Yet another 3 tier rig--dialup warning large pix

[MajorWoody]

I definitely agree that the immersion chiller brings with it less risk of contamination. I also think that as it drops the temp of the wort, more of the hot break gets a chance to settle out and gets left behind in the bottom of the BK. With the CFC, most of my hot break ends up in the bottom of my fermenter and I can't get rid of it until I rack to secondary. Whether this makes any difference, I have no idea.

 

[jetmac]

Very nice craftsmanship OP

 

[lex990]

very nice, i may steal some of these ideas for my brew rig seems to be the perfect size for the garage area i am looking for

 

[MajorWoody]

I recently thought more about the years of accumulation of who-knows-what inside the CFC. Just for kicks I ran a gallon of hot water mixed with Oxy Clean through the CFC. I let it sit in there for a few hours, then flushed it out. Disgusting. Oxy Clean is amazing. I think I will do that a couple times a year, going forward.
I probably have seventy batches of beer through this thing now. Still happy with everything but the cheapo upper water valve, which is a little irritating but not irritating enough to replace it.
The inside liner of the mashtun is also all puckered and warped up. Someday it will crack and leak, I'm sure. I will try a different brand of beverage cooler next time.
I need to get one of those thermometers that you stick on the side of your propane tank that tells you how much is inside as you start to use it. Not cool to run out of propane halfway through the boil.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

If you don't mind spending a little money, you should look into cutting out the cooler liner and putting a SS pot inside. Its been done a few times on here, and you get the benefit of both SS and the cooler that way.

Awesome brewstand. Maybe once I've got the money to build one I'll copy this. For now I'm just getting my first burner and getting ready to convert a sanke to a BK. I'll be doing BIAB to start, and since i have a pump already, I'll probably try fly-sparge BIAB after a few batches.

 

[LuiInIdaho]

If you don't mind spending a little money, you should look into cutting out the cooler liner and putting a SS pot inside. Its been done a few times on here, and you get the benefit of both SS and the cooler that way.

I would second this opinion. I rebuilt my cooler mash tun this spring and love the way the rebuilt mash tun works. Here is the thread on how Ben completed the task.

 

[DWright]

I like everything about this, so much so I went out an bought a 24' length of 2" sq 14ga tube. One question how is the heat transfer between the HLT, BK and the MT? The reason I ask is I'm thinking about an inline (plastic) water filter on the back side of the vertical tube. Nice work!

 

[MajorWoody]

That tube doesn't even get mildly warm. There is a plastic switch mounted in the top of the vertical tube which is not affected by the HLT burner.

 

[byrdmen]

Major,

I've been needing to say thanks, your post inspired me to buy a HF welder, learn the basics, and build an three tier that should look familiar.

Probably should have closed the garage door before I took the picture. Overall it makes brewday much easier.