Brewstand Height

[Gabe]

I am building a 3 tier brewstand out of 1 1/2 " angle and my plans call for a 84" height for the HLT. My breakdown is as follows. Up 28" to the bottom of the boil kettle, this gives me about 12" from boil spigot to carboy. Then up another 28" to my Mashton, roughly 8" from my mashton spigot to the top of my boil kettle. Then up another 28" to my HLT, again roughly 8" from my HLT spigot to the top of my mashton. Wow that was a lot of explaining. Sorry. Figuring a rough estimate that Kegs are 24" tall from chime to chime. I thought this design would help with gravity flow, but now that I have cut my steel I am wondering if this is to much hieght for this application. So to my ?. What is an average height for 3 tier systems? What's yours? I was thinking of building a set of steps along side this stand complete with casters. Any thoughts appreciated. I start welding soon.

 

[Dude]

I have some input on this, considering I designed and built my stand with similar ideas in mind.

First off, be prepared for many people to slam your idea and say your HLT height is too high. Then be prepared to show them the standard heights of the B3 stands average higher than your system.
More on this--I was worried my HLT was going to be too high, but on a brew day I never touch the thing and I NEVER worry about it being unsteady or "falling". With up to 10 gallons of water sitting in that thing, the HLT tank isn't going anywhere. That is 80+ pounds of NOT MOVING. The only time I have to mess with it is at the end of the brew day to lift it off the stand, and by then all the water is drained out of it.

Next, I do think you are planning too high. You don't need that much extra space from the MLT spigot to the top of the kettle. Half of that will work fine, IMHO.

Third, I assumed the same thing when I designed my boil kettle about a foot above the carboy, but I'm now kicking myself for doing it that way. I could have cut off all of that now that I use a wort wizard to drain my kettle while chilling. Simple piece of equipment that can be built for less than 10 bucks using spare parts, and it works like a charm. Literally, the boil kettle and the carboy can be on the same shelf and you can still drain the entire kettle using the venturi effect.

Even if you don't use a wort wizard and kept your design the way you have it--yuou could probably still cut off almost a foot of height by not needing so much clearance from your spigots to your kettle/MLT.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Gabe]

The 12" between my boil and carboy is also accomodating my CFC. 10" of chiller fits in their somewhere, I hope.

 

[Dude]

The 12" between my boil and carboy is also accomodating my CFC. 10" of chiller fits in their somewhere, I hope.

Oh. I'm having a hard time visualizing that. Won't you melt it with the extreme heat from the kettle?

 

[Gabe]

It won't be fixed in that position, I will build a small shelf for the CFC that I can bolt on while whirlpooling. Just drill some holes in my angle for some quick type bolts. Then hook up my lines and chill right to my carboy.

 

[Gabe]

I decided to cut my stand by abit. 24", 48", 72". That will help with the steps and being able to look in. I wanted to ask about the CFC position. Where and how far below the Boil spigot do you put this. Any diagrams on how to set up a pump for mashtun , boil, ie: pictures w/ explanations would be the greatest.cheers

 

[hungrymonkey]

Here is what I decided on. I decided to not use keggles because of the added height.

The top shelf is 57"
I cannot remember the middle shelf height
Bottom shelf is 18"

I have not run this rig yet. I still need to mount the burners. I am planning on next monday as its maiden brew. In theory (since I have not run it yet). I should be able to drain from the hlt to the mash tun to the boil kettel. Then drain from the bk to the carboy.

I should be able to stack every thing within the rig. Its foot print is about 40"x20". Should store fairly nicely.