AlanHarper
Foredown Brewing
Requirements
As part of my brewing experience I have read many articles, seen Youtube videos and trawled through this and other Forums and have realised that having a multilayer Brewing Frame or Station is the way to go. This unit has to be strong enough to support the brewing, mashing and FV vessels - especially as we are dealing with boiling liquids - and, as this undoubtedly means a substantial construction, should be easily movable. An additional consideration is that it should be as cheap as possible.
Design
I decided to make something out of wood - partly as, although I have a saw, I do not have a welding kit. So, decision as to materials being made what are my requirements?
I didn't want to go down the path of having to buy pumps and extra pipework as I wanted to keep complexity and cost to a minimum so the system is to be gravity assisted. This necessarily means a three tier affair that is small enough to move about (and store) and preportioned to support the mash tun, boiler and FV. After some rough sketches and measuring of the FV bins and boiler I came up with the design shown in Diagram 1.
The middle tier is designed to support the electric water heater / boiler and, as this is the one item I want to move the least, it can stay there and the other bins moved about as required. The mash tun can be placed on the bottom tier as the boiler creates the mash / sparging water and the water from the boiler is gravity fed as required and then it is moved to the top tier to gravity feed the wort into the boiler. Once the beer has been boiled and subsequently cooled it can then be gravity fed into the FV on the bottom tier.
I think I have that right and we shall see if it all works next week when I fire it all up in anger. (If some of you out there thinks I have the process fundamentally wrong then please let me know before I start - as I am a novice as no doubt some of you have already guessed).
Materials Purchase
After plumping for wood as the material I searched for the most economical supply and finally hit on Studwork CLS from Wickes. This is supplied in a pack of 5 lengths with the dimensions of 38 x 63 x 2400mm and all for ��ã2.40 a strip. I calculated that I need 6 lengths overall and the total cost for the framing came to under ��ã15. The bases for the tiers was to be made from chipboard and the cheapest form of that was to buy a single pack of Loft Flooring panels at under ��ã9. By cutting one panel down the length and then attaching that to another of the panels I can get three bases out of half a pack - the rest can be used for other projects. The total total wood cost came to under ��ã20 which is quite manageble.
The lengths of the center uprights was deliberately made 1.7 mtrs to give support when climbing on it to position the Mash Tun and, additionally, the extra height can support tube work / stirring equipment I may need to employ in the future.
Moving The Unit
To make the whole unit movable it was decided to attach a couple of 110mm wheels on the bottom back corners that only come into play when the frame is tipped backwards. Naturally this means it is only to be moved WITHOUT any bins or boilers in place.
Construction
The individual pieces of wood were cut from the 6 timbers as detailed below:
Timber Part(s)
1:____ 2 x 1200mm back uprights
2:____ 1 x 1800mm central upright + 1 x 542mm front upright
3:____ 1 x 1800mm central upright + 1 x 542mm front upright
4:____ 5 x 404mm + 1 x 324mm
5:____ 7 x 324mm
6:____ 3 x 404mm + 2 x 200mm (+ 780mm scrap?)
The parts were glued and screwed together using 63mm No. 8 screws. All holes were pre-drilled and countersunk. I used about 80 altogether plus 8 smaller 30mm No. 8 screws for each of the chipboard tops.
Wheels
The wheels were two 100mm diameter wheels bought from Screwfix for ��ã2 each and fitted with a couple of coach bolts in holes drilled through the short supports at the bottom edge of the back frame - see diagram. The holes were located so the wheels are off the ground when the frame is upright but contact the ground when the frame is tilted back.
The frame will solve a few storage and use problems and, hopefully, may help someone else with similar brewing and cost concerns.
Diagram and Pictures
Here are some pictures showing the intended use of the frame and the brewing equipment and wheel detail.
As part of my brewing experience I have read many articles, seen Youtube videos and trawled through this and other Forums and have realised that having a multilayer Brewing Frame or Station is the way to go. This unit has to be strong enough to support the brewing, mashing and FV vessels - especially as we are dealing with boiling liquids - and, as this undoubtedly means a substantial construction, should be easily movable. An additional consideration is that it should be as cheap as possible.
Design
I decided to make something out of wood - partly as, although I have a saw, I do not have a welding kit. So, decision as to materials being made what are my requirements?
I didn't want to go down the path of having to buy pumps and extra pipework as I wanted to keep complexity and cost to a minimum so the system is to be gravity assisted. This necessarily means a three tier affair that is small enough to move about (and store) and preportioned to support the mash tun, boiler and FV. After some rough sketches and measuring of the FV bins and boiler I came up with the design shown in Diagram 1.
The middle tier is designed to support the electric water heater / boiler and, as this is the one item I want to move the least, it can stay there and the other bins moved about as required. The mash tun can be placed on the bottom tier as the boiler creates the mash / sparging water and the water from the boiler is gravity fed as required and then it is moved to the top tier to gravity feed the wort into the boiler. Once the beer has been boiled and subsequently cooled it can then be gravity fed into the FV on the bottom tier.
I think I have that right and we shall see if it all works next week when I fire it all up in anger. (If some of you out there thinks I have the process fundamentally wrong then please let me know before I start - as I am a novice as no doubt some of you have already guessed).
Materials Purchase
After plumping for wood as the material I searched for the most economical supply and finally hit on Studwork CLS from Wickes. This is supplied in a pack of 5 lengths with the dimensions of 38 x 63 x 2400mm and all for ��ã2.40 a strip. I calculated that I need 6 lengths overall and the total cost for the framing came to under ��ã15. The bases for the tiers was to be made from chipboard and the cheapest form of that was to buy a single pack of Loft Flooring panels at under ��ã9. By cutting one panel down the length and then attaching that to another of the panels I can get three bases out of half a pack - the rest can be used for other projects. The total total wood cost came to under ��ã20 which is quite manageble.
The lengths of the center uprights was deliberately made 1.7 mtrs to give support when climbing on it to position the Mash Tun and, additionally, the extra height can support tube work / stirring equipment I may need to employ in the future.
Moving The Unit
To make the whole unit movable it was decided to attach a couple of 110mm wheels on the bottom back corners that only come into play when the frame is tipped backwards. Naturally this means it is only to be moved WITHOUT any bins or boilers in place.
Construction
The individual pieces of wood were cut from the 6 timbers as detailed below:
Timber Part(s)
1:____ 2 x 1200mm back uprights
2:____ 1 x 1800mm central upright + 1 x 542mm front upright
3:____ 1 x 1800mm central upright + 1 x 542mm front upright
4:____ 5 x 404mm + 1 x 324mm
5:____ 7 x 324mm
6:____ 3 x 404mm + 2 x 200mm (+ 780mm scrap?)
The parts were glued and screwed together using 63mm No. 8 screws. All holes were pre-drilled and countersunk. I used about 80 altogether plus 8 smaller 30mm No. 8 screws for each of the chipboard tops.
Wheels
The wheels were two 100mm diameter wheels bought from Screwfix for ��ã2 each and fitted with a couple of coach bolts in holes drilled through the short supports at the bottom edge of the back frame - see diagram. The holes were located so the wheels are off the ground when the frame is upright but contact the ground when the frame is tilted back.
The frame will solve a few storage and use problems and, hopefully, may help someone else with similar brewing and cost concerns.
Diagram and Pictures
Here are some pictures showing the intended use of the frame and the brewing equipment and wheel detail.
