Henderson's Sawnee Mountain Brewery

Main Features

The Mash Tun is stainless steel and has the capacity to convert 30 lbs of barley into fermentable maltose. During the mash, the pump pulls the wort from a stainless steel false bottom, through a heat exchanger, and back into the top of the mash. This maintains a consistent mash temperature and makes for a crystal clear wort.	The plumbing is stainless steel except for 7 ft of coiled copper tubing inside the heat exchanger (to maximize heat transfer). The pump has a magnetically driven impeller (it does not connect directly to the motor shaft) to ensure sanitary conditions and to prevent back pressure from wearing out the motor.	I borrowed the basic idea for the Heat Exchanger from an experienced brewer but made a couple of modifications with the help of an engineer. It heats with an electric element and uses glycol as transfer medium. A temperature probe and a A4 Johnson Control operate an electrical relay which maintains the set point mash temperature.	The heat exchanger features a pressure gauge and a pressure safety valve.  As the mash exits from the heat exchanger it can be directed either back into the mash tun or into the boil kettle. The basic plumbing was designed so water or wort can be pumped between any combination of vessels including a loop through the heat exchanger.

Building the Brewery

Welding the frame together back in Florida	Final assembly of stainless plumbing	The maiden brew, Sept 17, 2005 (now in Georgia)

Other stuff of interest

The first beer I ever made, July 5, 2002. It was a British Bitter.	My conical fermenter in the brew fridge. 10 gallons of pilsner are bubbling away.	Brewing back in Florida when I had to lift everything. I still have the burn scars on my leg from that era.
Magnum Hops growing up the back of my house. These high alpha acid German hops are great for bittering any ale or lager.	Cascades growing up the side of my house.	Centennial Hops growing up the back deck. These hops are perfect for favor and aroma in an American Pale Ale or an IPA.
Dropping the hop vine for harvest. These are Cascade hops.	Cascades, ready for a Pale Ale.	A time to serve. I thought I'd give these tap handles something decent to dispense after all that sordid stuff they've looked down on most of their lives.

Where we enjoy the fruit of my labor. Camping and philosophizing with friends in Pennsylvania. Summer, 2006.