Three-tier gravity fed brew stand advice

Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:17 am

I had a horrible brew day on the 4th, but fortunately I was brewing a batch for my wife and she was outside to see the rodeo. After she saw how dangerous and inefficient it is for me to brew this way I can now justify a small budget for building a brew stand. I'm trying to do this for about $200, so I need some advice.

First, does anyone have design plans for a three-tier gravity stand (no pump) that they would be willing to share? I've looked through the forums and have an idea of how to do this, but some specs/cut list would be helpful. I have a friend who is willing to teach me how to weld, so that's not a problem. I brew with three converted keggles (legal) if that helps, but I can adjust the dimensions as needed.

Second, I plan on hitting the scrap yards to try to keep costs down, so what materials do I need to look for? I brew 10 gallon batches, so is angle iron/steel sufficient or do I need square tubing?

Third, where can I find decent burners on the cheap? I don't need 200,000 btu burners, but I don't want to spend all day heating strike water or getting to a boil either. I found this site (thanks aleguy) http://www.agrisupply.com/product.asp?p ... 1246903661, so would any of these do the trick. I use portable propane tanks by the way, which brings up another question. What is the difference between high and low pressure (other than the pressure smart ass :wink: )? In other words, which one do I need?

So, I would appreciate any feedback on the questions above, or any other ideas to help me do this in budget. I don't want this to be a system that I need to rebuild in a couple of years. I'm fine with upgrading burners, adding hard plumbing and a pump, etc. later, but I would like the frame to be useful long-term without a major overhaul. Let me know if this is even possible or if I'm just an :asshat: .

Cheers,
Mike
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BayouBrew
 
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Re: Three-tier gravity fed brew stand advice

Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:42 am

Sorry I'm not much more help but I've seen people use these metal shelving units from costco as brew stands. Have a look at the "What do you brew on?" thread under brew sculptures, I'm sure you'll see plenty there.
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Chris_J
 
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Re: Three-tier gravity fed brew stand advice

Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:11 am

I've seen those and thought about it. Most of those have galvanized steel shelves though which does not mix well with heat (metal fume fever). I realize that this usually pertains to welders who are close to the fumes, but still...
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Re: Three-tier gravity fed brew stand advice

Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:13 am

Whatever you can get a hold of to get the gravitational advantage. Used cinder blocks or pavers or shelving.....You can use one burner if need be to heat the mash in and then heat one of the other keggles for the mash out. Coolers still make the best scenario for heat loss, but if you have the kegs, the run with them. I am in the same boat. I am going to convert a cooler for the mash tun and use a seperate cooler for the HLT with all stainless plumbing. The conversion plumbing available sucks in my opinion, but that is because I design Hyd and Pneu systems for a living (Design Engineer) and use an whole order of magnitude better plumbing that what is out there for the homebrewer (Tri-clamp-all Stainless-teflon lines-etc.).

A single burner system can keep cost low, but can limit step-mashing/sparging techniques. Hit the local metal supply houses for the remnants of tubing or angle. Can you weld? You may be limited to drill/tap/fasten.

Take care - I must think about the all grain system I am doing 5 minutes of every hour all day long............Damn Hobby! :lol:
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Kbar
 
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Re: Three-tier gravity fed brew stand advice

Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:07 pm

Chris_J wrote:Sorry I'm not much more help but I've seen people use these metal shelving units from costco as brew stands. Have a look at the "What do you brew on?" thread under brew sculptures, I'm sure you'll see plenty there.

If you can weld, then by all means do a custom job. I am skilless, so I did what chris said.

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andy77
 
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Re: Three-tier gravity fed brew stand advice

Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:11 pm

I'm definitely considering that. How much did the shelving cost you? Do you think that it could support the weight of a 10 gallon batch?
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Re: Three-tier gravity fed brew stand advice

Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:51 pm

BayouBrew wrote:I'm definitely considering that. How much did the shelving cost you? Do you think that it could support the weight of a 10 gallon batch?


I actually had the shelving laying around, so I can't help you there.

The shelves are rated at 350 lbs per shelf, evenly distributed. To test, I filled all three vessels with water with no problems.
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andy77
 
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Re: Three-tier gravity fed brew stand advice

Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:07 am

here is a cheap idea

http://home.comcast.net/~midnighthomebr ... ladder.htm

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The guy who built it is in another HBC I have seen itin action and It works as advertized
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