Opinions from people that own brew stands/would like one...

Trying to get some information on what people like, don't like and would like when it comes to a brew stand. As some of you know I'm finishing up my last semester of Engineering school and for our senior design project we're going to make a 3 kettle brew stand rockin. We'd like to get some opinions, comments, concerns, etc from people that own a stand or are looking to purchase a stand.

Any information you can give will help us design a better stand. A few things off the top of my head are: height/length/width, collapsabilty, propane/NG, burner BTU output, frame material, automatic temperature controlled, PRICE RANGE.

Thanks in advance and happy brewing!

Hey Ben... no help here...
But I wish you well and hope the best for your business. :rockin:

My first was a three keggle, three tier gravity system, small footprint and cheap... I am finishing up a two tier with one pump and eventually ad a rims tube. Have brewed a couple batches and can say I love the two tier due to height and ease of moving kegs for cleanup

OneHoppyGuy said:

Hey Ben... no help here...
But I wish you well and hope the best for your business. :rockin:

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Not trying to infringe (Maybe the thread will even help you guys out)

The university is funding it and I can't think of a more fun project to work on for the next 4 months.

I would say my top 2 things would be collapsabilty and weight. I don't have a garage I can store a brew stand in...and I would have to carry it up from the basement. I can't be alone.

mors said:

I would say my top 2 things would be collapsabilty and weight. I don't have a garage I can store a brew stand in...and I would have to carry it up from the basement. I can't be alone.

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Something that collapses flat with wheels on one end and handles on the other like a dolly would be great for storing/moving.

Nobody else owns a stand or plans on getting one? Maybe I should give away a pump

When considering a pre-built brew stand I bought the Blichmann Top Tier because:

1) Cheapest pre-built stand out there by far.
2) Allowed me to use my existing kettles (looking at you MoreBeer).
3) Completely modular/customizable that can grow with me. If for some reason it stops meeting my needs, I'm not out a ton of dough (see #1).
4) Small footprint to fit in my overly crowded garage.
5) Somewhat mobile.

I seriously considered building one myself but I know how I am and scope creep would pretty much guarantee that after a couple of years I'd have a partially finished stand that could be really cool if I finished any part of it. So buying something I could use right away became more and more appealing.

I don't have a brew sculpture but cost would be a big factor for me. It may not be pretty, but since only one vessel really needs to hold boiling water the other 2 could be plastic (insulated of course, you can even use the reflective sheets to make them pretty).

The one stainless kettle can have built in copper tubing. Sparge water can be heated in this kettle, and wort from the mash can be recirculated through the copper to get to increase or maintain temperature. Afterwards, sparge water can be pumped to a containment vessel for sparging and new wort can be pumped into the recently emptied boil kettle. With this method you only need 1 heat source.

I like mine. I have the modularity in the collar. It can take any pot you decide to put on it, and my current pots store underneath. It is mobile. More importantly it works in combination with my smoker, and doubles as a three burner stove, with none of the brewing pieces mounted permanently on the apparatus.

It all depends on what you want out of your stand. I like the B3 system featured here, but others want all one level. Since you are an engineer, it would be easy for you to design and build the most collapseable and sturdy system out there. Put a tippy dump and catwalk on it as well.
Its like anything else, if you ask 10 people you will get 12 different opinions.

Thanks for the input! Anybody else?

Still looking for more input

Spike,
I'll wade in as a newb. I am looking for light weight and low over all height. I want to be eble to look into the top kettle. Modularity is also a requirement since different brewers seek different features. Pilot lighs on all burners and temp thermocouple on all pots as an option. Digital temp control for strike, Mash in and Sparge. Direct firing of mash tun to add or maintain sparge temps. Multiple pumps to reduce hose switching and possible HSA issues. A spinning sparge arm that is height adjustable would also be kind of nice. A float arm to control sparge water height in addition to a false bottom to prevent tunneling. Large wheels to allow rolling over rough driveways and floors and finally the ability to bolt this together from a kit in three hours or less using some extruded aluminum like you get from 8020 extrusions. That would just about cover it and if the options could be packaged as upgrade #1, #2 etc that would be good too. The unit should also contain all the kettles properly fitted with thermometers, thermocouples and sight glasses as well as false bottoms and ball valves. The minimum size should be large enough to accomodate a minimum 5 gallon full boil and offer an upgrade to do 10's. If you could do this under 1200.00 you would probably have a winner and a real money maker in the long run if you have the liability ins to protect yourself from the idiots who might buy your product and proceed to injure themselve. Hope this helps.
Bob

I put wheels on the -side- of mine. The region i'm in is known for it's tiny houses (southern california) and i tilt it up, fill the empty areas with equipment, and roll it away for storage. Btw, little wheels get stuck on things. Hoseability is nice, boilovers make a mess and it's nice to be able to hose the thing down (and not expect it to be a rust pile the next day). I like a tall stand, but others want a sort stand, to each their own. After using the stand for 6 months i added a (low profile) tippy, and after using it there's no way i will ever brew again w/o one.

SpikeBrewing said:

Trying to get some information on what people like, don't like and would like when it comes to a brew stand. As some of you know I'm finishing up my last semester of Engineering school and for our senior design project we're going to make a 3 kettle brew stand rockin. We'd like to get some opinions, comments, concerns, etc from people that own a stand or are looking to purchase a stand.

Any information you can give will help us design a better stand. A few things off the top of my head are: height/length/width, collapsabilty, propane/NG, burner BTU output, frame material, automatic temperature controlled, PRICE RANGE.

Thanks in advance and happy brewing!

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As my first post, I'll thrown in my experience with having two built for me.

My first was a 3 tier system that worked on gravity until you had to transfer to the fermenter, at which point I used a pump since I was using one with a whirlpool chiller anyway. I mashed in a cooler. So I only needed burners on the top and bottom tiers. Storage space was in short supply. So I designed the second tier, one of which held the mash tun, and the other that was used as a work station, to fold up flush with the stand when it was stored. The legs were held in place with pins and two of the same pins held the second tier shelves up when it was stored. When stored, the footprint was 24" x 24" and just over 5' tall. It would accommodate a 20 gallon pot on the bottom burner. It worked great for 3 years until I freed up some space and decided to go for a single tier system. I'm still new to the single tier system, but after dealing with pump cavitation and heat loss in the transfer, I can, at least, say that there is much to be said for gravity, even if there is a lot to be said for having everything at a more manageable height. Dimensions with the casters are 74" x 24" x 32". Anyway, here are some pictures of the old folding stand as well as a shot of the new stand.

It depends on the scope of your project. Structurally speaking, I think you got some good advice. I know people love their tiered stands but I went single tier on wheels with enough space down below to tuck away all the kettles, throw a tarp over the top, and slide it off to the corner of the garage.

With controls, you could really do it up from an engineering perspective. Designing a system that required a multi-disciplinary a team (ME's and EE's) with a usable interface, and gave you precision control of the process would impress your professors. Working with the BCS 460 or the brewtroller you could create a fully automated system. However, electronic valves are quite expensive and killed this design for me personally. You could do semi-auto and get off the couch to change the valves occasionally.

I have kind of a hybrid system where I do bulk heating with dial controlled propane, then kill the gas and let my PID controlled RIMS tube deal with precision mash control. That way I can operate on the 20A 110V circuit in my garage and still heat pretty quickly with good heat control. Why that's better than straight gas fired HERMS...well I don't know if it is, but it was fun to design.

Doc,
Have you got a pic of your single tier and control system? I am currently accumulating all the requsit equipment and have been debating a tiered approach versus the all one level approach. There are plusses and minuses for each so I am still on the fence figuring it out. Once I decide I can weld it all up in no time at all. Just need an inspiration or an epiphiny. Thanks.
Bob

I'm currently gathering all the parts I need for a single tier, 3 sanke system with BG14 burners, one March 809 pump with quick disconnects on everything, a Bleichmann Therminator wort chiller, and a Schmidling Malt Mill incorporated into the design. Its short enough to fit in my pickup and rides on casters. The goal is to be portable enough to pick it up and toss it in my truck and head to a buddies for a brew day.

I like this layout... Though I don't like their burners & paint.

http://www.rubystreetbrewing.com/tp40/Default.asp?ID=261709

...Basically I just want to be able to wheel my **** around and store it easily.

mors said:

I like this layout... Though I don't like their burners & paint.

http://www.rubystreetbrewing.com/tp40/Default.asp?ID=261709

...Basically I just want to be able to wheel my **** around and store it easily.

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That rig is cool....if you wanted to make it more compact i would do square tubing on that upper level and have the ability to take 4 pins out and lower or raise that tier to what ever height you want. then when done take the 4 pins out and collaps it flat against the rest of the rig.

Spike,
I just figured I would get back tp ypu and give you an update on the sculpture I am building. Three tiers out of pre-slotted metal from HD. 30 Qt Hot tank, 5 gallon Rubbermaid holding tank, 10 Gallon Igloo Mash tun, 50 Qt Boil Kettle for full volume 5 gallon boils. Water is supplied through a 150 GPD RODI system with boost pump. A March 809 PL-HS will add any assistance to the effects of gravity as needed. The gas is going to be on a central black iron pipe with a high pressure reg on the tank and low pressure burners on the legs. I am building a winch to allow me to safely move volumes of water at various temps. It moves around on legs that extend out and slide in to reduce the footprint for storage with 5" H Duty swivels at all 4 corners. All water and gas will be hard piped in Cpvc or metalI am working on a system to monitor and control water temps with a thermocouple at each heated station. I plan to be able to scroll through the reported temps and adjust them individually as the project evolves. It was pretty much what we had discussed a while back when I responded to this thread originally. So far all of the engineering has been simpl, the electronics wont be quite as simple but I have been training myself in digital and analog so it will be a task, but not inpossible either. All of the fiitting are 316 stainless and has camlock connectors at every possible connection point so I can pump anywhere I want in any direction. All of this feeds the Beveridge Elements 5 Gallon kegging kit with spare pin lock kegs. Pics are coming soon.
Bob

I love mine. That being said, I'll love my next one even more! Once my pipeline is full I'm selling her to build another because:

I'm a better welder having built my first one,
also my gas manifold will be part of the rig,
and overall it will be a couple inches taller.

There are always lessons learned to do better with version 2.0

We bought one of those heavy duty stands from Lowes and have it working. One thing I wish we had was a tippy thing for the MLT, I would have 3 Pumps and intergrate the gas lines. I think banjo burners are better.

That's my single tier brewstand, mostly built from several Home Depot trips. I'm not really satisified with it though. The casters I put on it were too small, so it's a pain to move around. I also discovered that putting 6 caster wheels was pointless unless the weight is distributed to the wheels evenly in the middle. If you put wheels in the center of the frame they just act as a pivot point when trying to roll your stand around. I will remove my middle wheels if I decide to upgrade to bigger casters, but then I have to consider weight again, and wonder how much weight the slotted steel frame can support.

As far as dimensions go, and I speak only to single tier stands, there are some simple rules that should be followed in my opinion:

The stand should be not much wider than 30". This will allow it to be rolled through 99% of all doorways, even the smaller 32" doors, without removing the door (or screen) from it's hinge.

The stand should not be taller than 7' including side casters, for rolling the stand on it's long side, again, to fit through doorways and for small footprint storage.

The main advantage in single tier is eliminating the need for step stools or ladders, so keep the kettle openings low enough for the average brewer to be able to see in is key. If you have a single tier stand and still use a step stool to look in, you're either really short or your stand was built improperly.

I'm not sure why, but I see most brew stands, both gas and electric, seem to be open framed. When I built mine it was intended for 3 burners. I still wanted the steel grate on it for the ability to set things on the top without worry of them falling through the frame. I also added the steel grate underneath so I could easily store things underneath. I was a little worried about heat dissipation but quickly found out the heat traveled through the steel only a few inches. The grate acted as a huge heat sink as air travelled around it. A huge mistake was not quickly painting the grate with high temp paint, now it's very "rustic".

Now that I am all electric the grate is even more appreciated since I have no heat transfer at all. I can set a glass of cold beer next to BK and have no worries.

I've been contemplating a badass stand lately because I want the strength and durability of square welds. I have yet to request a quote though because I'd have to have it customized with a control panel arm, I'd want a grate on top and bottom again for the same reasons, a mash dump, and an arm on the opposite side that would serve as hooks to store hoses, utensils, etc.

oakbarn said:

We bought one of those heavy duty stands from Lowes and have it working. One thing I wish we had was a tippy thing for the MLT, I would have 3 Pumps and intergrate the gas lines. I think banjo burners are better.

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What's the function of the 3rd pump?

l3asturd said:

I've been contemplating a badass stand lately because I want the strength and durability of square welds. I have yet to request a quote though because I'd have to have it customized with a control panel arm, I'd want a grate on top and bottom again for the same reasons, a mash dump, and an arm on the opposite side that would serve as hooks to store hoses, utensils, etc.

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Too bad you dont live in or near me in Fla. I tig weld for a hobby and love to burn up some metal for a good purpose. Building a welded stand is kind of different because you should not use galvanized metal due to the health risks of inhaling that fume and getting Zinc Fever. Plain old CRS and a squirt of primer will work well, especially if you are transfering you E-brew gear. Do you have a cad program or an easy to use drawing program? If you do and would like I can look at your plans and give you some idea what a shop would charge you without getting ripped off. Welding prices are sometimes based on your apparent ability to pay, not on what the actual job is truly worth so be carefull and don't take the first estimate you get.
Bob

I built a basic 3 tier with Natural gas burners. Love it! It doesnt take up that much space, CFC works great, and it makes great beer.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/steel-horse-brewing-3-tier-build-brewery-pics-125032/

- simple and clean design ( no wires and pipes everywhere )
- automated electric and ran off an iPad or other tablet
- mobile enough to make moving it not a big deal
- easy to clean
- less than $2k

If i saw something like that I would own one already and not a speidel braumeister, something more traditional than that.