Brutus 10

In the November 2007 issue of Brew Your Own, we published the plans for Brutus 10 — the single-tier brewery designed by Lonnie McAllister, homebrewer and host of the podcast “Alenuts”.

Lonnie’s design featured two pumps for moving liquids on brewday and two temperature controllers for maintaining temperature in the hot liquor tank and the mash tun. Clever design elements included the tubing being affixed to the lids of the vessels so brewers could switch from recirculating the mash to running off the wort and sparging simply by moving two lids. The wiring was hidden inside the frame and even the propane gas was routed through one of the hollow stainless steel beams to the burners, giving the design a clean look.

Since then, many BYO readers have built their own Brutus 10. Here are a few examples.

To get your own copy of the Brutus 10 plans, you can purchase a copy of the special re-print from the sold out November 2007 issue.

<p>Mark Skrainar modifed his Brutus 10 to include an inline wort aerator and thermometer after the wort chiller (see inset picture). </p><p>Mark says, “After reading the article on the Brutus 10, I was more than amped to build my all-grain system and I wanted to do it as soon as possible. I always tossed around the idea of building a sculpture and had many paper and pencil sketches of different designs that I wanted to do. When I read the article, I knew I wanted to do a single-tier system. The plans made it look so easy, and it was. The following day I found myself at the metal shop getting the metal. The welding of the frame structure was done in two weekends. The only time consuming part of this build was rounding up the ASCO valves and other odds and ends. Now after my first brew, I have already started designing some additions that will come in the near future (hard plumbed water lines with a filter that will fill all three kettles and connect into the Therminator via a bypass in front of the water filter). This was an easy project for those of us that have the equipment to weld or for those that can take it to a local welder to build the frame. The rest is up to your imagination. I have to thank Lonnie McAllister for writing and sharing his dream.”</p>

Mark Skrainar - Indio, California

<p>Jeff says, “I found Lonnie’s web site and gears started to move in my brain. About the time of our 16th anniversary, my wife asked what I wanted. I mentioned Brutus and was given the green light to start buying the pieces to put her together.</p><p>I’m not much of a welder, but a case of beer will get you a stand welded together (Thanks Keith and Mike). Slowly the parts started to come in and over the course of three weeks it was mostly done. All in all, it was really easy to build! I changed a few things. For example, the stand is a bit taller and the control panel is mounted on a cabinet because the place where I store it is narrow (and it gives me a place to set my beer). The only trouble I had was with the Love temp. controllers; they changed the design and the wiring was a bit of a task, but a phone call to tech support fixed it up. On brew day I put her out in the driveway so everyone that goes by can have a look . . . a few even go around the block to have a second glance.” </p>

Jeff Kersbergen - Iowa City, Iowa

<p>When asked why he built his Brutus, Wes said, “What appealed to me was just how much easier it makes the brewday. (That and my wife wanted my beer making out of her kitchen). I love brewing, but it’s alot of work. Now all I have to do is swap a few quick connects around, stir the mash a bit and add my hops. Too bad it doesn’t make cleanup that much easier, but I’m working on that. I decided to go with the “Tippy-Dump” mash system for ease of dumping the grain. The mash tun is modified with a grain shoot too, as you can see. I went with a high-pressure propane setup as well using 10” Banjo burners. I also decided to go with couplings welded in the side of the keg for my liquid return on each kettle. This lets me use quick connects inside the keg to switch between my sparge ring and my recirculator as well as remove the mash screen. I also did hard piping inside the kegs for the returns. Eventually i want to interchange a spray ball in there for cleanup as well.</p><p>“The best part of the build was just the learning involved. The worst part of the build was probably the welding also, I was a little afraid of messing the welding up myself so I subbed it out. The welders thought I was building a spaceship when I first brought the plans to them, judging by the look they gave me.</p><p>“This has been the single most rewarding project I’ve ever undertaken. I swear I stand in the garage for an hour sometimes just staring and marveling at my creation. Brew on!”</p>

Wes Barker - St. Joseph, Missouri

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