Equipment

It's official. I have started the journey toward a single tier brew stand build!  After many hours looking online at everyone else' magnificent structures, I have decided to join the club of single tier brewers.  This of course comes after much research, planning and most importantly, permission from my lovely wife.  Not many women are okay with 300 pounds of welded metal lined with propane plumbing and metal pots just sitting around in their garage, so I will begin by saying thank you to the one that makes it all possible, SWMBO, my wife.

Of course, this will not be an overnight adventure so I thought to myself, "how do I want to chronicle this?"  That's what the next few months of posts will revolve around.  I begin by telling you I have none, zilch, zip, nada, zero skills when it comes to welding.  I am starting with a minimal amount of tools, a basic understanding of gasses, and a minimal source of expendable income.  That being said, lets build a brew stand!

Tothe right you'll see my current setup.  I think this is about normal for most brewers and I am actually pretty  proud of what I've accomplished with this "rig."  At the top is a cooler that I found in an open field across from my old rental house.  When I found it, it was filled with giant river rocks and had a cracked bottom on the inside.  With some epoxy, a ball valve, and some love, it is now a fully functioning HLT.

In the middle, you'll see a cooler that I went a little higher class with.  I bought this one brand new. Fancy huh? In the bottom of the MT is a copper manifold that I use as a filter during the sparge.  It allows the wort to drain out of the cooler while leaving behind the spent grain.  This was also a custom build done by yours truly.  I think I still may have copper in my hands from the barbs after cutting all of the slots in the underside. Here is a picture:

At the bottom, you'll see the boil kettle that I've been using.  This is a Thunder Group 40 Quart Aluminum Stock Pot.   It is a great kettle and as I have mainly done 5 gallon batches, it has worked tremendously for me up to this point.  In fact, the new setup will be using the same pot in a larger version.

Lastly, if you look closely next to the HLT, you'll see a white piece of PVC.  On the other end of that is a hot water heater element.  The whole things is wired to a piece of extra extension cord I had lying around.  I plug the whole thing in and use it to heat my boil. Poor man's gravity fed, electric system.

This system has brewed some great beer and it will continue to do so.  While I am working on finishing the single tier system this will be the method I'll continue to use.  Now, while this brews great beer, it does have it's drawbacks.  The main being that I have to physically carry the boil kettle to a different spot in the garage to plug in the heat stick.  Carry 7 gallons of boiling liquid around a few times and you'll know what I mean. The area I move it to is the only spot that I have a GFI outlet and as it scares the hell outta me to plug in the stick, I won't do so unless it's protected.  This would be the second drawback.  My third complaint would be accuracy.  The coolers hold temperature "pretty" well but I'm not looking for "pretty" well anymore. I want spot on for the sake of repeatability and efficiency.  For these three reasons, the new system will come to be.

For now, I'll leave this post at that. Since I have had such great times with this set up it deserves its own post.  Brewing isn't a beauty contest; it's about the finished product.  Brew quality beer and no one will really care what you're equipment looked like that did it... Brewing is however also a hobby.  Brewers are creative tinkerers who often take on projects they may not fully comprehend how to do.  That is exactly what you'll see me do in the posts to come.

                                  Cheers,

                                                      Adam