Vertical pole brew stand?

[spittybug]

When I built the new house I made sure that I had a brew porch outside with the water and electric I need. So far all I've done is use my existing 1 tier rolling steel cart with my 3 keg all electric system. The cart was necessary when I needed to roll in and out of the garage, but not anymore. I'm weighing options. I can build a 'counter top' that mounts to the side of the house and to one of the porch support poles. Straightforward, but takes up a lot of room. I've been thinking long and hard about a vertical system. Since it doesn't need to be mobile in any way and since I have a covered porch above me, I was thinking of a stout metal pole with a foot plate bolted to the concrete. The top could be mounted to the joist in the porch ceiling. Think stripper pole..... I could then weld/bolt heavy brackets to the 3 kegs and mount them to different sides/heights of the pole. I'm all electric, so no need for burner stands. Pump & control panel could be mounted on pole. Electrics could run through pole.

What does a keg weigh, ~40 lbs empty, ~170 lbs absolutely full? With good bolts/brackets on the top and bottom rims of the kegs, that wouldn't be tough at all. Kegs on opposite side of pole would even help offset any deflection, but a good thick walled piece of square tubing anchored top and bottom wouldn't be going anywhere.....

This seems too simple, what am I missing? Has anyone done this?

 

[spittybug]

Something like this that I found in another thread when searching, just with the electric keggles 'hanging off it. I've been looking at Superstrut and wondering whether that would work. My ceiling is about 10' 6" high, so I'd need to join a small piece to a 10 footer. I see they have a foot plate to mount to. Pretty sturdy stuff, but it may take two of them joined together to be rigid enough....? By mounting to the ceiling too I eliminate topple over problems.

 

[spittybug]

Wow, I thought somebody would have chimed in by now..............

 

[Transamguy77]

I’ve seen stands on the interwebs that are exactly like your looking for, with hooks that go in the keg handle to hold it up.

I think your idea of a single pole bolted On the top and bottom will hold just fine. I built a 3 tier stand with keggles but mine moves.

Edit: if you look at the Blichmann tower of power or the Center of gravity they are a great place to start with ideas.

 

[deroosa]

As a Blichmann Tower of Power owner, I would think it would make the most sense. The ability to have either burners or shelves and reconfigure at any point in time is really helpful. There is one on the for sale board in Houston right now. Blichmann Top Tier w/ 2 gas control modules - HERMS Brewing system $2500 - or parted out (Houston Texas)

Yes it comes with burners but I would expect you could turn around and resell them for at least half if not two thirds of what the entire top tier is listed for at $400. You could built your own shelves out of the shelf/burner mounts, and now that you have something that is designed to hold the weight. The majority of the weight is on the center post since it still touches the ground. If you did not want to use the legs, I susoect you could still mount it to a bracket on the floor, and then come down from the ceiling to support it for side to side and front to back planes.

I have used conduit to run the electrical up the sides of mine for a waterproof pump switch box I added at the top. I have rearranged it multiple times from a vertical gravity fed, to a more horizontal as I obtained pumps, and changed processes.

 

[Bobby_M]

Kegs have a skirt on the top and bottom so a pole mount can be as simple as a strong welded L hook facing up on the bottom and down on the top. You hook the top skirt first, then rest it down on the bottom hook. The whole keg now floats in space. Lifting kegs over my head and climbing a ladder to stir the mash is not my idea of efficient brewing but that's not what you asked ;-)

 

[spittybug]

Kegs have a skirt on the top and bottom so a pole mount can be as simple as a strong welded L hook facing up on the bottom and down on the top. You hook the top skirt first, then rest it down on the bottom hook. The whole keg now floats in space. Lifting kegs over my head and climbing a ladder to stir the mash is not my idea of efficient brewing but that's not what you asked ;-)

Hey Bobby, I'm a frequent customer of yours and appreciate your innovative fittings! Did you mean L hook facing DOWN on the bottom and UP on the top, so that you put the top into a slot, lift and then drop the bottom one into a slot? It rests on the bottom and the top is prevented from pulling away..... Actually both could be angled down, like the pin locking mechanisms of industrial shelving. It would simply require slots to be cut in the pole.

I have no desire to use ladders or anything crazy like that. The most likely configuration would be BK and Mash Tun across from each other at waist height with the HLT behind the pole at shoulder height. Pump up to the HERMS, drain down. Could conceivably make HLT permanently full; no need to drain, keep it up and out of the way.

Deroosa, that's an idea. I'm about 4 hours from Houston, but since I don't need to be mobile, I think I prefer the fixed pole concept. Bobby's idea of hooks and slots is along the lines of what I originally envisioned rather than shelves.

I've thought of using Superstrut 12 ga, but I'm not sure that will cut it. I think 4" square tubing is the answer.

 

[Bobby_M]

Insert the top skirt of the keg in the upper bracket slot and then drop the bottom skirt into the lower groove. It's drawn with a 4" square pole and 1/4" thick sheets for the bracket but I think a 3" square with 1/8" wall would be fine, along with 1/8" sheet for the brackets.

 

[spittybug]

View attachment 712737
Insert the top skirt of the keg in the upper bracket slot and then drop the bottom skirt into the lower groove. It's drawn with a 4" square pole and 1/4" thick sheets for the bracket but I think a 3" square with 1/8" wall would be fine, along with 1/8" sheet for the brackets.

Gotcha! I was thinking welding to the kegs! That makes good sense and would be much easier to fabricate. You should start having these made and sell them, hint hint Thanks.

 

[spittybug]

When I built the new house I made sure that I had a brew porch outside with the water and electric I need. So far all I've done is use my existing 1 tier rolling steel cart with my 3 keg all electric system. The cart was necessary when I needed to roll in and out of the garage, but not anymore. I'm weighing options. I can build a 'counter top' that mounts to the side of the house and to one of the porch support poles. Straightforward, but takes up a lot of room. I've been thinking long and hard about a vertical system. Since it doesn't need to be mobile in any way and since I have a covered porch above me, I was thinking of a stout metal pole with a foot plate bolted to the concrete. The top could be mounted to the joist in the porch ceiling. Think stripper pole..... I could then weld/bolt heavy brackets to the 3 kegs and mount them to different sides/heights of the pole. I'm all electric, so no need for burner stands. Pump & control panel could be mounted on pole. Electrics could run through pole.

What does a keg weigh, ~40 lbs empty, ~170 lbs absolutely full? With good bolts/brackets on the top and bottom rims of the kegs, that wouldn't be tough at all. Kegs on opposite side of pole would even help offset any deflection, but a good thick walled piece of square tubing anchored top and bottom wouldn't be going anywhere.....

This seems too simple, what am I missing? Has anyone done this? View attachment 712323

Sleeping on things often results in new ideas! What if instead of a vertical pole I went with Bobby M.'s hook idea (above) to hang the kegs from two horizontal rails that run between the wall of the house and the post on the corner of the porch. The ground area you see is all going to be built up with fill so that there will be no drop off (very dangerous for a brew porch, don't ask me how I know...). If the hangar hooks slid left or right, the whole thing could be flexible for moving the kegs out of the way when not brewing, or spread apart for brew day. They could be unhooked from the hanging rail and stacked if desired. Installing the rails would only require angle brackets on the ends to mount them. I think I would want one vertical post in the center of the span so that all the weight wasn't only on the two ends. With the kegs removed it would simply look like a railing. I need to sketch this one up, but I'm liking the idea.

 

[spittybug]

Wait for it...... epic... just a couple more days for the final parts to arrive......

 

[Transamguy77]

I’m waiting......

 

[spittybug]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N98VSWG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Leviton Decora Cat5e Data Insert Outlet, White-R02-41640-00W - The Home Depot
https://www.lowes.com/pd/RCA-RCA-CAT5e-6-Network-Surface-Mount-Jack/5001717825
A little angle iron and a MIG.....

Give me a couple more days to finalize.......

 

[spittybug]

And here it is.
Each set of brackets is rated for 1000lbs. I sat on a pair with no problem and I weigh more than a full keg. So that nothing moves around, I also drilled through the top collar of each keg and inserted a threaded rod straight through the post. A nut on each end and voila, a little insurance. That SS is heavy enough that I bet it would hold the keg up without the brackets! The sensor wires are now all CAT5 and run down the beam to sockets so they can be quick disconnected. They and the two 10ga electric cords and the pump power all travel overhead to the control box mounted on the wall in the cabinet. There will be sod laid shortly. 30amp GFCI breaker for the panel, 110 GFCI plug for anything that might need plugging in. Hard (~25 grains) and soft water on tap at the wall. Rig is tested and makes perfectly good beer, this is just giving it a fixed home rather than a rolling cart.

 

[Golddiggie]

What are you going to do if it starts raining (or any other bad weather) in the middle of a brew day?? We had a storm here, this week, that the rain was hitting three sides of the house (at least) along with sessions of heavy hail. With either a movable stand, or something more protected (or inside) it's a null effect. Unless you're going to come up with something to shield the kettles from weather, you'll be fighting it at least some of the time.

My current setup doesn't care what the weather is. Be that rain, hail, frogs coming from the sky, snow, thundersnow, etc. We've had everything except the frogs here.

 

[spittybug]

What are you going to do if it starts raining (or any other bad weather) in the middle of a brew day?? We had a storm here, this week, that the rain was hitting three sides of the house (at least) along with sessions of heavy hail. With either a movable stand, or something more protected (or inside) it's a null effect. Unless you're going to come up with something to shield the kettles from weather, you'll be fighting it at least some of the time.

My current setup doesn't care what the weather is. Be that rain, hail, frogs coming from the sky, snow, thundersnow, etc. We've had everything except the frogs here.

Valid point.

Here in Hill Country we have pretty reliably nice weather with the exceptions being occasional pop up storms in the afternoon heat. I thought about it and decided my brewing schedule is sufficiently flexible that the trade off of mobility versus space was worth it.

 

[Transamguy77]

Ok you were right that’s pretty epic! Nice layout!
after reading @Golddiggie’s post I’m sure you could get a windscreen or large umbrella, here in Pa I’ve brewed in rain and snow with no worries maybe just cover the pot halfway

 

[Golddiggie]

Ok you were right that’s pretty epic! Nice layout!
after reading @Golddiggie’s post I’m sure you could get a windscreen or large umbrella, here in Pa I’ve brewed in rain and snow with no worries maybe just cover the pot halfway

I've shifted my brewing location from out in the driveway, under a [pop-up] canopy into the garage after converting from propane fired to electric. Helps that I went with Spike kettles and got the steam condenser lid for the BK. I have the stand positioned so that I don't need to worry about having the garage door either fully open or mostly closed. I'll do mostly closed as need with it held up by blocks to allow the chiller drain hose through either in the winter or really bad weather. As long as I don't lose power, I'm fine. Even then, I might be able to finish a batch with my generator running. Haven't needed to test that aspect so far. I did lose power during the cleanup last brew day, for about an hour.

 

[spittybug]

Alrighty, today was the shakedown cruise of the new setup!! The only thing I discovered is that I need to recalibrate my sensors for the extra run of wire that I now have. The minor drop in voltage for the longer run results in a discrepancy with my reliable laboratory thermometer. Easy to offset.

Observations:

• I LOVE having the HLT above the mash tun. A simple gravity feed from one to the other without a pump makes life simpler.
• No issue whatsoever with full keg weight on the brackets. There shouldn't be, they are rated for 1000lbs per pair plus I added a threaded rod through the post and the upper rim of the kegs just in case.
• New procedure for water use minimization is great: Fill HLT to brim. Bring to strike temp. Gravity fill mash tun with hot water. Mash in. Use remaining water in HLT for herms function. When ready to mash out, drain HLT into mash tun. Because of grain absorption, a gallon or two of tap water is also needed. Pump over to boil kettle. Sparge once more with a couple of gallons max. Boil. Plate chiller water effluent goes into now empty mash tun and overflows about 5 gallons worth, caught in a bucket. Hot mash tun contents and bucket used to flush/wash boil kettle, pump and mash tun. Total water used in making 10 gallons including cooling and cleanup: <40 gallons. That's pretty good in a part of the world where we constantly need to be aware of water usage.
• Brew day was 4 hours from mash in to done cleaning.
• Wort into fermenter was a bit warm at ~100*, but since it's in a conical inside a temp controlled fridge, so what? It will be ready to pitch in a few hours.

To dos:

• I need to optimize my hose lengths and label them for their usage. Maybe fixed SS lines since the setup is now more permanent?
• Maybe someway of integrating a valved offtake port to fill my graduated cylinder for gravity readings. That way I don't have to disconnect hoses.
• Recalibrate sensors.
• Add a flexible sparge arm for mash tun that can be moved out of the way for stirring.
• Lids for each vessel to keep them clean between brews. It's windy and dusty up on my hill.
• Rebuild control unit into a 12x12 PVC junction box (Home Depot) and make more permanent than this hardboard version. Eliminate old sensor input plugs.
• Get the damned area grassed!!!!

Here's a couple of pics of the system:

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Looks Fantastic.