Gravity vs Single Tier Brew Sculptures?????

[geoffski123]

Ok, I am fixing to make the jump to AG brewing. I have a ghetto 5 gallon set up right. I plan on using this set up for a few brews (trial and error phase). In the mean time i will be starting work on my brew sculpture. I have looked for hours and hours on the DIY forum. I have a few ideas for both single tier and gravity rigs. My question to the senior guys is what are the advantages and disadvantages of both systems. Right now i leaning towards gravity system due the the cost of pumps and related equipment. Also if it helps i will be building with wood. If any one can chime in and give me some PROs and CONs and if you have a wood rig that is not posted in the DIY forum some ideas would be appreciated. Thanks....

 

[duboman]

I use a 2 tier gravity system and brew 6.25G batches with it and it works great and my efficiencies fall between 75-80%

I chose this setup for cost, no pumps, electricity, etc. if you have the money and can afford a single tier it's an easier setup to use and there is really no heavy lifting but it's a much costlier setup

 

[Zamial]

The biggest issues with a gravity set up are:

-How are you planning to get the water into the top tier? Ladder & bucket/hose or build some sort of plumbing to it?

Be aware that In MOST gravity builds you will NOT be able to easily see into the top kettle. I have a fellow HB club member that thought he had water in his top keggle and dry fired it. It was glowing red hot by the time he realized what happened and he melted the o-rings for the ball valve...

IMO you should build what you want from the start. Rebuilding rigs is MORE expensive than building what you want to start off with (within reason). I have a single tier and I ran it with no pump for nearly a year. My spine was VERY happy when I got my pump but I did run it gravity style into smaller kettles and transferred the wort by hand. I LOVE being able to see what is going on in every kettle and am happy I went this route.

FYI the fellow mentioned above w/ the 3 tier just bought a pump. Just because you have a 3 tier does not mean a pump is not beneficial...

 

[Denny]

Or you can go Cheap'n'Easy....www.dennybrew.com

 

[duboman]

Here's my set up:

 

[geoffski123]

I am using 2 10 gallon rubbermaid water coolers, one for hot liquor tank and one for mash tun. So buring a pot up is no an issue. The rough draft for my rig isnt gonna be tall enough to have to use a ladder. More along the lines of a 2 man lift to about chest high. Besides simplicity are there any pros of using a single tier rig?

 

[geoffski123]

Quick question... What is the coiled hose at the end of your rig? I have seen it on quite a few.

 

[duboman]

Quick question... What is the coiled hose at the end of your rig? I have seen it on quite a few.

It's a counter flow chiller