Another Brutus in the making

I finally got started on my brewery build. It is basically a Brutus with a couple twists that I blatantly copied off a couple great looking builds I have seen here.

I really like the way that Nicksteck built his. The console looks good to me and is a great way to cover most wiring and plumbing.

Lehr did some fantastic stainless work. I especially like the way he mounted his burners. I brew outside in a windy area, so his mounting setup looked like a good way to keep the fire burning.

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Excuse the mess. I don't usually take time to take pictures of my projects. But I know we all like to see progress shots. This happens to be the most cluttered area. The back corner behind the shop. AKA Catch all.

Time to start work on the console and get some wheels on this beast.

Should get a couple Gas valves and igniter's today.

Looks Great!

Looking good! Like the wind/heat shields. Did you slot the mounts so you can adjust slightly to get the right height?

Will be watching your progress!

nice!

Is that your old Ford in the BG? BEAUTY!!!!

Yes I slotted the mounts. That was the most difficult part of the job. Turned out OK but not as nice as I would have liked. Going in I knew that would be hard. They will go down to about 4 1/2" below keggel bottom. I also plan to put in heat shields in the front sections. Another copy off Lehr. Should help keep the heat off.

I had to use 12"X1/8" tube for the rings. Sectioned out about 2" and squeezed together with Hose Clamps, welded seam. To get the correct inside diameter.

r2eng said:

nice!

Is that your old Ford in the BG? BEAUTY!!!!

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Yeah. 34 on a Ranger chassis 351 Windsor, Auto. Neighborhood driver, about ready to liscense it. I let it set and the friggin mice got to the wiring. Now I have to re-wire the whole thing.

Looks great. I love following the Brutus threads and seeing how different people adapt them and put their own personal touches on them. Looking forward to seeing more pics as you progress.

you might want to beef that stand up a bit, do you think it will take the weight?

















.......i am of course joking if that doesn't come through in writing

Beautiful piece of work, RonRock!

looks great man! can't wait to see how she comes out.

Looks great, I look forward to watching the progress.

I got the Igniter and valve kits for the MLT and HLT. Now a question,
How do you set up the Boil burner? Standing Pilot? Push Button igniter? Should I bite the bullet and go with another 8610 kit?

If your going to be there adding hops during the boil you could just use the push button ignition, else if you expect to be away from the boil operation for extended periods then the flame safety system would be reccomended.

RonRock said:

I got the Igniter and valve kits for the MLT and HLT. Now a question,
How do you set up the Boil burner? Standing Pilot? Push Button igniter? Should I bite the bullet and go with another 8610 kit?

Click to expand...

We're planning on using Push Button for both our MLT and BK due to the fact that we'll be attending the brewery the entire brew session - enjoying good beer convo, home brew and on game days likely a game on the TV from the garage.

Although - I'll admit - I've not seen many true push button ignitions here on HBT - at least no one talks about them so I'm curious what the best setup is from that regard.

kladue said:

If your going to be there adding hops during the boil you could just use the push button ignition, else if you expect to be away from the boil operation for extended periods then the flame safety system would be reccomended.

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+1 I just bought another Y8610U kit and Pilot Burner for the Boil Kettle. That way I don't have to babysit the Boil. I love the way the Y8610U/Pilot Burner/PID controls the HLT temperature. It is nice to dial in whatever strike temperature I want and walk away for a while. I make use of the alarm relay in the PID to latch a loud buzzer to alert me when the strike water is up to temperature. I am going all automated so I don't have to babysit the whole thing, well, except adding grain and hops.

PS: Very nice build RonRock.

For the push button ignition you might try one of these http://www.appliancefactoryparts.com/search/partinfo.php?partsID=31486&modelsID=&typeName=bbq and electrodes to go with for each burner you want to light.

Another question for you.

I'm using three Hurricanes, the 8610 valves on 2, probably 3 burners. So I understand that I want 11" WC at the valves. What regulator setup do I want? I'll be using a portable LPG tank. Next step up from a grill bottle. 40lb tank maybe? If that don't work I could go to a 100lb tank.

Will I need to go with a 1st Stage reg at the tank and a 2nd Stage on my brewstand? Or is there a regulator that I can mount on the stand and simply run a hose to the tank. Don't seem like a typical Turkey Fryer regulator would work with these valves. Don't want to blow the diaphragms out of them from the wrong regulator.

Thanks for the comments so far. I hope to make some headway today on the console and gas lines.

It looks real nice Ron, If I had it to do all over again I would build a single tier.
Cool truck I have a 29 ford sedan.

Pat

Not to sidetrack, but here is the 29 Model A I built about 15 years ago.










Typical 350/350, IFS, Vintage Air, Tilt, Cruise, Windows, all the toys. Worked on it for years. Sold it to help buy the ground I'm living on. Miss it, but don't regret the sale. I had kids while building the Coupe and they couldn't ride in the Rumble Seat. My plan was to build a 28-31 Sedan. Then life happened and I have a 34 Pickup.

These are a few photos I just scanned out of a scrapbook. It was built before I even thought of having a computer. And never took the time to scan them. Glad I did. Thanks.

Cool Ron, Mines more old school 32 rail flathead buggy spring front and rear I have both wire and steel 16 inch wheels for it.

Pat

Im getting to the point were i need to start building a frame for my kegs now and ive been messin with some stand measurements. Would you mind posting a few of the cut lengths on that build. Me and probably a a few others would appreciate it . I like the fact you could use different size pots easily if you wanted to upgrade in the future.

This is a cut list from nicksteck's build thread. Mine is a pretty close copy of his.

i found my cut list;

long hoz
4-58''

4 corner posts
4-25''

cross members
7-18''

4 vert. posts under burners
4-19''


outside frame size;


62x22x25tall without casters

Here is a link to his build thread;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-brew-rig-build-95433/

Have fun it's a good project.

OK I decided to go with three 8610 set ups. Still need 1 more valve but have three ignition modules.

How do I decide what BTU's I want to get out of my Hurricanes? I will be going low pressure, LPG so I can look at the chart and drill the orifice based on BTU needed. The gas valves are rated up to 200,000 BTU. So that would be the upper limit for each, but don't think I'll need to go that high.

Also need an idea of BTU's so that I can get a 2 stage regulator for between the LPG tank and the burner regulators.

Any suggestions on burner output?

Anybody?

Must be some idea of how many BTU's I should shoot for. I;d like to set this up so that it gets hot enough, but don't want to waste too much gas.

Plan on 10 Gallon batches as a target.

Here a couple ideas about burner sizing, the HLT can use the highest BTU's ~100 - 120K BTU's, the MLT lower BTU's ~ 50K to prevent overheating the bottom during recirculation, the Boil Kettle moderate BTU's 80 -100K to prevent scorching on high gravity batches. With the boil kettle you are starting at 150+ degrees so the lower BTU input gets the job done and is easier to control during boil. When you go past the 120K burner size on a keg conversion more flame and heat goes up the sides than actually does anything usefull.

Thanks Kevin, that is just what I was looking for. I had the same ideas on varying the BTU's based on burner use. But had no idea what range would be good. I once again appreciate your advice.

Ron

Now based on these figures. And in actual use even if all three burners were being fired at full on at the same time. A 2 stage regulator with a 350.000 BTU rating would be large enough to supply this stand.

Sound right? Or should I find a 2 Stage Reg. with a higher rating for a bit of extra leeway?

I found the 350K priced at $35.00 and the 600K at $75.00 price is not a huge issue but still no point in dropping the extra coin if not needed.

If two March pumps are good, would three be even better with this type of brewstand? Or just a waste of a good pump?

RonRock said:

If two March pumps are good, would three be even better with this type of brewstand? Or just a waste of a good pump?

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I'd have to ask what you plan to use the 3rd for though? Not sure I see a use for it...

I don't know either. I've never brewed with anything other than my fryer burner and cooler. So just looking for suggestions while I build this. I figure I can make changes after it is built but why not look for ideas as I go. And I have three pumps on hand anyway. Good backup or use for another project.

I have not noticed any others with three pumps, so probably not needed. Just a thought.

I might suggest sketching up each "phase" in the brewing process with your new brewery - draw the hoses and illustrate how you'll use each piece of equipment. Then take a look at it and see if you can modify that anyway - it'll help you understand if you could somehow use a 3rd pump (although like I said, doubt there is much use for one).


Maybe you can come up with some kind of clean in place setup for kegs, bottles, or other equipment with that 3rd pump... just an idea. Always nice to have the "problem" of extra gear!

Thanks, yeah I have a lot of stuff I could just hang on the brewery. But if there is no good reason I'd rather keep it in a box.

Your build looks like it will be nice. I like the tippy dump. What was wrong with the Hurricane? I have not studied mine all that close.

The threaded hole in the venture tube (the inlet for the propane) that the brass orifice/regulator hose fitting is off center such that the valve plate cannot be installed and the threaded hole in the venture casting is oversized such that the threads on the brass fitting do not engage.

With it being cast, it's to be expected, just bummer the quality control didn't catch it.

And thanks - we're excited. We're watching your build as well!

I did screw in the orifices so I hope mine are ok. Only finger tight at this point, seem ok so far. Bummer having to return and wait again.

I have a couple days off so hope to make some headway. But we have snow forecast for the next 3-4 days, that always slows everything down.

The 350K 2 stage regulator will work well, the chances of having all 3 burners flat out at same time are very small. Normally you have the HLT flat out for strike water, then it is at low fire bringing sparge water up to temp while mashing is going on, then finally the boil kettle will be the only burner being fired during boil.

Another question. I will have 120 volt power to the stand. I will have a 24 volt transformer to run the gas valves. I need a 6 volt power supply for my BCS-460. The BCS comes with a wall wort transformer. I want to hard wire the power lead to the BCS. No room for a power receptacle in my console. Is there a simple way to tap off the 24v or is there a 6v trans that can be wired into the power source?

RonRock said:

Another question. I will have 120 volt power to the stand. I will have a 24 volt transformer to run the gas valves. I need a 6 volt power supply for my BCS-460. The BCS comes with a wall wort transformer. I want to hard wire the power lead to the BCS. No room for a power receptacle in my console. Is there a simple way to tap off the 24v or is there a 6v trans that can be wired into the power source?

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A small voltage regulation circuit with a LM317 voltage regulator and a couple resistors (240 ohm and 910 ohm) will convert a 24v power source to ~6v.

http://www.electronics-lab.com/articles/LM317/

Since you are in the neighborhood I expect to see this in action some day.

camiller said:

A small voltage regulation circuit with a LM317 voltage regulator and a couple resistors (240 ohm and 910 ohm) will convert a 24v power source to ~6v.

http://www.electronics-lab.com/articles/LM317/

Since you are in the neighborhood I expect to see this in action some day.

Click to expand...

This is a very simple circuit to build. I built one to bring my voltage down to AAA battery strength. 1.5v to power my digital thermometers.

Here is a good calculator for determining what resistors you need.

http://www.whatcircuits.com/lm317-calculator-v2/