Meheen's Tank Manager

[Brancid]

How many folks are using this system? How well does it run with the older meheen bottlers, specifically the '96?

We are having real trouble getting our beer where it needs to be and keeping it there. As long as someone is here to babysit the brites we can get it to where it needs to be in relatively short time, but if we let it sit over the weekend there is no telling where it'll be on Mon morning. We're trying to chase down leaks and replacing gages, but it's becoming more and more apparent that we need a better system.

I read the tank dynamics paper by Meheen and this system works well if we can stay until it's where it needs to be. Any other papers or web links that anyone is aware of would be greatly appreciated.

[BrewinLou]

It sounds like a great idea if you can buy it. Never used one here. If your brite is leaking pressure this system is going to keep costing you in the form of CO2. You have to have a solid tank if you want you beer to reach equilibrium. If you are just losing pressure and not beer it has to be up high like your CIP gasket or butterfly valve seat, or a cracked tank. Good luck.

[beermkr]

I had one at AleWerks and installed one for the Bogota Beer Company in Columbia. I think they are a godsend when it comes to freeing up time and making your levels consistent.

On the pricey side but for what you get I do not think you can beat it. They control two tanks automatically and the newer system with the touch screen really makes monitoring easy.

The rack function also makes a huge difference in the bottling process. We had a newer machine but could run over 80 cases and hour without issue and with almost no short fills or problems.

Mike Pensinger

[JonChristiansen]

I will be using the "Tank Manager" in the near future, as soon as this system gets wired and hooked up to my bright tank. Any information you gain or learn from this system would be greatly appreciated... From what I hear, seems the a good investment. It sounds like you have a leak in your bright tank?

I am experiencing a similar problem with our bright tank as it leaks from our blow off valve under almost no pressure at all. We tried to bottle today and it was simply counter-produtive, and I'm thinking the majority of our problems centered around our bright tank not feeding the beer to the bottler with enought pressure. We were feeding it with about 12 PSI at most to the bottler, lower than a lot brewers from what I have been reading.

As well, anyone you is using a Meheen 4-head (94' i think, before the touch screen version) with any tips please shoot them my way. I've been reading up on other discussions, but any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Jon Christiansen
Head Brewer
Joseph James Brewing, Inc
Henderson, NV

[BrewinLou]

Just my 2 cents again but have you tried taking your relief valve apart and cleaning the seal and spring. I did this to several of ours and they started working much better.

[beermkr]

I had one that apparently was adjustable and it was set VERY low from the factory.

Mike

[lhall]

we adjusted our "non-adjustable" ones by taking them apart and shimming under the spring seats, until they would hold the pressure we wanted.

[Brancid]

Just an update:

Thanks for the responses. I started bringing the tanks up to 20 psi and climbing on top w/ a spray bottle of star-san and still found no leaks. I have since moved out to a Rock Bottom and we have no problem carbing tanks to point and keeping it there. It only takes a few hour from still beer to 2.5 vols. We take it up to 10psi head and then go into the stones until the head gets up to 18 or so. It blew me away. After seeing it done this way it makes me think the problem may have been w/ the stones. Maybe they were not sealed properly and just bubbling out of the seals sometimes and working properly others.

We were feeding it with about 12 PSI at most to the bottler, lower than a lot brewers from what I have been reading.

As well, anyone you is using a Meheen 4-head (94' i think, before the touch screen version) with any tips please shoot them my way.

Jon, it was my experience that the lower head pressures worked best. Another VERY important key to making that monster hum is to make sure the beer is cold; I'm talking as close to 30F as possible. When the beer was on point (2.5vols), and reading 30F on the tank probe, we could get the Meheen up to 47 cases per hour.

Another thing to keep in mind is that once you get your beer cold & carbonated, the most important piece of the Meheen at this point is the bbt. It's my understanding that you want to have your head just a pound or two over EQ pressure. That being said, I've found that to just be a starting point. I found that once the Meheen is running, it works best to completely disregard your tank gauges. Just use the "Line Pressure" reading on the Meheen to adjust the tank pressure. If the beer is cold and carbonated and still jumping out of the bottle more times than not it's going to be your bbt head pressure. It always worked best to start at EQ pressure plus 1.5 psi and if the beers was still jumping out of the bottle, raise the head pressure .5 psi at a time using the line pressure reading from the Meheen interface until it calmed down.

If you have any questions please feel free to send me a PM and I'll give you my phone #.

Good luck w/ the Meheen. It's a pretty complicated machine, but for the cost it does the job until you can afford to move into a new one.