Brew Stand - Noobs :)

here are some pics from the brew stand we made today. its not completely finished yet. we still need to mount the burners and run the propane lines. all the metal we used for this was free someone was throwing it out and we picked it up and made a brew stand with it.

soon we will be starting out 15 gallon batches of beer

right now we have an Oktoberfest and Scottish Ale in the fermenters. Tomorrow we will be brewing a Imperial Pale Ale.

good times ahead!

 

I would be concerned about the weight along with the heat. That may pose a problem in the future..What size steel is that?

 

Agree. That looks like some really thin slotted angle. If it's what I'm thinking it is, it's probably not going to be able to support that much weight... Hot weight too.

 

Not too sure I would count on getting a 15 gallon batch - most kegs are 15.5 gallons. But of course, a fun project!

 

pretty sure the weight will be fine. we added braces to the back of it to be sure, but of course there is only one way to tell and thats brew

not sure what size of steel it is but it seems pretty robust.

it was all free, so if it breaks, then we will make something better. just a fun project.

 

The concern is if it breaks and dumps 10+ gallons of 200F liquid where you're brewing. Someone could get seriously injured. At the very least I'd add some vertical posts in the middle to provide better support. That span looks too long for angle iron especially when you don't know the gauge. I'd also add some pieces at 45 degrees on the corners to make it more rigid.

 

Uni-strut isn't thick enough (14Ga) to support that much weight. At 8 Lbs per gallon and all three full you have a bunch of liquid weight plus the kegs. I would definately put a set of legs in the middle and a shelf below to stiifen the overall structure. As a former welder/fabricator it looks good, but needs a bit more support before you add heat and fire to the equation. Looks good though and is an excelent start on a great machine build, keep the pics coming.
Bob

 

I'd be really careful about just jumping in and using that. That slotted uni strut will not hold all that weight, and will weaken when heated. That whole get up will get hot when you put burners on it, which is even more additional weight to the struts.

Just because it's free, doesn't mean it'll work. Be careful with it, 220* of boiling wort spewing everywhere when the thin unistrut fails will not be a pretty sight.

 

I agree folks.. that will not hold the weight. I would put center posts between each keggle at least.

That galvanized when heated will bend like butter IMO.

 

Good luck with your 3rd degree burn goals of 2012, smurphy74133

 

Nice job guys. I built one just like that and it works great. Keep up the good work. Sure it will look good when your done. Like you said "its not finished yet". Post more pics as you go.

 

Yes, not finished yet. But it will be awesome when we are done with it. Im sure it will work out great. Im not that dumb to not do some stress test on if first before we brew on it.

 

I would definitely suggest at least 2 more legs both front and back (4 total) to support that long span. I would also put some more support under each keggle.

I would worry about the angle twisting under the weight when heated allowing the keggle to drop right through.

 

Seriously, this stand is awesome! Great work guys! When you build the actual stand from this model, snap some pics & post them here. I love the idea of building a lightweight model as a mockup before building the real thing. Great idea!

 

wow bunch of smart asses around here.......guess i wont care to post on here anymore.

 

Don't let a few smartasses get in the way of your posting here. Let us see the final product once you get it done!

 

I dont think he was being a smart arse, I think he was serious that you guys have done a good job.

FWIW, I don't think anyone was thinking you guys were being dumb either. Your original post:

seemed to imply that you were almost done and all you were planning on doing was mounting burners and running gas supply...that's what I assumed anyway. Bottom line is you posted on a forum, you got some feedback, you clarified things and it's all good.

Occasionally there are some douchey posts on here but I think all the ones in this thread so far intended to be helpful and to ensure you didn't try something dangerous that could have seriously hurt someone (except for maybe jammin's comment...not douchey but leaning towards smart arse). Don't take your ball and go home.

 

Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there. I flashed the pics & assumed it was a model of which I complimented you on. After reading through, you said you weren't done yet & you got some great advice on your build. The build is awesome (not sarcasm). Everyone here has shown some concern about the strength of the stand. The problem is that most of us have watched 1/4" steel get white hot while boiling kegs & had our butts pucker a bit on the concern that the steel will bend & our 212 degree boiling water would put us in the hospital. Nobody wants to see anyone get hurt here. That includes burns & feelings.

 

Smurf,
When I read the reply I just automatically assumed he made a mistake or didn't read the entire post and wasn't trying to be a douche. Often I have made similar mistakes and made coomments based on wrong perception. Now I am very carefull to read the words, without adding any overtones or attitude in my head. Makes a lot of things a whole lot less Ill cast or condescending. Just my .02, I think it was purely an accidental mis-understanding,,,, Period....
Bob

 

my apologies, just thought you were being sarcastic. i understand everyones concern. thanks and ill keep it all in mind.

 

Whole lot of butt hurt in this thread. The only person that loved it was probably his friend that joined to comment on the stand.

I don't think it's a bad design. Because it's not. It's a simple no frills stand that would work great with 2 march pumps and 2 or 3 burners on it. Toss on a water filtration system on it, and some thermo couples to the kegs to a module that shows temps, and it's ready to go. Outfit it with some wheels and it's mobile to the garage, to the back yard, or to a brew day somewhere else.

That said.. I've built plenty of stuff, and that flimsy thin slotted angle isn't the best idea to use, period. Think about that keg, which has it's own heft, loaded with a grain bill of like 20 of grain and then water on it and it's hot. That stuff WILL flex. Transfer 7 gallons or so over of hot wort with a huge fat burner pumping out some serious flame, and that galvanized stuff will start to hiss and bubble and turn stark white. About that time, you'll want to turn stark white as well.

Using something more substantial that will be in contact with heat will be better, you can use that slotted stuff to build other stuff on the stand.

 

I'd also be worried about heating up anything galvanized. Hot galvanized metal can give off very poisonous gasses and there have been welders who have died from zinc poisoning when they welded galvanized metals without proper respirators or ventilation or precautions. You are brewing outside so there might be enough airflow, but its not worth the risk for some beer.

 

So, back to the OP. When I looked at the pics, it made me think about what I could build and consider the idea of learning to do some welding. As I looked closer I noticed one detail that I would change.

The pieces of angle bar that you have the keggles sitting on look like they have the angle pointing upward. I assume that is to keep the keggles from sliding around or something. But I can't imagine they would really slide around that much to need to be corralled like that. And it seems to me that they would be able to support more weight if they were rotated to have the vertical portion directly below the keggles (I'm thinking in terms of an I-beam being stronger than a flat piece of whatever type of metal). That might be just a superficial change and it might just be something that would look like it would be stronger without changing the structural integrity at all. I am certainly not an engineer (actually a music teacher), but that is my $.02 for you.

 

As an architect (who has taken structures courses and passed his structures exam for licensing purposes) I understand your thinking regarding the direction of the angles, but structurally it doesn't matter if the "L" is facing up or down. The main variable that determines how strong a beam/angle/joist/structural element is with regards to resisting bending is the depth of that structural element. As long as the two legs of the angle are equal than it doesn't matter what direction you orient it.

In this case however, because the metal is so thin and the keg is resting on the horizontal leg, I might worry about the metal deforming where it supports the keg. I think this is actually what signpost is concerned about and meant by his comment. If you turned the angle over so the "L" is pointing down and away from the keg, the keg would be supported more directly by the vertical part of the angle and would be less likely to locally bend the thin horizontal leg. If you do use this brewstand, I suggest turning the angle upside down and then attaching either a second angle right side up (like you have it) or a flat piece to the side of each angle to prevent the keg from shifting and falling off the supports.

 

Yeah. What he said.

 

subscribed.

 

I hate interjecting experience- to which I have little- but I too would be concerned with hot liquid spilling and splashing all over the place. This idiot carried an empty 5 gallon carboy 3 steps- tripping over a 24 pack of water bottles- landing on the carboy- NOT CRACKING IT- but if I did- wow I would probably be out of work for a month- I would have been cut pretty badly the way I fell. Not to hijack- support and more support! Dont spill the beer

 

So I am curious... how has it held up? Have you used it yet? I think its a pretty cool idea.

I, too, am a bit of a "scrap material builder". I always like to see something new/useable come from nothing...