Sculpture Plans / Configuration

bwarbiany · Post by **bwarbiany** » Mon May 19, 2008 1:17 pm

So, as some of you saw, we lost a mash due to having to lift/move big heavy hot things around. Luckily nobody got hurt, but it tells me that we can't have a manual brewery with 15 gallon batches. We need a sculpture.

So that opens up a host of questions. This is going to be a home-built sculpture, so design is entirely up to us. We're trying to decide whether to do a single-tier or two-tier setup.

Looking here, the base idea for a single-tier will be similar to the Brutus (#182), and the dual-tier will be similar to #177.

Single-tier has the advantage that nothing is up high, so there's no standing on ladders/chairs, etc. Plus, it'll be easier to store. The disadvantages are that it requires two pumps, and that in addition to cost, in increases complexity. The last thing we need is a pump failure that makes it impossible to brew.

Dual-tier has the advantage of using gravity (simpler than pumps), and it should be less costly. Disadvantages, of course, is height for storage and use, and the fact that we'll probably want two pumps anyway (for the counterflow chiller, to pump hot wort one direction and recirculate ice water the other direction).

So what are your thoughts. If you were designing a system, how would you build it?

maltbarley · Post by **maltbarley** » Mon May 19, 2008 1:28 pm

One pump and a few sets of QDs works too. Of course, if a pump fails, you always have that trusty white bucket.

lars · Post by **lars** » Mon May 19, 2008 3:04 pm

I built a "Brutus" clone. Personally, I think it fits my needs better that a tiered sculpture. But I also like the simplicity of a tiered system. There was some talk about a "Sculpture Brew-In" at Jwards place sometime soon. That would be a good time to check out the different sculpture layouts and see them in action.

Just becuase... here is a pic of my sculpture...

spkrtoy · Post by **spkrtoy** » Wed May 21, 2008 11:30 am

Here's some links to some photos of brew stands from AHA's tech talk:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13343533@N ... 4867921937 .

http://www.lehighvalleyhomebrewers.org/ ... .php?t=472 .

www.TheBeerJournals.com

dhempy · Post by **dhempy** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:25 pm

One thing I'm doing with my stand is to make it "switchable" from single tier to m,ulti tier. As soon as I get it done, I'll post something.

Dan