Building a brew sculpture: where to begin?

I don't see a sticky on this, so hopefully it's not a useless post.

I've been homebrewing for a little while now (about a year) and really enjoying it. I jumped headlong into all-grains after just a few batches, and now i'm looking to improve my equipment a bit. I've still got a very effective, small cooler mash tun for lighter beers. My second one, a rectangular cooler with a manifold etc. worked fine once, but was very difficult and I generally wasn't happy with it.

Rather than dump money on a third cooler, I'm converting a keg into a keggle mash tun. I can stick to direct fire on it for now, but it's also got me thinking about going further. I'd like to start laying the groundwork for a proper brewing rig down the road.

So... where do I start with all this? I've done some research online (here, google, etc.) and tried to learn what I can about the differences between HERMS & RIMS, etc. I don't feel educated enough to settle on one, but I'm confident that with the right help from friends I could get either one built.

I'm on a budget, so I need to ensure that any costs laid out aren't going to be a duplication of effort down the road. If I'm buying it for brewing now (ie. my new mash tun) it needs to be functional in the future as well. So, from a cost perspective, what sort of setup should I be looking at? It's pretty hard to find concrete numbers on what people end up spending. I could throw $1000 at the project, provided it isn't all spent up front. If I can do it in steps, I can accomplish it.

So help me out, veterans. If I'm wanting to build a single tier brew rig, where do I start?

You start with figuring your budget. Then go to the "Show Us your Setup" thread and browse for ideas. To some $1000 will seem like a ton for a setup, to others, not nearly enough.
Something you want to save for and then build all at once, build over time but keep the brewery functional as you go?
Propane, natural gas or electric heat? Automation or manual controlled? Pumps or buckets for transferring (if you stay with single tier).

Some of those are questions I can't really answer for myself. Yeah, I want to maintain a functional brewery as I go. Given that I'm on a propane burner and a cooler mash tun at the moment, that shouldn't be overly difficult. I *would* like to build up in steps of equipment that I could put into immediate use, however.

As for propane, nat gas or electric... I really don't feel confident I know enough about the differences to say. I understand most RIMS use electric, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around how HERMS work exactly. Direct fire is probably the most basic and obvious way to go, but if I'm laying out cash already that might not be my best long-term option.

My dream scenario is to build a proper single tier brew stand purely as a workspace. Follow a design that can have features added as my budget allows. Then down the road, I can add a pump and move up to a HERMS / RIMS system. Automation isn't the focus as much as safety and general efficiency and reduction of physical effort. There doesn't seem to be a "half way" step for this. Either you're using a PID temp controller and a pump to automate, or you're doing things by hand.

If you want to follow a proven, simple. single tier design, look up Brutus 10 and Brutus 20. They can remain simple or grow to full automation.

Begin at the DIY page...ok, just teasing

If you want to put something together without having waste then look at what you have now and where you can go from there without being wasteful. If you setup with a direct fire system then decide to go electric then you have bought burners that will be of no value to you. I personally haven't gotten around to building a brewstand, I bought a dual 60k burner Bayou Classic outdoor stove and set my pump on the floor with the high tech way of turning it off being physically unplugging it. Eventually when I get off my but and fire up my mig I will build an actual stand, but for now my cooler 50 and 60 qt kettles are cranking out excellent beer. However, I do not know how I want to heat my mash yet, until I make a final decision on that I won't begin to build.

Long term, I'm leaning towards a RIMS setup. However, I'll freely admit that's because I feel like I actually understand how that one works, unlike a HERMS which I haven't yet wrapped my head around.

My problem is that I don't like that HERMS is running the wort through an IC type device. It means I have to clean something in which I can't see inside of (why plate chillers make me hesitant). My problem with RIMS is that you are passing your wort over a really hot heating element and I see the risk of scorching the wort. Direct heat has the same possibility, but should be good if it is constantly circulating...I suppose RIMS would be the same. Anyway, right now my favorite thought is using steam, but I need further investigation to know if its an idea I can get invested in.

I definitely think step 1 is going to be sourcing the material to build a proper brew stand. Turns out a buddy of mine can weld (who knew?), so if I can find the materials cheap that will be the way to go.

After that, I can worry about the rest.

Well if you were in the Tacoma area I could help you out, found an awesome place that charges spot prices with a slight markup on steel and then will cut to length for a minimal charge too. Haven't checked out there SS prices, but I'm not sold on the need for the expense.

it really depends what you want to do. I also started doing All grain. I built my single tier from the ground up using 3 converted kegs, an old lamp post, 2 turkey burners, some BBQ igniters, 2 pumps, some tube, some work lights, and a but load of 1x1 steel tube and expanded mesh. I love my system. I can do 10 gallons at a time easily and brew start to finish in 4 hours