Brew Stand Designs

As previously posted, I’m looking at coverting my brew stand over to a pump-driven one.  I have blogged about the benefits previously, but one of them is a physically smaller stand due to fact that the pump can take over where gravity was the sole force for moving liquids from vessel to vessel.

The last stand I designed on some graph paper and this worked out well – although I did miss a couple of key dimensions along the way, and as a result the stand ended up even taller that I needed it (well only by 15cm or so, but still!)  This time around I’ve embraced the digital age and am doing all the design on Google Sketchup.  It’s free and pretty easy to use, once you think and design in the google-approved fashion.

Here’s the current gravity-fed frame… (click for bigger images)

As you can see it’s pretty tall (the person has been scaled to my size).  Don’t get me wrong – it works wonderfully!  But the HLT is a little awkward to fill with a garden hose, unless standing on a milk crate.  And although the mash tun is high for tipping in the grain, it is conveniently at eye-level for sparging and cracking the lid to sneak a glimpse inside.  As big as it is, I can still fit it in my Honda Civic hatchback after making it break down into three sections!

Here’s what the new frame might look like…

I’ve designed it literally from the ground up – taking note of the key heights that need to match up for gravity feed.  The kettle is located such that it can still hot-cube a standard Willow brand jerry can.  Next the CFC is positioned so that its outlet can fill both of my fermenter sizes.  And lastly the HLT needs to be able to gravity sparge.  After creating models of my brew equipment, it was a fantastic design experience to be able to rotate the camera and see how everything lined up and adjust as necessary.

As you can see, with this design the HLT can be peered into, the mash tun is at waist height and the heavy kettle is nice and low.  Turning the mash tun sideways has saved a little length, but I’m yet to fully embrace that decision – I worry it may cop a bit of heat from the burner.

Brewery update

More brewing on the go – so no change there.  I’m 19 brews in and all is going well with the setup, with some very reliable results.

One area that did concern me was missing a strike temp a few brews back (#16).  It was a hot brewday (>30C) and all my previous brewing was fairly cold weather.  My target temp was around 64C but things soared well into the seventies.  Very out of character for my setup!  The resulting brew needed some serious gravity corrections and in the process a dry ale ended up tasting more like a Belgian!  As unplanned as it was, it was still rather tasty… 😉

So lately I’ve been using my various temperature probes fitted to the HLT and mash tun to keep a track of water temps as they travel throughout the process.  I’m hoping that this data, combined with ambient air temps, will serve as the basis of a lookup table for future brews.  And so far the results have been good…

I’ve also been toying with the idea of converting my gravity-feed (5-tier!) brew frame into a low profile 2-tier system  by moving to a pump-driven system.  It must be more than just toying because I’ve already got the pump and a welder sitting here ready to go!  It will permit a much lower and smaller brew frame (which also means more stable), a permanent home for the CFC (and the ability to force wort through it at higher pressures than simply gravity – hello hop-backs) and the option of more complex systems (such as a HERMS coil in the HLT).  But I’m really pretty reticent to go at my perfectly functioning frame with a cutting disk.  Time will tell…

3-Tier Brew Stand [Pt4] – Completion (ULCPB)

Yesterday I decided that enough was enough and it was time for the brew stand to be finished.  We’ll perhaps not finished (is anything ever finished?), but at least catapult it forward into a usable state.

I found some powder coated steel shelving outside a house, which the owner told me was trash.  They were the perfect thing for making the various work surfaces and bracing key parts of the stand.  The lips even stop things like the plastic mash tun from sliding around too much, and the perforations will be useful in preventing water pooling.

I added some galvanised sheet steel to create a firewall to hopefully prevent rising hot air from the Mongolian burner from reaching the plastic mash tun and melting it into a slick.  I also added some small side skirts to keep the tap of the boiling kettle out of the line of fire.

Lastly the Mongolian burner itself got mounted using a slidable frame and some threaded rod it is now conveniently height adjustable.  The burner was fired up and nothing melted or burnt to the ground.

With things like my spare grain stored on the bottom shelf it all seems pretty stable.  I don’t like the idea of the HLT descending on me!

I’m looking forward to getting my first brew on where I don’t have to lift a thing all day.

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3-Tier Brew Stand [Pt3] – Welding (ULCBP)

Dangerous Dave and his dad, Russ, kindly volunteered their time to help put the brew stand together.  After not-entirely successful weld tutorial from Russ, it was pretty clear that the stand wasn’t going to stumble into a three-dimensional existence at the hands of me and Dave.  Russ very generously offered himself as hired gun.

Despite battling every imaginable obstacle – driving rain, poor welding rods, too small a work surface, an unrealistic time allocation – the skeleton of a handsome brew stand emerged!

Yes, we finished very much in the dark…

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3-Tier Brew Stand [Pt2] – Grinding (ULCBP)

After visiting the steel suppliers the afternoon was spent behind a tape measure, set square and angle grinder.

All the stock for my brew stand is cut and ready to go in kit form.  Now to track down someone with a welder!

Cost: $48

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