Site Directory:
The Three Tier Brewing
Rack
for all-grain brewing on your deck, etc.
Primary Features:
- Rack is fully collapsable for storage
- Take your brewing outdoors
- No more stacking chairs, boxes or buckets
- Easy to set up and take down, yet very sturdy
- Build it yourself for $50 or less
The 3-Tier Collapsible Brewing Rack, designed and built by Steve Kranz, consists of three frames which attach to each other with lag bolts and fold "within" each other. These frames are the Main Upright frame, the Rear Upright frame, and the Cross-bar frame.
Set-up and break-down takes no more than 5 minutes, and the entire unit can be easily picked up and stored in the same space as a 6’ step ladder.
The Brewing Rack is designed and intended for use with 5 or 10 gallon round beverage coolers serving as a mash/lauter tun sitting on the lower platform, and another cooler, bottling bucket or similar vessel serving as a hot liquor tank on the top platform. The boiling kettle, which can be as large as a 15.5 gallon converted beer keg, rests on an outdoor propane cooker either in front of, or to the side of the Brewing Rack.
All lumber is 2 x 4 studs cut to the above dimensions, except the two ½" plywood platforms, which are 18" square. The dimensions are easily adaptable to any deck, the only adjustments required being the height of the Cross Bars to accommodate the height of the deck railing which serves as the rear support for the Brewing Rack, and the length of Front Support Post.
The Main Uprights and the Cross-bars are attached with lag bolts and wing nuts. The front of the Cross-bar swings upward inside the Main Upright frame; the Rear Upright frame, also attached with lag bolts and wing nuts, swings downward, also within the Main Upright frame.
The entire unit is completely collapsible upon the easy removal of two pieces: the top platform, and the front support post. These two parts are easily attached to, and removed from, the frame by hand with bolts and wing-nuts.
The top platform serves to square the entire frame, when it is bolted to the Main Uprights and Rear Uprights with bolts and wing nuts. These bolts pass through the platform and the cross members of the Main Upright frame and the Rear Upright frame. (The Rear Upright frame has a cross member, 12" wide, which is not visible in the drawings.)
The Front Support Post and the railing of your deck work together to stabilize the Rack and keep it standing rock-solid. The Railing Bracket and Block are additional measures of stability. (The Block is attached to the rear cross-member of the Cross Bar frame, which is set in from the rear of the frame and not visible in the drawings.)
If you have any questions about this thing, or want to take a look at it live and in person, give Steve Kranz a jingle, come on over and have a beer.
