3 tiered system- worth it?

[bendog15]

Since I started brewing beer I've always fantasized about the cool gravity fed 3 tiered systems I see in catalogs and online. Or even the 2 tiered system with a pump or two. I've never actually seen anyone brew on one of those systems.
I'm an all grain brewer, my current setup is pretty basic and minimalist. 15 gal kettle for heating water and boiling wort, and a 10 gal igloo cooler for mashing. I use a pitcher and buckets to transfer liquid. That's all I have room for now.
But I can always dream, can't I? My question is, is it worth it? Would love to hear from anyone with this kind of brewing setup.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

8 years ago I started out with two coolers (a mashtun & HLT), and a 10 gal. kettle, but after 4-5 brew sessions got tired of building something to brew on so I built a brew station that I brew on, and also store my equipment on - even mounting the pump that I use for recirculating the mash and a RIMS module. Also added wheels to it so when I'm done brewing I push it over to a corner in the garage. I think it's been worth it for 3 reasons: less time to setup for a brew session, less problems happen with the equipment in place and a great place to store the equipment when not in use.

 

[madscientist451]

If you don't have fermentation control or a kegging setup, I'd focus on that first. The "brewing" part of making beer is important, but the fermentation and packaging is equally or more important. Just my 2 cents, good luck

 

[RM-MN]

Some people need "bling" and some just want to spend their money on ingredients. Ingredients make beer, bling does not. You choose where to spend your money. I go for simplistic. A pot, a bag to hold the grain, and a way to heat it to boil. BIAB makes the same kind of beer that a fancy 3 tier system does.

 

[rekoob]

While I agree with most of the above, like fermentation control, I disagree with the kegging setup as a "need".

A keg setup is a pretty big out of pocket cost and is more of a "I'm sick of bottling" type of deal. Your end product will be just as good or not so good either way.

I will assume if you don't have the room for a stand I would guess you don't have more room for a keg system and keg storage.

This hobby (if that's the proper term) is as simple or as complex as you want it to be. You really don't need much of anything special to make beer, and I mean good beer, or you can spend time/money to make is as elaborate as you want.

Some items will be to make things easier for you, and some items will be to make it more pleasing to you.

Not to many items are a "need" to make beer.

A stand makes things easier for me. Not lifting a keg of boiling wort or having to move 10 gallons of hot water... and many others. I did it for many years and got to a point it was a reason I didn't brew as much. I started to pick up items I knew I would need no matter what type of stand I finally ended up with (I didn't have the money to just do it all at once or buy a pre-built system) and changed my mind on the stand a number of times before I had metal in hand and started welding.

I would say, If you don't have fermentation control, start with that. Of course that also take up room.

Enjoy.

 

[SGTSparty]

While I agree with most of the above, like fermentation control, I disagree with the kegging setup as a "need".

A keg setup is a pretty big out of pocket cost and is more of a "I'm sick of bottling" type of deal. Your end product will be just as good or not so good either way.

I will assume if you don't have the room for a stand I would guess you don't have more room for a keg system and keg storage.

This hobby (if that's the proper term) is as simple or as complex as you want it to be. You really don't need much of anything special to make beer, and I mean good beer, or you can spend time/money to make is as elaborate as you want.

Some items will be to make things easier for you, and some items will be to make it more pleasing to you.

Not to many items are a "need" to make beer.

A stand makes things easier for me. Not lifting a keg of boiling wort or having to move 10 gallons of hot water... and many others. I did it for many years and got to a point it was a reason I didn't brew as much. I started to pick up items I knew I would need no matter what type of stand I finally ended up with (I didn't have the money to just do it all at once or buy a pre-built system) and changed my mind on the stand a number of times before I had metal in hand and started welding.

I would say, If you don't have fermentation control, start with that. Of course that also take up room.

Enjoy.

I would agree with most of this with the following exception:

I don't necessarily agree with if you don't have room for a stand you don't have room to keg. I currently mash on my kitchen range and boil outside but I have a beer room in the basement that has room for a fermentation fridge (in the process of wrangling a buddy's old fridge) and kegs and I have a kegerator built in to our old fridge in our family room. SWMBO is cool with these because my beer room is my section of basement storage and no one sees it and she's the consummate hostess and like the idea of having multiple beers on tap when we entertain (especially for a lower cost than purchasing the same volume of craft beer from the store).

OTOH if/when I build a 3 tier stand it will have to live our tiny 1939 one car detached garage where SWMBO parks and which tends to flood when it rains. It's still going to happen but I have to figure out the logistics. All that to say, I agree w/ what everyone else has said but think about what your process and living arrangements are and what's easiest to incorporate into them for the cost.

 

[Dixon9717]

I made a two tier gravity feed stand using a hydraulic table for the third tier. Has made life so much easier. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465224951.101825.jpg

 

[kh54s10]

I didn't like the idea of 2 coolers then having to put hot water into the top (HLT) to get things started so when I set up my rig I got 2 propane burners and 2 ten gallon pots. I then added plumbing so all I have to do to fill the HLT is to open a valve.

HLT, 10 gallon Rubbermaid water cooler mash tun and 10 gallon boil kettle. Made a stand much like Dixon9717's

All gravity and no pumps. I like brewing on this rig more than BIAB, which to me is a PITA!

 

[BrewDawg79]

Just my two cents. Like many home brewers I started with one burner and pot and built up from there. I built a cooler mash tun, 3-tier gravity system, and eventually a single tier two pump setup with keggles. Oh and I rigged it to run all three burners from one propane tank. Now with two young kids and pretty much no time to brew, I have switched to BIAB. And I love it. I use one burner and one pot. That's it. Back to square one (kind of). Wish I would have tried it sooner. While not for everyone (though not sure why), I certainly wish I would have tried BIAB sooner. Not saying I wouldn't have built my single tier setup, because I do love to tinker, but who knows. I did lock down fermentation temp control very early on. Anyway, do what makes sense for you. Good luck.

 

[Homercidal]

A two-tier system is so cheap to build, I don't understand why you don't already have one. All you need is something to raise whatever vessel you are gravity draining. You can literally use a small table or something.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

You already have everything you need.A pot and heat.Buy a wilser bag and you now have BIAB that's makes a mighty fine beer.Ditch the mash tun and as much as like ghetto setups,buy a $15 auto siphon for cryin out loud.Tranfering with a pitcher takes ghetto to a hole new level.

 

[MaryB]

I didn't want to deal with cleaning pumps, and lifting kettles is out for me with a bad back so I set out to build as compact of a 3 tier as I could. It is 64 inches wide, 24 inches deep and 60 inches tall. On casters so I can roll it out of the way. Main part was an ex 3m Audio Visual cart I got for $5 at an auction, I started drawing sketches, looking at materials, looking through the post your brew stand thread for more ideas... drew more and trashed some early ideas... the final result is this:

Planning paid off and things worked extremely well first run out with 81.5% efficiency! I need to fine tune my process but that is operator error!

 

[bendog15]

Wow thanks to all for great responses. Love it. I should mention that I do have fermentation control on lock (modified chest freezer that fits 2 Carboys) and I also built a 4 tap keezer that holds about 5 kegs. (See pic) and that's after 3 years of bottling. I just love the old school romantic idea of 2 and 3 vessel systems and wonder if my brewing will ever take me there. Is it worth it? Does it involve too much cleaning? I'll always wonder...View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465296950.494866.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465296973.177543.jpg

 

[BrewDawg79]

Nice looking keezer. How is your drip tray attached?

 

[LarMoeCur]

For 20 years, I've made some great beers on a three tiered gravity system. I started using pumps when I converted over to electric heating. I will never go back. Worth every penny in saved time and headaches. The stands cost about the same price. The damn pumps are expensive but worth it to me.

 

[rekoob]

That is a real nice keezer my friend.

Looks like at this point you really just need something to get your process a bit smoother. Is a stand worth it... I think so. Just the fact that you don't have to use a pitcher to transfer hot water would be worth is to me.

You don't have to dive deep with a stand, as stated just about anything that gives you a few different levels will do the trick. Some time back I put the HLT (cooler) on the kitchen table with something under it for a little extra height, a stool for the MT and the BK on the floor. It work just fine but I still had to move heavy items around which I didn't like and was another reason to build a dedicated stand.

 

[bendog15]

Nice looking keezer. How is your drip tray attached?

Got the idea from this very site. Its 2 shelving brackets from home depot that I used liquid nails to glue onto the side of the keezer. HINT- I scuffed the surface a bit with sandpaper, and used blue painters tape to hold the brackets on for 24 hours.

The result is a very clean, seamless look for your drip tray. And yes, it holds.