Brutusesque 20 build almost complete

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p4ck37p1mp

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
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Location
Acworth, GA
Didn't realize the brutus 20 was actually a 2 vessel brewery, mine is dubbed 20 due to 20g batches in the 30g pots. My bad! ;)

I started this back in October, have a thread on my home brew club's website, figured I'd make a thread here. Many thanks to all those that i stole err borrowed ideas from planning my build.

All the steel I thought I needed.
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Monster natural gas burners.
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Tons of stainless fittings, casters, etc.
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I was trying to wait for someone to weld for beer, instead I bought a welder and taught myself how to weld. Not hard with a little practice, and its a lot of fun!
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My first halfway decent bead.
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End caps welded on for the feet so casters could be mounted.
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Same cap ground down to check penetration, all my welds were ground down like this.
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Coming together, pots on the stand.
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Closeup of caster mounting, I drilled and tapped the feet for threaded casters.
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Closeup of a pot holder to keep the pots in place.
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The center hole of the burners was slightly smaller than 1/2" threading so I just used the tap to thread the hole, they spin right on, meaning I can adjust burner height easily. Others that have the same NG burners I do said they were too close or too far from the bottom of the vessels. Mine are easily adjustable.
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Another angle.
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Spinning a burner on.
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Closeup of the dry fit for the Asco valve and pilot valve for one burner.
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The control box, I used an aluminum hobby box to mount my BCS-460 and all the SSRs in.
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Final puttied plumbing.
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Closeup of the quick disconnect for the gas whip.
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Almost done with the control box. i really tried to make it neat, but it went all to hell eventually anyway.
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Got the plumbing bits today to tap into my natural gas line in the house. More pics tomorrow of the install, got plumber buddies coming over to do that part, as it makes me nervous. I'm putting one connection in the garage for winter brewing, one under my deck for where I will normally brew.
 
Did you buy this as a complete kit or design it yourself through plans? Looks great so far!

Joe
 
I had thought about using grommets, but the holes will be filled with silicone so its water tight, I plan on a bead of silicone for the plexiglass lid as well.

I just looked what others have done and borrowed ideas to design mine. I bet there have been 200 trips to Home Depot and many countless online orders.
 
I'd find some grommets or you can make some by splitting some vacuum lines.

Like the lower left hose in this pic:
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The burner under the MLT is a just in case I need it for whatever. I didn't have the HEX in the initial design but a buddy made one and raved about how well it worked, so I added one. Makes the burner redundant but I already had it so I installed it.

Installed the pumps and fabricated a shroud for splash and heat protection.
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HEX mounted. Already turned the outlets up instead of out, tore a hole in my jeans yesterday.
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The gas QD outside, they did a great job with the plumbing, will have to take pics of that.
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Test fire, with a broken nozzle hence the orange. The tips are very very brittle, broke another yesterday so I need to order about 10 spares.
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The heat was intense. You could feel it from 5 feet away, and it heated the garage in about 30 seconds. The shroud for the pumps got hot fast, if I end up using that burner at all the pumps will get relocated to the bottom of the frame away from the heat. I don't think I'll be using it much so it may be ok as it is.
 
Hey p4ck37p1mp, you're pictures are not showing up for me for some reason. All I see is little white boxes with red X's in them. I'm trying my best to use my imagination, but it's not working too well. ;)
 
Not sure why you can't see the pics, they're hosted off my brew club's website and are publicly visible to anyone.
 
I can see all of them.

I think you should forgo the burners and go all electric ;)

What paint are you using for this beast?
 
I was looking at it yesterday and will add grommets. I also plan on welding on an arm and fabricating a control panel and box to hold my control box, after test firing a burner I know I need to get the electronics way away from the heat. May as well snag a little brick computer from work and get a touchscreen on it. ;)

I just used hi temp paint, I know it won't last. I got a little rushed with a baby coming in July, I had planned to really sand it down and clean up all the welds and have it powder coated. At this point I just want to get it running. Also have plans for a tippy dump that will have to wait as well. What I may do is rig up an external box to hold the controls for now as I don't want to fabricate too much more. I just want to get it brewing. I have a lot of work in the BCS to get all the controls working, thats the last major hurdle after I wire the controls up to the valves, pumps, etc.
 
If I were in your shoes I would chitcan those 32 jet burners and go for the 20 jet burners or something different. I have not read anything good about them on this forum to date. Of course it is your choice and only a suggestion. Otherwise, congratulations on an extremely nice build.
 
It looks to me like your pumps should be mounted the opposite way, so the outlet is facing down. They will be extremely hard to prime otherwise.

Also, +1 on the burners, I think those things are quite inefficient.

Otherwise, looks like a hell of a stand and build. I really like the rotating burners, I have not see nthat before.
 
It looks to me like your pumps should be mounted the opposite way, so the outlet is facing down. They will be extremely hard to prime otherwise.

Also, +1 on the burners, I think those things are quite inefficient.

Otherwise, looks like a hell of a stand and build. I really like the rotating burners, I have not see nthat before.

Lots of people run with the pump outlets pointing up. I've run mine both ways.

EDIT: You lucky bastard to live so close to Deschutes Brewery :D
 
Lots of people run with the pump outlets pointing up. I've run mine both ways.

EDIT: You lucky bastard to live so close to Deschutes Brewery :D

Fair enough, I have a hard enough time running it the other way.

:off:Deschutes actually showed up at our brewday 2 times ago. 30 or so people, no brewers among the bunch though, imagine my dissappointment.
 
The burners are fine, the trick is making sure they aren't starved. I used 3/4" iron pipe all the way back to my furnace feed, my plumber buddy calculated 680k btu with all the line, fittings etc so I should be good. Rarely if ever will more than one burner run at the same time, but I should be able to run all three if I ever need to. And regardless as much of a PITA the plumbing was I wouldn't remove those damn burners anyway. =P
 
RE pumps - I've had my pumps outlet up for years, no issues with priming. Just make sure the pump head is lower than the vessel feeding it. I've also gotten good at filling a hose and connecting it to the outlet to make sure they prime when they get ornery and piss me off.
 
At least you know your emergency sprinklers work... :D

True dat. Luckily I knew exactly where the shutoff was and killed it in about 10 seconds. Never thought to look up and see where the damn sprinkler was. Been brewing in that spot for 2 years, the pot over the burner really helps dissipate heat I guess. :drunk:
 
Im amazed you have a sprinkler in your house!

In the garage, I think its code here. There are two in the garage, thankfully the other one did not pop. I was told the ones I have are 155*F (red vial) and that I should up them a bit.
 
So I was almost done with the wiring, then I saw another rig with the cool watertight conduit and promptly redid mine. Made a new control box as well, needed more room to house a small pc we use at work, I plan on a touchscreen and control panel. At some point I'll weld an arm and make a box to house it all. Going to get it running first. Waiting for new Asco solenoid coils to rebuild the valves, one doesn't open all the way, one is normally closed which I don't want, one fried when I fired it up. $7 each on eBay means I can redo them all cheap and have it the way I want. HEX is leak tested and heats as expected, I can temporarily wire the middle burner up and brew. Had planned on a brew today but work screwed me over.

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PS - If you use this conduit don't try and get two 18-3 wires in 1/2". It can be done, but it takes lithium grease and a lot of cursing. ;)
 
First brew day yesterday, cut an hour off the brewing time. Burners are damn hot. Melted the plastic off my ball valve handles, so I remove that. HEX will need to get relocated as well, too hot where it is.
 
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