Steel Horse Brewing 3 tier build and brewery pics

Finally finished my 3 tier build and have run two 5 gal batches through it. Have worked out most of the bugs and ready for 10 gal batches. Below are pics of the 3 tier build and the rest of my home brewery cheers!

The basic frame work

Taking shape

Tippy grain dump system

Counter flow chiller build - used Bobby M plans




Finished chiller installed in 3 tier with house water pre chiller

Natural Gas run to the garage & new burner testing

Finished 3 tier with diamond plate installed





Chiller box with connections

Sink installed in garage. Notice how it fits nicely under the bench, but pulls out for use.




Actual brewing in action

Down to the basement for grain storage, fermentation, bottling, kegging happens


Fermentation chamber

First lager in fermentation stage


And finally the serving unit

Currently brew in the garage, then flow the wort through the chiller and down to my basement where I ferment. First batch was an Oatmeal Stout that was pretty thick adn it was difficult to get to flow down to the basement. Yesterday brewed a lager and used a march pump and the wort flew down to the basement with just a couple of hits to the power on the pump ( Thanks J & K for the use of the pump). A special thanks to several members of the Rock Hopper Brew Club out of Castle Rock CO for ides and tolerating all of my questions. Also thanks to my dad (the old guy in the pics doing the welding) for all the help building the 3 tier! Any questions on the garage sink drain set up,( ability to move ity in & out from under the bench) let me know I can always post more pics if needed.

I'd like to see more pics of your sink setup, that is a great way to save floor space for cars.

The sink is a Home Depot two tub model. I bolted it to the rolling base constructed out of angle iron & diamond plate. Water connections from the house are basic ball valve out of the wall that stub into whashing maching 10' hoses



They connect to the sink


I core drilled a hole through the foundation of the garage wall. There is crawl space under the house adjacent to the garage wall.



I ran a 3" drain line up to the foundation wall. Then using the rubber reduction fitting above ran a 10' long piece of 2" into the 3" main drain.


I left the hose clamp on the 2" rubber reducer loose so that the 2" line slides in & out of the 3" line.



Add a little lubricant and it works great!

Beautiful setup you have there. Gives me a few ideas of my own, gotta love the DIY threads.

Great work, and great looking setup (love the New Belgium keg too )

cyberbackpacker said:

Great work, and great looking setup (love the New Belgium keg too )

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I actually bought the kegs from New Belgium for $15.00 a piece. They were dead kegs they had lying around. Besides the 90 mile drive up to Fort Collins it was a pretty good deal & they are legal as well. :rockin:

VERY nice work! Your garage rocks. Looks like some nice toys in there too. What kind of chopper is that?

Brew-ta-sauraus said:

I actually bought the kegs from New Belgium for $15.00 a piece. They were dead kegs they had lying around. Besides the 90 mile drive up to Fort Collins it was a pretty good deal & they are legal as well. :rockin:

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plus you got to go to new belgium...

nice work on the system!

-TH- said:

VERY nice work! Your garage rocks. Looks like some nice toys in there too. What kind of chopper is that?

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2006 Big Dog k-9. Hence the name Steel Horse Brewing Company. I didn't think it was visable in the pics previously posted. I will see if I can find & post some better pics of the brewerys name sake.

That's excellent work. The diamond plating gives it that extra sparkle.

Do you have a LIFT in your garage?

You're my hero in 18 different ways.

I just ran natural gas into my garage brewery. What burners are you using and where did you get them. I am in the process of finding parts to build my system to go in the new garage.

Brew-ta, very nice setup. Be careful with that side swing tippy dump. It seems like if it were full of wet grain, it has the potential to topple the stand. I mean, just be careful because you might actually want to clean the tun while you're boiling and that would be bad, mmmkay. Duh, you know that.

My only other comment (only to benefit those copying your design) is that you could have compressed the overall height by a few inches if headroom is a concern. You only need the next tier up to be high enough for the drain to make it over the lower vessel. If you're willing to put an "in" port in the next lower vessel, the height difference can be even less. Finally, with a pump in the plans, the BK doesn't have to be high enough to gravity drain to a fermenter. With all those considerations, it's possible to keep the MLT at a height to stir the mash while standing on the ground.

Don't take this stuff as criticism, just potential alternatives in design. The sculpture is awesome.

Holy crap, I just noticed you used the 32 tip burners. That's more heat than the space shuttle's main engine burn.

With that tippy dump, a cool way to prevent the rig from tipping over while cleaning out the grain would be to make a shelf that slides of flips out and locks into place. It would serve a dual purpose as a step and side support.

Was there a set of plans you followed for this build? Why a keg for the MLT instead of a cooler?

Thanks,

Crap I wasnt notified of all the replies sorry guy I will try to answer your questions in the threads to follow.

For those that are interested below is the Big Dog chopper the brewery is named after.

cprincipe said:

Do you have a LIFT in your garage?

You're my hero in 18 different ways.

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Negative, I looked into buying one but cant' justify the cost. If you saw a lift in my earlier photos, thats my dad's lift in his garage.

Aubie Stout said:

Was there a set of plans you followed for this build? Why a keg for the MLT instead of a cooler?

Thanks,

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No plans actual written plans, just used measurements I got from other brewers 3 tier units. If you need any measurements or pics of other 3 tiers let me know I have both.

blackheart said:

I just ran natural gas into my garage brewery. What burners are you using and where did you get them. I am in the process of finding parts to build my system to go in the new garage.

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I used these burners


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/200-000-btu-natural-gas-burner-14742/#post137905

I was going to go with the small, but they were backordered so I ended up buying the Medium and figured i would have to emply Bobby M's trick of removing some of the jets. As it worked out I ran 1/2 gas line to the garage from the basement. The burners work perfect out of the box. My guess is since my house is a newer home I must have a hell of a regulator on my main gass line as the line from the meter to the furnace is 1 1/2 inch. I tapped in right at the furnace at 1/2 inch. When I have a single burner on full blast it burns great, but if I turn on a 2nd or 3rd burner at the same time my BTU's drop per burner. A buddy of mine has the small burners and ran 3/4 " gas line. His burners are like a jet engine so much so that he has very little control of heat output (either on or off).

Bobby_M said:

Brew-ta, very nice setup. Be careful with that side swing tippy dump. It seems like if it were full of wet grain, it has the potential to topple the stand. I mean, just be careful because you might actually want to clean the tun while you're boiling and that would be bad, mmmkay. Duh, you know that.

My only other comment (only to benefit those copying your design) is that you could have compressed the overall height by a few inches if headroom is a concern. You only need the next tier up to be high enough for the drain to make it over the lower vessel. If you're willing to put an "in" port in the next lower vessel, the height difference can be even less. Finally, with a pump in the plans, the BK doesn't have to be high enough to gravity drain to a fermenter. With all those considerations, it's possible to keep the MLT at a height to stir the mash while standing on the ground.

Don't take this stuff as criticism, just potential alternatives in design. The sculpture is awesome.

Holy crap, I just noticed you used the 32 tip burners. That's more heat than the space shuttle's main engine burn.

Click to expand...

No criticism take Bobby, and thanks for posting your web site and all the useful info I pulled from it i.e. quick disconnet info, chiller build plans etc. I agree with you on the tippy dump (I think I copied that from your stand as well). I have not used the tippy dump yet. Still need an earthquake starp to secure it and living in CO, they don't sell them here. Going to CA in July where I know EQ straps are code so I will pick one up then. I will be careful wehn i use it the first time.

Regarding compressing the height, original plan was not to use a pump at all. I wanted to go gravity all the way ( and save myself the $150 pump as well) down to my basement. I based my tier heights on the kegs with a little head pressure built in. I really didnt look at the drain into a fermenter as an issue. Best laid plans!!! I am sure folks could go lower with overall height and still make it work. I find that with the restriction of the quick disconnects it slows flow regardless of height. Oh well first brew rig build always has some bugs. After building this one, I bought a wire welder so I can always mod it up down the road.

Any additional information you can forward me would be fantastic. I need to get something done and I like the tier concept.

Aubie, Pm me your e-mail address and I will send you all the links, pics & measurements I have for all that is 3 tier.

Brew

Just curious, where did you get the plastic sink in #8?

Cheers,
Dude

Home depot

What is your burner distance to the bottom of your kettles? Just wondering how to set mine. My new build is almost the same as yours. I bought the 23 tip burners. I often wondered about making something easily adjustable for going full when you want to get your strike water up to temp quickly and then being able to adjust closer to your kettle for small flame adjustment. Maybe I'm over thinking it. The build looks great. I can't wait to get mine in operation.

Brew-ta-sauraus said:

I used these burners


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/200-000-btu-natural-gas-burner-14742/#post137905

I was going to go with the small, but they were backordered so I ended up buying the Medium and figured i would have to emply Bobby M's trick of removing some of the jets. As it worked out I ran 1/2 gas line to the garage from the basement. The burners work perfect out of the box. My guess is since my house is a newer home I must have a hell of a regulator on my main gass line as the line from the meter to the furnace is 1 1/2 inch. I tapped in right at the furnace at 1/2 inch. When I have a single burner on full blast it burns great, but if I turn on a 2nd or 3rd burner at the same time my BTU's drop per burner. A buddy of mine has the small burners and ran 3/4 " gas line. His burners are like a jet engine so much so that he has very little control of heat output (either on or off).

Click to expand...

Couldn't he restrict the gas with a simple ball or needle valve? In one of the pictures I see alot of orange in the flame. Is that with both burners on? Lots of BTU's don't mean much if they are not burning efficiently.

Sawdustguy said:

Couldn't he restrict the gas with a simple ball or needle valve? In one of the pictures I see alot of orange in the flame. Is that with both burners on? Lots of BTU's don't mean much if they are not burning efficiently.

Click to expand...

A friend of mine owns a HVAC company. He told me I would have to run a
3/4" line to my rig to be able to reach the specified BTU output for the burner. Eventhough the burner takes 1/2". I'm going to run 3/4" to all my burners and put a bell reducer going into the burner. I have the 23 tip 140,000 BTU burners and wish I had bought the small 10 tip model.

Dog House Brew said:

What is your burner distance to the bottom of your kettles? Just wondering how to set mine. My new build is almost the same as yours. I bought the 23 tip burners. I often wondered about making something easily adjustable for going full when you want to get your strike water up to temp quickly and then being able to adjust closer to your kettle for small flame adjustment. Maybe I'm over thinking it. The build looks great. I can't wait to get mine in operation.

Click to expand...

Doghouse sorry it's taken me a bit to respond it was a busy week I just measured and I have 41/4 inches between my keg bottom & the top of the burner tip. i have found after a little break in time that the burners burn a little to orange adn they leave a small amount of soot on the bottom of the keg. Before my next brew I plan to move them up 1 to 2" to see if I get a better burn. I use 1/2" ball valves for adjustability and that works great. I can adjust down to a low simmer or turn on full for boil. POst some pics of your build when you get it done.

Dog House Brew said:

A friend of mine owns a HVAC company. He told me I would have to run a
3/4" line to my rig to be able to reach the specified BTU output for the burner. Eventhough the burner takes 1/2". I'm going to run 3/4" to all my burners and put a bell reducer going into the burner. I have the 23 tip 140,000 BTU burners and wish I had bought the small 10 tip model.

Click to expand...

See my post above regarding the need for burner height adjustment. As noted in a earlier post a co-brewer of mine has 3/4" line run to his garage. He has the small burners and his burn like a jet engine. Very little adjustabilty even with ball valves. I used 1/2 pipe becasue I was concerned about to much heat and no adjability. But to much is always better then not enough.