2.5 Tier Brew Stand - Design Questions

[Chad_C]

I am at the point where its starting to get necessary to build a brew rig to brew outdoors, and out of the kitchen. I ran into an old neighbor who is willing to trade some homebrew to build me a rig. I had designed a 2.5 tier brew stand, but am now left with some questions about how feasible it actually is.

I call it a 2.5 tier because I found a design by someone else similar to this, and that's what they referred to it as. Its not quite a 3 tier because there is a pump involved, and its definitely not a 2 tier as you can see. Trying to create as small as a stand as possible to save space.

Will the march pump pump water approximately 5' high? Does anybody see any issues other than the pump maybe not being sufficient to raise the water that height?

It will be propane fired, with 2 banjo burners under the HLT and the Brew Kettle. Gravity fed from the Mash Tun to the Carboy. Will most likely cool with a CFC.

Any help / input is greatly appreciated!

 

[porterpounder]

Nice design. A March pump will easily handle a 5' height. Got mine pumping 6'+ for years without an issue. Plenty of flow.

 

[Gillman]

if I was going to build a space saving brewstand I would model it after a TopTier but make the burners fold up to save additional space. However, that looks pretty cool. I just don't like the idea of getting out the ladder to mash in. I've spent enough of my life on a ladder.

 

[Yooper]

if I was going to build a space saving brewstand I would model it after a TopTier but make the burners fold up to save additional space. However, that looks pretty cool. I just don't like the idea of getting out the ladder to mash in. I've spent enough of my life on a ladder.

That'd be my thought as well. I lowered my stand a month ago, because I had to stand on a stepstool to check mash temp, stir the mash, etc. Emptying the MLT will be a PITA up there.

However, if you don't mind, your design will work perfectly.

 

[Chad_C]

I'm pretty tall where I will be able to see into the top of the mash tun. I'm 6'-5" so while I'm sure reaching up to stir the mash will get tiresome, I won't need to climb a ladder all the time to do it. The graphic of the person in the picture is quite a bit shorter than me and the dimensions aren't set in stone yet. I haven't measured the height of my carboy, so that may bring the total height down some.

 

[Chad_C]

Would there be any issues with a cooler being above a direct fired HLT like this? Would the heat be hot enough to worry about that high above the burner? I wouldn't think so, but though I would pose the question.

Maybe it will help hold the temps?

 

[cgruelle]

If it were me, I would move the HLT to the top, put the BK under the HLT, and then put the MT where you have the BK now. In that configuration you could gravity drain from your HLT to your MT and use you pump to recirculate, transfer to the BK, and for whirl-pooling, etc.

 

[MooMooBrew]

If you are set on having the hlt below the mash, i would drop the hlt down as far as possible (if you are brewing on a cement or heat resistant floor) and make sure your cooler is well insulated from any heat throw off from the hlt burner. or else you risk a melting hazard. also, you may want to shift your pump away from your burners (high heat causes all sorts of bad things to pumps....). just my experience.

MOOMOO

 

[Chad_C]

I plan on shielding the pump from both heat and splashes to prolong its life. You now have me worrying about the heat getting to the MT above the burner. I wouldn't think that there would be that much heat escaping above the HLT.

I had originally thought about the traditional 3 tier setup, but I got a sweet deal on a pump, and only plan on doing batch sparging. With the HLT on the bottom, I wont have anything to clean out of the pump, and wont need to sanitize the pump prior to brewing. A quick rinse and it should be good to go.

Got home and measured my carboy. Looks like I can lower the whole rig by about 6". That will still put about 12 1/2" between the top of my HLT and the bottom of the MT, or 36" above the burner. I may have to build a shield of some sort under the MT cooler.

 

[thorongil]

I have a similar setup that I really like. I have a burner under the mash tun and HLT doubles as electric HERMS. I'm glad I have the extra clearances though, because the HLT gets hot if either of the other burners are on...

 

[Chad_C]

After discussing this design with some that have done it, and with the possibility of melting the MT if enough shielding wasn't used, I have decided to make it more of a traditional 3 tier setup, much like cgruelle described. The same stand will be utilized but the HLT will be on top, the MT will be over to the side, and the BK will be underneath the HLT. I'll have to pump to the fermenter, but that shouldn't be much of a hassle.

 

[Steampunk]

I am looking at a similar design.

I am going to have a welder do mine so this question might be stupid. To solve the whole what goes where issue would it not be possible to have the bottom level slide out to create a right angled stand that takes care of the major heat issue?

 

[stlbeer]

I have a 2 tier pyramidal design. This is it in an early development phase and while brewing at an Oktoberfest. HLT up top with gravity feed into MLT. I do have a RIMS so I recirculate through that to maintain mash temp. Then pump to boil kettle. Recirculate through CFC to chill with pump, then pump into primaries.

I like that the design is about 2 kettles in width instead of the 3 for the single tier. I don't have to remove the HLT. With the MLT up high you will have to remove it to clean it out and you'll stand on a ladder to mash in. You will also have to compensate for the heat loss during the pumping process.