My brewstand build

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Chrisl77

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Mar 25, 2011
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So I got inspired and decided to build A permanent brew rig instead of turkey fryers. I wanted to build a 2 tier with both burners up high and only have to use one pump. This is what I came up with so far.

brewstand2.jpg


The HLT will sit on the left burner and the BK will sit on the right burner with my 48 qt. mash tun in the middle. The plan is to gravity feed the hot water into the mash tun then use a pump to transfer the wort from the mashtun to the BK and recirculate through my chiller at the end.

Here is a close up of the one burner mount I have done so far. I still need to make the heat shield.
brewstand1.jpg
 
Lol ya that was my extension of the ground clamp for my welder I ran out of places i could get it clamped on.
 
The add is the parking spot for the garbage can. Maybe i should have turned it the other way. Anyways cant wait to get this built so i can brew some with it.
 
Its all painted ignore the zip ties holding the gas manifold on they are going to be replaced once i get some 1/2 inch pipe straps.
brewstand3.jpg

I hooked it upto an old regulator from a rusted out burner its only 10 psi and both burners crank out blue flames a good 8 inches high. I just have to get a new hose for it as the swivel connection at the manifold end leaks. Then the final step is to get the pump once i get some more funds.
 
While waiting on pumps to get back in stock so i can order one i have been contemplating how i want to plumb it in. I was leaning towards using 1/2 inch rigid copper to hard plumb most of the lines and using barb fittings and 1/2 inch thermoplastic tubing to make short connections to the pot and mashtun. Any other negatives to using copper other then it not being flexible?
 
Use silicone tubing for any hot liquids, use braided vinyl for high pressure (incoming water, chiller)
Make sure that your hard lines (copper) can be disassembled for servicing.
 
Just a little update heres a pic from my test of the heat shields to make sure the burners didn't melt my cooler.

brewstand4.jpg


I think i am going to have to sand the top of the towers and paint them with heat resistant paint. The red paint on the right one got a little scorched.
 
Nice design! You can always add an additional piece of sheet metal on either side of the cooler attached to the vertical frame tubes if there is still a little too much heat on it.
 
My march pump came in a day early Rebel brewer and fedex rock. Got most of the plumbing done now i just need to get another pot and install a drain and fill bulk head in it.

brewstand5.jpg
 
Love the stand actually I am going to make one similar to yours, with a castle look (high low high). In your process do you have a chart of work flow for your brew day. I can't seem to find one for such a set up, two high, one low and a single pump.
 
Wow, That looks soo nice! Wish I could weld! I do wood!

Could you explain your plumbing? Is your plumbing set to use just your bk as your hlt AND bk as we see it? I'm just getting into AG and trying to understand your set up.
 
I am going to get a 15 gallon BK the one in the pic is going to be my HLT that goes on the left side. That will dump into my mashtun by gravity. My plan is to open the 2 valves for the mashtun and valouf until i have clear runnings then close the valve dumping into the mashtun and open the valve for the BK. When the boil is done i will be able to recirculate through my chiller just by opening the 2 valves on BK. No disconnecting and reconnecting lines.
 
Getting close to the end. Got the switch for the pump mounted today and permanent brackets to mount the pump to the stand. All i really have left i cant do until i get my 15 gallon pot. Going to do my first brew Monday as is to test it out.

brewstand6.jpg
 
I've been watching this evolve for the past couple of weeks, great job on the build! I'm going to model my stand after this one! Again... great job!!!
 
I'm sure it's working out fine but one thing I think is odd to me is that you put the cooler in the middle. Well, no, I understand it. Most people think in terms of process or how the liquid flows... HLT to MLT to BK but they don't have to be in that order on the stand. It just seems that two high, then one low would keep the stand easier to build, stronger, and then the cooler wouldn't be subjected to heat on both sides. Just food for thought for anyone looking to clone the idea.

I'd also put a short run of silicone tubing between the MLT output and the pump but that's just me. I'd hate to have to undo two unions every brew day.
 
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