The Scorpion: Custom Six-Manifold Wort Chilling Station

Boyd Culver with the Scorpion

By Steve Siciliano

In the process of planning and organizing an event with the size and scope as May 4th’s Big Brew at the Calder, it’s inevitable that there would be administrative barriers that had to be hurdled, kinks that needed to be straightened out and logistical challenges that had to be overcome. I’m pleased to report that so far we have successfully negotiated every major and minor obstacle and that things are progressing nicely.

Perhaps the biggest problem that needed to be addressed and solved was how we were going to efficiently manage the chilling of forty-eight kettles of hot wort. After much pondering, head scratching and brainstorming, we decided that this would best be accomplished by a custom built, six-manifold chilling station.

We assigned the task of building the wort chilling station to a local company that manufactures the immersion wort chillers that we sell at Siciliano’s. Boyd Culver, the owner of Coldbreak Brewing, has named the chilling station “The Scorpion” and he designed it to simultaneously and efficiently chill six kettles of hot wort with water that will be sourced from an on-site fire hydrant. Boyd and his employees will be manning the chilling station during the event.

I would like to recognize and thank longtime Siciliano’s customer, avid home brewer and good friend Greg Masck for his valuable insights, legwork and help with this project.

How the Scorpion got its name