# Cortez's Brew Stand



## Cortez The Killer (1/3/09)

Party People! :icon_chickcheers: 

I've finished putting together the latest incarnation of my brew stand. One tier system - one pump. Eventually I'll upgrade to an actual frame. But at the moment this stand will do everything I need. 

It's powered by 2 x immersion heaters which get things hot pretty quick - not using a burner means I can get away with a bench top (which a joiner mate got me from their mistake pile) and a march pump. I've also got a timer that I'll use to pre-heat in the mornings or before I get home from work.

Camlocks throughout with Helical Wire PVC tubing. In the event I want to fly sparge I'll sit the mash tun on a couple of crates (don't think this is likely though). Only thing left to do is calibrate the HLT.

Cheers


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## Cortez The Killer (1/3/09)

More pics


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## Cortez The Killer (1/3/09)

Fermenting fridge on the left, keg fridge on the right

Fridgemate controls keg fridge - Adloheat controller is for the fermentation fridge with indoor/outdoor thermometer

3 Roller Monster Mill

Cheers


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## white.grant (1/3/09)

show off  

Looks cool, like the look of the tubing, why did you go that way instead of silicon?

cheers

grant


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## Cortez The Killer (1/3/09)

Ordered all the bits and pieces from BeerBelly - it's a little cheaper that silicon and Wayne uses it on the BeerBelly rigs - so I thought what the heck?

Cheers


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## /// (1/3/09)

can the pump take back pressure?? i see the ball valve on top...


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## Swinging Beef (1/3/09)

Cool! Hardware surplus.
Now where is the beer?


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## Cortez The Killer (1/3/09)

/// said:


> can the pump take back pressure?? i see the ball valve on top...


It's a march pump - magnetic drive 

I've been led to believe that flow is controlled post the pump itself

Happy to be corrected

Cheers


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## Cortez The Killer (2/3/09)

Swinging Beef said:


> Cool! Hardware surplus.
> Now where is the beer?


Gonna give it a flush with some Sodium Percarbonate - calibrate the HLT and then I believe a series of Wheat Beers are in order - A couple of Hefe's, a Dunkel Wiezen and a Weizen Bock!

Cheers


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## white.grant (2/3/09)

Cortez The Killer said:


> Gonna give it a flush with some Sodium Percarbonate - calibrate the HLT and then I believe a series of Wheat Beers are in order - A couple of Hefe's, a Dunkel Wiezen and a Weizen Bock!
> 
> Cheers




Mmmm weizenbock :icon_drool2: 

:icon_offtopic: I just kicked off a weizen cycle with a Gose, which was an interesting aromatic experience


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## chappo1970 (2/3/09)

Awesome Cortez!

Jealous! Really jealous!

How do you find the single pump setup?


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## raven19 (2/3/09)

Don't we all just love piccies, I know I do!... Great setup mate.

I am a huge fan of element heating, I am glad I went along the same path as you in relation to elements.

Look forward to seeing the finalised brew stand. No mention of RIMS/HERMS, any plans on that front as yet?

I also am jealous of the fridge setups you have. I badly need a man shed... (not a crappy rental Garden shed!)


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## Cortez The Killer (2/3/09)

Chappo said:


> How do you find the single pump setup?


The test water I pushed through the system worked well - a lot faster to transfer than I had imagined

I'll report back after the maiden voyage 



raven19 said:


> No mention of RIMS/HERMS, any plans on that front as yet?


I don't wanna get too tricky - I can't see the benefit of a RIMS/HERMS for me at the moment

The main reason I got the stand together was to centralise all the brewing equipment - thereby reducing setup/packup time and effort

Also to stop lifting heavy near boiling water - which I was getting wary of 

Cheers


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## Fatgodzilla (2/3/09)

nice !  

Free 5th April for a brew day at your place ! :chug:


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## Cortez The Killer (13/12/11)

The latest, almost complete, incarnation...

Please excuse the crappy iPhone pics - will get some better ones once the HERMS is complete




Mash Tun

The rubber insulation means I only loose 1.5*C over a 1 hour mash. I generally put a circular piece of camping mat in the tun, while mashing, to minimise head space.




Mash Tun False Bottom

Due to wort being drawn from the bottom of the tun the original false bottom, with 3/32" perforations, was letting a significant amount of grain husk etc through and clogging the pump (mill was set to 0.9mm).

Have since sourced some 1.5mm perforated 304 stainless plate. It's 10" in diameter to cover just over 2/3 of the mash tun floor to minimise any channelling along the mash tun walls.

The false bottom held back the grain and only let through some very small particles initially. 

It is secured with copper wire to a support cylinder (with holes) to prevent collapse during the mash.




Mash Tun / Hot Liquor Tank Outlet Arrangement

Arrangement is as follows:
Tri-clamp lip on vessel,
2" silicone gasket,
tri-clamp cover plate with a 1/2" hole drilled and then welded to a
1/2" 90* street elbow,
1/2" socket,
6" extended nipple,
1/2" 3pce ball valve,
1/2" 90* street elbow and a
1/2" Male NPT Male Camlock.

This arrangement allows me to completely drain the mash tun and hot liquor tank, resulting in no dead space and no need to rely on syphoning.




Hot Liquor Tank 

I have placed the HLT above the kettle and mash tun. This eliminates the need to pump from the HLT to mash tun and also allows me to fly sparge with a single pump.

I am also able to fill the HLT through the outlet with a regular gun hose nozzel which forms a reasonable seal against the camlock face. As such I am able to keep the HLT closed on top to prevent bugs, dust etc entering. Nor do I need to get up on a step or ladder.

The HLT is controlled with a STC-1000 temperature controller which powers a 2200W through the wall element. This allows me to dial in a temperature and the controller will heat the water and maintain the desired temp by switching the element on/off.

You can see the stainless NTC temp probe passing through the front. It connects via a camlock arrangement for quick removal. The probe stem is 200mm and passes through a 1/2" tee.

The sight gauge is polycarbonate tubing. And the volume measures are red electrical tape with the volume written on the sticky side of the tape. The tube is threaded and screws into a reducing bush.


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## Cortez The Killer (13/12/11)

Kettle 

The rubber insulation and wide opening has given me approximately a 4.5 litre per hour boil off with a 2200W element.




Kettle Element & Pick Up Tube

The bottom outlet of the kettle is sealed with a 2" tri-clamp cap. The element is a 2200W through the wall style.

The pick up tube is 1/2" stainless pipe which connects to a compression fitting, socket, nipple, 3pce ball valve, 90*C street elbow and a camlock fitting.




Brew Stand Plumbed Up

I have yet to complete the HERMS (Heat Exchanged Recirculating Mash System).

In the arrangement wort will be continually pumped from the mash tun, through a coil which sits in the 20L urn (visible at the rear), past an inline temperature probe (as in the HLT) and back into the mash tun via the top.

The HERMS (urn) will be controlled via a second STC-1000 temperature controller.




I have installed camlocks on the inlet and outlet of the march pump. The 3pce ball valve regulates the pump speed on the outlet side. 




Brew Stand Covers for Mash Tun and Kettle




Cheers


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## mje1980 (13/12/11)

Nice work mate!!!!!!


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## white.grant (13/12/11)

Most impressive


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## Fatgodzilla (13/12/11)

Good to see there's still a need for the good old milk crate!


Nice one. Can't wait to see it up close in February.


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## sam (13/12/11)

nice work man


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## iralosavic (13/12/11)

Nice rig, mate. Just curious about the rubber insulation... is it some kind of paint? It appears to be hugging the contours of the keg so tightly, it's hard to imagine what else it could be. Cheers


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## Cortez The Killer (14/12/11)

The kegs are the rubber coated like here http://thelocaltaphouse.blogspot.com/2011/...-in-sydney.html

The top and bottom chime are also rubber

The actual stainless is very thin and the rubber lining is probably 8mm on the sides 

I recall reading somewhere that many breweries were decommissioning their rubber kegs as they are prone to non visible dents in the stainless - meaning they could not be filled to the 50L capacity

Also the rubber handles were perishing rendering their movement (while full) awkward

Cheers


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## reVoxAHB (14/12/11)

sam said:


> nice work man


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## ledgenko (16/1/12)

Cortez ... do you find that having the entire top cut off make it harder to reduce the volume boil off in all 3 vessels?? The reason I ask is that I am building my 3 v out of S/S kegs (obviously legit) and have only cut a small section out of the tops to minimise the amount of heat being released. I have insulated the outside of the tun for example with camp mats and covered the top with the same and the lid too ... the temp loss is negligible.. 

in as far as the HLT and Keggle ... same thing .. small openings approx 20cm diameter .. 

cheers 


Matt


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## Cortez The Killer (16/1/12)

Hi Matt

My HLT has probably a 10cm opening on top though I usually keep this sealed as I am able to fill the HLT via outlet 

I cut the MT all the way open basically for cleaning purposes, during the mash I sit a piece of camping mat directly on the mash to help with maintaining temps

My understanding is that a larger opening promotes evaporation as vapour doesn't re-condense at the top of the kettle

For this reason I have taken the top (actually the bottom) where the curve commences to achieve better boil off rates

Hope this helps

Cheers


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## Wolfman (11/1/13)

Hey mate, where'd ya get the temp probs for your STC-1000's?


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## Superstar (14/1/15)

Awesome set up Cortez and thanks for all of the details, it makes it so much easier to follow for a beginner


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## Rian Garland (19/12/19)

Gday Cortez, was hoping to jump in on the next IBUs bulk buy, am a member on Facebook group but was told I need to jump on the AHB group? Cheers!


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## Cortez The Killer (20/12/19)

I'm on it

Cheers


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## dblunn (22/12/19)

Rian Garland said:


> Gday Cortez, was hoping to jump in on the next IBUs bulk buy, am a member on Facebook group but was told I need to jump on the AHB group? Cheers!


Hi mate, you have plenty of time but if you're the impatient type I can email you a link.


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## Cortez The Killer (23/12/19)

Sorted http://aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/44-the-ibus-illawarra-brewers-union/


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## Rian Garland (14/1/20)

dblunn said:


> Hi mate, you have plenty of time but if you're the impatient type I can email you a link.


Cheers fellas I am added and have jumped on the bulk buy - just let me know when/how to pay


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## Cortez The Killer (15/1/20)

Rian Garland said:


> Cheers fellas I am added and have jumped on the bulk buy - just let me know when/how to pay


Hi Rian
You will see the bulk buy thread in the IBU forum http://aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/44-the-ibus-illawarra-brewers-union/


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