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sandyeggoxj said:
Here are some updated pictures:
I still haven't decided how to finish the stand. I was going to put some cross bars on the top to hold the kettles, but I was also considering putting a top on it. Just something thin like 12 gauge. Decisions, Decisions...
Click to expand...

I got my hands on a prep table from the family restaurant and I LOVE having a solid top but I also hate it... I've spilled water and it has no where to go with a solid top, but it would keep stuff from spilling all over your cabinets... Its all personal preference.
 
waffle418 said:
I got my hands on a prep table from the family restaurant and I LOVE having a solid top but I also hate it... I've spilled water and it has no where to go with a solid top, but it would keep stuff from spilling all over your cabinets... Its all personal preference.
Click to expand...

I decided to go with a top. I am thinking that I might put a lip around the back and sides so that a spill would be directed to a specific point. I have to buy a whole sheet, but I am going to have the supplier shear it to size. Should make for a nice clean top. I will probably start using fermcap to help with foam issues on large volume boils. I like the look of bare steel and I plan to paint everything with clear paint.

This is a prototype stand anyways. I plan to build another one out of 304SS once I work a few bugs out. I still can't decide where to put my pumps. They are problem children. I also think that I have a plan for my control panel, but still not set on that either. I was thinking of putting it at a 60 degree angle on the right side of the stand with a quick disconnect type arm that can relocated during storage.
 
Finished the stand. Total cost ~$160. I still have to drill a few holes for the pumps and control panel and then reinstall the file cabinets. The stand is going to get a coat of clear paint so that I can still see the steely goodness.

Quick Stats:
80' of 1.5"x1.5"x14gauge steel tube
25"x74" of 12 Gauge CRS
10' of 4"x.125" HRS flat bar

Welding with a Millermatic 251 mig with .035" ER70S6 wire and c25 gas at 16.5 volts and 180ipm wfs.







Control panel mount included:









High-tech CAD drawings for the stand:





Obligatory "look how good I am" picture:



Also made some progress on the control panel but this damn move is slowing me down...
 
Very nice work!! I wish I had the ability to weld, never done it...

I like the flat top, I'm planning the same for my BK, and HLT with a tippy dump mash tun based loosely off another thread on here on HBT.

I'm subscribed to see this one out! Keep building!



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Ttownbrewer said:
Very nice work!! I wish I had the ability to weld, never done it...

I like the flat top, I'm planning the same for my BK, and HLT with a tippy dump mash tun based loosely off another thread on here on HBT.

I'm subscribed to see this one out! Keep building!



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

If you decide to do it then buy quality tools and practice, practice, practice! There is a lot to learn at weldingtipsandtricks.com. If you are comfortable being uncomfortable then you can be a good weldor. It also helps to be consistent. I have taught many people a few tricks and they have really upped their game. If you were local I'd show you too!

Thanks for subscribing. It should be a fun ride by the time we are done

Prost!
 
Do you plan on finishing the top in anyway? I will soon be building something similar for my setup as well as a work bench and cant decide what i want for the top. Stainless seems too expensive and I like your option of mild steel. Maybe give it a decent finish and then spray it with a clear coat of rustoleum?
 
bemerritt said:
Do you plan on finishing the top in anyway? I will soon be building something similar for my setup as well as a work bench and cant decide what i want for the top. Stainless seems too expensive and I like your option of mild steel. Maybe give it a decent finish and then spray it with a clear coat of rustoleum?
Click to expand...

Yep, that is exactly what I am going to do. Cold rolled steel doesn't have the precipitated carbon layer to protect it from rust so it is sprayed with oil. I'm going to clean all the metal with acetone and then coat with clear coat. I was thinking about putting a 1 inch lip around the top so I am going to hold off until I make a decision on that.

I just out the heavy duty rubber wheels on and this thing is super tall. The surface is over 3' tall. I don't think I'll be able to look into the kettles from the ground level. I'm going to build some sort of catwalk type working platform and attaches to the stand during brew day.
 
Yeah, that is exactly why im planning on having my stand be about 2 feet in height. Just tall enough to prime pumps and store my glycol chiller under it.
 
It is my fault for trying to fit those drawer units underneath. I have to brew on a gravel surface otherwise I would get regular 4" casters and lose about 6" of height. Oh well. It will make beer! This is why I didn't want to spend the money on ss for a while. Need to get some bugs worked out first. I would love to out a glycol chiller and such on the cart. That would mean brewing in place, but that would also mean a dedicated space in the garage!

I picked up a small stainless prep table, maybe 3'x2' that will make and excellent mill station. Needs some wheel but has room for 2 buckets underneath the mill output so I can mill almost continually.
 
Seconded on the Hess Brewing. Ballast Point, Wet & Reckless, and Green Flash are all right around there. Great times. I miss living there. They usually had a foodie-gourmet type truck out front though.

Love the brew stand build. Keep posting!
 
Well, I have finally had some more time to work on this. Panel is about finished. Planning on testing everything on Sunday.

I do have another question: Can I pull the wiring from the chugger pump and wire in a longer pigtail?
 
SCott-
That is what I ended up doing. Works fine.

I am working more bugs out with my BCS programming right now. Just moving some water around. Currently running the "mash."


I did have another BCS question: how do I associate a different temp probe with a different output? I have a temp probe in my BK but since I only have 2 heating element outputs and 2 pump outputs the BCS is associating the BK temp probe with pump 1. I can't figure out how to change that?
 
Brewing my first batch now. Looking at pre boil gravity I am at 70% efficiency. My crush is pretty big on the MM2-2.0.

The worst part so far is scaling the boil intensity back. I have it back to a 20% duty cycle and it is a very vigorous boil.
 
i found i had the same problems with FF. sometimes it was ok, sometimes not. switched to chrome and blamo, issues gone!
 
Well, my brew day was successful! I just tasted a hydrometer sample and yum. I did screw up a bit and got 84% apparent attenuation with 001 and went from 17.8P to 3.3P yielding around 8.3%ABV. That is no longer an IPA. Whoops. It tastes great.

Things to do for this weekends brew:

1. Tighten up mill gap. I got around 72% efficiency, but I can get quite a bit more out of it without hitting tannin extraction or stuck sparges.
2. Preheat water in the BK so that I can reheat the HLT faster after I dough in.
3. Run som 5-star acid #5 through the HEX when I am done and see how clean it is after 2 batches. I ran 45 minutes with warm PBW last time while I cleaned other things.

For as many variables as I had first batch I am very happy with the result. Now I get to start dialing things in and that should be just as much fun as building!

So far I am loving this setup. What a move forward it is from life in the kitchen and extract. That being said I still brew with buddies that use extract and we have a great time and brew great beer. What an amazing hobby that it can be so diverse. I really love brewing and I tend to be a homebrew and craft beer evangelist.

Next step is ordering my brewhemoth finally and then switching to a glycol system for temp control. That will start on Monday.
 
Wow looks great!
I am building a 20 gallon stout tank system as well. What plans are you going off? Even though I work on multi-million dollar jets airliners for a living I don't feel I can design this thing myself. Still in debate whether I will go gas or electric. I live in 220v land so I am not sure if I want to rewire my house so I can run a 3phase brewery. We will see. Anyhow love your work on this.
Cheers
Paul in Sydney
:mug:
 
Hey globe trekker. Sorry I can't help. I'm not really following any particular plan. I just make it up as I go. I did read a ton on this forum and inevitably was influenced by that.
 
Wow you must be an electronics engineer on the side to just come up with your own panel. The rest of us need to follow someones schematic so we dont burn something expensive down. Which is why I think I will go the gas route and just stick to manual with a couple of PIDs set up and incremently move up from there. Plus with gas your not restricted by where you plug in as you wont need 3 phase power to brew.
 
globetrekker
FYI electric is cheaper and much easier to work with. I have run both and Love the electric set up.


globetrekker said:
Wow you must be an electronics engineer on the side to just come up with your own panel. The rest of us need to follow someones schematic so we dont burn something expensive down. Which is why I think I will go the gas route and just stick to manual with a couple of PIDs set up and incremently move up from there. Plus with gas your not restricted by where you plug in as you wont need 3 phase power to brew.
Click to expand...
 
sandyeggoxj said:
SCott-
That is what I ended up doing. Works fine.

I am working more bugs out with my BCS programming right now. Just moving some water around. Currently running the "mash."


I did have another BCS question: how do I associate a different temp probe with a different output? I have a temp probe in my BK but since I only have 2 heating element outputs and 2 pump outputs the BCS is associating the BK temp probe with pump 1. I can't figure out how to change that?
Click to expand...

Go to edit process
process set up
page down to Miscellaneous State Properties
go to Alternate PID
you can change temp probe association to output scorce...
Enjoy
 

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