Two tier brew stand design help

Northern Brewer General
1

Hi all. I will finally be making a brew stand soon and have a question on design. I will have one pump (march 315…by the way, on sale for 129 at Austin homebrew right now), and would like to make it a two tier design. I really can’t decide if I want the mash tun on the higher level or the HLT. I really couldn’t think of any deciding factor for either configuration. I suppose if the mash tun is lower, then it will be easier to check on and dough in, etc. What are the benefits for either configuration?

2

On my keggle-size system, I have the mash tun high so that I can gravity-feed in into the kettle. I’ve tried pumping from my cooler-tun (with the obligatory stainless braid) but too many stuck mashes later convinced me to use gravity from the mash tun. I pump from the HLT and from the kettle. I use cam lock connections on my hoses to make quick changes. As far as mashing-in and tending the mash tun, I use a short step stool to make stirring easier.

3

Thanks. My first thought was to gravity feed from the MT. I am going to go with cam locks as well. I’m making the stand out of wood with two burners, two kegs and a cooler mash tun. If I want to change things around it will be plenty easy to do so.

4

If you have a pump and want to go two tier, I would suggest having the HLT and MLT at counter top level (about 31") and having the boil kettle on a lower, second tier just high enough off the ground to get the burner under it. Life is so much easier when you don’t have to get on a stool to lift something heavy like grain or water. I went from a 3 tier to a single tier and have never looked back.

5

I recommend you spend some time viewing & researching systems on this site:

http://www.brewzilla.nl/brewhalla.htm

I spent a lot of time researching different system designs by clicking the various links to people’s breweries. Some of these systems have very little info, but some people have taken lots of time and posted tons of information about system designs, past mistakes, what works, what doesn’t, etc. Do yourself a HUGE favor and do some research.

I have a two-tier with the HLT up top and the MLT & BK on the lower tier. My system is #159 on the systems at the posted link.