Attach a small scale hoist to Blichmann Toptier

[Southern_Junior]

So i will be moving in about three months after graduation(Hurry up!). In doing so, I will be losing my brewing buddy. This means I will be forced to do all the mashing, waiting, and drinking alone.

Until I can find a new brewing pal down south, I am most worried about how I am going to dump my spent grain after mashing. I am using the top tier right now and absolutely love it. my only concern is how to get rid of 30+ lbs of grain without straining my back.

My idea was to attach some sort of small manual-crank hoist or crane on the toptier. That way I could easily attach the mash tun, swing it out over a trash can, and simply dump.

Thoughts? I have seen a build(can't find it) of a BIAB system that deployed a similar style of crane.

 

[dfess1]

well, the nice thing about the top tier is it's extruded aluminum. Easy to make things that can be attached. You could grab a crank from an old boat trailer. Then just setup some pullies. Depending on how many will give you your mechanical advantage. But should be easy to rig up a mount. Just need some T bolts or carriage bolts that will fit in the slot, and a knob to lock it down. Bigger question/issue would be how "tippy" the top tier gets once you hang a crane over the side.

 

[jkovac]

I just scoop the spent grain out of the mash tun with a plastic pitcher and dump it into a wheeled compost bin. It only takes a few minutes, and then once the mash tun is almost empty, it is easy enough to lift up and dump whatever is still left. (I am using a 25 gallon mash tun.) Not sure the expense and complexity of adding a hoist to deal with that would be worth it.