Robust Reliable Controllers for Brewing
Twisted Vine Brewery creates unique, hand-crafted beers in the picturesque hills of St. Charles, Iowa. Beer is a labor of love at this three-man operation, where they are dedicated to both the art and science of brewing. The team at Twisted Vine needed a control system that would enable them to brew with meticulous attention to detail for a consistent, delicious end result.
In order to produce their great craft beer, the team at Twisted Vine was searching for a robust and reliable controller. They needed to be able to monitor and control the fermentation temperature, to implement tools like the timers for tracking hop additions, and to monitors trends and outputs remotely. They also wanted a control system that would expand easily as their business grows.
Most importantly, as space in the brewery is very limited, the PLC would have to be mounted next to the mash tun. This mash tun is kept at 150 degrees Fahrenheit during the brewing process; at times the mash is rinsed in water as hot as 170 degrees Fahrenheit. These conditions would require a PLC robust enough to be exposed to high temperatures and large amounts of steam and condensation without failing.
A Low Cost and Powerful Solution
Not only did Unitronics provide a powerful PLC, according to co-owner Steven Becker, the all-in-one design and complimentary, single-environment software made the Vision1040 an intuitive and cost-effective choice for their operations. “The free software and many online tutorials made it easy to learn and it was a low cost and powerful solution,” explains Becker.
In fact, Twisted Vine Brewery is already planning to expand their control system. They are introducing water-use monitoring and valve control to control the amount of water in their mash, which will improve the consistency of the product and free up their attention from watching the water meter to more productive tasks. Becker says, “my experience with Unitronics products has enabled me to produce systems that are more productive and user friendly … This system has kept our products at the optimum temperature while keeping our development and operating cost at their lowest.”
