Brew Ladder

[ryanhope]

Inspired from some other examples I've decided to upgrade my brew setup to include a brew ladder. It's in the early phases of construction. Please post your comments, ideas, suggestions, questions!

Some of the bigger problems I have not yet solved or picked a solution for:

• Electrical (placement of switches/outlets, running of wire)
• Water supply (chill plate & BK)
• RIMS/HERMS

Initial placement of the chill plate and pump:

Here shows ladder steps 3 and 4 removed so that I can test fit the new mash shelf:

Here is the mash shelf frame assembled and in the down position:

Here is the mash shelf frame assembled and in the up position:

Mash shelf is actually done now:

Mash shelf supporting mash tun filled with spent grain:

 

[ryanhope]

Reserved

 

[heckels]

You may want to consider adding some L-brackets on the cross-member that is supporting the lever part of the mash tun shelf.

Just a little added assurance that your mash tun won't come crashing down in the middle of a mash.

 

[ryanhope]

You may want to consider adding some L-brackets on the cross-member that is supporting the lever part of the mash tun shelf.

Just a little added assurance that your mash tun won't come crashing down in the middle of a mash.

Yep, that is on the todo list.

 

[ryanhope]

Alright so I reinforced the rung that supports the mash tun shelf.

I also settled on a design for the water manifold. One ball valve turns on flow for the plate chiller. The other ball valve goes to a cam lock barb so that I can fill kettles and flush out lines.

Cheaped out and used galvanized pipe for the plate chiller out.

Here is it all together...

 

[ryanhope]

Gave the brew ladder a test run the other day. I have to say the water manifold might be my favorite part so far. Loved not having to run to the side of the house to turn water on and off. There was no moving heavy kettles of water either. The cam lock barb on the water manifold allowed me to fill, wash, flush out every vessel or hose that I wanted. It was also nice to have the pump off the ground and the because of I could change the orientation of my pump head to outlet up which seemed to improve its operation.

I definitely need to extend/secure the top platform for the HLT. Because I didn't use a HLT for this brew I had to swap hoses more than I would normally have to. Also, I still need to wire up a switch for the pump.

I am also thinking about a way of integrating a HF halogen flood/work light... more to come.

 

[HopSong]

Looks great.. I thought of this but ultimately went with the wire shelving you can buy as individual pieces to customize. Not sure I'm happy yet.. are we ever??

Be great to see pics of this in operation. Pics are worth a ton

 

[ryanhope]

Here are some pics of it in action for the test brew...

In this pic I am pumping my strike water up into the mash tun from the kettle.

And here I am between the sac rest and sparging... I decided to try recirculating the wort with my pump instead of a manual vorlauf.