MY stainlessless brew stand!

Ok so I'm finally getting around to documenting my brew stand build now that it's almost done.

The picasa album is at https://picasaweb.google.com/105472506372755419085/Beeeeeer?authkey=Gv1sRgCJKK5o2Yg6T-bA# and has pics of all my beer related stuff.

Basically, she's a weldless single-tier stand based on the "Wallace" by Sam Scott (see http://www.aleiens.com/profiles/blogs/wallace-the-weldless-brew) but I scaled it up slightly for a 15-20gal capacity. It has very little stainless on it, as I completed the entire build for under $2000. Now, mind you my "build" contains a LOT of items that are not on the brewstand, i.e. kegerator, chiller, mill, scales, fermenters, etc etc etc. I am upgrading from a 5 gal extract partial boil setup to this, all under that budget.

The metal parts are almost entirely galvanized steel and aluminum.

The kettles are 25 gal aluminum, the burners are (2) BG14's and (1) BG12 for the MLT, there's two march 809HS fitted with chugger pump heads, 1/2" aluminum camlock QD's all over, the few stainless pieces are the ball valves, sight tube tees and maybe another doodad or two here and there.

There's a 50 ft. counterflow chiller for chilling, an aluminum false bottom with aluminum standoffs, galvanized wind/heat shields, galvanized sheet pump splash/heat guards (not attached yet)... I'm not sure what I'm missing.

A couple of key pics:

Overview shot during a hot test

Front shot at rest

A shot of one of two lids. I made these in the Brutus style so I could swap lids, but I haven't seen anyone do it this way. Just stuck silicone grommets in and barbed stainless elbows to attach to silicone tubing on either side.

Don't want to clutter the post with too many pics, just check the picasa link for 50+ pictures. I'd like to give a big thanks to my buddy James who will probably read this, but is too lazy to sign up & post.

Questions, comments, criticisms & concerns - all feedback is appreciated!

Very nice! The fact that it looks like it was made from a giant Erector Set is a huge selling point for me. I'm probably going to do a 3-tier soon, and I plan on using really similar framing for it, so it's good to see that it has worked for other people. Really like the switchable Brutus lid, too. Well done.

Damn that looks tight! Love those pots are they the Penrose tanks?

That's pretty sweet. Looks like a pretty economical way to go. Is that the living room during assembly?? If so either a bachelor pad or a SWMBO who loves beer -- no way SWMBO would tolerate that with me. I get enough flak for taking up 1/3 of the 3-car garage. Props to you for it, very cool. This might have to be the design I go for...

do you get any bowing of the stand from all of the weight?

Bitchin'! If I didn't love BIAB, I'd definitely look into something like this. I'm thinking of building a single burner stand on wheels just to make my setup more mobile.

Nice job!

wedge421 said:

Damn that looks tight! Love those pots are they the Penrose tanks?

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Nope those are aluminum kettles I got on ebay. Came with lids and strainer baskets for $70 ea.

bitmask said:

That's pretty sweet. Looks like a pretty economical way to go. Is that the living room during assembly?? If so either a bachelor pad or a SWMBO who loves beer -- no way SWMBO would tolerate that with me. I get enough flak for taking up 1/3 of the 3-car garage. Props to you for it, very cool. This might have to be the design I go for...

Click to expand...

Economical is exactly what I was trying to accomplish here. I know it's a big expenditure as it is, but I wanted to do everything I could as cost-effectively as possible without sacrificing quality on the end product! Yep it's my living room and hell yeah I'm a bachelor, a quick once-over with the vacuum and that rug was good as new. I wouldn't tolerate a SWMBO who didn't respect (or at least tolerate) my obsessive side.

doctorsbro said:

do you get any bowing of the stand from all of the weight?

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No I don't. I have had ~22gal of water in all 3 kettles at once, which comes out to >500lb and there was no bowing. The heat shields do a wonderful job of keeping the frame pieces relatively cool while the burners are on full blast. Steel really won't weaken until very high temps - don't know exact numbers but it's not a major concern.

Thanks for all the comments so far, I plan on attaching a complete bill of materials in excel / spreadsheet form somehow. It's got links to suppliers of almost all parts, prices, notes, etc. I changed my mind so many times that some of the info is inaccurate but to each their own.

sorry to dig up an old thread but this looks to be exactly what i am about to build. I just ordered (3) 20gal pots and am looking to go a little wider and lower than the typical builds you see. Would you mind sharing the dimensions of the one you built?