There are times when engineering teams need to put their heads down and grind until a solution presents itself. However, there are also times when even the most well-intentioned concepts can't be realized. In those situations, it's important to know when to pivot and diligently push forward, instead of band-aiding a solution that may never be. We hit two such hurdles during the development of SVBS, delaying the project far more than we care to reminisce about. What we have now is the culmination of years of R&D, hundreds of brewing hours, and a talented Engineering Team's dream realized, the SVBS.
The mash basket's ultra-precise photo-chemical etched screen is a piece of art, and was under intense scrutiny during development. The hole pattern on the mash basket is an order of magnitude finer than anything possible with traditional punched steel. Additionally, carefully selected regions were left solid to provide the basket with extra structural integrity which, in turn, allows fluid to flow through nearly every square inch of the basket. This effectively eliminates the concern of slow draining wort, or stuck mashes without any negative impact to efficiency. TIG welded and riveted interlocking supports on both the mash basket and kettle body work together to allow the brewer to sit back and relax while waiting for the basket to drain.
The integrated pump with custom designed head and impeller, paired with an adaptation of Ss Brewtech's Pure Flow Valve technology, allows for a level of brewhouse control never seen before in an all-in-one scale. The fully sanitary, and integrated kettle-mounted Pure Flow Valves isolate the pump’s outlet manifold, allowing for easy changeover of the three major processes needed during a brew day. This design is also reminiscent of the valve tree manifolds used on our pro brewhouses.
During recirculation, the flow is diverted through a center-mounted stainless tube that evenly disperses the wort in a laminar flow over the grain bed. The ingenious, patent-pending coupling of the center-mounted outlet port to the mash basket creates a perfect seal when the mash basket is seated and automatically disconnects when the basket is lifted. The integrated recirculation pathway paired with the photo-etched mash basket allows for industry-leading mash efficiencies.
Whirlpooling is a common technique for consolidating wort sediment before knocking out. The powerful pump inside the SVBS forces wort through the angled port in the vessel floor creating a strong whirlpool, that causes sediment to settle in the center of the vessel away from the pick-up port. Additionally, the 360° photo-etched Pump Filter Ring provides filtration for the pick-up port to keep trub and hop material in the kettle and practically eliminate any concerns of clogging the pump.
The final valve on the SVBS is the knockout valve which opens the flow path to the side-mounted 3/4" TC port. When paired with the optional SVBS | Immersion Chiller, the SVBS can deliver cooled, yeast-ready wort to your fermenter. Of all the ports, the sanitary design of the Ss Pure Flow Valve is most important for the knockout port especially when using the chilling coil.
It's also worth noting that the SVBS’s Pure Flow Valves have been designed to use standard, off the shelf 3/8" silicone tubing, which is fully user replaceable.
Due to the sanitary design of the valves, there is no need for disassembly and manual cleaning of internal valve bodies, just a simple run through with a standard brewery cleaner on each branch of the manifold keeps all internal surfaces clean and ready for use. Cleaning has never been easier.
The user interface is divided into two main functions: Mash and Boil.
The Mash function is a PID based temperature control system. When the user begins a brew, and enters a desired mash temp, the controller quickly adjusts the element output and therefore ramp rate depending on the difference in temperature between the strike water, and the desired mash temp. With incredible accuracy, it is designed to achieve stable, consistent, and repeatable temperature targets. So holding mash temps through the duration of a single-infussion mash is both accurate and precise. Or it can be used for a multi-step mash process, whereby the user can change the temperature target during the mash, and expect a fast and accurate ramp rate to the newly entered temperature target.
The Boil function is a percentage-based control system that lets the user fine-tune the element’s output for an ideal rolling boil depending on the environmental conditions.
The SVBS is the result of combining decades of brewing experience and engineering ability into a product we believe strikes the best value, quality, and performance in an all-in-one brewing system. It's a product we're immensely proud of, and it set's the foundation for an ecosystem of new products that make brewing the highest quality beer easier, more approachable, and cost effective than ever before.
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