Jonny's Guide to turning a server tower into a brew sculpture!

[JonnySax]

Hello fellow brewers! Like some of you I found that the biggest expense when it comes to all-grain brewing is the brew sculpture, and thats the primary reason I never went that route (until now). Even those out there that build the three burner or even the towers themselves, it still requires a good amout of time and money. However, I have a possible solution for those of you that want a quality build without needing to buy a ton of slotted steel. I recently came into possession a large IBM server tower and I knew from the start it would make an awesome brew tower. Since there are no detailed DIY server tower brew builds out there, I decided to share my build experience with all of you. Over the next couple months I will be working on getting this thing up and running. Wish me luck! Here is a picture of the starting project. Hope you all enjoy this little adventure!:rockin:

 

[Hello]

Awesome. I can't wait to see what happens with it.

 

[IslandLizard]

Before you spend a lot of time on it, I would test that steel to see if it stays rigid after applying heat. There will be a lot of weight resting on it.

Snow cakes for dinner?

 

[JonnySax]

Before you spend a lot of time on it, I would test that steel to see if it stays rigid after applying heat. There will be a lot of weight resting on it.

Snow cakes for dinner?

I thought about that. I'm also not sure of this coating on the steel on the server cabinet is fire proof. Therefore I'm actually going to get some 16" stand burners and rig them up inside instead of building stands from the existing steel. I'll be able to use the existing steel to build a shelf for the mash cooler. I'll post the progress when i get some!

 

[jcav]

Good luck bro on your build, it's a wild ride and you'll have a great sense of accomplishment when you are done! Oh yea and some awesome beer!

John

 

[kh54s10]

OP states that the brew sculpture is a high cost item... I spent maybe $25 - $30 on mine. (not including brewing hardware) Four 8 ft 2x4's. about $2.50 each. 6 pieces of culled 2x4 $.51 each. and about $10 of paint.
A sheet of scavenged plywood.

3 tier wood sculpture.

I have turned it around since the pic to get the BK next to the sink.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

I thought about that. I'm also not sure of this coating on the steel on the server cabinet is fire proof. Therefore I'm actually going to get some 16" stand burners and rig them up inside instead of building stands from the existing steel. I'll be able to use the existing steel to build a shelf for the mash cooler. I'll post the progress when i get some!

If the side panels on that thing have some good "folds" in them, ( bends and returns), it will be hell for stout in compression , which is the way you'll be loading it!
If it's anything like the server cabinet I use for a storage cabinet, you should have no problems, other than the heat of your burners taking some paint off.....

You'll be good, if it's steel.

 

[JonnySax]

If the side panels on that thing have some good "folds" in them, ( bends and returns), it will be hell for stout in compression , which is the way you'll be loading it!
If it's anything like the server cabinet I use for a storage cabinet, you should have no problems, other than the heat of your burners taking some paint off.....

You'll be good, if it's steel.

this thing had probably almost 100 lbs of computer equipment that i had to pull out... its solid steel and super strong. Should have no problem holding some beer.

OP states that the brew sculpture is a high cost item... I spent maybe $25 - $30 on mine. (not including brewing hardware) Four 8 ft 2x4's. about $2.50 each. 6 pieces of culled 2x4 $.51 each. and about $10 of paint.
A sheet of scavenged plywood.

3 tier wood sculpture.

I have turned it around since the pic to get the BK next to the sink.

Although there is the cheap way to build a tier system... I really never liked the wood builds. they just don't look at elegant as the other ones, although out of all of the wood builds i've seen, yours is actually REALLY nice. i also found that the wood builds take up a good amount of space in comparison to other builds. I have limited back patio space especially with my smoker build, so I needed something that took up more vertical real estate.

 

[JonnySax]

Ok so the weather finally broke and I had a chance to work on this tower. The tower inside is 20" wide and I purchased 16" burners. i cut the legs off of the burners using my oscillating tool. I used 2" L brackets to attach the burners to the brackets in the tower. I'm planning on using the metal i pulled out to build the shelf for the cooler. Now... i need to plan how to run the gas lines... the lines and valves that came with these burners are too short. Any ideas?

 

[joeleaux]

So far so good!

 

[JonnySax]

This week I got a bunch of stuff ready to go. Top burner is done same as the bottom, I got the electric ignition wiring ready to install and i got the brass fittings and the extension hose ready to go.

This is the extension hose I bought Bayou Classic 0-30 PSI Adjustable Regulator/Hose Assembly

Here is what i did with the brass fittings and hoses:

I removed this from the hoses that came with the burners...

Then I bought these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GNTM96/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003RW4IWE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
and two of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00835UR70/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Here is what the finished products look like:

 

[JonnySax]

All finished! As you can see, I made a control panel with the gas control and an electronic sparker. the whole thing is ready to go.

 

[Genuine]

so far so good man! Keep up the great work!

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Get ready!
That powdercoating smells GOOD burning off of there!

 

[JonnySax]

Get ready!
That powdercoating smells GOOD burning off of there!

you mean on the burners? I did notice a smell when i was cutting the legs off... the powder coating on the tower itself should not get hot enough to burn.