ianw58

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Question to those of you who have a direct-fire pot next to a plastic cooler Mash Tun on the same level on your stands:

How far apart do you have the kettle and the mash tun?

I want to go with a single tier system like the one in my diagram, but I’m concerned about getting the burners too close to the mash tun and ending up with a melted pile of plastic and grain instead of wort. At the same time I don’t want to make the cart 7 feet long unnecessarily.

Thanks for the input! Great thread!

BREW CART-Model.pdf (5.6 KB, 85 views)

ultimatesports

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This had came to my mind as well, so here was my thought on it: You are bolting(with brackets) the bars that the kettles will sit on to the channels of the leg pieces. So you have an infinite amount of height adjustmet. My thought was to leave 2" or so of each leg piece above where the kettles sit. Since your round kettle will be sitting on a square, none of the 4 corners would be overlapped by the pot (in my design). So if the legs coming up on your corners rose a couple of inches higher than where your kettle sits they would act as a sort of "gaurd".

That was my thought at least. In general though, I would think with 40-80 lbs of liquid (5-10 gals) in a pot, the weight alone should keep it there without issue. I currently use a 13 inch square bayou classic burner with a 15 gallon pot and there is definitely nothing "keeping" the pot from falling off, yet I have never came close to having it tip or fall. That sucker is heavy to move anyway!

lschiavo

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With a setup like this, anyone can have a hoist for BIAB or what ever you have to lift and move.

Mark[/QUOTE]

Yes! This has been done and awesomely. But how do you turn a 90* corner? I'm getting ready to fire up the torch and find out because it seems to be undone...if they make a trolley, why not make the channel sections one would need for a nice trolley setup? Some long radius 90* and 45* would be fine but NO! Am I the first one to think of this? If so, send money to....

ThatGeekGuy

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Grainger sells strut that is powder coated with green urethane paint.

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LuiInIdaho

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I am running two Blichmann burners, one for the Boil Kettle and one for the Hot Liquor Tank. I have a cooler mash tun with a stainless 11 gal kettle inside it between the HLT and the Boil Kettle. Also, the HLT and the cooler are on the same tier, and the Boil Kettle is down lower on its own tier.

My stand is 60 inches long (5 ft which is half of one full length strut stick. I figured I could cut one stick for the length, and I made everything else fit).

With a 60 inch length, I have approximately 20 inches for each vessel. My Boil Kettle is approximately 15 or 16 inches in diameter -- if is a 15 gallon kettle. The mash tun is approximately 13 or 14 inches in diameter -- it is a rubbermaid Home Depot beverage cooler. My Hot Liquor Tank is approximately 20 inches in diamter -- it is a 20.5 gallon Bayou Classic kettle. The HLT pretty much covers the burner and keeps a lot of heat away from the cooler. Also, I am not experiencing a lot of heat coming up from the boil kettle to the Mash Tun cooler. I also fashioned a heat shield for the boil kettle to keep the heat wave from boiling the liquid in my sight glass. That has been real effective. Finally, I do have the Mash Tun Cooler sitting on some wood that has been encased in some metal sheeting. So I am not experiencing much heat around the Mash Tun.

Some pictures of my stand (not quiet complete) are found here.

I hope that this bit of information is useful to you. Mark

ianw58

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LuiInIdaho, that was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

stebbitc

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LuiInIdaho,
Can you post some more pics of your rig? How did you mount the Blichmann burners to the strut? Also, I'm assuming you plumbed both burners to a single tank. How'd that work out?

Thanks for the help! Nice job.

LuiInIdaho

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Here are some photos of my stand in the vertical position. The first photo shows how I attached the Blichmann Burners to the strut. I used four of each: four bolts, four strut nuts, and four 1 5/8 x 1 5/8 square flat washers. I sandwiched the each leg of the burner between the square washer and the struts on which the burner is mounted. The flat washer clamps the burner leg to the strut. I used one assembly for each leg.

I have both burners working off of one gas manifold, and one LP tank. The manifold is made from half inch black pipe. I used one 12" section and three 10" sections. I also used five 90* elbows and one tee and one 2" nipple. I fastened all the pipes using a pipe dope recommended for propane. I fastened the manifold to one section of strut using the strut pipe clamps (half inch). Because of the way it is oriented, I used a zip tie to hold the pipe in place on the other strut.

I also wanted to add that I had the Blichmann Floor burner already, and I incorporated it into this build. However, I wanted two burners. So I ordered the Blichman Top Tier Burner, not the Floor Burner, so that I would get the needle valve and the stainless gas line to connect to the manifold. I also ordered the Blichmann Burner Conversion kit that is used to convert the Floor Burner to the Stand Burner -- again I wanted the needle vavle and the stainless gas line.

For the table section for the mash tun, I had some 3/4 particle board in the garage. I used this but I covered it with some metal sheeting. I cut the sheeting larger than the wood, and then I clamped the sheet to the wood and formed the sheeting around the wood shelf using a rubber mallet. Because this was not thick enough, I made two long shims out of 2 x 4 and used them to raise the shelf to the same level as the strut. I bolted them on using 3/8 by 2.5" carriage bolts and some two-hole joiner plates for the strut. I am really plesed with how well this came out.

Finally, I used the same metal sheeting to fashion a heat shield for my boil kettle. This is simply to keep the heat wave from making my wort boil in the site glass. It works real well.

Overall, I am pleased with the stand. I have used it a couple of times now, and I like that everything is close together. It doesn't take up as much room as my earlier system (a ladder holding my mash tun standing next to the kettle burner). This really makes setup and cleanup much easier.

I hope that this helps you in your build.

Mark

cracked1

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You all inspired me to give this strut thing a try! My previous stand was a mobile workbench that I modified to make it a three tier. It was starting to fall apart on me and IMO was becoming a little dangerous. The stoutness of strut and the ability to easily modify it as I change my brewing practices and equipment really appealed to me. So, here it is so far:

At 66 inches, it's a little longer than I really wanted it to be but I decided that it's easier to cut it down shorter than to make it bigger if things change down the road. It will be 30" high once I put the correct wheels on it (the ones on there now will be moved to the side for storage similar to LuiInIdaho). Some heat shielding, a switch box for the pump and a few other odds and ends and it'll be ready to go!




For now I'm using the burners from the fryers that were on my old stand. Some flat stock and left over pieces of strut make for some very adjustable mounts.

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LuiInIdaho

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Cracked1

I like what I see. Simple but very functional.


Mark