Show Me Your Wood Brew Sculpture/Rig

So far seems pretty good. The 12 gallon batch I just brewed is giving off some significant heat so I don't think the heater has had to kick on much yet.

Are you single? Because I wish I had your budget. Where was the stand, I couldn't see any stand with those shiny monsters in the way.

anthropod said:

Little bit of ginger.

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Your placards are awesome! Well done!

cpl-america said:

Are you single? Because I wish I had your budget. Where was the stand, I couldn't see any stand with those shiny monsters in the way.

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Haha, no, I'm not single. Married with one kid. I have a gracious wife who lets me have a couple hobbies (and potentially business ventures).

My wife loves my hobbies, but unfortunately, when I balance the budget, I always add more to savings, and the diaper fund than I allow myself to brew. Maybe one day I will go all in for a bbl.

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^sweet WOOD brew sculpture, bro

doh, had both open...meant to post to: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/show-us-your-sculpture-brew-rig-46578/index281.html thanks! >.>

Here is my new BIAB setup. All the wood is reclaimed and the tiles were donated by a friend of mine. Still have a few finishing touches but I really like how it came out and works for me.

Tuckerl said:

Here is my new BIAB setup. All the wood is reclaimed and the tiles were donated by a friend of mine.

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I really like it! Artistic and functional.

Tuckerl said:

Here is my new BIAB setup. All the wood is reclaimed and the tiles were donated by a friend of mine.

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Nice job on this. Tilework is really cool.

Tile work was a great idea, I really like it!

ApertureBrewing said:

sorry about the upside down photos.. not sure why that happens??

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Ok. At first I was wondering how you defied gravity with your set up, thinking maybe this was the perfect brewing rig for the Space Station.

Here's mine. Manually controlled, direct fired HERMS rig. Using single pump for now but plan to upgrade to dual pump with auto sparge in the near future.

The taller burner is counter sunk into the wood top so it doesn't fall over. Also, I've added another granite tile underneath the tall burner to act as a heat shield (hadn't gotten around to cutting it when pic was taken) and upgraded the boil kettle burner to a 210k btu Bayou Classic since the one in the pic wasn't boiling fast enough.

Is that the harbor freight rubberwood work bench?

nutty_gnome said:

Is that the harbor freight rubberwood work bench?

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Yep. Sure is. Works GREAT as a Brew Station Bench, I cut the legs down and put casters on it, put some water sealant and tiles on it to protect it and it works very well.

NathPowe said:

Nice job on this. Tilework is really cool.

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Thanks. This was my first time working with tile. Much easier than I thought.

Just finished this stand... need to wire and plumb a few things before its maiden brew sesh!

benbradford said:

I finally finished mine.. At least for now.

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Nice bro! How did you clamp that steel cable in place to hold the slats on your tuns?

I used a turnbuckle and a reverse thread eyehole. Search thread named who needs a blicann when you can build a Bradford

benbradford said:

I used a turnbuckle and a reverse thread eyehole. Search thread named who needs a blicann when you can build a Bradford

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Got it. Thanks! It seems like it would be really awkward to get tightened down. Trying to tighten the hook end with the cable attached via the eye. You have any issues marring the wood or anything?

so you looked at the other thread? It is a little difficult to tighten things down. First, I make it as tight as possible all the way around and hammer the staves in from the bottom. Adjust the belt until it sits where I would like it and then tighten. I actually tighten the 1/2 inch nut instead of the turnbuckle to tighten. I stain after everything to hide some of the nicks. Also, the entire thing sits on the back of the kettle or mash tun to hide any if any marks. I made mine slightly rustic to begin with and to be honest after brewing a bit, the entire thing takes on some character from the brewing process.

It looks way way better than a keg, no matter how polished. I feel like I am brewing in kegs no matter how nice they look until I refinish them in some way. Some day I will upgrade to a nice blichmann style pot, but until then, I am happy with my vessels as they do not feel like kegs when I am using them.

I did check the other thread out. Thanks for that. I appreciate the info. It's a great idea!

Finally able to post in here! Many thanks to this forum and this thread, I have been piecing this together for about the last 6 months and my inagural first AG batch will be this Saturday. Nervous and excited at the same time. Also just had a sink put in as well. Going to do a pliny the Elder clone for my first batch. Cheers!

mairuzu3030 said:

Finally able to post in here! Many thanks to this forum and this thread, I have been piecing this together for about the last 6 months and my inagural first AG batch will be this Saturday. Nervous and excited at the same time. Also just had a sink put in as well. Going to do a pliny the Elder clone for my first batch. Cheers!

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That's a nice first post! I really like your stand, and having that set up for your first all grain batch is going to be really nice! Especially the pumps, that was one of the biggest "why didn't I do this sooner" purchases I've made.

Thanks Setesh, Since I am brewing Saturday, today I feel like a kid on chirstmas eve, waiting in excitment.

mairuzu3030 said:

Thanks Setesh, Since I am brewing Saturday, today I feel like a kid on chirstmas eve, waiting in excitment.

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+1 on doing a great job with your rig. Gotta tell ya man - even after brewing dozens of batches on my rig, I still feel like a kid on Christmas Eve the night before a brew. It's awesome.

Have fun. Post some brew day pics if you think of it. Enjoy the brew.

Thanks NathPowe, Yes I can't wait! I will post some pics of brew day next week!

First brewday went great, Did back to back batches, Pliny clone then a Zombie Dust clone. Hit my mash temp and the first batch, forgot to put my grain inside to warmup on the second batch and missed my mash temp of 152 ended up mashing at 148. Other than that everything went great!

Nicely done!

Here is my wooden, all electric rig - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/dual-element-5-gallon-batch-120v-build-419598/

Jeebas said:

Here is my wooden, all electric rig - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/dual-element-5-gallon-batch-120v-build-419598/

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Jeebas- looks good. Reminds me of my own setup.

I have drawn a lot of inspiration from this thread, so thanks everyone! My stand itself is basically done, but I will still sand the whole thing down, add some pegboard and hooks on the back, add my pump and CF chiller, etc. I will post again when it is completely done...

spointon said:

I have drawn a lot of inspiration from this thread, so thanks everyone! My stand itself is basically done, but I will still sand the whole thing down, add some pegboard and hooks on the back, add my pump and CF chiller, etc. I will post again when it is completely done...

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That's a quality first post, nice stand!

First use!

Setesh said:

That's a quality first post, nice stand!

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Thanks! I am overhauling my garage brewery with a larger kettle, pump, and CF chiller so I figured it was time to put my wood shop to good use and build a brew stand.

spointon said:

Thanks! I am overhauling my garage brewery with a larger kettle, pump, and CF chiller so I figured it was time to put my wood shop to good use and build a brew stand.

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Nice rig! I see a lot of people using bolts (lag screws?) on wood brew stands. I was trying to figure how necessary this is. You appear to have quite a bit of "woodworking" knowledge, or at least tools, so I was wondering if you or others might be able to provide insight on why using these fasteners vs other traditional wood joinery methods. Is it just so it can be taken apart easily? Or is their truly a structural benefit. Or just a time thing?

spointon said:

I have drawn a lot of inspiration from this thread, so thanks everyone! My stand itself is basically done, but I will still sand the whole thing down, add some pegboard and hooks on the back, add my pump and CF chiller, etc. I will post again when it is completely done...

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I happen to really love your set up. Very similar to mine. I also was wondering about the lag bolt attachment method. Did you have a bunch laying around that you wanted to put to use? I used deck screws and it's pretty darn solid.

Great looking set up

My set up:

Finally built my brew stand, awaiting the return of my 15 gallon MegaPot that is having some ports welded up.

groundchuck said:

I happen to really love your set up. Very similar to mine. I also was wondering about the lag bolt attachment method. Did you have a bunch laying around that you wanted to put to use? I used deck screws and it's pretty darn solid.

Great looking set up

My set up:

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In response to the questions about fasteners... I briefly debated doing something fancy like mortise and tenon joinery but ultimately I decided to reserve that stuff for furniture applications. This is a working piece of equipment that will no doubt get scratched on occasion, get liquid spilled on it, develop stains etc. The more time I labored over building it, the more I would get upset when it gets unavoidable damage.

As for fastener types, IMHO lag screws and carriage bolts are a lot stronger than wood/deck screws, which makes me feel better since I may have upwards of a couple hundred pounds on this thing at certain times. Between those two, I prefer using lag screws with washers and pre-drilled holes. I feel they stay tight over time better than carriage bolts that may need to be re-tightened occasionally.

Also, since this will be in a high humidity environment (especially winter, when the garage door is closed or mostly closed and I have a 2 hour boil going on a barleywine) I wanted fasteners that would resist rust. Most deck screws I have used do rust over time, unless you spring for the stainless steel ones, in which case it may have been cheaper to go with the lag screws.