Malted
Humdinger
- Joined
- 15/5/10
- Messages
- 2,301
- Reaction score
- 115
Hello All, thought I'd show you what I have built and invite comment on it.
So here is how I have been using the vessels so far:
Left to Right: 50L Keggle & italian spiral burner, 50L electric HLT, 50L Mashtun.
The HLT has a sight glass tube with a piece of timber with volume graduations on it. When it goes below the sight glass bottom level, it still has 14 Litres left. Also when boiling, the level in the tube bounces up and down heaps; I have to turn off the power to be able to get a reading.
Yep the good old milk crate stand! I thought the axle stands holding up the italian spiral burner was a high tech touch!
Note the trolly in the middle (I am now turning that into a grain milling stand - more on that later).
Here's a closer view of the dodgy pump mounting:
But heck, it all worked and I made drinkable beer. But that is not enough, I like to build things and the system was a PITA. Naturally a portable brewstand was going to emerge.
An $80, 140 amp stick welder and less than $100 of steel (including them cutting it up for me) and I am starting on a 2 tier brewstand. I figure on gravity feeding from the HLT to the mashtun and then pumping from Mashtun. This way I can fly sparge with only one pump.
Ah but it has three tiers you say. Well yes and no. If viewed with my current 50L vessells, it does appear to be a 3 tier.
But I have plans to make a new mashtun and a new keggle. I want to make a mashtun that drains from underneath instead of the side as my current one does. I also scored an 18 gallon keg that will become my new keggle and will allow me to do double batches more easily. Here is a look at how it becomes a 2 tier setup.
You can see here how I mounted the spiral burner. No imagination, just sorta copied how it was mounted in the factory burner frame. There would be endless possibilities on how to mount it, including all manner of arrangements to make it adjustable in height. I just made mine a little bit lower than the factory stand. It seems as though most people don't adjust it ever again once the have it dialled in right. I just took a punt on what I had observed using it previously. Time will tell if the proof is in the pudding.
You can see that the frame is made from 30mm box and 25mm angle as a cup for the kegs to sit IN. Most brew frames seem to have the vessels sitting on top of the frame. Since I wanted to be able to wheel my brewery around without the vessels sliding off or having to be bolted down, I made a square with the angle for the kegs to sit in. In hindsight a much larger angle iron would have been better - say 50mm or so.
I also made the extra support piece for the wheels on the outside of the frame to give it a wider wheelbase. I thought it would be more stable if the wheelbase was wider than the frame.
So here is how I have been using the vessels so far:
Left to Right: 50L Keggle & italian spiral burner, 50L electric HLT, 50L Mashtun.
The HLT has a sight glass tube with a piece of timber with volume graduations on it. When it goes below the sight glass bottom level, it still has 14 Litres left. Also when boiling, the level in the tube bounces up and down heaps; I have to turn off the power to be able to get a reading.
Yep the good old milk crate stand! I thought the axle stands holding up the italian spiral burner was a high tech touch!
Note the trolly in the middle (I am now turning that into a grain milling stand - more on that later).
Here's a closer view of the dodgy pump mounting:
But heck, it all worked and I made drinkable beer. But that is not enough, I like to build things and the system was a PITA. Naturally a portable brewstand was going to emerge.
An $80, 140 amp stick welder and less than $100 of steel (including them cutting it up for me) and I am starting on a 2 tier brewstand. I figure on gravity feeding from the HLT to the mashtun and then pumping from Mashtun. This way I can fly sparge with only one pump.
Ah but it has three tiers you say. Well yes and no. If viewed with my current 50L vessells, it does appear to be a 3 tier.
But I have plans to make a new mashtun and a new keggle. I want to make a mashtun that drains from underneath instead of the side as my current one does. I also scored an 18 gallon keg that will become my new keggle and will allow me to do double batches more easily. Here is a look at how it becomes a 2 tier setup.
You can see here how I mounted the spiral burner. No imagination, just sorta copied how it was mounted in the factory burner frame. There would be endless possibilities on how to mount it, including all manner of arrangements to make it adjustable in height. I just made mine a little bit lower than the factory stand. It seems as though most people don't adjust it ever again once the have it dialled in right. I just took a punt on what I had observed using it previously. Time will tell if the proof is in the pudding.
You can see that the frame is made from 30mm box and 25mm angle as a cup for the kegs to sit IN. Most brew frames seem to have the vessels sitting on top of the frame. Since I wanted to be able to wheel my brewery around without the vessels sliding off or having to be bolted down, I made a square with the angle for the kegs to sit in. In hindsight a much larger angle iron would have been better - say 50mm or so.
I also made the extra support piece for the wheels on the outside of the frame to give it a wider wheelbase. I thought it would be more stable if the wheelbase was wider than the frame.
(amongst other things)
