Another Brutus System is Born
 

First and foremost I must give thanks to some of the members of HBT without whom none of this would have been possible.

Klaude - You were the most helpful and influental person involved in this build. I appreciated you tolerating the PM's back and forth time and time again. Sometimes you had to repeat yourself but your patience and wisdom was unparalled. Thanks for helping me with the gas system parts list, sellers, and troubleshooting. :mug:

lehr - You really hooked me up with the welding when I was in a pinch. You did a great job and the turnaround time was super fast. Seeing your brewery in person was even more impressive than on these forums. And your beers were damn fine if I do say so myself! :rockin:

nicksteck - The frame for your system was a real beauty and as soon as I saw it I knew that was what I was looking for. Perhaps I should have made it a few inches shorter as I'm willing to bet your have a height advantage on me! Thanks for your inspiring build! :tank:

lonnie mac - Last but not least, of course. You're the father of the brewtus system and what an amazing thing it is. Thank you for your creativity and pioneering! :ban:

This system has been in the works since I sold my old one back in February 2010. Needless to say that life got in the way of the build and some financial and technical speedbumps delayed the finished product. I hadn't brewed a batch of beer in 5 months as of last Sunday and I'm happy to say that I'm back on the wagon. And now, for some pictures :)

The control panel box before it was cut and drilled. I would have left it with a brushed finish but we scratched up the front when drilling. What a pain in the neck it was to drill out so many 1" holes in this system. I must have gone through 3 step bits.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...001_Small_.jpg

The control panel arm after cutting the pieces with the mitre saw.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...002_Small_.jpg

The control panel measured out for hole locations.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...003_Small_.jpg

Mock layout of what the control panel will look like.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...004_Small_.jpg

The control box with all holes knocked out. I wish that I would have discovered the brake press at work before I did this. Life would have been so much easier.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...005_Small_.jpg

All electrical components put into the case.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...006_Small_.jpg

Burner brackets after cutting them out, before being bent.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...007_Small_.jpg

Cutting the brackets with a circular saw and metal cutting blade.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...008_Small_.jpg

Probe quick disconnects on the bottom of the control panel.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...010_Small_.jpg

Control panel completed with all name tags.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...011_Small_.jpg

Just got the cart back from lehr after he did the welding.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...012_Small_.jpg

Top view of the cart after welding.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...013_Small_.jpg

Front view of cart.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...014_Small_.jpg

Burner mounts, ala nick steck. I actually bent them on my own at work. That was a real treat let me tell ya!
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...017_Small_.jpg

Closeup of the burner and mounts.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...018_Small_.jpg

Gas manifold
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...019_Small_.jpg

Burner testing. I had a heck of a time getting the right orifice size for low pressure propane. The 3/32" had too much orange in the flame so I had to cut back to 5/64" instead. Seemed to do the trick on a 8 gallon boil no problem.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...020_Small_.jpg

The brewery all ready to go on its inaugural voyage.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...021_Small_.jpg

Dual March pumps and shroud.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...022_Small_.jpg

Side view of the brewery in action.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...023_Small_.jpg

Gas plumbing closeup. I got the stainless braided hoses custom made from tejas smokers in Texas.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...024_Small_.jpg

The L bracket that a childhood friend welded on for me at the college. Held up much better than the plastic insert from McMaster thats for certain.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...025_Small_.jpg

Hot liquor tun recirculation. Sparging has never been more accurate and easy!
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...026_Small_.jpg

Mash tun recirculation in progress. I'm going to remove the copper and put a lock line in there. There was too much foaming going on and all I could think about was the head retention I was losing.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...027_Small_.jpg

Close up of the Hot Liquor Tun. I'm going to move the probes down to the pump so they don't stick out as far.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...028_Small_.jpg

Return valve on the HLT. Sorry Pat I haven't cleaned up the welds yet :)
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...029_Small_.jpg

In my opinion this is one of the funniest parts of the brewery. I got this from a fellow student at my College. He did a presentation on his injection molding plant and brought this in. At the end he asked if anyone wanted to take some of them home and I took this one. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it until last Saturday.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...030_Small_.jpg

Boil kettle gas line and line in from propane tank.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...031_Small_.jpg

Ignition module box and its wiring. This is one of the things I would have done different in this build. I would have preferred to wire it as much as possible through the frame. It was so clean looking until I put this box on. Still happy though! :)
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...032_Small_.jpg

The control panel all lit up. Oooh, glowy and shiny!
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...033_Small_.jpg

Fly sparging after the mash out. I love adding 45 minutes to brewdays! That's atleast 2 more beers :)
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...034_Small_.jpg

Running into the boil kettle with the copper pipe (as per the suggestion of Colin Kaminski) I had never seen runnings so clear in my 2 years of brewing. The constant recirculation during the mash and the fly sparge was great!
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...036_Small_.jpg

Quick disconnect and compression elbow on the fly sparging apparatus. I was so stoked when I found that fitting on McMaster's website. Worked brilliantly!
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...037_Small_.jpg

NICE:mug:

What was the inaugural brew?