Single Tier HERMS Brewstand Step by Step Build

I recently sold my 15 gal. dual tier stand, now it's time to build the new single tier 26 gal. HERMS system.

I'm going to do my best to give a step by step for anyone thinking of building a new system or adapting their own. I did this all by myself with basic tools except a welder but you could bolt it too if you wanted.

Some sheet metal work was done by a local sheet metal shop in Holland MI, Accurate Sheet Metal Inc. They also did the kettle welding. I'm a firm believer in getting local help with this sort of thing, they are usually cheaper than you think and are more than willing to help a brewer.

I'm going to try to post all the pictures and descriptions at once and then a few days later I'll have the first brew day documented to show how it went.

Thanks for looking!

I went with Polarware Heavy Duty kettles from MoreBeer, They had a sweet Christmas Deal and they to the ball valve and thermometer welding.


Getting a feel for how the layout will be...





Step bit saves money at the weld shop if I do it myself...





Lower Shelf Layout...

HERMS coil out of the box...I bought this on ebay, it's a .020 wall thickness. DO NOT get this one, it's too thin and you can't bend it even with the proper bender. There is a .028 wall one on ebay and the one at theelectricbrewery is .032.



After I bent it on a bucket...



Some more layout ideas...

Dip tubes are from theelectricbrewery.com from the hop stopper, installed on the HLT and the Mash tun...



The hopstopper...



Side view...



Installed in the boil kettle...



Inside view of the HLT with the water recirc arm in and the fittings for the HERMS coil installed...

HLT valves in, I'm going to try vinyl labels for now, I'm not sure if they will withstand the heat. If you have another idea let me know, I like the look of the labels...



Boil kettle fill and whirlpool arm...



MoreBeer ultimate sparge arm, may possibly upgrade to the automatic float switch eventually...



HERMS coil installed, you can see the trouble I had in the bending...



Counter Flow chiller set up with ball valves and an inline thermometer...

Burner rings/hangers rolled by Accurate...



Laying out the top shelf where the kettles will sit, I went with 4 beams so I will not have to have a support in the middle...



Burner holders mounted...



Close up of the cutting for the burner inlet and lighter holes (same size as blickmann so an automatic igniter can be added)



HLT labels on...

The base that will hold the kettles and equipment when in storage...



Now it's starting to look like something...

Finishing some of the welds, then primed and painted with high temp paint. Hopefully it lasts...









Wheels designed from the MoreBeer ultimate brew sculpture. I may go to casters but I like the stability and keeping the system lower to get to the top of the kettles...

This is the holder for the chiller and the o2 tank. The whole thing fits in the boil kettle above the hopstopper for storage...



Burners installed...



LP manifold, made out of copper and brass fittings. This took less room than pipe and the smaller fittings were easier to come by. All at Lowes. It's all 1/4in only but feeds all the burners at once just fine...



1/8in aluminum sheeting for the bottom shelf and the ends, for looks and some wind deflection when brewing outdoors...

Wiring the pumps...



Burners on, they are BG 14's running the high pressure orifice with the bayou classic 0-30psi regulator...





Test fitting the lines...



Pump covers...

Storage/transport mode, The chiller stand is in the boil kettle and the propane tank fits in the mash tun...



This is the chiller and o2 stand complete..



DONE!!! Ready for brew day!

Probably brewing tomorrow (1-2-14) so expect pics soon.

So far so good!

But are you really planning on operating that rig with the O2 cylinder in the pictured location?

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

So far so good!

But are you really planning on operating that rig with the O2 cylinder in the pictured location?

Cheers!

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NO, It'll be along side on the ground so I'm not tripping on my hoses and such, I am going to have a nice plastic tote of some kind to take all my stuff in when I'm not brewing in my shop that will sit nicely on that shelf.

WOW, I'm speechless and green! Clean, functional and I'll go as far as beautiful! Congrats and hell of a nice job man.

Very nicely done! I really want a portable piece at some point

In_Vino_Veritas said:

WOW, I'm speechless and green! Clean, functional and I'll go as far as beautiful! Congrats and hell of a nice job man.

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Thanks! :rockin: I went through 2 stands before this, and all the way from blocks of wood, so I knew how I wanted to do it.

Excellent rig. Nice job!

supercarbuilder said:

Thanks! :rockin: I went through 2 stands before this, and all the way from blocks of wood, so I knew how I wanted to do it.

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Man, that is a beauty! I love how simple and clean this build is. Very efficient. I'm on my first wood block build and did several things that turned out to be not so great in actual use. I was going to go strait to steel for the next one, but you got me thinking that perhaps it would be wise to do another wood build first to refine the design. Thanks for sharing!

Setesh said:

Man, that is a beauty! I love how simple and clean this build is. Very efficient. I'm on my first wood block build and did several things that turned out to be not so great in actual use. I was going to go strait to steel for the next one, but you got me thinking that perhaps it would be wise to do another wood build first to refine the design. Thanks for sharing!

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Sweet! After the wood blocks I had a 3 tier then made that into a 2 tier and I learned a lot about pumps and recirculation better sparging, and much more that you can only get from doing it yourself. I also went from angle iron to tubing.

Very nice rig!

Looks great. Did I read you powder coated it? I'm planning my MoreBeer sculpture clone too. Shame they don't sell just stands. They're loosing out. If your interested in building another one plz let me know. Great job. I'm jealous.

DuffyBros said:

Looks great. Did I read you powder coated it? I'm planning my MoreBeer sculpture clone too. Shame they don't sell just stands. They're loosing out. If your interested in building another one plz let me know. Great job. I'm jealous.

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I just used a high temp primer and paint from lowes. I wanted something a bit nicer than regular black. Power coat would be a nice option as well.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday on brew-day. We did a Scrap Iron IPA recipe from Dennis Collins. It went great with no major surprises and even ended up with a few extra gallons due to a higher efficiency.

It's hard to see, but the boil kettle is at about 210 degrees and the chiller output is 68.



The Hop Stopper caught all of the hops nicely.

supercarbuilder said:

Here are some pictures I took yesterday on brew-day. We did a Scrap Iron IPA recipe from Dennis Collins. It went great with no major surprises and even ended up with a few extra gallons due to a higher efficiency.

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Nice! What did your efficiency turn out to be?

Setesh said:

Nice! What did your efficiency turn out to be?

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Came out to 78% I had BeerSmith calculated at 70% like the old stand. I'm also correcting for my grain crush. I have mine set a bit better than the local home brew shop so I get more efficiency that way as well.

Here are the beauties!

A very nice build! I love the design. Congratulations!

This is beautiful and basically exactly what id like to build. What is a good round number for the price tag on this ?

Shawnylocks said:

This is beautiful and basically exactly what id like to build. What is a good round number for the price tag on this ?

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Probably figure $2500 but I did the stand myself. Also you could save money on cheaper kettles and quick disconnects, things like that add up a ton. And 14 ball valves, off ebay though. :cross:

No automation? How difficult is it to manage the temps? This is how I am building my setup and am somewhat nervous

supercarbuilder said:

Probably figure $2500 but I did the stand myself. Also you could save money on cheaper kettles and quick disconnects, things like that add up a ton. And 14 ball valves, off ebay though. :cross:

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Thats not horrible. Kind of what I was expecting. All in due time hahaha. Thanks so much for the response.

How do the BG14 burners work with the 26 gallon Kettles? Does it take forever to bring them to a boil? I've seen so many different BTU ratings for those burners along with different high pressure/low pressure suggestions. Just curious.. I'm about to start the same build.

Also the wind shields/burner mounts from Accurate? Are those custom made? I've been waiting on brewershardware.com 12" version to come in stock but they said not till mid February. Anyways, looks great.. Good job. Here's my stand. Picking up Monday!

30Bones said:

No automation? How difficult is it to manage the temps? This is how I am building my setup and am somewhat nervous

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It's easy and I love it. I may upgrade to some automation but for now the price is right to do it manually. I wouldn't worry about doing it yourself.

Really nice. I like the way everything fits underneath and stuff. You probably named it already. But, if not, I was thinking of the name "transformer" because it's more than meets the eye. Awsome job.

DuffyBros said:

How do the BG14 burners work with the 26 gallon Kettles? Does it take forever to bring them to a boil? I've seen so many different BTU ratings for those burners along with different high pressure/low pressure suggestions. Just curious.. I'm about to start the same build.

Also the wind shields/burner mounts from Accurate? Are those custom made? I've been waiting on brewershardware.com 12" version to come in stock but they said not till mid February. Anyways, looks great.. Good job. Here's my stand. Picking up Monday!

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The burners are great, I have the high pressure 30 PSI regulator from Bayou Classic and it heats up as fast as a turkey fryer with 5 gal. The closest BTU that I found is 225,000 with the high pressure reg, where if you run the low pressure (with the low pressure orifice) you only get around 150,000 like a Blickmann.

The shields are custom made, accurate is a sheet metal company locally. Any shop can do it cheap though. I used 1/8 in sheeting that they rolled into the ring and welded. Then did the cutting and drilling my self.

1.5" or 2" tubing? I like your design with no middle supports = less steel

30Bones said:

1.5" or 2" tubing? I like your design with no middle supports = less steel

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Thanks, it's 1.5inx1.5in tubing

I see a lot of conflicting info on the BG-14 burners. These are cheap @ $33 but state up to 100k btus

http://www.agrisupply.com/product.a...1&zmap=64494&gclid=CP2asZTA-bsCFUtgMgod4y4AEA

I've seen tons of conflicting btu ratings on the BG14. Some at high pressure some at low pressure. IMO at high pressure it should be 220,000 btu with the right regulator setting. At low pressure I've seen both 60,000 and 70,000 btu ratings. I think it all depends on the regulator. But I'm no expert. Hope that helps.

30Bones said:

I see a lot of conflicting info on the BG-14 burners. These are cheap @ $33 but state up to 100k btus



http://www.agrisupply.com/product.a...1&zmap=64494&gclid=CP2asZTA-bsCFUtgMgod4y4AEA

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