“Craft breweries are opening at a rate of one per day and most require a steam boiler in their brewing process,” writes Ray Wohlfarth in the introduction to his new book, Lessons Learned: Brewing with Steam. Drawing from more than three decades of experience inside boiler rooms, Wohlfarth has compiled everything he’s learned about brewing with steam in this well-illustrated guide to the design, sizing, piping, installation, and maintenance of low-pressure steam boilers.

Employing a straightforward, accessible writing style, Wohlfarth covers the basics of steam boilers:

• Designing, installing, and optimizing a steam system

• Introducing the different boiler types and explaining how to choose and size the right boiler

• Boiler piping and maintenance, with special sections on piping a cast iron steam boiler and natural gas piping

• Common steam system issues and possible solutions

Lessons Learned: Brewing with Steam also incorporates 50 pages of formulas and is full of visual aids, such as boiler diagrams, black-and-white photos, and depictions of designs and processes. This book belongs on the shelf or in the shop of anyone who owns, services, or installs steam systems for breweries and distilleries and is a great on-the-go technical reference.

Lessons Learned: Brewing with Steam

Industry Terms

Planning the Installation

Sizing the Boiler

Boiler Enemies

Choosing a Boiler

Boiler Types

Choosing a Gas Burner

Boiler Piping

Typical Boiler Room Piping

Piping a Cast Iron Steam Boiler

Steam Velocity

Pipe Insulation

Combustion Air

Boiler Room Accessories

Steam Traps

Steam Trap Primer

Safety in the Boiler Room

Low Water Cutoffs

Steam Boiler Pressure Controls

Boiler Maintenance

Natural Gas Piping

Gas Train

Sizing Gas Train Vent

Pilot and Ignition

Flame Safeguard

Safety Valve

Flue & Breeching

Combustion Analysis

Typical Combustion Test Results

Water Treatment

Returning Condensate to Boiler

Cleaning the Boiler

Clocking a Gas Meter

Heating Formulas & Rules of Thumb