Want to build a gravity rig, pump vs 2 burners

[snowtires]

Hi fellow brewers

I have been brewing for a bit over a year now, currently i have a 5 gallon mash tun (rubbermaid cooler) a 9 gallon ss pot and 1 burner. As of now i heat my mash water and mash in, then heat my sparge water and empty my mash into an empty bucket, then i batch sparge into the pot and pour the first runnings into the pot and make my beer. Now thats all fine and dandy but eventually its time for a more efficient setup, so I'm planning on building a low cost brew rig.

My question is…
What option is better?
3 tier gravity setup

Option 1 - Buy a pump and another cooler (HLT), pipe the pump from the kettle to the HLT

Option 2 - Add a spigot to my spare aluminum 9 gallon pot and buy a second burner.

Im thinking option 1 is better, but I'm not really sure, option 2 would seem like it could save time, but option 1 i wouldn't have to add water or even use a stool or a ladder as i would be heating all the mash and sparge water in the kettle and pumping it up to the top.

I would love to hear your opinions, as i have no experience with brewing rigs

 

[Magic8Ball]

I have been toying with the same question for sometime and fairly happy with this setup. I did not want to lift heavy amounts of liquids (especially hot) over head. So a complete gravity system was out. To increase speed (shorten brewday) you should be firing your first running's as soon as you can so you can achieve a boil asap. In my system you only need one pot with spigot & two coolers and a pump. You will want to install ball valves on all three with quick diconnects. Bottom tier is boil pot and burner. Next tier is MLT and top tier is HLT.

Brew day step one, heat strike water, pump up to MLT to dough in. step two: heat sparge water and once at temp pump up to HLT. Step three Vorlauf and send first runnings to BK start heating at med flame. Step Four: drain HLT to MLT for sparge. Step five vorlauf and send 2nd runnings to BK.

This setup can be used for 2 step batch sparge by still using a bucket as a grant while the 2nd batch sparge water is heating. No need to clean the pump as you pump nothing but hot water around. I purchased a 2nd burner, for more flexibility in multistep mash's and to be able to do a BIAB brew plus a full mash brew at the same time.

Hope this helped. Prost! M8B

 

[worksnorth]

Another option is to go with a four tier. Fermenter on the floor, boil kettle on one burner is the next level, mash tun for the third level and the HLT on another burner is the fourth level. Simply use a short hose to fill the HLT, no ladders needed. I've got a sight glass on the HLT so I can measure my strike waters and sparge waters. The only lifting I do is to move the fermenter into the fermentation chamber.
Of course each pot will need a valve too. And I too use quick detach fittings on all my hoses and valves, they're pretty handy!
Cheers!

 

[snowtires]

Magic8ball, that's exactly what I'm thinking of doing except I was thinking of just permenantly hooking the pump to the hlt and when I mash in just drain from the hlt to the mlt and allow for extra heat loss.

As for the last poster, the kettle being high enough to gravity feed the fermenter is what I had in mind. But I think the actual stand will be 3 tiers. Just not sure about burner and pot vs cooler hlt

As for the price I think it would be around $200 either way. Pump cooler spigot vs burner, thermometer, valve

I don't really do multistep mashes yet. But fly sparging will def save me some time and effort.

 

[snowtires]

Just reread your post magic. It would be good to have a biab setup and do 2 brews at the same time. Never even thought of that. Twice as much beer in one brew day

 

[Cyclman]

I never heard the term before, but once I get my 20G kettle, I will have a 4-tier.

I have to climb a stepstool or ladder to check my HLT temp, I guess it would be smart to install a thermo on it.

Other than that, I love it. Brews easy, easy to clean, shelves from sevilleclassics were cheap.

 

[snowtires]

I never heard the term before, but once I get my 20G kettle, I will have a 4-tier.

I have to climb a stepstool or ladder to check my HLT temp, I guess it would be smart to install a thermo on it.

Other than that, I love it. Brews easy, easy to clean, shelves from sevilleclassics were cheap.

Awe you got a blichman? That is sweet. I'm brewing a batch right now the old school way. Then I'm going to do an overnight mash and finish a second batch in the morning.

 

[Bobby_M]

I never heard the term before, but once I get my 20G kettle, I will have a 4-tier.

I have to climb a stepstool or ladder to check my HLT temp, I guess it would be smart to install a thermo on it.

Other than that, I love it. Brews easy, easy to clean, shelves from sevilleclassics were cheap.

That second level can come down a good 10" and the top can then come down about 12". Why so tall?

 

[Cyclman]

That second level can come down a good 10" and the top can then come down about 12". Why so tall?

I set it up so someday, with 2 Blich burners on the shelves and one on the ground with leg extensions it will have 2" between valve and top of next kettle, with the BK going straight into the fermenter. The turkey fryers are stand ins for now.

 

[snowtires]

I'm outside brewing right now and it occurs to me I'm under the deck. So maybe not the best idea to have a propane burner 18" under it. Pump and coolers it is