house, how you got into the business side which is where I eventually aspire to be as well. Thank you! Awesome video again

[@sambegdouri1619]

Brilliant video. I am in the middle of making a cidery, but I really lack knowledge about fermentors. I understand the cider process inside out. But Understanding the ins and outs of fermentors (unis and brites) technology, and all the nuts and bolts, what I need and why, is a huge thing altogether. Things I would love to know is... UNIS vs BRITES When looking to carbonate in a brite, how much pressure should the tank hold (what should the tank's specification be for that)? How to transfer liquid from one tank to another without air (o2) getting to it?

[@72SuperDude]

Fantastic video! Definitely want to pick your brain on a garage based brewery in the PNW. Almost did it in Federal Way, and then I moved to Nevada. But now I’m back and ready to try again!

[@shaninkerdink]

first time viewer! I thought your format was spot on! I'll be interested in seeing more! I'm a Craig tuber! so this will all be new to me! good luck wit your channel I'll be watching!

[@NDR801]

You need to make more videos! These are great 🍻🤙🏻

[@scottmarkwith3199]

I like to hear more about the garage nano brew setup with the raspberry pi. Appreciate you sharing your knowledge and time.

[@TheAsheFactor]

YESSS Fantastic Video. Finally someone able to showcase the gear. I am looking at eventually getting something similar here in Melbourne Australia. Love the logo and everything you are looking to share especially the business side of things. I am currently 'slowly' putting together my pilot system, and looking at a 1/2 BBL. My Brewing unit is the Grainfather that I love. Strength to young I will be watching with interest. PS I have just liked the FB Page.

[@LostBearBrews]

Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed the video!

[@forstjorinn]

Love this video, impatiently waiting for the next one 😉👍 I'm in the process of starting up a nano brewery so all information is gold to me.

[@WLTruth]

Came to see information on the brewtech unitank. It's a beast. I just started brewing mead and 6 gallon glass carboys just aren't enough. I want to start doing 1/2 barrel or 1 barrel runs. I like that they have a cooling manifold because mead is generally brewed fairly cool and I don't have great temperature controls currently (set the house AC! lol). Thanks for the video! I've subscribed and will be watching more of your videos.

[@jumpjasper5276]

Your video is pretty cool I’m in the same position where I’m ready to take that leap of faith and go into the nano brewery.whats funny is that I started out the same way and been all grain since, crazy fun hobby

[@fathergratwick]

I noticed the pump your using for CIP. Just wanted to give you the heads up that I went from a pump that size to a larger 3/4hp Chinese stainless sanitary pump for our 3 bbl fermenters and and tanks and the difference is night and day.

[@nicholasarnold9989]

Extremely excited to see where your channel and brewery go! Would definitely like to see a full brew day video. Really cool looking garage setup.

[@LostBearBrews]

Thanks! Will work on a brew day vid soon!

[@geir.mathello]

How is it going now after about 4 years? I hope you had a fantastic Christmas, You must have a very good New Year. Kind regards from Norway

[@radiologicphysicist1083]

Good info, would be great to see you actually interacting with the 2bbl unitank though.

[@kentm7839]

Wow!!!! Great setup, would love to see more. Live brew day would be great. I also think the PI is the way to go with an electric setup, so more info on that would be awesome. Thanks!

[@JoshHales]

Love the idea of this channel, great to know what it’s like at this size brewery. Love to see footage of brew days, how things are different from a home brew, the different challenges of larger brews etc.

[@LostBearBrews]

Thanks, you got it!

[@F-16-c4j]

Great video.

[@wrecklesscrew123]

Awesome video. Keep them coming. Very excited to see this nano brew happen!

[@LostBearBrews]

Cheers!

[@JamesBallUSA]

I would like a walkthrough of how you automated your brewery.

[@benenenen121]

check out craftbeerpi/ tilt

[@F-16-c4j]

[e-mail]

[@DMCSerenity]

All of my equipment is Ss Brewtech and I love their stuff. I’m looking into getting 7 gallon Unitank as I only brew 5 gallon batches. I’m fairly new to brewing and have never used a Unitank and have only used glass carboys. I would like to see videos of you going through step by step using all the beneficial features of the Unitank. Love your set up and videos, thanks in advance.

[@HeyFutureUs6]

I agree this would be useful, Also using SS Brewtech gear and want to get a unitank.

[@jcinsaniac]

Awesome content - would love to see live brewday video. You're doing everything I am interested in, right down to brewpi and autologging telemetry from the fermentation. Looking forward to other videos...most excellent!

[@grantsmith9572]

Looking into buying one myself to start a small meadery and this video was exactly what I was looking for thank you and cheers on the future beers 🍻

[@thephore]

Could you show us around the unitank and demonstrate some/all of the features? Also, are you happy with it now after using it for a while? Does the tilt work inside it?

[@ehrashkae6343]

Just tripped over this video, and loved it! I would love to know more about you and what you're doing and how you got to where you are now. I am just getting into the beer side of brewing. I am interested in another aspect of the brewing/distilling industry.

[@RonKroetz]

Great video. Would love to hear more about how you started your business in your garage. Keep it up!

[@rickhill615]

Yeah great video. Ive never done an all grain batch yet. Just bought a Grainfather all in one. Hopefully it's as good as they say.

[@michaelgermino626]

Interested in the glycol setup. How cool can you get your beer in a hot environment. Presently have a freezer for a fermentation chamber, but that limits me to small fermenters.

[@gettestudios]

Remember, you wanted questions... The only reason I decided to start looking at brewing myself, was that the Beer I love, was simply to expensive. Goose Island BCS. Have you cloned it? if so how hard was the process and how long did you let it set before drinking? Was it in a barrel or did you use wood chips? etc, etc.... the Set up I am looking at building is single barrel. what would you advise, given my beer type choice, would be the best setup from start to finish? Would be very interested on how you would approach/produce the GI BCS.

[@madsteff1097]

Great video and a little jealous 😉. About to purchase a smaller system, but can’t decide to go for a separate brite tank or the unitank. If you would have the space would you still go for the unitank and why?

[@kennygraley824]

Live Q&A’s are great! A grain to glass I’d enjoy to! Your setup looks wonderful. Cheers

[@LostBearBrews]

Sounds like a great idea! I will get one in the works!

[@Brockdorf]

What would be the best first-time small starting system that would translate the best for larger systems? Meaning, with starting the smallest and working towards the largest systems, maintaining the same process flow while increasing size.

[@jw.g]

Great video! I just got a 14Gal SS brewtech unitank and have only brewed from glass bottles before. Could you do a video on how to sanitize them & set up the carbon dioxide tank after the beer is done fermenting? That would be great since the resources out there are super limited. Cheers!

[@RayVenger]

You should post more videos. I like and enjoy your channel.

[@ReactionBrewingCompany]

Nice job on the ball valves in the glycol loop, I unfortunately went with solenoid valves and they’re not ideal.

[@chuckster6487]

Love the Channel! Please cover all that you mentioned! Great stuff I also brew on a 1bbl system and it’s hard to find others with experience on that size or larger.

[@lancepearson4682]

Great video. I also use SS Brewtech home equipment and am practicing with there high end stuff in hopes of starting a brewery in near future. Thinking of starting the brewery with 1 BBL pilot system and grow later into 7-10 BBL system. Feel 1 BBL would be proof of concept and be useful later in future as test pilot system or good if ever open up a separate tap room at a different location and then do experimental brews there.

[@atelierjbcv6678]

Hi, thanks for the video. How many maximum gallon of wort do you transfer in this 2bbL ? 70 ? more ? less ? I kwon it depends of the beer but for a regular pale ale.. thanks

[@bradalong]

Great Video!!! I appreciate you doing this. I would like to see a detailed tour of your brewery. I am interested in doing a similar set up in time and would like to see the inner workings of your brewery. Keep up the good work!

[@LostBearBrews]

Thanks Brad for the kind words. I will be sure to give a tour video of the brewery soon!

[@aarifzhang6642]

please contact [e-mail], I am Aarif Zhang, Cheers!

[@divjotchhabra6758]

I want to learn brewery from the start, I don't have enough money to spend on ? Would you like to tell which book I should read?

[@Abby-gx4qi]

Awesome! How did you manage to get all the regulating bodies to let you run a nano brewery out of your garage??? My states laws are so ridiculous 😭😢

[@vitishko]

Hey, awesome video about your nano garage brewery. Thumb up! Subscribed! I have also 1bbl setup in my garage :) I am using 1bbl unitank and bcs controller, tilt pi and I am wondering how do you like the craftbeer pi setup, I have all parts, but do not have time to rebuild my controller. Very glad to see you channel, I wish to see couple of years earlier :) Cheers from Vancouver, Canada.

[@navigationsfilms]

What happend with those glycol tests? does it work for cold crash? I will buy a 3 or 4 jacked 1BBL unitanks and Im not sure about what glycol chiller to buy :/ I was thinking in buying a 1/2HP piguin chiller but i dont know if It will work for that volume, or if I need a much larger reservoir. And finally, what is your opinion with 1 pump with solenoids VS 1 pump for each fermenter?? Thank you for seen this, hope you can answer. Cheers

[@silvermediastudio]

Ecosystem XD Let's hear more about the space and how you deep dived end-of-the-day synergies of up-leveled phased and next-gen tiered tactical bottom-up approaches to moving the needle on nurturing team-based stakeholder net-net value.

[@shannonwilliams7743]

Good video, your passion for the craft comes through. I to have been brewing home brew for 9 years. I started the same way you did brewing 5 gallons in the drive way. Now AI brew in my garage on a home made electric PID RIMS system. A brew day would be awesome. I'm looking at the Ss V3 set. Is this a good set to start a nano brewery business? Are you aware of business models I can consider. How are you able to run business from your garage? Thanks Shannon

[@peterdennis9192]

Impressive man, props I love your work.

[@generouslemon8166]

I can’t wait for more. I did have craftbeerpi and didn’t find it appealing to me. Maybe I’ll give it another try after seeing what you do

[@JFDT]

Great first video! I'm interested in seeing your cleanup procedures after a brew day! I find it hard to clean up 1BBL vessels in my basement ; do you have a floor drain, CIP for kettles, do you use a garden hose / pressure washer or a pre-rince faucet, etc.? Your channel looks very promising, count me on board!

[@LostBearBrews]

Thanks for the comment, cleaning process video... no problem!!! I don't have a floor drain, but do have CIP for everything. I will be sure to document my best practices for it and share those out as I am always fine tuning them.

[@pablozarate2375]

Thanks for the video, in which port of the 2bbl unitank you pass the wort to the tank?

[@joseresendiz743]

Loved the way you explain and how you are willing to share your experience and knowledge. I am planning on opening a brewery and selling my product off-site, but I'm pretty new in homebrewing. What would be the best way to start? Just got a 1gal starter kit two days ago. Cheers from Mexico!

[@LostBearBrews]

Just start brewing more and more and share with your friends and family. Gather feedback and refine your craft. I would also encourage you to check out some podcasts on brewing (Master Brewers Podcast, Beersmith, The Session). Hope that helps and welcome to brewing!!

[@NathanMorey]

How's your water in Everett? What do you do to test and adjust your water?

[@dylankadow8428]

What kind of carbonation system do you have? Where do you get the CO2? Do you/other breweries buy CO2 condensers instead of continual CO2 refills?

[@edujim]

Great video! Definitely interested in a brew day video. plus a video on your technology in your brewery.

[@LostBearBrews]

Thanks! Yeah, hope to do more about the tech I use and overall brewing stuff soon!

[@lf2334]

Just curious... when you mention that you're a brewery, do you actually have a taproom where customers can come in and have a beer? Do you distribute? I noticed that Google Maps shows this being a house. Super cool though!

[@TallerThanTreesMusic]

Hey brotha, new to brewing, just bought the claw hammer supply 10.5 all grain system, love it. But I am now looking at a fermenter to pair with it, any recommendations!? I would ideally like to transfer it to the fermenter to eliminate oxygen etc. Also if I eventually want to go to a more traditional 3 kettle set up what do you recommend!?

[@LostBearBrews]

Thanks for watching! To answer your question it depends on a couple key factors. Do you need Temp Control, Ability to Ferment or Carb under pressure. If you are looking for stainless I would look at Spike Brewing Fermenters and SS Brewtech Unitanks to start as they both have proven to be solid tools to help brewers.

[@TallerThanTreesMusic]

Lost Bear Brews thank you for the reply, I’m trying to get better equipment and increase efficiency and have it be less labor intensive then what I currently have. Can you do a full brew session and recipe build? I’d really like to see how it works

[@vectorponder]

Lost bear brews where did you go?

[@pokeexperts7164]

loved the info but on a completely unrelated note please get a bench scraper, remove extra spray in foam, take 1 inch thick piece of wood appropriate length and width , give it a little bevel along the edeges, finish work that spot, hahaha. maybe 40 dollars and 4 hours

[@ZmannR2]

This is fantastic man!! Keep the videos coming!!

[@mscappa]

Great video and thanks for sharing. Saw you have a spike setup and also have a Zymatic. I have a Z now and love the time savings and ease of use, but am now looking at a bigger system. You mentioned adding on to your mash, are you using the Zy at all? I was hoping to incorporate it into whatever new set up I get. Was curious to hear if you still use yours as an add on to the spike.

[@soundman1402]

I'd like to see more details about the unitank installation… Especially, how you have the glycol system plumbed to the chiller. SS Brewtech seems to indicate that the jacketed system requires a commercial glycol chiller, insinuating the ones they offer wouldn't do the job. I want to kick my own brewing system up a notch, and build out a nano brewery of my own... I'd also love to hear about how you double-batch with the parallel mash and boil in your system. I am, myself, looking at more of a 1-BBL setup. Why can you not ferment an aromatic beer with a large head space in your fermenter?

[@hillblai]

Love it. Double batch brew day and pi controller video would be great.

[@nick87s]

Awesome video and love the set up! I’m brewing BIAB at the minute but want to upgrade to an SS brewtec 3 vessel system. Could you do a video on your craft beer pi set up? I’d like to use it but not sure where to start. Cheers and keep up he good work!

[@TheFifilak]

Looking forward to hear more about implementing and using the craftbeerpi.

[@jayelliott506]

Great Video and very informative.

[@merrickmarquie3573]

Love to see a detailed breakdown of the more "tech" components. How are you utilizing BrewPi? What are you tracking? How does it all work?

[@LostBearBrews]

I am planning on doing a build video on one of my CraftBeerPi setups.

[@merrickmarquie3573]

@@LostBearBrews It'd be neat to get weekly videos or as close to it as possible.

[@edorton5309]

hello, what's the chuggermax pump like, i'm using an old stainless water pump that can handle 80psi pressure but not really hot liquids, i'm slowly killing it think but it turns the CIP balls really well!

[@coryhyatt2035]

We want to know how to sell beer out of your garage. And why you havnt uploaded in 4 years? Where have you been? Can we get a tour of the place?

[@notgaybear5544]

So are you going to make videos once or twice a year?

[@flopes360]

Awesome video man, thanks for doing this! Is it crazy to consider the 7gal Unitank with FTSs? My hot side is currently electric BIAB and limited to around 6 gallon batches. Main reason I’m looking into this is I’m having inconsistent fermentation temps in CA, and also I’m interested in fermenting under pressure. Closed loop transfers for moving into the keg will be awesome too.. keep my hazy’s oxygen free! Thanks.

[@LostBearBrews]

Thanks for watching! It is not crazy at all to consider the 7gal or even the 14gal. Moving to a system that allows you to control your temps better, be creative with new recipes (fermentation under pressure), limit o2 exposure and cleaning/harvesting easier is well worth it in my opinion. As someone who has done small and large scale EBIAB and also traditional brewing systems think of your hot side and your cold side as two different parts to your brewery which will both require different needs and processes.

[@gertinini300]

It would be interesting to see how you do the priming with your unitank or a chronical fermenter perhaos. Thank you !

[@Systematicsphere]

Conical

[@vitishko]

Do you ferment under pressure? Very interested to see a whole brew process from grain to the glass?

[@DavidAbraham504]

How much and how difficult it is to get a beer and wine license?

[@Atrain0826]

Greatt video love the setup and the Ss Brewtech Products I own several myself. Ive been brewing around 3 years now and keep getting told and ask by friends and family when are you going to start selling this when are you going to open your own place etc etc. So my question to you is or advise really I have a investor that approach me yesterday and said lets do it hes willing to put up the up front cost to start up something like you have I just don't know where to start. My current setup will only produce 10g batches max so upgrading equipment will have to happen for sure what about the legal side of things. Any advise would be great appreciated

[@DJ-uv9vw]

keen to see the brewery!! im looking to open a nano alongside my home brew store.

[@justindykgraaf9329]

Great stuff! Would love to see a full brew day video on that Spike system you have!

[@elcuervo2k]

Hi there, great video. Will you be making a video on how you started your nano in your garage? Including license etc. And how you were able to get the accounts to sell your beer. Thanks cheers! 🍻

[@HeyFutureUs6]

And what jurisdiction you’re in (Canada, US, State, Province) as I’m sure the laws for nano garage breweries differ by region.

[@themooseisloose8595]

Really enjoyed the video, very much interested in going unitank from current 5 gal batches to possibly 10-15 gal. Also interested in what you did to acquire nano brewery licenses and how did you find your sellers.

[@StassBrewing]

Looks like a cool setup! Interested in the various automation systems you're using. Also, are you planning growler fills or having people sit and drink in your garage? What do you expect your ROI to be (time wise)?

[@rafer2002]

Yes, a live brew day would be sweat.

[@Systematicsphere]

No sweat. Cool.

[@fdk7014]

Question: what kind of production volume do you need to make the brewery cover its own costs?

[@LostBearBrews]

Really depends on your overhead and what your sales model is.

[@fdk7014]

Well yeah, of course. I was asking about your experience. I've been doing some back of the envelope calculations but I've found that I'd need quite a significant investment for it to start making financial sense but then new problems crop up. A bigger system needs more space so I'd have to pay more rent. I would only be able to sell so many kegs per week locally so eventually I would have to look into bottling or canning, which cost a great deal by itself and requires even more space... Of course then there might be a problem finding enough demand for the product. I'm thinking doing 1 bbl per week doesn't really make any money but it would be interesting to see how a 2 bbl upgrade changes the economy.

[@beargreasebrigade]

@@fdk7014 great question, insightful - learning about the process also

[@LostBearBrews]

@@fdk7014 So sorry for the delay here. Let me unpack the question a bit. So if we look at the goal being making a solid revenue stream to make it financially viable a couple key things come to mind. #1 is have a tap room (Being a production only brewery at a nano scale does not yield the margins capable of growing it). This is one key learning that I took away after doing calculations after the first couple months of my 1BBL system. Keep in mind I don't really have any rent due to it being in my garage so it still did not net my desired projections. So if you are wanting to start with 1BBL I would ensure the space and business plan you are working on includes a tap room. 2# you time is valuable. Keeping this in mind I would encourage you if you can make it work to bump up to 3BBL to start. Stout Tanks makes a vary nice and affordable options at this size. This is what I ended up doing after a few months and it has saved time and ultimately made it financially possible for me to make revenue at a nano production only size. (Still would prefer a tap room if possible). Hope this helps in your planning process. Happy to answer any other questions and keep on the lookout for more live streams where we can have a dialogue in real time.

[@fdk7014]

Thanks for the great reply! I feel that I'm not ready to make this leap yet, I need more brewing practise but I've been toying with the idea in my mind and I've come to the conclusion that I would need a pretty big setup right from the start. If I were to do this I would need to either quit my job or significantly cut my hours so the brewery would have to pick up the slack. That means I would need to make fairly large batches but then comes the problem of demand. I live in a small hick town and people mostly prefer cheap macro lagers so finding demand for a more expensive craft beer could be difficult. So I would need to try to sell my beer further away but then I need a bottling or canning setup, increasing cost and requiring me to do even larger batches... One option would be a brewery pub or a tap room as you say but this place is absolutely dead in the winter, I would probably not even be able to cover rent half the year. It's a hard nut to crack this one but I'm keeping it in the back of my mind for now.

[@geoffreybalme4215]

Hey ! what do you use to quick connect to your carbstone ? Thank you !!

[@johnhoth5960]

Interested in how to build the raspberry PI, have a small 5 g system looking at the 14 g Unitank fermenter

[@chriswoods3929]

Great video man, really liked it. I’m in the process of building a brewery in my shed also. One quick question about the mention of the half batch in the 2 barrel uni tank, why could you not do a big flavour ipa? If you spare some time I’d love to talk to you. Based in Ireland but I could work around you? Great video again man.

[@LostBearBrews]

I have found that I loose some aroma with to much headspace. That said, not a ton, but I have noticed a difference so it is my best practice to limit headspace when producing very aromatic beers. I am going to experiment with fermenting with more head space under pressure to see what the results might be. More on that to come!

[@rdpacheco]

Great video, I'd love to see a vid on the CIP!

[@maxe6538]

A full brew sesh would be great!

[@atebbe1]

Want to know more about your brew system! Brewday video work be great!

[@jlqtraceur]

If you dont transfer the beer from fermentation to maturing how do you pull out the yeast?

[@anthonylinsday1906]

the yeast is dumped from the butterfly valve at the bottom of the cone

[@manuelreynoso6722]

A unitank would be enough to start a nano brewery?

[@stephandevries5069]

Are there going to be new videos at one point?

[@CaptAdell]

Great video. Thanks for sharing

[@garbonzoe]

Great video. I'm very interested in your company and it's model. Can you do a video on the licencing process federally, state, and locally. Basically, how are you legally brewing out of your garage.

[@LostBearBrews]

Yeah I'll add it to the list, but note it will be my personal experience and situation as I know things are different state to state and also even county to county and City to city. But happy to share how I got licenced.

[@garbonzoe]

@@LostBearBrews Awesome. Thank you!

[@hardkombucha]

Nice video, subscribed.

[@canelohillshomebrewery4328]

keep those video's coming i would to hear about getting lick , brew day videos , yeast cleaning

[@7pointhandcraftedgoods695]

How about a full brewery tour with some descriptions of your setup?!

[@LostBearBrews]

Working on it! Cheers

[@TT-dr4uu]

Greate Video, please more Videos. Greadings from Germany :)

[@LostBearBrews]

Will do!

[@DMCSerenity]

Any updates? When you making more videos of you utilizing the Ss Brewtech Unitank?????

[@LostBearBrews]

I have a couple in the works, been a little delayed due to the holidays. Thanks for your patience!

[@davidsalter5456]

Can’t wait for raspberry pi videos

[@erickangarita1]

excellent video, greetings from venezuela