Extruded Aluminum or steel????

[AkBrew907]

I designed this the other day and am torn on which way I want to go with materials. I have access to a friend that can weld or I can buy the 80/20 extruded aluminum and bolt it together.

Any pros/cons the more experienced guys or gals in here can share? I'd imagine steel would be a little stronger but also heavier and it's a little harder to modify later


Here is what I came up with.

 

[b-boy]

Will the AL hold up to the heat? I'd be nervous about AL. I'd go steel every time.

Look into strut. It's galvanized steel (or you can go SS) and it bolts together.

 

[oldstyle69]

80/20 works just fine from all that ive seen.

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

This looks exactly like my brewstand, with the exception that mine is not as tall.

One word of advice, hard won from experience, you need to put a piece of wood over your center shelf. Do not set your cooler mash tun in the middle, without first insulating it from the heat the burners produce. I lost a mash tun on my trial run. My center shelf was just sheet steel. The burners heated up the metal around them, conducted the heat to the center shelf, and melted the bottom of the cooler to the shelf.

I just started using the stand this winter, so the wood has worked thus far. When the weather breaks, I will switch over to cement pavers or some other non flammable medium.

 

[Thedutchtouch]

I would personally go with steel, as it's likely much cheaper than 80/20, particularly if the friend will weld for beer. It's not that hard to modify steel, just cut and weld or drill holes and bolt on accessories.

 

[hurley195]

Hello. Not sure on your budget? Is stainless steel in the budget? I recently manufactured a 3 tier brew system with 3/4" square x .065 wall stainless tube, fully welded and it is rock solid. I used some cross braces to stiffen it up. All said and done, I have about $170 in stainless material, but I do work at a fab shop so recieved good pricing on material and no cost to weld so you may want to see what your local options are. Check out onlinemetals.com, this is probably best pricing for metals if you need to pay retail. You never have to worry about corrosion with stainless and you will have to paint steel, which also has a cost and time. Aluminum has a few down sides, its mechanical strength will not be as rigid as steel and you will probably need larger material than steel, it will likely be more expensive and heat transfers differently. Steel is probably your best choice, but you will be very unhappy a year from now when rust sets in if not properly painted. Heat may also effect paint, but not sure how hot your frame work will get with proximity to burner? I would suggest taking it to someone who can sand blast and paint it once its all built if you choose steel. If it could be hot, look at hi temp paint?

 

[hurley195]

Here is a pic of a stand built with the 3/4" square x .065 wall stainless, welded in each corner and has bottom braces. Just a thought for you to check out how using this material worked.

 

[brewman !]

Steel all the way. If you don't want to get it welded, go with strut and bolt it together.

For a stand like that, the smallest I'd go is 1.5 inch square tubing. If it were mine, I'd go 2 inch.

 

[BlkWater_brewer]

I just started using the stand this winter, so the wood has worked thus far. When the weather breaks, I will switch over to cement pavers or some other non flammable medium.

Instead of pavers try using some cement board. If you want to get fancy put a few tiles on top.

I'd go with 80/20 much lighter than steel and heat shouldn't be an issue. I'd give serious thought to the plastic MASH between 2 burners. Never been big on dedicated burner for the HLT but again that's just me. The stand looks good but I'd give my vote to
hurley195, unless you really want to have to pump. Also that shelf would end up being for looks, right next to the 2nd burner - not so useful.

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

Instead of pavers try using some cement board. If you want to get fancy put a few tiles on top.

I'd go with 80/20 much lighter than steel and heat shouldn't be an issue. I'd give serious thought to the plastic MASH between 2 burners. Never been big on dedicated burner for the HLT but again that's just me. The stand looks good but I'd give my vote to
hurley195, unless you really want to have to pump. Also that shelf would end up being for looks, right next to the 2nd burner - not so useful.

My brew stand is a permanent outdoor structure. The sides are currently enclosed with cement board, fastened to a welded steel frame. On the second run I tried using some scrap Hardy Backer as insulation. After about 1/2 hour the plastic on the gun started getting soft and the cement board was super hot. That is when I switched to treated 2x8s. The cement board is too thin. There is not enough mass to dissipate the heat.

 

[AkBrew907]

This looks exactly like my brewstand, with the exception that mine is not as tall.

One word of advice, hard won from experience, you need to put a piece of wood over your center shelf. Do not set your cooler mash tun in the middle, without first insulating it from the heat the burners produce. I lost a mash tun on my trial run. My center shelf was just sheet steel. The burners heated up the metal around them, conducted the heat to the center shelf, and melted the bottom of the cooler to the shelf.

I just started using the stand this winter, so the wood has worked thus far. When the weather breaks, I will switch over to cement pavers or some other non flammable medium.

I'm 6'3" so I will build it a little taller than most. Was thinking around 30" tall or somewhere around there. Need to go out to the garage and play with the table i have and see what height works best for me.

Excellent advice on the cooler mash tun, would have hated to see that melt on me or mess with the mash temps. I will get some nice cement board or some other material that doesn't conduct heat very well.

I would personally go with steel, as it's likely much cheaper than 80/20, particularly if the friend will weld for beer. It's not that hard to modify steel, just cut and weld or drill holes and bolt on accessories.

Looking at the link you provided it does look to be cheaper....till i add shipping. It's $100 to ship 8 5' sticks to Alaska and that's using UPS ground. I will see whats available locally.

Hello. Not sure on your budget? Is stainless steel in the budget? I recently manufactured a 3 tier brew system with 3/4" square x .065 wall stainless tube, fully welded and it is rock solid. I used some cross braces to stiffen it up. All said and done, I have about $170 in stainless material, but I do work at a fab shop so recieved good pricing on material and no cost to weld so you may want to see what your local options are. Check out onlinemetals.com, this is probably best pricing for metals if you need to pay retail. You never have to worry about corrosion with stainless and you will have to paint steel, which also has a cost and time. Aluminum has a few down sides, its mechanical strength will not be as rigid as steel and you will probably need larger material than steel, it will likely be more expensive and heat transfers differently. Steel is probably your best choice, but you will be very unhappy a year from now when rust sets in if not properly painted. Heat may also effect paint, but not sure how hot your frame work will get with proximity to burner? I would suggest taking it to someone who can sand blast and paint it once its all built if you choose steel. If it could be hot, look at hi temp paint?

If I go steel it will for sure be stainless. I will check whats available locally.

Instead of pavers try using some cement board. If you want to get fancy put a few tiles on top.

I'd go with 80/20 much lighter than steel and heat shouldn't be an issue. I'd give serious thought to the plastic MASH between 2 burners. Never been big on dedicated burner for the HLT but again that's just me. The stand looks good but I'd give my vote to
hurley195, unless you really want to have to pump. Also that shelf would end up being for looks, right next to the 2nd burner - not so useful.

My thought for the burner for the HLT is to do a HERMS coil and pump the wort through it and use my temp controller to control power to the pump and keep it where I want it.




I like the light weight of aluminum and don't think the heat will be a problem. I will make sure the mash tun is protected from any heat though.



Time to see what i can find locally. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

I'm 6'1", so not that much shorter.

Remember it's not the height of the stand, but rather the height of the rim on your BK/tun/HLT.

You don't want to build a stand too high, only to have to lift grains chest height to get them in the tun, or have to lift a tun full of mash on to the stand.

 

[AkBrew907]

I'm 6'1", so not that much shorter.

Remember it's not the height of the stand, but rather the height of the rim on your BK/tun/HLT.

You don't want to build a stand too high, only to have to lift grains chest height to get them in the tun, or have to lift a tun full of mash on to the stand.

Good point. This was the min reason I went single tier, didn't want to have to do ladders or anything like that.

 

[dfess1]

Mine is both. 80/20 for the top, steel for the legs. Stainless grate on the top for burners. The aluminum does not get hot, and provides countless mounting options for anything you may need later on. The upside is everything comes off mine easily to be stored elsewhere (non heated garage). Then it's just bolted to a steel frame. No need to go and do the whole thing in 80/20.

But in 3 years, it's been awesome.

 

[GoodDogShelby]

I used Bosch extrusion and I have not had any issues with the AL. The key is to keep the heat a way from the frame. I hang my burners from a thin steel kettle support and have those supports on stand off's mounted to the AL.

 

[jdubdvdt]

80/20 is awesome ****.

 

[JKoravos]

80/20 is awesome ****.

Yes, but $$$$.

 

[chezhed]

My stand is three tier extruded aluminum. I do 12 gallon batches on it without issue....other than the one time my mash tune was not protected from the heat and I have some scars on it .
The nice thing is you can adjust the placements on my three tier for different batch/pot sizes if desired. With my HLT on it, it rolls out the garage door...barely. I am 6'2" and old.... I pump my RO water into my HLT with a simple sump pump from a bucket and I do use a one step ladder to pour in grain in the mash tun and mash, just so I can see better.
Yeah it is expensive stuff but I got all mine from salvage.