Adjustable brew sculpture

[kh54s10]

Unless I hit the PowerBall......
I am near the point of going all grain but on a very small budget. I will probably be going with a gravity system using the table to chair to floor system to start. For gravity systems the major problem seems to be getting the hot water to the HLT at the top without breaking your back or scalding yourself.

I was thinking of trying to design a stand that would have some way to fill the HLT at ground level, then using a pulley system or something to raise it to the top. Has anyone made something like this. I was thinking bolt together angle iron or even wood.

Thoughts? or better yet pics, and even better - specs.

 

[theonetrueruss]

before I got my pump I would leave my HLT on the floor and when it came time to use the water (I batch sparged then) I would just ladel water into my MLT with a 2Qt SS pot I had in the kitchen.

also, cinder blocks work great as a stand -just make sure they are stacked well and at least 2 to a layer or you risk them falling over

 

[Rentachik]

I just leave the HLT on the stove and use a 1 gallon pitcher to ladel the hot water on top of a tupperware lid floating about 1 inch above the top of the grain bed. I average about 75% eff. with this method. Don't have to the HLT tank anywhere.

 

[kh54s10]

I know about ladelling and will be starting off that way for $$ reasons. But I'm thinking of having the HLT above the mash tun above the brew pot and not having to move around hot liquid or lift heavy pots. I'm not getting any younger and don't relish the idea of scald burns. A pump is probably a long way in the future.

 

[JalaPeno]

Have you tried BIAB (brew in a bag)?

 

[dzlater]

Not saying it won't work. And I am sure it's been done by someone somewhere.
But, I would think it more practical to either heat the HLT directly
or heat the water and pump to the HLT, rather then raising and lowering it.
I batch sparge and use a pitcher till I can safely dump the remainder of the water in.

 

[Stevo2569]

I thought about using an old basketball goal for the HLT before I made my rig. A long enough lever and some fabrication and you could adjust it to different levels.

 

[kh54s10]

Well I never engineered my adjustable brew stand. I did a couple of brews taking my turkey fryer burner and putting it high on my portable scaffolding then after collecting my wort, putting the burner on the ground to boil.

I have since mounted the fry burner on top of my wooden sculpture with a ten gallon pot fitted with a sight gauge and valve. The tun is a step down then the boil kettle is lower but high enough to drain into a fermenter.

Since this picture I have turned it around so that the boil kettle is toward the sink to make using my IC easier.

This will be it until I win the Powerball and built my brewshack complete with all stainless electric brew sculpture. (I do plan to replace the turkey fryer burner with another SP-10 which is so much hotter!)

 

[rekoob]

nice set up, clean, straight forward, workable.