My new minimalist single tier strut structure

[beernutz]

I have had the strut to build this thing for a couple of months but finally finished it this weekend, phase 1 anyway, and I'm currently throwing it right into the fire by breaking its cherry on a rainy Sunday under my deck. The build was just strut and fittings, a 23 jet natural gas jet burner modded down to 12 jets (currently lit on the left end under HLT) and a 10 jet natural gas burner under the keggle, bip, and two gas ball valves.

I salvaged a regulator/quick disconnect from a old Sam's natural gas grill. I really like the convenience of natural gas especially since I've run out of propane twice in the last year while brewing with my old cajun cooker.

I can easily adjust the height of the jet burners by loosening two strut screws on each side and raising or lowering the strut bar the burners rest on. In fact, I was able to do this on the fly by turning off the burner under the keggle, loosen the two strut screws, raise the support bar up few inches, retighten and relight. Took maybe two minutes. The burners still need some adjusting but the 12 jet one heated 13 gallons of 60 degree water to 180 in about 30 minutes so I can live with it.

I went very minimalist on my two pump controllers which are just GFCI switches.

Phase 2 will be adding a Love controller/Honeywell gas valve to control the HLT.

 

[beernutz]

I am adding to this thread not because I think anyone cares but because I'd like a record of the evolution of my brewing structure. It is still pretty rudimentary but at least I have thermometers on all vessels plus a few other tweaks. I have the parts needed to add a Honeywell thermostat/thermocouple/pilot light/Love controller to the HLT so that will be the next major upgrade.

 

[zach976]

What pumps are you using? Looks good.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[acarr160]

What kind of pumps are you using?

 

[acarr160]

Great minds.

 

[beernutz]

Those are Greatbreweh pumps http://greatbreweh.com/Beer_Pump.html which were ~$70 each.

The pump I have on my HLT would sometimes be a little finicky in that it would periodically stall requiring a stop and start before it would continue to pump but I finally determined that the problem was operator error. As I eventually figured out, if there are any loose fittings on either side of the pump air will be sucked into the line causing the pump to stall.

I retightened every connection on either side of the pump with new plumber's tape on the hot liquid tank and it now works perfectly. Just an FYI if any one else has this same issue. I've never had a single problem with the pump on my cooler mash tun--it runs like a charm.

My next mini-upgrade will be to add cam-lock connections to the pump on the mash tun so that I can use it to pump wort from my brew kettle through my counterflow chiller.

 

[beernutz]

Since pumps are an interesting topic for some readers this is my setup:
On the hot liquid tank I use "permanent" connections between the pump and HLT since cleaning the HLT doesn't require moving it.

On the mash tun, and on the boil kettle, I added male cam lock connectors and added a female cam lock connector to the pump so I can move it between them. Not only does this facilitate double-duty use for the pump but it makes cleaning the cooler mash tun much easier since the pump is not hanging off it when I move it for cleaning and dumping.

I have used these on a trial run which went without a hitch. Being able to pump wort through my CFC instead of using gravity flow cut at least 30 minutes off of my brew day which was very nice.

 

[beernutz]

Imageshack.us has stopped hosting images for their free accounts so the above images won't display since I'm not paying them their extortion.

I can't edit the above posts because the time to do that has expired so I'm putting the images I can still find on photobucket and reposting them below.

 

[72hw]

Ok, count me subbed to this one. Those pumps are very interesting indeed!

 

[beernutz]

I almost completely redid my brewing structure in 2016 by removing, painting, and repositioning the BIP which connects to a natural gas line.

I added a herms coil to the HLT lid, a Honeywell natural gas valve for the HLT burner, and built a control panel containing a PID, timer, pump, and gas controls mounted on a rolling stand. Also on the stand are a Chugger pump for wort pumping and a smaller GreatBrewEh! pump for water recirculation.

I supplement the natural gas burners with a DIY heat stick, the top of which can be seen in the keggle. It is much more fun and I have much more control when brewing with this setup.

 

[boasist]

Good find on those pumps. I was about to get a TD5 for $140. Can't beat this.

 

[beernutz]

Screw those extortionists at Photobucket. I am switching to imgur.