This is my brewing system. I put it all together myself w/ the help of a welder friend for the rack:
-14 Gallon hot liquor tank on top tier
-10 Gallon cooler as mash tun on middle tier
-14 Gallon boil kettle on bottom tier
-55K BTU burners w/ custom built propane lines
The best pic. I have now - I’ll try to get a better one next time I brew.
Another look at the mash tun & boil kettle (w/ immersion wort chiller inside).
Hot liquor tank w/ thermometer.
My burners (55K BTU):
Custom made propane line assembly for both burners (hot liquor & boil).
Another look.
Phil’s Sparger (I could use a new one - but they aren’t made anymore).
Lol Really? It works great for me - and I prefer it to the diffusion sparge attachments I’m seeing these days.
Of course, I did have to replace Phils Phalse Botton in my mash tun w/ a stainless one. I had a horrible experience one time where the amount of grain in the tun pressed the plastic false bottom to the bottom of the tun and I had hell sparging that batch/collecting my wort!
I think it’d be hard to lift a kettle full of water to that top tier, this is what I don’t get about 3 tier systems. Unless you pump it in, it seems to not be practical to me. But it looks very nice, if it works for you, then great.
Thanks. It works quite well for me. The only ‘issue’ somewhat is the height of the hot liquor tank, but it’s a very, very minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.
I love it!! I’m in the process of putting together my 1/2 barrel system and It’ll look a lot like yours by next week when I get to finally take her for a test drive!
quote author=beersk link=topic=6688.msg80443#msg80443 date=1301412710]
I think it’d be hard to lift a kettle full of water to that top tier, this is what I don’t get about 3 tier systems. Unless you pump it in, it seems to not be practical to me. But it looks very nice, if it works for you, then great.
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This is my main concern right now. It was hard enough filling my 7.5 gal HLT on my old wooden 3 tier. Now I’m going to be about another foot higher. I’m planning on getting a pump soon but of course I want the s/s quick disconnects to go with it and might as well get a few new s/s valves to replace those old brass ones. Wow Therminators sure are pretty. ;D
-J.K.L.
This is my main concern right now. It was hard enough filling my 7.5 gal HLT on my old wooden 3 tier. Now I’m going to be about another foot higher. I’m planning on getting a pump soon but of course I want the s/s quick disconnects to go with it and might as well get a few new s/s valves to replace those old brass ones. Wow Therminators sure are pretty. ;D
-J.K.L.
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I fill my hot liquor tank using a 1-gallon jug, so I can easily measure how much water I’m putting in for each step. So filling it, even that high up, isn’t really an issue. That’s what the step stool is for. I never move/lift my hot liquor tank during brewing.
Why did he say this? I have used mine for 15 years, and it works just fine. I use a five gallon cylindrical cooler (blue) for a mash tun due to space constraints, so another (in addition to the two I use for well, coolers) big rectangular cooler and batch sparging don’t work for me.
OK - I’ve read the basics. The only down-side is that it can, apparently, affect extraction rates. I’ve never calculated mine, so maybe I need to start…
