homebrew sculptures

[blaskos]

Hello, i was wondering if there are any good sources for building your own homebrew sculptures and parts and prices that go along with them. Or if anyone else has build their own you could give me the low down. That would be great =]

[justin27]

Try this

http://www.xb-70.com/beer/3_tier/

Justin

[corkybstewart]

That's an excellent looking sculpture, but out of most people range of do-ability. I had an employee who was an excellent welder. He looked at a morebeer.com sculpture and designed one patterned after it. It took him one day and about $100 of materials. I also had to promise him an unending supply of stout, but he went to prison a month later and I never heard from him again.

[Spicoli]

Welcome blaskos to the board. I had a buddy weld my sculpture (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/demelloceramics/album?.dir=30e6&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos) The rest of the plumbing parts came from Home Depot and More Beer such as my burners (http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=17245), burner jets (http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=17265) and adjustible pressure regulator (http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=17254). The steel is all 1 1/2" tubed with 2" angle iron that the kegs ride in. I can send measurments to you if you are interested. All the other gas pipe can be found on More Beers site, but I got mine at HD because they will cut custom lengths for you and thread it also. Good luck.

[wild]

Maybe this link to Homebreweries Directory (http://brewery.mvlan.net/folder/011/Homebreweries%20Directory/) will help.

Wild

[Spicoli]

I was looking for that link also.

[HarkJohnny]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
That's an excellent looking sculpture, but out of most people range of do-ability. I had an employee who was an excellent welder. He looked at a morebeer.com sculpture and designed one patterned after it. It took him one day and about $100 of materials. I also had to promise him an unending supply of stout, but he went to prison a month later and I never heard from him again.

lucky bastard!

[corkybstewart]

Actually not very lucky. he had the material for a very large, elaborate smoker/barbecue with 3 propane burners for beans, fries etc. It was made out of 24" well casing(3/8" thick). I had the grill material and everything. When he got busted, his wife packed all his stuff, including my steel, and moved to Missouri.

[blaskos]

Originally posted by Spicoli
Welcome blaskos to the board. I had a buddy weld my sculpture (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/demelloceramics/album?.dir=30e6&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos) The rest of the plumbing parts came from Home Depot and More Beer such as my burners (http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=17245), burner jets (http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=17265) and adjustible pressure regulator (http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=17254). The steel is all 1 1/2" tubed with 2" angle iron that the kegs ride in. I can send measurments to you if you are interested. All the other gas pipe can be found on More Beers site, but I got mine at HD because they will cut custom lengths for you and thread it also. Good luck.

First of all thank you so much for the information. Im goign to look at all the sites and info now.

Spicoli: Do you have an approximate price that all the supplies costed you? Thanks

Thanks again for the help!!

[BrewDog]

Blaskos-

I just finished putting my sculpture together. It's a single tier, 2 pump HERMS system, kind of like this one from MoreBeer (http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=15283), except mine is a 10 gallon setup and theirs is 20.

I got sick and tired of waiting for my friend to weld it that I went out and bought my own Mig welder and did it myself.
The welds aren't the prettiest, but they are strong as hell.

I gotta get some pics of the stand and post them.

[Spicoli]

I would say around $250.00 for all the plumbing. Heat shields are $75.00 and you don't really need them right away. The ones I have don't do a whole lot anyway. The steel should be under $200.00 I would think. Check your local mill. The pump was also around $160.00. It's a March pump rated for food and high temps. Hope that gives you an idea.

[Spicoli]

Originally posted by BrewDog
Blaskos-

I just finished putting my sculpture together. It's a single tier, 2 pump HERMS system, kind of like this one from MoreBeer (http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=15283), except mine is a 10 gallon setup and theirs is 20.

I got sick and tired of waiting for my friend to weld it that I went out and bought my own Mig welder and did it myself.
The welds aren't the prettiest, but they are strong as hell.

I gotta get some pics of the stand and post them.

That's a pretty sweet rig. Sometimes I wish I would have done the single level system. It just seems so much easier to deal with. Not that my rig is difficult or anything. I guess there is always room for improvement.

[BrewDog]

Most of the money on mine went into the pumps, and I bought polysulfone hi-temp quick disconnects for EVERYTHING. At ~15 per pair, they ate a lot of my budget.

I figure I am in it for $1200 total, which is about half the cost of the MoreBeer sculpture.

[HogieWan]

I have a three tier system that is comprised of my HLT (rectangular cooler) sitting on my bbq pit, my MLT on my burner stand, and the kettle on the ground. I have to move the kettle to the burner after the sparge.

[Spicoli]

Hogie,

That lift to the burner is killer huh. I remember doing it that way for a long time. It definately makes me appreciate what I have now.

[corkybstewart]

The main disadvantage to my 3 tier system is filling the HLT. I have to stand on a ladder to pour the water from my 5 gallon bottles, and that is a real pain.

[HogieWan]

Originally posted by Spicoli
Hogie,

That lift to the burner is killer huh. I remember doing it that way for a long time. It definately makes me appreciate what I have now.

I've only done it once, but it was not too bad.

[chris2626]

I'm going back to school now for welding I may have to make myself one of these sculptures in my shop class. haha

[gone_fishing]

I am in the process of collecting the materials for a 3-tier, but I don't plan on using a stepladder.. I just thought I'd build it so that it has built in steps for me to climb. Has anyone done this?

[Spicoli]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
The main disadvantage to my 3 tier system is filling the HLT. I have to stand on a ladder to pour the water from my 5 gallon bottles, and that is a real pain.

I don't know how yours is set up but my hot liquor tank is the loweast and I pump my mash water from here because it is to high of a lift. I can do it it's just much easier to pump.

[gone_fishing]

I thought the purpose of a 3 tier was to use gravity from HLT to MLT to brewpot...no?

[Spicoli]

This is my system (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/demelloceramics/album?.dir=30e6&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos). The HLT is under the mash tun and water is pumped to it. Then the runnings are gravity fed to the boil kettle wich is the middle kettle. The step on the back is so I could step up and stir the mash. This system eliminates some of the height issues a traditional 3 tier systems have.

[gone_fishing]

Nice looking setup! I'd like a pump system, but think that may be a way down the road ... when one has two hobbies and one job (that's blue-collar) something has to wait.

[Spicoli]

Network a welder into your life. I traded labor for my sculpture. It cost me a weekend. Not bad.

[gone_fishing]

I weld... have a welder at work...also a drill press, cutoff saw, torches, wizzers, grinders... all I need is material.

[Spicoli]

Well your way ahead of the game then. That's more than most of us could say. If I could do it again I would make something that I didn't have to climb at all. A one level system. Just the pumps are a bit expensive. You would need two.

[gone_fishing]

Yeah, I'd like that too, but we're talking $300 in pumps here. That's a lot of fishing! The climbing is why I think i'll build it with steps on the side.

[blaskos]

So I am looking at

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10360

a 75 qt a 55 qt and a 35 qt (35qt comes with the turkey fryer from sams club).

My question is would it be better to use used kegs (not soda kegs but the larger ones... i dont know the exact name) or stainless steel pots as shown for the set-up?

[Spicoli]

I like the Sanke kegs becuase they are nice and thick steel. All the pots I have used over the years seem to scortch on differant levels. You just can't do a full 15 gallon boil with the Sanke kegs.

[gone_fishing]

This morning I was driving to the boat dealers where I had a booth in their open house.(For those that don't know I run a bass fishing trail and do shows I can afford during the show season to try to make people aware of us). I'm driving along and notice a pair of mattresses out for trash pickup... with two angle-iron bed frames.... enough angle to get a real start on my structure! The guys on the metal sites will tell you that bed frame steel is crappy steel, but it's free, and plenty strong enough for this application! I just need more angle, two more burners and some kegs and I am in business!

[blaskos]

Originally posted by gone_fishing
This morning I was driving to the boat dealers where I had a booth in their open house.(For those that don't know I run a bass fishing trail and do shows I can afford during the show season to try to make people aware of us). I'm driving along and notice a pair of mattresses out for trash pickup... with two angle-iron bed frames.... enough angle to get a real start on my structure! The guys on the metal sites will tell you that bed frame steel is crappy steel, but it's free, and plenty strong enough for this application! I just need more angle, two more burners and some kegs and I am in business!

Nice, i wish i had some parts. I finally found a friend that will weld or let me use his welder and i need all the stuff, kegs, steel, burners, kegs, and maybe pumps if i go that direction. ugh what a long way to go lol

[gone_fishing]

Yep... it isa long way. I apparnetly missed the $8.75 clearance turkey fryers at Target, but I've now got at least half the angle I need...for free! I'll get there cheaply yet! LOL

[Spicoli]

Don't worry about burners and all that other stuff until ou have tha metal stand fabricated. That's the hard part. The burners are easy stuff. I used a burner from an old water heater for a long time before I got my system down. The burner came from the junk yard and worked great.

[wild]

Originally posted by gone_fishing
I'm driving along and notice a pair of mattresses out for trash pickup... with two angle-iron bed frames.... enough angle to get a real start on my structure!
That's what I did. I found frames all over the city free during yard sales and big trash pick-up days.

Wild

[gone_fishing]

The one and only problem I can think of with old water heater burners is my wife .... she'll kill me if I start dragging those things home. I mean, ya can't exactly say, "Funny thing.. I stopped at a stop sign and two of them jumped into the back of the truck!!"

[Spicoli]

The ones I use to have unscrewed from the bottom of the tank. No need to bring home the whole thing.

[gone_fishing]

Well, I'm thinking that we don't have too many of that kind of scrap yard in my area, but I see the things out for trash pickup all the time. Not sure how people would feel about somebody stripping it for parts on the sidewalk out in front of their house....

[gone_fishing]

Searching for HERMS info this morning I found a drawing for a 3 tier that goes around a central column. Seems like a very space saving way to do this, and means I have enough steel to build one know. I'm thinking...here we go!!

Will not be anything but manual brewing now though, I can't afford controllers and all that just yet.