Help with wood brew stand (1 or 2 tier, 2 or 3 burner)

[jmill]

I'm getting ready to upgrade a lot of my major equipment and want to add a brew stand build to the mix. Trying to go for quality, so as to avoid being temped to upgrade every year.

I suck at building things, so your advice is greatly appreciated.

Current setup:
BK = no name economy kettle that came with kit (no valves) on burner on ground
MLT = 10 gal orange drink cooler style sitting on REI camping table
HLT = cube cooler (already owned it) used as HLT (batch sparge transfer via metal pitcher) on ground


New setup:
Spike 15 gal with single valve for BK (bday gift from SWMBO)
MLT = ? (either keeping cooler style or replacing with Spike 10 gal with 2 valves/ports)
HLT = old BK (no name, no port kit kettle)
+ 1 SS Chugger center pump (bday gift to myself)
brew stand (to be built)
2 or 3 burners


I don't really want to build a metal single tier, since I don't want to kill myself with welding equipment. I can probably get away with using a saw, if I can borrow one from the father in law.

A lot of questions, so I'll try to be as specific as possible. If you have any experience with any of these, your input is much appreciated!


1. What do you finish the wood with to keep it heat resistant? Can you set a burner directly on it?
2. 1 tier or 2 tier? Does your answer change depending on my MLT upgrade to a Spike kettle/using 3 burners?
3. What sort of connectors do you suggest for the pump (or connecting to the MLT and BK from the pump)?
3b. Any general advice/links regarding plumbing for all this?
4. If I go to the Spike kettle MLT, do I need a third burner to maintain the temp?

I've found something that looks like what I had in mind. See below. I'm open to other ideas if you've got suggestions. (This one belongs to someone else on this forum.)


What I'm thinking of building (with second burner):

 

[kh54s10]

I went with all gravity to save on buying a pump this is my rig. Turkey fryer burner under the HLT, Mash tun with braid, BK on a Bayou Classic SP10.

 

[Photopilot]

My rigs are electric so a bit different. My first rig was like the second posters'. I did not last long without a pump. Climbing a stepstool with near boiling water just seemed like a bad idea.

Just some observations based on the evolution of my rig.
My new rig is a two tier. Brew kettle on one side. The long cooler fermenter on the other side. In the middle is a tower with my electric control panel and the MLT with HERMS coil uptop. I like having the Boil Kettle and Mash Tun below eye level and at an altitude that is easy to stir, add or subtract to take a temp of. Anything above eye level is a pain to get to so I only put an HLT up there but it needs a site gauge and temp sensor up there so you can monitor from below.

I have only brewed with my new rig once and I love having everything that needs worked at a comfortable level. I would recommend either a single tier or two tier. Done right a rig only needs one pump and one source of heat. It takes a little more planning and organization but it is doable.

I had designed my stand to be out of steel but was waiting to find the right guy to weld it. I finally decided to go with wood. I am good with wood and can fix it if I screwed up. Two days and $100 later I had my new stand that had been bouncing around in my head for a year.

If you have a chop saw and a drill it would be pretty easy to build your own rig. A single tier is easy to build and adding one or two storeys on to it is also easy if you want to experiment.

 

[jrcrilly]

I used three tiers and two burners with a cooler mash tun for quite a while; it worked well for me. When I switched to a kettle mash tun I added both a third burner and a HERMS but either one or the other would do the trick. The HERMS required adding a pump so I went ahead and switched to a single tier, dual pump rig at that point.

 

[jmill]

Problem solved. Went to Lowe's today to price out all the parts for a build and stumbled upon a shelving system that supports 800 lbs per shelf and can be built as two units. On sale for $75. Great find since I don't really consider myself much of a construction type. (SWMBO reminded me of the Ikea furniture with unfinished sides showing.) The second unit turned out perfect for storing grains on the bottom, a shorter shelve for cleaning supplies and whatnot, and a nice big work surface.

Not finished, but you get the idea. Still have to mount the pump.

 

[MaryB]

I found 2 of these metal rolling TV carts at an auction a while back dirt cheap. Used them to store tools etc in my shed for a few years but with the new 20x30 garage I went to a different storage system.

Little sanding and primer

Gloss black appliance epoxy after I bolted on some unirack rail from the electrical section at Menards.

Some wood shelves for 2 of the burners(right ones are mounted on some shelving standards and brackets)

So look around at JUNK and see what pops into your head! I did zero welding on this stand! Look at the snap together steel shelving maybe that is adjustable every inch or two...

 

[scottcamps]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469062368.736245.jpg

I was in a very similar situation. My setup is HLT Megapot 10 gal, MASH 10 gal Haterade cooler with sight glass and inset thermometer, Boil is a 15 gal Megapot with brewing hardware whirl pool arm. I mount a single pump between the mash and boil. Since I mash in and fly sparge using gravity.

 

[CharlieM]

kh54s10 - what is your stand built out of? It almost looks plastic but surely it isn't.

Jill - excellent ideas on converting a Lowes shelving unit. I'll be looking today. But are you using a pump to get your hot water in your cooler?