The Stand

    
The stand is finally here!  In all honesty... it's been at the house for a couple of weeks now but I just now have had some free time to unveil it.  It's a little raw you'll see but hopefully you get the idea.

The stand can hold 3 pots with up to a 21" base diameter.  The pots for this build have a 17" base so they'll fit comfortably in between.  Along the back is a piece of steel that will help conceal some of the plumbing and aide in the mounting of the burners.  The front has two brackets where I'll mount the pumps and there's enough room from the bottom rack to the top rack to comfortable store the pots when not in use.

The whole thing is getting a fresh paint job using a primer base and a flat black enamel for the color.  There's been a lot of debate on whether or not to paint it.  The deciding factor came down to the fact that after only two weeks of sitting on my back patio, I had to spend about two hours just sanding all of the surface rust off of this thing.  The paint, I'm hoping, will act as a rust repellent and help keep maintenance down a bit.  The top portion, where the heat will be concentrated, will be painted in high temperature engine paint  after being coated with a special primer.

The whole stand sits on 6 inch casters that are bolted to the stand using flat steel plates that were welded to the frame.  I have to give a big thanks to my friend Mark for doing all of this work.  The welds are perfect, the steel is strong, and this thing is going to make some magnificent beer. 

I'm going to have to change gears a little bit going forward in the next couple of months.  It turns out that attempting to build the stand in the middle of winter in South Dakota poses some challenges. Most notably the fact that we seem to have a blizzard every week.  That being said, the next few updates will focus on the conversion of the kettles. 

I'm also going to start doing some brewing.  It's tiring doing all of this work and I think it's time for a home brew.  Spring is on the way and it's almost time to start thinking of lawnmower beers! Until then, maybe we'll brew up one more big winter beer for this harsh winter season.

And the winner is.....

HERMS!  After much debate, I have decided that this will be a HERMS set up.  What is HERMS?  Well, HERMS stands for Heat Exchange Recirculating Mash System.  And what does that mean?  The main premise is that during the mash, the wort will be pumped through some sort of heat exchange coil and recirculated back into the mash tun.  The heat exchange coil is submerged in the hot liquor tank where the water is kept at a specific temperature and as the wort flows through the coil, the water in the HLT keeps the mash at a very accurate temperature.

The other option was a RIMS set up.  RIMS stands for Recirculating Infusion Mash System.  In this system, the wort is pumped out of the mash tun and pumped over a heating element of some sort and then recirculated back into the MT.  There's two ways to accomplish this.  One: run a RIMS coil with a heating element inside of it; or two: use a propane burner under the MT and directly heat the wort and then pump it through a coil so as to keep an even temperature throughout the mash as well as avoid scorching in the MT.

The debate as to which system is better is long and I don't believe a clear winner will ever be declared.  Each basically does the same thing.  They both utilize some form of heat system to keep the wort at a constant temperature in the MT so that full conversion of sugars is accomplished.  They just do it in different ways.  I chose the HERMS set up for three reasons.

The HERMS system allows me to purchase less equipment (and save in cost).  I need one less burner as I won't need one under the mash tun.  I'll use two burners in the whole design, one under the hot liquor tank and one under the boil kettle.  Each burner  costs between $75-$100 after fittings and plumbing so this savings is significant.

The second reason is the energy and propane savings that come with the HERMS set up.  Since I'm heating the water in the HLT for use in the sparge step anyway, why not use this water to help keep the mash temperature accurate as well.  By only firing up one burner instead of two for the mash and sparge, the amount of propane I predict I'll save plays a significant role in my decision making. 

Lastly, I love that I don't have to build a RIMS coil.  I'll use the wort chiller that I already own as my heat exchanger which saves time and money in the build.  As I'm lacking in the technical knowledge area for parts of this build, I really like the idea of minimizing the custom parts in the design.  Since my wort chiller will be out of commission now, the system will most likely use a plate chiller (good thing I saved that $100 on the burners) but that is yet to be decided.

Well there you have it!  What I feel is the biggest decision going into this has been made.  From here it's all building the stand and the rest of the equipment.  I can't wait to fire this thing up when it's ready. Now if only my stand was here...

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

Introduction

It's a weird thing living up here in South Dakota... There isn't much to do and as I sit here writing, it's 5 degrees outside.  That is, assuming you're in a box that the wind can't penetrate because if not, it's more like 20 below.  The kicker is according to the weather man we just started a warm front.  What do people do then you might ask?  Well, if you take a drive down many of the roads here in Sioux Falls, you'll see that many people have taken refuge inside one of the many bars that dot our town. 

I've ventured into most of these establishments and on a good day will find one that sells Sam Adams Boston Lager.  If I don't want that, I get the light yellow, slightly carbonated stuff that most Americans call "beer."  "Craft beer?" is usually the response I get, along with a dumbfounded stare down as they question my sanity for ordering anything other than the big three.  You can imagine my horror as a home brewer that recently moved from Colorado...

This was frequently the case 2 years ago when I moved from Colorado to South Dakota.  Beer capitol of the west to ...ice capitol of the west...? Since then our craft scene has gotten better.  It is a long way off from many other places however a few pretty good brew pubs have opened up in town and the bars with waitresses that stared at you like you may as well have asked them for their first born child now carry upwards of 25 different beers. 

Still, the best way to get what you want is to make it yourself.  This has been, is, and in my opinion, always will be the best way to get the best beers.  A little bit of equipment is involved but that is easy to get and pretty inexpensive really.  The hard part is creativity, imagination and experimentation.  You know... the things they say all children have but adults always lose somewhere along the way.

For the most part, this is the way I get my beer.  I make it myself and enjoy the benefits of good company, good times, and good beer.  There are times however, that I like to see what's out there in the craft scene.  I'm not opposed to picking up a brewer's pack of winter brews during the season. Maybe I'll be inspired for my next brew day.  See an IPA that calls for a hop I've never used before?  Pick it up!

This is what I'll be writing about.  There will be a little mix of home brew stuff: equipment, ingredients, etc.... You can find most of that anywhere though. Just google home brew and spend the next 72 hours of your life burning your eyes out as you stare at all of the information out there.  I will write about whatever strikes me that day, however I will focus mainly on beer itself.  Style, flavor, history, etc... and anything that might be interesting about it.  I'm laid back and open to new things so lets go explore the infinite world of beer.  After all... they say it was because of beer that civilization took off in the first place. We may as well enjoy all that it has to offer!