Brew Stand Project

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

So I needed to make a Brewstand for my keggles and wanted it collapsible so that I could make it slightly more portable, since I am living in a buddy's house at the moment. It's gonna be a 2-tier system and its made of 1 1/2" square tubing.

Beatiful weather day today so I finally got the thing welded together, just gotta put the plywood top on each teir. It's gonna be an electric brew system, not quite as fancy and others but I'm working towards it. I am gonna paint it and make it look pretty in the summer, as Winter here is a cruel and heartless whore...

Here's some pictures. If any of you have questions please let me know.

Regards,

BMB

 

[JLeuck64]

Oh that's really clever! I see you are using slip joints to make it easy to break down for storage. Well done!

 

[JonW]

The snow is taller than your first tier.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Oh that's really clever! I see you are using slip joints to make it easy to break down for storage. Well done!

Thanks, it's made using 1.5" Square steel tubing and 1.25" square steel tubing for the slip joints, just slid one into the other so that there was 2" of the narrow tube sticking out for the joint and welded it in place. The tubing is 1/8" thick and based on some initial estimations and then some tests (me jumping up and down on the stand and hitting it with a hammer) I am confident it will hold up all three keggles completely full, so around 400ish lbs without any strain.

 

[daphatgrant]

Looks good!

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Here is an updated pic. I got the wooden tabletops put on the stand. Next is dry-fitting the equipment. From there I will paint and stain it so it looks pretty.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

So I have three pots that I have been using for brewing, but originally I was working with propane. They are all old Guiness Kegs that I got from a scrapyard. I have since made them keggles, welded on the fittings for the valves and the electric elements, and gave them a buffing with a flap disc so they are shiny. I have washed and passivated them and have them on the stand to start dry fitting all of the fittings, the hoses, determine the position of pump (one for now, will make it 2 later) and the position of the hop-back/wort filter.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

So while I've been waiting on parts for the HERMS and whirlpool I have started on trying to figure out how I want to mount ancillary parts of the system. Namely, the plate chiller, the hopback/filter (I am using a Blichmann hop rocket) and the first pump (eventually I will have two).

Anyway, the big thing behind any of the mounting I do is that it has to follow the same principles as all the other bits of the stand, Sturdy but easily detachable for breaking down the system.

So I started with the Chiller. I knew I wanted to mount it on one of the metal legs high enough that I could use the MLT as a grant if I wanted, that way I could gravity feed from the MLT (top tank) down into a fermenter or transfer bucket. But because It could be potentially mounted anywhere depending on what I was trying to do, I didn't want to setup a permanent bracket on one of the tall legs. After heading to the local hardware store for inspiration (I do this a lot...) It hit me, literally, as someone had stuck it to the corner of a display shelf and without notice I banged off my shin... Magnets!

I have a Duda diesel short 30 plate chiller, which has threaded mounting holes on the back, so I used a chunk of plywood from the table top build and made a backing for the chiller, and used some machine screws and washers to hold it in place. Once I got it shaped right I got four magnets from the hardware store and JB weld glued them evenly dispered to the plywood backing. Now at first I didn't realize how much force a 15lb force magnet had, and ended up having to clamp the magnets in place while the epoxy dried. But once I got that figured out it all went together smoothly, and now I can mount the chiller basically anywhere I want on the stand as needed.

Here is the pics. I will post the other mounts as I get them built.

 

[The_Dog_42]

Interesting idea. Magnets may scratch your paint with repeat removal. May want to consider a crazy durable paint like epoxy. Also, casters on the base, of some type may be useful.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

I have thought about casters, but because the legs are slip joint and once the system is up it kinda stays where it is during brewing I was thinking instead of welding nuts into the bottom legs and using bolts as feet, sort of a easy leveling system for the stand.

I also thought of the problem of scratching the paint once its done. What I may do there is coat the bracket and magnets in some sort of durable rubberized coating that won't affect the magnets. I was thinking of suing a mat black tremclad paint for the stand in order to hide scratches and imperfections.

 

[The_Dog_42]

Most coatings will reduce the effectiveness of the magnets because it'll put the magnet farther from the surface.

Velcro would solve the problem in a ghetto as f*** way.

There are some casters on a cam lever system that would enable the stand to sit flat without rolling, sometimes they even have leveling feet built in. They get pricey though (~$60 for a set of 4).

 

[Carlscan26]

These were suggested in another thread and do what the_dog is suggesting:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SX3T2LO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[JLeuck64]

I also thought of the problem of scratching the paint once its done. What I may do there is coat the bracket and magnets in some sort of durable rubberized coating that won't affect the magnets. I was thinking of suing a mat black tremclad paint for the stand in order to hide scratches and imperfections.

Try finding a rattle can spray paint product of the trade name Hammerite. That stuff is tuff and durable. The finish when it drys is semi metalic and looks pretty cool also.

 

[The_Dog_42]

These were suggested in another thread and do what the_dog is suggesting:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SX3T2LO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Ha! I suggested it.

 

[Carlscan26]

Ha! I suggested it.

That's too funny! I definitely didn't catch that!!

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Alright, so I've gotten another mount figured out. This time for the pumps.

So I have been struggling with coming up with a mounting bracket for the chugger pumps that I am going to install. The big thing for the pumps is that either the mount or pump needs to be easily removable and sturdy while simultaneously require no messing around once installed. While I was getting more inspiration at the local hardware store I discovered something of use.

So I am a huge fan of re-purposing things. So while I was in the tool storage aisle in my local Princess Auto (Canadian Harbor Freight) I found these things:

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/3-pc-socket-rail-set/A-p2919611e

Now I know its for holding sockets, but if you look at it, it's just a formed metal rail that is designed for holding stuff, so I simply took it, and used it.

I started by taking the rail and stripping the socket holders off, and then measured off the base measurements for my chugger pump. Using a dremel I mitered the bar to turn it into a c-shaped sliding mount for the pump. I mounted this to a chopped off chunk of 2x4. I then mounted it on the underside of the stand centered relative to the final position of the keggle. Once I did this, I glued it in place, and screwed it through on the top and filled the screw depressions with wood filler. Once it dries I'll sand it down. Once the whole stand is pained and stained. I will put a further set of screws into the rails through metal tubing at the front in order to make the mounting rails doubly secure.

I made two of these as I will eventually have two pumps for this setup.

I now have a slide in mounting bracket for my Chugger pumps.

Also, the "1" and "2" that are below to two mounts are the numbers for my keezer taps, it was happy coincidence that they labelled the two mounts

I will also be making a screw down clamp that will prevent the pump from sliding out once it is in place for operation, but the fact that this worked I am happy with.

Pics follow...

 

[JLeuck64]

Dang! You are a clever boy aren't you?!

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Thanks! The only issue I am having with them is there is a fair bit of slop in the slide joint, so I am going to add a little bit of material to the pump mount to make it a tighter mount. That way it will be less prone to wiggle around during use.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Most coatings will reduce the effectiveness of the magnets because it'll put the magnet farther from the surface.

So I wanted to see how much of a coating that the magnets would tolerate before it would not hold up the chiller, I managed to get 3 dish towels between the magents and the post before it wouldn't hold anymore, so I figure a paint coating a few hundreds of an inch thick won't slow it down.

 

[The_Dog_42]

So I wanted to see how much of a coating that the magnets would tolerate before it would not hold up the chiller, I managed to get 3 dish towels between the magents and the post before it wouldn't hold anymore, so I figure a paint coating a few hundreds of an inch thick won't slow it down.

Woah! Those are some strong magnets. Rubber and paint shouldn't give it much problem. Do yourself a favor and wrap the rubber around the bottom edge. That way if you roll the HX off the stand (think taking a knife off a magnetic knife block), you won't scratch the paint.

 

[jrstaples1]

I have thought about casters, but because the legs are slip joint and once the system is up it kinda stays where it is during brewing I was thinking instead of welding nuts into the bottom legs and using bolts as feet, sort of a easy leveling system for the stand.

If you're still thinking about casters vs levelers, you could take a look at these tubing inserts. Tap them in with a mallet and levelers or casters thread in easily. Weight capacity is surprisingly high, too.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-tube-end-adapters/=hgkzha

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Okay, So I solved the excess slop problem that I had with the pump mount. Instead of mucking around forever trying to tighten up the actual mount. I made some rubber bands out of a 12" bicycle inner tube and wrapped them around the pump mounting plate. Fits nice and snug now.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Okay, mounting the Hop Rocket (HR) was the next thing. I bought the Hop Rocket for one main reason; I wanted a filter that i could use to remove pellet hops and hot/cold break from the wort that could be used inline and while hot. The HR met all the requirements, plus I could use it as a hopback if I wanted.

So how to mount it? Well seeing that I am using camlock fittings, it seemed the easiest solution was to put a camlock on it and attach it directly to the keggle. I've seen it done by others, so I figured what the hell, if it sucks I'll change it up.

So I purchased a few fitting and got to work. The Main thing I did was attach a type D female threaded camlock fitting for the inlet side and a Type F camlock male for the outlet of the HR, from there I also added two mini ball valves to the HR to isolate the HR so I could remove it or move it while it was full. This allows for a lot more versatility in its setup.

While fiddling, another possible use for the HR was revealed. If the HR is attached to the MLT, with the bottom seal of the HR removed, it may work as a small grant for the MLT. I have filled it with water and tested if it will hold a hydrometer, it's not quite deep enough to measure a SG of 1.000, but it will drop as low as 1.030 though, which may be enough for the mashouts that I like to do. It would also work well for collecting samples and adding chemicals, like gypsum, salts, etc.

We will see what happens when I get it fired up. Anyway, Pics attached.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

So I did some upgrades to the BK And the MLT that I figured I would take a few pics of and add the to the build page.

I've added stainless dip tube and bulkhead Whirlpool arm to the BK, and bulkhead with silicon hose for the MLT for vorlauf, sparging and eventually HERMS brewing. I purchased a few mini ball valves a while ago and I am using one as a shut off for the whirlpool arm in the BK because there is no way for me to otherwise break a siphon on it if I have it attached to a pump. With the MLT I will eventually put a valve on it, because I'm lazy, but in the mean time I can break the siphon on it by lifting the hose out of MLT.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

So for now that's all the mounting and dry fitting that will be done for the kettles and the stand. Here it is all setup in a couple different scenarios while I was fitting the hoses.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Starting the finishing of the stand now that the dry fitting is done...

So I am using Amber Shellac for the wood tops. Not only do I think it looks nice, but I think shellac is a highly underrated finish. It's also great for working with indoors, as it has very little vapor, and all the vapor is just denatured alcohol, all I had to do is drink a little bourbon before I start and its completely unnoticeable.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Here's the stand all shiny after I finished prepping and cleaning the stand for painting.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Just finished putting on 2 coats of primer... I used a water based one so I could do it in the house without getting high as a kite...

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

And here it is! All painted nice and flat black... I'll let it cure for the next few hours before sliding it against the wall for the night. Then in the morning once the paint has cured completely I'll start re-assembly.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Alright, the stand has been reassmbled and is setup in its final glory...

I have no idea what to call it. because of the colors all I can think of is Orange is the new Black... Maybe Pumpkin is the new Porter?

Hope you all have enjoyed watching my build. I have really enjoyed writing about it and building it. :rockin:

I will do a dry run with water/oxyclean tomorrow to clean it up and see if it all works.

Cheers!

 

[jcav]

Very nice, you did an excellent job!

John

 

[BlueHemlock]

I'm curious how well your Hop Rocket works before the pump. I've been looking at getting one of those, but I've been under the impression that they need to be after the pump before the chiller so that the wort is pumped through the HR. Are you able to keep a good flow through your pump with this configuration?

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

I'm not sure. I'll let you know when I do a test run. I haven't had a chance to try it out.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

I tested the system using water today and I maintained a pretty good flow through the system with it so I am so far impressed... We will see how it goes when I do an actual batch of beer on Monday.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Here is the setup after the initial tests... I'm sure it will change as I go, but this is the start...

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