The birth of a brand-new design of microbreweries:
for us it was the only one positive side effect of Corona. During lockdowns my son Michael and me had a lot of time to re-think our old idea of creating a tower brewery – besides our conventional program of copper cladded pub breweries and bigger manufactories. And we activated all our innovative abilities, our design- and engineering skills for this.
Now, as we have realized and built the first Flecks HELIX in the last few months and having installed it for a lion hearted customer on the island of Ruegen in Germany – we are astonished ourselves when looking at it: it seems the Flecks HELIX has become a mind-blowing piece.
A brewhouse over 2 floors / 7 m height, 3.5 m in diameter, fully automated in industrial standards. Self-supporting on 3 columns, 2 platforms and 3 staircases for inspection and maintenance - surrounding the vessels (that’s why we named it HELIX).
From automatic mashing-in to automatic removal of spent grain the HELIX is brewing perfect beers. Little work for brewers from beginning to the end. Easy to be operated. This is labor/cost saving and quality assurance. All vessels are completely closed – and therefore almost free of smell and dust.
In Flecks breweries we had been putting 2 tanks above each other since 30 years already: the lauter tun above calandria/superheated hot water heating system. Thus, we were able to lauter/filter without pump, just using earth’s gravitation. Now we have completed the tower by having the hot liquor tank at the bottom, then our well known system of mash tun/brew kettle/whirlpool in one vessel, followed by the calandria = mash and wort cooker, with its wound-up mash and wort heating pipes and its fitness for the use of solar heat, fitting perfectly into a splashy stainless steel ball. On top we have arranged the lauter tun/filter.
The designs of brew kettle, calandria and the lauter tun are clearly deviating from normal cylindrical vessels. Why this?
It makes a lot of sense to construct a boiling tank widening to the top – in order to prevent over-foaming. Likewise, it makes also sense to widen the lauter tun towards the bottom – in order to have a maximum surface for the filtering (false) bottom.
With this new vessel designs for a brewhouse - we have found an elegant solution whereas the shape clearly follows its function.
Flecks HELIX offers a new and great experience for guests, visitors and brewers: the brewing process can be watched and followed from several heights. Just a few examples: in a 2-storey brew pub, at shopping centers near the moving stairs, in a representative hotel lobby at the glass elevator, or any high rooms( i.e. old industrial buildings being re-vitalized with contrasting ultra-modern brewing equipment).
Is this interesting for one of your projects?
Looking forward to your inquiry.
Best regards
Vincent Fleck, founder of FLECKS BRAUHAUS TECHNIK, Austria
office@flecks.at
phone: + 436641912250
