Need some help with sculpture planning

I'm taking the plunge and designing my brew rig. I using the SS shelving from Lowes.
5-Tier Chrome Tower Shelving Unit

I saw booths rig in the sculpture thread and really liked the idea. I'm gonna use 2 of them to make a 3 tier rig.

Here's where I need some help. I need a schematic of the propane plumbing to feed the 2 burners that are going to be used. 20 psi. The plumbing will be mounted on the rig.

I am also delving into uncharted territory, at least for me, of using a mounted chiller and pump. This will be limited to chilling the wort and moving it into the fermentor. I am interested in using a plate chiller at this point.

I just need a drawing or something to show the components and where they go in the circuit. Is this making any sense at all?

Also, is it best to filter before the fermentor or should that really be done keg to keg?

Thanks

Karma

Best just take a look round at other peoples set up.
There are a few threads in equipment/photo forum

You normaly fit a filter in the kettle so that the spigot doesn't clog.

? Why are you building a 3 tier when you will have a mounted pump. If you Fly Sparge then a 1 pump setup would need a 2 tier. Just wondering? The brew rig post in the equipment section will give some ideas.

I guess I could have been a bit more clear. The pump will be for moving the wort through the chiller then to the fermentor. The pump won't be used for sparging at this time.

I've looked through the threads and have seen the other sculptures, but none have explained how the propane plumbing was done. I just need to know what was used where in the circuit and it's purpose. Like, is the regulator at the tank used to regulate pressure or is the valve at the burner doing that job? Should I use a regulator at each burner or just a shutoff valve? I just need to know what parts to use where.

Never mind, I'll figure it out.

You just need the regulator that's on the tank. You'll need a gas valve at each burner. You can use high or low pressure regulators; it depends on what kind of burners you're using.

Check out this post for some pics of the plumbing. That's one way to do it, but you can do it more simply than that.

It's not that you have to figure it out on your own. The deal is that there are dozens of ways to put a brew stand together, and you need to look at a lot of examples and read a lot of threads to get a good idea of the pros and cons of each design. Then once you settle on a basic design, there are still a number of options for burners and plumbing. It helps to first decide what you want to achieve, and then concentrate on the details. At that point you can ask specific questions and get solid answers.

I was going to build a three tier gravity system to save money. It would have too, but I decided that I didn't want to deal with a keg full of hot water over my head (the HLT), so I built a Brutus 10 clone instead. It cost me several times what it would have cost to build a three tier, but I get to brew with my feet firmly planted on the ground. And that is important to me since I take the RDWHAHB advice pretty seriously while brewing.

Whether you build a natural gas or propane system, the plumbing is quite similar. You can see a variety of pics in the Brutus Ten thread.

billtzk said:

You just need the regulator that's on the tank. You'll need a gas valve at each burner. You can use high or low pressure regulators; it depends on what kind of burners you're using.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the effort, bill. I still must not be asking the question right. The gas lines I understand. I also understand I need to get the right regulator. What I'm trying to ask is, can the cutoff valves control the gas to the burners or do I need to use a regulator or some other type of valve at the burners, too? If I want to run both burners at the same time but at different temps, I'll need independant control.

I use the cut off to control the flame.

I set the cut off fully open, then set the regulator to give me the maximum flame I desire. Then regulate from there with the burner valve.

That's what I needed orfy.

Maybe I should refrain from posting after the 4th pint of the evening.

Thanks for everyone's efforts.

Karma

Keep it on the ground if you want to be more safe from injury. It does take more money but is more pleasant to operate (no climbing). Just use the gas controls on the regulators attached to the propane bottles. Use 1 bottle per burner. Natural gas needs to be plumbed and black pipe is used for that. You would use natural gas valves too. If all your vessels are on the ground you need 2 pumps. Two pumps are used when you are sparging. Hot water to mashtun and from mashtun to boiler. You can eliminate 1 pump by going 2 levels. You would put the HLT on the second level.

WBC said:

... Two pumps are used when you are sparging. Hot water to mashtun and from mashtun to boiler. You can eliminate 1 pump by going 2 levels. You would put the HLT on the second level...

Click to expand...

Or you could batch sparge, eliminating the need for the second pump. Pump from HLT to MLT, move hoses, pump from MLT to BK, repeat.

Am I missing something?
(Full disclosure: I have no pump, and transport wort in buckets.)

I thought about a Brutus clone, but the knife shop is dominating the budget. So cost is an issue, but I will have a water filter at the HLT so I wont have to lug water up there just a hose connection. And with a sight glass on the HLT, no peeking in to see the water level.

And I do batch sparge, so one pump will do me fine.

I really appreciate the advice and somewhere down the road, I'll build the BEAST when I decide to move up to a 1/2 barrel system.

Thanks a bunch.

Karma

jds said:

Or you could batch sparge, eliminating the need for the second pump. Pump from HLT to MLT, move hoses, pump from MLT to BK, repeat.

Am I missing something?
(Full disclosure: I have no pump, and transport wort in buckets.)

Click to expand...

I thought the idea for a sculpture was to stop lifting buckets and ease of brewing. Moving hoses back and forth is a bit labor intensive is it not?

I have 1 hi pressure reg running 3 burners(170,000 btu ea). Burners are controlled by needle valves. Its not to code but little in my life is. Mine is a single tier system and I batch sparge. I use one pump for everything. K.I.S.S. is my philosophy. Hose changing is not that labor intensive to me but climbing a ladder bites balls. My water filter, propane tank and O2 bottle will all be mounted to the same hand truck(still trying to acquire the hand truck). One of these days I will officially change my name to ghettobrewer. For supplies to make your stuff use your imagination, craigslist, dumpsterdive your neighbors big trash pickup. Whatever it takes. A good rig can be built on a shoestring, just don't expect to call it a sculpture.