Brew Table Design

Hey all, I am about to start the build for my counter / lab table, and am looking for some pointers from people that have been brewing for a while.

I am planning on building it out of wood, and I have already bought 8" heavy duty casters to put it on, but I have a few questions on the size for usability. Technically I believe you only need to have the table as deep as one of the kettles, however, I am wondering if a 6"additional ledge would be useful for setting things on, such as your stir stick or what-have-you.

If you had to do yours all over again, what would you do to make it perfect?

Pics of your existing solution are a plus!

I used a surplus lab table that my employer was getting rid of for my brew stand. It's deeper than a kettlle, but not by much. I do have space on the table and almost always have something or other sitting there; refractometer, spoon, sanitizer spray bottle, pint of beer, etc. Not a ton of space, but room enough for those things.

Leaving yourself with zero space might be inconvenient.

Definitely give yourself some wiggle room. One thing you really want to think about though - if you plan to have casters on it, you'll be moving it - build it wide enough or short enough to reduce the risk of it tipping over while you're pushing it about - especially if you store the kettles on it while moving or, heaven forbid - move it with full kettles. Tip over is a bad deal.

The DIY forum has tons of threads on building stands - multil-level, single level, ghetto, awesome, welded, weldless metal, wood, you name it. Odds are you can find an example of exactly what you want by searching some of those threads.

I have been looking, and seen some that I like, but I figure I would also ask here as most of those are for gas systems.

Also, always good to learn from other people mistakes.

How the kettles are heated has a lot less to do with the table design than how you want to brew. Sure, you can't build a stand out of wood if you're going gas, but what you need to think about is how you get the liquids around. Do you want a 3 tier so you can use gravity for everything, or a 2 tier to get some gravity help, or a single tier so everything is easily accessible but needs to be pumped around (or moved manually)?

If you can afford it, I'd recommend staying on a single tier with 2 pumps (assuming you're doing HERMS).

I have 2 pumps and the Herms tube all set, haven't started plumbing yet. I am planning on a single-tier design.

I was going to build something, but then I discovered craigslist restaurant supply ads. 4', 6', 8' stainless steel commercial heavy duty prep tables all day long. Got my 6' one for $100 and done. Wouldn't do it different. Easy to clean, it holds way more weight than I will need and casters can be installed.

poor table pic

If you just like to build stuff, I would suggest leaving a nice gap between each vessel. It's handy to have the space for the things mentioned before.

I built mine from Unistrut. Feel free to check out the thread below for ideas.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-weldless-build-using-strut-363128/

How about a laminate counter top? Cheap, effective, and water resistant.
Standard counter depth is 24".

I've been looking for a stainless sink and have came across some really nice stainless tables that would be great for brew stands in the used restaurant equipment sector (look on craigslist or local stores). They will end up close to the same price as building your own out of wood (with stain if you go that route).