The Beginners Gravity Stand (on the cheap!)
Just getting started with all-grain brewing? Welcome to a whole new world of really interesting and cool equipment. The best part of all-grain to me was the fact that I got to build my own brewery, though there are many commercial options out there if you want to just pick up a three tier stand, or move right into a single tier. These option can be prohibitively expensive, and when you are starting out its usually best to get an idea of the all-grain process and how you are going to be brewing before you drop thousands of dollars on a nice set up that may not fit your needs.
Starting out, I built up a really simple wood framed brew structure made out of 2x4's, a 16"x16" tile, sheetrock screws, and simpson strong ties. I want to say it cost about $30. And here, I will show you how to do it! My design was different than most I had see as I used a tile to create a nice surface for the HLT to be placed on during sparging, and I built it for easy disassembly so it could be nested into itself so as to have a small footprint for storing.
Supplies
You are going to need five 2 x 4s, one 1 x 3, one 16"x16" flooring tile, sheetrock screws (a small box should be more than enough), 4 simpson strong ties, four 1/4" x 4" carriage bolts, four 1/4" hex nuts, and 8 1/4" washers.
Prep work
Here is where you need to do some drawing out of your setup. Based on the height and footprint of your mash tun, you will need to adjust the height of your stand and the size of the middle tier that the mast tun will sit on.
Starting out, I built up a really simple wood framed brew structure made out of 2x4's, a 16"x16" tile, sheetrock screws, and simpson strong ties. I want to say it cost about $30. And here, I will show you how to do it! My design was different than most I had see as I used a tile to create a nice surface for the HLT to be placed on during sparging, and I built it for easy disassembly so it could be nested into itself so as to have a small footprint for storing.
Supplies
You are going to need five 2 x 4s, one 1 x 3, one 16"x16" flooring tile, sheetrock screws (a small box should be more than enough), 4 simpson strong ties, four 1/4" x 4" carriage bolts, four 1/4" hex nuts, and 8 1/4" washers.
Prep work
Here is where you need to do some drawing out of your setup. Based on the height and footprint of your mash tun, you will need to adjust the height of your stand and the size of the middle tier that the mast tun will sit on.