Building Homebrew Equipment (6 page)

If you have committed to all-grain brewing and use modified kegs (see pages 16–18) as your brewing vessels, you will want to arrange your vessels in such a way as to take advantage of process flow and gravity. A tower design, the most common, is time-tested and has been used for hundreds of years, if not thousands. It starts with grain on the highest level of the brewery, where it’s milled and sent down a chute into the mash tun. From there, the mash is lautered (run off and sparged) and the liquid is piped down a level to the brew kettle. After the boil, the hot wort is chilled and sent down another level to the fermenter.

The stand is best set up in a permanent location. Using modified kegs as brew vessels, the overall dimension are 7’ high by 4½’ wide by 1½’ deep. Construct it from 1” angle iron, or use uni-struts (steel angles with predrilled holes) if you do not have access to a welder. The top level should be 5’ high, the second level 36” high, and the bottom level about 12” off the ground. The width and length of each level of platform will depend on the size of your brewing equipment. Generally, for modified kegs, about 18” square will work for the shelves. Widen the middle level for the longer dimensions of a picnic-cooler mash tun.

Make sure you have a small stepstool for filling the top pot, as you do not want to lift a full pot to that height. This is a good application for a pump. If you wish, a single, large propane tank can be strapped onto the outside of the frame instead of messing
about with two or three bottles. Indeed, there may be a substantial savings on propane costs in doing this. Many places charge a flat rate to fill a 20-pound bottle, regardless of how much is left in the tank. If you brew many batches, it may be a better idea to connect to a large outdoor propane tank and really save some money.

You can build a three-level stand out of metal for a classic gravity-flow tower system. Modify this basic design to fit your own needs.

1. Cut out all materials as indicated above.

2. Assemble four shelf supports into a square.

3. Select three shelf frames for the top cooker shelves.

4. Measure the distance between the bolt holes on the cookers. Add 1 to this number and subtract from 18. Divide by 2. Measure in this distance from the ends, and set two cross members at this point and weld. Do the same for the other two shelves.

5. Set the cookers in the center of one of the shelves, mark the mounting holes onto the frame, and drill holes into the cross members. Do the same for the other two shelves. (Do not mount the cookers yet.)

6. Clamp the 60” legs onto one of the cooker shelves and weld.

7. Clamp a propane bottle shelf 1” from the bottom of the 60” legs and weld.

8. Clamp and weld a second propane shelf 28” from the top of the bottom shelf.

9. Clamp and weld the two 36” legs onto another cooker shelf.

10. Clamp the last propane shelf 1” from the bottom of the 36” legs and weld.

11. Weld the middle shelf assembly to the first shelf assembly.

12. Clamp the two 12” legs onto the last cooker shelf and weld into place.

13. Weld this short shelf assembly onto the main shelf assembly.

14. Bolt one propane cooker onto each of the cooker shelves (top shelves).

15. Using either screws or pop rivets, attach a heat shield to the legs next to the center cooker; then do the same for the bottom cooker. These prevent the bottles of propane from getting too hot.

16. Put the expanded metal sections on the propane-bottle shelf frames. These sections do not need to be anchored to the frames, but you can do so if you wish.

17. Set the assembly in its permanent home.

18. Add propane bottles, and connect them to the cookers.
Check for gas leaks at all connections!
(A mixture of dish soap and water applied to each connection will bubble if there is a gas leak.) Leaks can be sealed with Teflon tape.

19. Add kettles and you are ready to brew.

The completed stand for a gravity-flow tower system: As you can see, it is best set up in an extremely well-ventilated location.

Note:
If you take this to a professional welder and he makes some recommendations that are different from those stated here, please listen to him. He may suggest improvements that could strengthen the system.

Many homebrewers use other types of mashing vessels, such as picnic coolers with manifolds. These, too, are easily adapted to the gravity-flow tower model. Simply put a burner and a pot for heating water on the top level. Put the cooler mash tun, complete with sparge apparatus, on the second level; then run a tube from the hot-water pot to the sparge apparatus. Finally, drain the mash tun directly into a brew kettle on the lower level.

To build such a stand, assemble the large- and small-shelf stands as described in the gravity-flow tower system. The center shelf will need to be 28” wide for a 48-quart cooler, or 36” wide for an 80-quart cooler. As you will not be adding the low-profile cooker to this shelf, the stand will also need to be 6 to 8” taller, depending on the style of cooker used. Weld this center stand to the tall and short stands. Be sure to use a heat shield next to the burner to prevent melting the cooler.

We hope the projects here have inspired you to take your next step toward becoming a better brewer, whether that means going to a keg system or simply building an immersion chiller. Do keep in mind that these projects and designs were based on our experiences and fit our needs as brewers at the time. Feel free to modify them and use materials that fit your budget, brewing space, and needs as a brewer.

Happy brewing!

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Blair Dils and Leslie Noyes

Cover illustration by Mary Rich

Cover design by Carol J. Jessop (Black Trout Design)

Text illustrations by Randy Mosher

Text design and production by Leslie Noyes

© 1988 by Storey Publishing, LLC

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lutzen, Karl F., 1961-
     Building homebrew equipment / excerpted from Brew ware by Karl F. Lutzen & Mark Stevens.
         p. cm
     ISBN 978-1-58017-138-0 (alk. paper)
     1. Brewing—Amateurs’ manuals. I. Stevens, Mark, 1960- II. Title
TP570.L882 1998
641.8’73—dc21

98-37259
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