Here are some pics from the last time I brewed a test batch in my backyard. I can tell you from the last few test batches that RIMS circulation works perfectly when the water to grain ratio is at least 1.5q/lb. I didn't make note of the times, but steps and mash-outs were surprisingly fast. I don't doubt that I was getting the recommended rise of 1C per minute.
I've decided to move the system to storage. I feel like I've tested it as much as I need to in this environment. It was very risky for me to have had this at home, for some good reasons:
* We had an F1 come through a while back and blew a tree down in the backyard. I typically took the system apart and moved it into the garage between brewdays, but this tornado came through at a time when I had been lazy and left the system sitting in the backyard (although covered with a tarp) between two brewdays. Thankfully, the tree didn't hit the system, but it sure made me become paranoid about it getting damaged back there. I also started to worry about theft.
* Brewing without a license is illegal in Alabama. A homebrewing bill is in the Alabama legislature this year for the 5th time. It'll certainly pass this year, but it's very restrictive, allowing only 15 gallons per quarter. It's hardly possible to even brew such a small batch on this system. Since homebrewing hasn't really been prosecuted in the past, I've typically been pretty open about my brewing. Alot of people are. But it would be easy for someone opposed to brewing to make a big fuss about me brewing on this thing in my backyard. It's not your typical 5 to 10 gallon system. It's designed to be a commercial brewing system producing anywhere from 90 to 450 gallons per brewday. (So uuummm... for the record, any pic you've seen of this... it's not really making anything that was ultimately fermented into beer...)
I'd love to take another step forward on getting a brewery up and running. For me that means purchasing some land and building a facility. Everything I've done so far has been out of pocket, and I intend to keep it that way because I'm not really interested in any of the pressures or stresses that come with doing it any other way. In the meanwhile, I'm just going to sit on this for awhile. I would potentially be interested in leasing it to a start-up (with deferred terms favorable to the start-up) located somewhere like Asheville, North Carolina. That's far enough away that I wouldn't need to be involved, and close enough that I could occasionally come enjoy the awesome mountain biking trails and the sight of the system being put to good use.
As I get time, I will post more of the lessons I learned testing the system out and some things I might do differently. I still believe this is an awesome system that permits extreme versatility, a nice level of automation, and perhaps the ability to double-brewday into a 30bbl fermenter. I still think it would be a great system to use to fill wine barrels with a wide variety of beers. It would be great for a brewpub or small brewery with a taproom.
I will try to check back here for comments to answer questions, but these days I'm preferring to use Google+ for discussions. I'm sharing this post via G+, so feel free to chat with me there if you'd like.
