A new Brew Rig

[pearlbeer]

So, right now I'm an AG Brewer, with Fermentation Chamber and a Kegging System.

My Brew Rig right now consists of a 10G Rubbermaid MLT, a 5G Rubbermaid HLT and a low end 8G Brew pot. I want to take the next step and have the ability to brew 10G batches. One old turkey burner

So, the next logical step would be a brew rig. I'm thinking of (I'll say legally) acquiring a few kegs and converting to Keggles. I'll have to source a welder and somehow fabricate a brew stand. I'm definitely thinking one tier. I'm way to clumsy to have 10G of hot mash 6ft in the air.

So, kind of putting everything together in my head - it ain't gonna be cheap. So, in Johnny Cash terms - should I go "One Piece at a Time" or just buy the f'ing Cadillac. And by Cadillac - it looks like the Sabco Brew Magic system to me.

Yeah. it is expensive. But, I would also hate to drop $2k on a rig build over a year and then wish I had the Sabco. Any thoughts?

 

[IrregularPulse]

It's all dependant on your personal budget. We can't help you there. Do you want (NEED) all the perks and options of a SABCO or are you good with just a stand to hold all your vessels and pumps?
If you just need a single tier stand to hold your vessels, look at Pinup Brewery in the vendors section. His prices on stands are remarkable even with shipping.

 

[cruckin78]

I am going with 2 coverted kegs, 2 blichmann burners, 1 14.5g Coleman Xtreme Marine Plus Cooler for MLT on a 3 teir set up....

Buy you could easily use that on a single teir by adding pumps and also save money buy only using 2 burners instead of 3.

Kegs (one was free, one was $25)
Cooler ($40)
Burners (130each)
Stand ~$100 if you do the work yourself.
Misc Hardware (ball valves (3), hoses, etc.) ~$75-$100

 

[buckeyebrewer]

We spent $2000 for the following rig:
Welded 2" steel frame - we did the welding
Blinchmann 15 gal mash tun with false bottom
Blinchmann Therminator
high temp wort pump
PID controller
Heat stick made with - 1 1/2 stainless MPT pipe, 1500W electric heating element and temperature probe
Blinchmann Thrumometer
Whole house water filter with 5 micron filter
O2 diffuser stone and small bottle of O2 from hardware store
50' heavy duty garden hose
Keg converted into boil kettle
100,000 BTU propane burner
I made a hop filter from a 5 gallon paint strainer bag and 4"PVC pipe (found the plans on HBT)
We plumbed the entire thing with PEX line - very easy to use - the tool to crimp the PEX fittings is $50 but the elbows, valves and other pieces are reasonably priced.
20" high temp silicon hose to run from the water filter for filling mash and boil kettles and general cleaning of the unit.
The machine currently gets about 80-85% efficiency and I love it. The Blinchmann mash tun and therminator were the 2 big items but worth every penny. The mash tun was almost $400 but it's the most important part of the machine IMHO. The therminator f-in rocks. Even in the summer we can slow the flow rate down a little and have 70 degree wort going right into our carboy. The PEX lines work awesome....never had anything fail because of boiling liquid running through it. Never leaked one drop. The machine works awesome and I'm so glad I decided to build it....it takes all the guess work out. Fill the mash tun a couple hours before your ready to mash, set you strike temp on PID, circulate mash water, pump wort into boil kettle, pump wort through therminator into carboy. Easy breezy.....We pushed the limit on the machine last week and did our first 15 gallon batch (we did have to reduce 2 gallons of wort on stove) but the system handled it just fine.....we made a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.....came out awesome...hit all our numbers and it was easy. Not one hitch the whole day. Took 4 1/2 hrs from mash in to cleaned up.

 

[Atl300zx]

Geez, i usually spend 7 hrs from water in HLT to the last thing put away.

 

[PGHBrew]

I got two keggles and 10 gallon rubbermaid cooler. I'm starting on the detailed plans here in the next couple weeks. Plan on doing a double tier with one pump. Still haven't decide if I wanted to plumb with hard lines or flex hoses.

 

[Sawdustguy]

My suggestion is if you have the scratch, go jack city. I have wasted a lot of money by building up my brewery little by little. I would have saved a lot of money had I bought the best I could afford in the first place. That's not to say that everyone should go out and buy a Sabco. If the best you can afford is an 8 gallon brew pot and a cooler, you can make beer that is just as good as anyone else. It all depends on how much income you can devote to your beloved hobby.

 

[TheDom]

If you go the keggle route, this thread shows that a welder isn't needed for solid fittings in a keggle. If you're not comfortable soldering fittings, the electric brewery has parts lists and how-to for DIY weldless fittings.