need some advice on rig setup

So im also looking in to AG brewing and have few questions regarding my future setup.
1. heat source, almost everyone is using propane here but i have natural gas line in my garage (i want to setup my rig there), should i go with NG (i would prefer that of course) or get the propane tank+burner, if NG is ok any recommendations on the burner??
2. Pot, i have 4gal SS that im using for extracts, i understand its not big enough so i have been looking for 10gal+ on CL but no luck so far, instead of i found few kegs (15gal) for $60-$80, should i get two kegs? (one for boiling one for mash/sparge water?), i would get bigger container for less money and i have a friend who will weld valve, measuring tube, thermometer for free (well for cut of my beer for sure
3. Im not sure about my rig setup, i want to do gravity so i dont have to buy a pump, so i see it as this:
-top shelf with burner and pot/keg for heating mash/sparge water
- mid shelf with mash tun (i will build it from the cooler)
- bottom shelf with burner and boiling pot/keg
- fermenter on the floor
im gona use CFC so i need some space between fermenter and boiling pot, how much of the space i need here?, is there any recommendation for distance between containers, how tall rig like that should be?, does it all make sense?
I will appreciate any suggestions,
Thanks

cciszew said:

So im also looking in to AG brewing and have few questions regarding my future setup.
1. heat source, almost everyone is using propane here but i have natural gas line in my garage (i want to setup my rig there), should i go with NG (i would prefer that of course) or get the propane tank+burner, if NG is ok any recommendations on the burner??
2. Pot, i have 4gal SS that im using for extracts, i understand its not big enough so i have been looking for 10gal+ on CL but no luck so far, instead of i found few kegs (15gal) for $60-$80, should i get two kegs? (one for boiling one for mash/sparge water?), i would get bigger container for less money and i have a friend who will weld valve, measuring tube, thermometer for free (well for cut of my beer for sure
3. Im not sure about my rig setup, i want to do gravity so i dont have to buy a pump, so i see it as this:
-top shelf with burner and pot/keg for heating mash/sparge water
- mid shelf with mash tun (i will build it from the cooler)
- bottom shelf with burner and boiling pot/keg
- fermenter on the floor
im gona use CFC so i need some space between fermenter and boiling pot, how much of the space i need here?, is there any recommendation for distance between containers, how tall rig like that should be?, does it all make sense?
I will appreciate any suggestions,
Thanks

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If you're interested in using NG, I would go with banjo burners. Most of them are build for either/or. If you're automating it, just make sure you use solenoid valves that can handle NG.

In my opinion, kegs are the cheapest way to go. They're stainless, plus they have a perfect volume for 10 gallon batches. Just make sure your cooler MLT has enough room for what you typically brew.

As for your distance between kegs...as long as you have a good pickup tube in each of your kettles, you shouldn't have a problem creating a siphon. So...if we're talking distance between the MLT and kettle...you'd want the water line in the kettle (when it's full) to be below the water line in the MLT. Does that make sense?

Thanks a lot, i will be looking for NG burner and cheap kegs then. Im not gona try to automate right now, my wife will say im crazy when i will show up with kegs, i have to familiarize her to my homebrewing expansion gradually

cciszew said:

Thanks a lot, i will be looking for NG burner and cheap kegs then. Im not gona try to automate right now, my wife will say im crazy when i will show up with kegs, i have to familiarize her to my homebrewing expansion gradually

Click to expand...

If you can score me some BEARS Tickets I can score you as many new Kegs are need.

redrider736 said:

If you can score me some BEARS Tickets I can score you as many new Kegs are need.

Click to expand...

I think transportation could be problematic

I was sort of saving this design for my rig but if you like you are welcome to try it. I would also like to have different levels so I can transport hot liquor and runnings by gravity but I don't want the awkward shaped stand so I was thinking about making adjustable legs that I could raise each individual platform to transfer liquids but then still be able to have a full level surface when I'm not brewing or between rests.

Tinga said:

I was sort of saving this design for my rig but if you like you are welcome to try it. I would also like to have different levels so I can transport hot liquor and runnings by gravity but I don't want the awkward shaped stand so I was thinking about making adjustable legs that I could raise each individual platform to transfer liquids but then still be able to have a full level surface when I'm not brewing or between rests.

Click to expand...

I was thinking about similar system but when i got in to details i realize it would be probably easier to get a pump, particular i was concern about safety aspect of moving up and down 80lbs of boiling liquids. I think i will just start with 3 shelves bench on wheels with 2 burners and maybe piping with quick connector for NG

I took a first step in AG brewing direction and bought 2 kegs from CL ($60) and ordered 2 NG burners ($64 with shipping), now i have to work out details for a stand


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looks like one is 15 gal size but the other is 50L=13.2 gal, i guess smaler one i will use as a HLT

I converted to NG last year. I also bought a Sabco frame which had burners with the proper jets. I still had to drill out the jets since our gas pressure is pretty low (4" water column). I love it and will never run out of gas during a brew again! Not sure of what burners to use, but they definitely have larger orifices in the jets to accomodate low pressure gas flow.

I use converted Sanke kegs. They are 15 gallons and work great, but are 29 lbs with nothing in them. Cleaning my mash tun with 15-20 lbs of wet grain plus the 30 lb keg gets tedious. I may convert to nice Blichmann pots some day just to save the back.

I have always used a pump so I can recirc the wort and keep mash temps consistent throughout. I also recently added a controller so the temp is now perfectly stable. My neighbor had a gravity rig and added a pump so he could recirc too. The gravity rigs are taller so consider that a tall rig plus a 2 foot keg on top may give you clearance problems as you move it around.

This is an awesome frame but i can not afford it right now, i got 23 jet NG burners for chinese woks and i will try to setup everything in a modular way so i can change configurations as needed and as founds allow me (so start with gravity system and change to pump later)

It has been a while but with 1 year old, wife and demanding job i dont have much time left for a hobby, anyway this is my semifinal setup:



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I ended up with cooler as a mash tun (3 burners was just too much) and im using natural gas, i will try to test drive it with hot water next saturday and if everything is fine then is brewing time
Btw im looking for simple all grain recipe for first time AG brewer, appreciate any suggestions
Also many thanks to multiple members of this forum, i got a lot of ideas and number of "blueprints" for most elements of my setup, special thanks to Bobby M for great topic on burners modifications

I just finished my first all grain, i went for sweet stout and hym i dont know proly because i like to change things around i ... changed things a bit
my original recipe was for simply sweet stout from:
http://***********/stories/recipeindex/article/recipes/114-stout/2378-simply-sweet-stout
but because i was going for 10gal batch i double more or less everything so 13lbs of 2 row + 1 lb of roasted barley + 1 lb of dark crystal 90lb
so 15lbs of grain on my corona mill with cordless drill, i dump all of it in converted cooler and soaked with 5.5 gal of water at (looking at my notes) 175F for 90 min, after that i got 153 F in the cooler->drain, woorlof ect, in to boiling pot and soaked remaining grains with 3 gal of H2O at 170 for 10min (i got 163 after that 10 min)-> another 3gal at 167 or so in the cooler for 10 min-> i got 166 after 10min
Then i started boiling and took OG of hot liquid and it showed scary 1.24,,, hym it supposed to be 1.41..... damn not good... but i have 3lbs of light extract, ordered by mistake, so it goes in to the boiling pot, then 3oz of hops( great hops, with citrus scent and much more) 1oz at 45min 1oz at 30 and 1 at 15min and 1 lb of lactose, +after 60min of boiling i run my extract through counter flow chiller in to fermenting buckets (OG in the bucket 1.54_-> added yeast starter and waiting now)
Thats it, i will see in 2 weeks