Finally finished my AG 3-tier setup

[ilikedrinkingbeer]

I've been brewing for around 10 years, and now that I've finished my brew stand, I have finally got my set-up where I want it (for now at least!), I've been through all the usual stages on the way here (big muslin bags of hot grain, decanting hot liquid into many different pots and pans, etc etc), so I'll just show the pics of what I have now.

I wanted 100% gravity-fed, and with no lifting of containers full of liquid. It's really a 4-tier system, as I have enough height to empty from the boiling kettle straight into the fermenter. There's an electric Buffalo boiler for my hot liquor tun (boy was it disappointing to learn the limitations of this boiler the hard way!). It does fine to bring water to a boil though. I have a home-made picnic cooler mash tun (not many pics of that), a home-made sparge system, and a home-made copper immersion chiller. I wanted that to be made of 100% copper with no soldering, and also wanted space between each coil, to allow better liquid flow. It's held together with copper wire and small spacers made of copper pipe. It's a bit wobbly, so will probably have to re-visit the design in the near future. Works well though. The boiling kettle is gas-fired. I just prefer gas.

The stands are made with old fence posts and some scrap stainless cast-offs from a local truck repair place. Total cost: £85 for the car windscreen excess, when the fencing cracked the glass Also, many hours in the garage, chiselling away. It's on little castors, and I wheel it all out for brewday.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/S1xWPZ5hXef2Kk1R7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7EHw2uVBCFWiMGJy9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZooeVZzKCtn4D9fz6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wjbRXGPcaviyCbpE8

Here's what I use for sparging - This sits on top of the mash tun, the hose from the HLT slips over the long bolt to hold it in place, and the water slowly trickles down onto the grain. Works a treat!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/k7mHEJLpfSLtsSCH9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MJJjiDjzmfjE9FY2A
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GJji8oJiPhUFZaBX6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jehn8rcU4shGZD8D9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MZLsTr1AfUW7oagF8

I currently use the immersion cooler in the boiling kettle, and a bazooka filter to keep hops out of the fermenter. I do lose a few liters here, so would be nice to find a way to improve this part of the process.

[Kev888]

Glad to see you finally have what you wanted!
I also spent years with modest and fairly improvised equipment before getting the bug to build; probably better than building posh stuff before you've gained some experience though. It can be quite satisfying when it all works out. Best of luck that it works out as expected for you too!

[ilikedrinkingbeer]

Thanks - I really enjoy making things, but had to work out where to draw the line. For the cost of the one-off tools required to make the boiling vessels, and the quality of the finish, I decided to just buy those.

I've done a few brew days with this set-up, and it works great. I did a parti-gyle beer fairly recently, making a ~2% hoppy table beer and a ~8% strong beer from one mash. I might get around to writing this one up.

[Jim]

Nice pics!