questions about a "Brutus" or "Wallace"

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/weldless-brew-stand-174224/index4.html

I love this thread and we plan on building the likes very soon. Questions as we are newbs at all of this and ESPCIALLY all grain.

The three KEg thing... THe first one heats the water and it either gets pumped in, or if you have it above, gravity takes it from there... Then you can either have a cooler or keg for the mash...

1. Why is there a burner under the mash... Just for regulating temps? I assume if it drops, you just turn it on a but... etc...

then the third is the boil kettle. Got it... But how does that RECIRCULATION work? Are you guys recircing the wort during the hour you are keeping it at temp and why would ya do it? I know... basics huh.

looks like I can build that thing for around 225, but I really dont plan on moving it at all really, so I assume at first I can ditch the wheels.

So I already have 1 keg... but just one weld fitting for draining... If I buy another, what should I get installed? a Thermometer? a screen instead of doing the cooler thing?

and I havent read that whole thread yet, but are there similar plans for building a tiered system, or if we are doing it and we wanna do it right? Should we just get pumps.... Thanx all for the help

Camper... Oh... and I gotta get one of those ALEiens shirts... LOVE the brewclub name.. Thanx again

If I were you, I'd get a solid understanding of the All Grain brewing process before you even THINK about investing in something like this. They take a lot more money that most people anticipate, and it's nice to know what you want from the start. If you don't know how to brew AG, then you won't know what certain things are for and you won't be able to customize the stand for your personal use.

1. The burner under the mash is most likely used to bring the strike water up to temps. At this point, it's cut off. I didn't read the thread, only looked at the system. I use mine to bring my strike water to temp, then I transfer heating over to my heat exchanger (hot liquor tun).

2. Recirculation is usually done in the mash tun and the boil kettle. In the mash tun, it provides even temps and minimizes the chances of hot/cold spots in the mash that can cause flavor problems. In the boil, it prevents scorching since the wort is always flowing. This is what the pumps are for...along with moving all the wort from one vessel to another. If you plan on using a single tier system, you need pumps.

3. Get wheels...you'll want to move it at some point.

4. I highly suggest googling HERMS and RIMS systems. This will teach you everything you need to know about them. Otherwise, search the forum for Brutus, HERMS, or RIMS...you'll find all the info and pics you need.

cool... I was being a little hard on ourselves, we have only done mash a couple of times, but in the cooler, on the ground, using a pot to dump in the boil kettle, etc... We took a couple of classes at the local HBS on all grain and they really helped us out.

So if they are heating up the strike water in the middle, what is the FIRST one for? If we go with a cooler, I understand that part... WAIT... I guess you could mash the grains for one batch, trasnfer and then do a different batch, etc... I guess that part confuses me... Thanx again

The first burner is your HLT. It stores hot water and performs a few functions. On my system, I have a coil running through the HLT. I pump wort through that coil and back into the Mash. This circulates it, and it also allows me to raise the temps of the mash without directly heating it. If I want to raise temps, I simply fire on the burner under the HLT while recirculating. It heats the wort in the coil, and puts it back into the mash. After a few minutes, you have a temp increase in your mash.

The middle burner is for your mash. I only use it for heating the initial strike water in the mash. Once my grains go in, I don't use it because I don't want to scorch my wort. It doesn't get used again until I clean the system.

And yes, there are ways to do two beers at once on these systems if you stagger them. So, if you mashed one, waited until you were about 15 minutes into your boil, then mashed the other...you could then start mashing another.

duh... im an idtiot. lol... i totally forgot about the sparging, I though people used a COOLER cause it would hold the temp of the mash better than an open container... Is that not so? But I guess, when you do this, you are really using a HERMS and recirculating through the hot water, which fixes the heat loss problem. So one would not JUST have three kettles and not recirculate something... ok... got it I think

we are gonna get a couple more kettles, I got my first one for 136 shipped with one valve welded... Is that an ok price... Some people have told me to check local breweries and then try and get one and cut it open, but I lack both the tools and skills.

136 shipped seems okay. I know a guy that has a plasma cutter and can weld stainless, so I just bought the kegs and had eveything else done free.