Show Me Your Wood Brew Sculpture/Rig

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Might as well add mine to the mix. This is built with some left over deck materials. I could probably park a car on it...

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Might as well add mine to the mix. This is built with some left over deck materials. I could probably park a car on it...

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Mine is similar to this one. When I get finished painting it and get the casters mounted, I'll take some pics.

Though, I might wait until I get the pump and wiring mounted.

:D
 
Looks good to me :mug:

What type of casters did you use. I need to put some on mine as moving it without them is a royal pain, even with the neighbors help. :D

They're 2" casters that I got from Menards, rated at 90lb each. The 4 on the corners have brakes on them so it won't move while I'm brewing, and the 4 in the middle are just regular ones.
 
Here is a shot of mine in action last weekend. Still working on mounting the pump and a plumbing plan. All pumps/plumbing needs to be able to come off because it gets stored in the shed and it gets cold in NE.

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I'll share too...

Mine's based roughly on the design at http://www.breweryconstructionguide.com, though I went single tier and I added a distribution manifold above the whole rig. I also had to work with metric sizes, since I built this thing in Germany, buying most of the hardware from the US via the internet.

I do have to say, that first day, I had vivid images of "The Towering Inferno" running through my head... but 40+ batches later, the wood is still in GREAT shape - it NEVER even gets warm.

I do have to admit, though... I get a little wood when I see the stainless steel sculptures that others spend their days in front of... if I could only TIG weld...

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I'll share too...

Mine's based roughly on the design at http://www.breweryconstructionguide.com, though I went single tier and I added a distribution manifold above the whole rig. I also had to work with metric sizes, since I built this thing in Germany, buying most of the hardware from the US via the internet.

I do have to say, that first day, I had vivid images of "The Towering Inferno" running through my head... but 40+ batches later, the wood is still in GREAT shape - it NEVER even gets warm.

I do have to admit, though... I get a little wood when I see the stainless steel sculptures that others spend their days in front of... if I could only TIG weld...

DSCN5161.jpg

Dude that is SWEET - I'd take tat over a SS rig any day!
 
Namako...What are those glass bulb looking things at the top of your rig in the pic?

Well, I'd love to tell you, but it's classified, and I'd have to .... ah, never mind!!

They're the backyard outdoor lights peeking over top of the stand, completely unaffiliated with the stand itself. Just lights... ;')

I'm TERRIBLE at photo composition... you should see all the stuff I have sticking out of my wife's head!! :D

Namako
 
Ok, so all of the 3 tier versions seem to be the "step" set up.
Has anyone one made a single mast "tree" out of wood? It is what I want to build, but i would like to see some ideas before i get started.

It will be all shelves, no burners, the kettles will be electric, and I want all gravity.

Tim
 
If built properly I don't see why it wouldn't work. I'd start with a nice straight clean 6x6 for the 'trunk' and go from there. I'm sure you can get wide range of unique lumber over in Belgium too.
 
I will be using a local playground supply to source my lumber.
I will start with 120mm square post as the trunk (4.7 inches).

I will use an "H" pattern for the base, should not be too tough, gonna lag and carriage bolt it all together, except the shelves will just be screwed in.
 
I just made one out of lumber, but I ended up with the 3 tier step design. I was going to use the single mast design as you stated, but when I started to design it, it became a little complicated and a little too tall because I'm using keggles and I needed enough clearance from the top of the bottom boil keggle to the top shelf which would hold my HLT keggle (these would be directly over one another) to account for all of the steam and such from the boil keggle. Plus, I'm using SQ14 burners, so that's additional height. Also, I need to roll mine from my back woodshop through a set of double doors into my garage. With a single mast design, I would needed to tilt mine back to get it through the doors. With my step tier design, I can just roll it through. All that is left on mine is a nice coat of Spar Varnish. It turned out pretty sweet, but I'll post it soon as I have everything complete. I had to retorque all of the bolts about 2 months later after I originally completed it because the lumber dried considerably since I bought it. I needed it to dry anyways since I'm going to coat everything with Spar Varnish.
 
I thought about a single tree trunk type of design but got nervous about the amount of weight possibly unbalancing as water was moved around. 3 empty kegs but with 15-20 gallons of boiling hot water and hot mash moving from front to side to back, etc. inserting and removing kegs and pots to clean and replace them

Risk is 10+ gallons of boiling napalm, hot mash remains and a couple hot propane cookers still burning and attached to heat sources by rubber hoses that can get cut by hot, sharp metal.

Hm. I decided wider is better.
 
I thought about a single tree trunk type of design but got nervous about the amount of weight possibly unbalancing as water was moved around. 3 empty kegs but with 15-20 gallons of boiling hot water and hot mash moving from front to side to back, etc. inserting and removing kegs and pots to clean and replace them

Risk is 10+ gallons of boiling napalm, hot mash remains and a couple hot propane cookers still burning and attached to heat sources by rubber hoses that can get cut by hot, sharp metal.

Hm. I decided wider is better.

...and you summed up VERY well why I went with a single wooden tier and just bought a couple of $100 pumps off of eBay. I'm old, I'm slow, and I have the reaction time of a sea cucumber... if I start hearing any wood creaking or cracking, even I can still stumble clear of the stand before I get a hot bath....
 
...and you summed up VERY well why I went with a single wooden tier and just bought a couple of $100 pumps off of eBay. I'm old, I'm slow, and I have the reaction time of a sea cucumber... if I start hearing any wood creaking or cracking, even I can still stumble clear of the stand before I get a hot bath....

Dude, your rig is sweet, I love the wood.
I have not built my final sculpture yet.
I like what you did and, when not in use, the top "windscreen" can be use to hang your long tools and keep them out of the grasp of the kids.

BTW, checked out your location, I used to live in the Area of the Hinodecho down near Umikaze Park back in the 80's.
 
That "windscreen" you mentioned started out to be just a place for me to put a NAME on the rig - I even had wooden letters cut. But then I changed my mind, and now as you say, it's a place to hang stuff to dry, and will soon be where I hang the control panel, once its done. It is handy, that's for sure!
 
Well, your post kept me up all night, now I can't stay awake here at work...lol
But I think I have decided to modify my design. still using an upright and not a step design, but will mount the shelves between two mast instead of one.

Tim
 
My first attempt at a 3-tiered rig. Made 3 separate sections for better mobility. Still had to put wheels on the first and second tiers. It's heavy as hell. I really need to learn to weld. :cross:

Anyway, it's nothing fancy, but hopefully it can get the job done. Action shots to come soon!

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Here is a shot of mine in action last weekend. Still working on mounting the pump and a plumbing plan. All pumps/plumbing needs to be able to come off because it gets stored in the shed and it gets cold in NE.

DSCN0562.jpg

what is the pump used for in this rig if someone could help me out. i have a gravity fed rig and was just wondering. thanks
 
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