Show us your sculpture or brew rig

boothbrew said:

Thanks Lil' Sparky!

I got the material from the container store for a pretty decent price.

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I never would have thought those shelving units were strong enough to hold all that weight.

I bought commercial grade stuff from the container store.

FSR402 said:

I never would have thought those shelving units were strong enough to hold all that weight.

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FSR402 said:

I never would have thought those shelving units were strong enough to hold all that weight.

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You could always weld it in place

boothbrew said:

Not as fancy as Nate's but it does the job.
Nice sculpture Nate, you've got the real deal!

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Thanks man... your rig is very nice too.

Here is mine. Only one burner at the moment so the boil kettle acts as a holding unit until I have added the water for the last batch sparge.


Side View/Storage Mode



Ready for use (sorry for the fuzzy pic)

10 gallon Rubbermaid HERMS... Inaugural brew was today!

The most expensive part...

This is now a Herms system along with a second MLT and HLT. This is so I can mash 2 beers in 1 brew day.enjoy!

boothbrew said:

Thanks Lil' Sparky!

I got the material from the container store for a pretty decent price.

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Inspiration has been born!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks booth. Gonna barrow from your setup and add my own little twist. Stopped by Lowes to night to do some recon and it's gonna work like a charm.

The Pol said:

The most expensive part...

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What is that stir motor from?

blaze379 said:

What is that stir motor from?

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https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/new-10-gallon-herms-pics-76773/

blaze379 said:

What is that stir motor from?

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It is an AC Gearmotor from McMaster Carr. It isn't really "from" anything. It is 100RPM at the shaft with an integral fan to cool the motor... these motors will not survive without cooling. I tried different motors from different things, and they all burnt up with continuous use and no way to cool them.

Well this is how far I have gotten in my brew rig build. I should have this weekend and it will be done. I am scheduled to brew the following weekend so I need to get it done. I have only spent about 2 weeks actually doing work on it, so its been a blast.

Picasa Web Albums - Kevin - Brew Station

It's not a brewstand yet but it will be...two tier, for sure, with big wheels.
My real question is that I notice in two tier stands their tends to be three different setups. One looks like this __-, one looks like this _--, and one looks like this _-_. Can anyone discuss the advantages or reasons for these different setups?

You'll use gravity to either move from HLT->MLT or from the MLT->BK. The pump will be used for the one you don't use gravity. I don't think there's really any difference in the difference. Personally I'd want as much of it as low as possible, so option 1 and 3 appeal to me the most. FYI - if you batch sparge, there's no reason you can't do a single tier and keep it all low.

I'm torn on that one. I really like the idea of gravity draining out of the MLT because you can sometimes pump too fast and lose siphon. However, I don't like the idea of having the MLT up on the higher tier because it makes stirring a pain in the butt.

OK, I'm finally ready to start showing mine off... This is from a test run of it this evening - it is not yet 100% complete. Here is the thread I've started to discuss it: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/deep-six-brewing-system-v2-0-a-79435/

Sculpture building aborted due to a deal from Craigslist too good to pass up for now....so here it is, my brand new, just brought home this evening, three tier extra heavy duty brew stand...



And for scaling purposes in this next picture, I'm 6'2" 280#.


It's dimensions are...
22" wide and 60" long and each tier is 20" long, then each one is...
Top tier 53"
Middle tier 30.5"
Bottom tier 10"

The whole thing is built from 2" heavy gauge tube steel and the platforms are "expanded steel" I didn't know what this was but now I see it's the really heavy duty steel mesh...the guy that I bought it from said he was just firing his burners right through the grate.

TerapinChef said:

Sculpture building aborted due to a deal from Craigslist too good to pass up for now....so here it is, my brand new, just brought home this evening, three tier extra heavy duty brew stand...

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I almost emailed the guy on this today, darn being busy at work and I couldn't snag that one, oh well, looks like I get to build my own

I'm in the early stages of planning the good old erector set style 3 tier 10 gallon. I'm hoping to make it partially collapsible. Updates and pictures to follow.

Kevin; that's a clean looking stand congrats plus the help you had from
"The Power Of Blue".
The 1"x 2" tube is plenty strong but I have a question. Why did you settle on having the kettles resting on the weak side instead of the strong side of the rectangle tube for your frame? Don't get me wrong it's a simple and clean design overall.

BrewBeemer said:

Kevin; that's a clean looking stand congrats plus the help you had from
"The Power Of Blue".
The 1"x 2" tube is plenty strong but I have a question. Why did you settle on having the kettles resting on the weak side instead of the strong side of the rectangle tube for your frame? Don't get me wrong it's a simple and clean design overall.

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First let me say thanks for the feed back, I really appreciate it.

The question of weak side vs strong side. More of a two response answer really.

1. Surface Area was the main concern for the kettles to sit on, they are 16.5 inches up top and just under 13 at the bottom of the kettle.
2. This is not a seriously load rated device that will be stressed beyond a few hundred pounds. Although I have been told we get enough beers in us we are going to try and ride it down this really big in the hood here. So you never know I guess. But mostly the first response.

So the next design will have some mode to it, But I am going to brew on this for a while first. Calculate and change it up. First thing I have to change is overall widths. I might even do this wth this stand. We will see. :rockin:

Do I understand correctly that the kettles are just a little larger than the frame design and to prevent the kettles from falling thru if not centered on the frame? Four short pieces of 3/4" long by 1/2" angle iron to lock the kettles in position on the frame needed?

waterkc said:

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Very nice. Well done!

Coastarine said:

I'm in the early stages of planning the good old erector set style 3 tier 10 gallon. I'm hoping to make it partially collapsible. Updates and pictures to follow.

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What is the brand/source you used? Doable for a single tier system?

GilaMinumBeer said:

It's a work in progress. Here it is on the first day of the build. The burners mount on clips directly below the kegs. The project is nearly complete and is scheduled to brew on saturday.

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So...are you Malay or Indonesian? And should'nt it be "GilaMinumBir?"

Man that is a very cool idea, I have a buddy that wanted to take on a more store-able type lay out. So this is where here was heading also. What a blast huh!

Here is my rig which got its first use today. That's Bee Cave IPA mashing. I really need a freakin sight glass.


Not a super clear picture, but you can see the counter space I built in, the white RV hose which splits and has valves to go to the HLT and the CFC, the extension cord/built-in (zip tied in) power strip, and the aluminum flashing windgaurd. Also the assistant brewer. She's new but fitting right in. She got her first taste of spent grain tonight mixed in with her evening kibble, and she wouldn't stop licking the bowl after it was gone. She loves that stuff!

Huh. Looks great. I never thought of feeding a bit of spent grain to my dogs...anybody else do this?

TerapinChef said:

Huh. Looks great. I never thought of feeding a bit of spent grain to my dogs...anybody else do this?

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A lot of people, actually. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/what-do-you-do-your-used-grains-76640/

I don't plan on ever giving her more than about a cup because I don't really want to know what that would do to what comes out the other end.

Hi guys, just built a new two tier system and converted the kegs myself. I am a bit concerned because I filled them with water and opened the valves only to find that they don't drain all the way to the bottom of the pickup tubes. They drain below the bulkhad but still leave almost 2 gal of water. I checked everything to make sure it was tight and don't perceive any air getting into the line/ joint/ bulkeads.

Any other perceived problems??? Open to suggestions, I would imagine pump will provide suction enough to drain more, but haven't hooked up yet.

When you did that, did you have any kind of tube on the output of the valve? You need to have a tube on there that ends below the bottom of the pickup tube in order to get a siphon, which is how the pickup tube works.

Duh,

Now I really feel stupid!!! I took fluid mechanics in college so I should have realized this. I just had a street L coming off my ball valve, I bet I was a short nipple away!

I can't keep one of my dogs out of the compost pile. She'll munch on the freshly dumped spent grains and I can sure tell the next day that she was in the grains.

Some might be prettier to look at yet, but once you build one of these you will fall in love with it along the way.

I'm picking up odds and ends this week and hope to finish her all up within 2 weeks for an inaugural brew some time around new years.

Your image isn't working. Here you go.

Holy crap that's a nice one!
Just realized I never posted a painted pic once I got done working on mine. Adding a second burner and some gas plumbing this winter...hopefully.

ThickHead said:

So...are you Malay or Indonesian? And should'nt it be "GilaMinumBir?"

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Malay and, Nah. We butcher all languages equally.

My new diggs. Set to deliver in January.