The Mash Tun Stand

This part of the HERMIT was probably the most important and also most difficult part of the design. This is where precise measurements and your system layout come together. I built all the other components first so that I knew exactly how the Mash Tun Stand needed to go together. I also had to remember from my original specification that the system had to be portable. I couldn't make the stand so big that I couldn't transport it or carry it by myself.

Believe it or not, the height of the Mash Tun Stand is driven by the height of the carboy that I am fermenting in. I wanted to be able to stand the carboy upright to fill by gravity from the Kettle. This determined how high my Kettle needed to be. The Kettle is filled from the Mash Tun, so the Mash Tun has to be high enough to be able to gravity feed into the Kettle. Now you know why I built the Mash Tun Stand last.

It is constructed of 2 x 4's screwed together, not nailed. Over time, nails will loosen up, especially on a portable system. I painted it with a primer and 2 coats of gloss enamel paint. Originally I had intended the paint to be totally cosmetic, but as it turned out, the paint really helps protect the wood. Plus, during clean up I can actually spray it down, scrub any wort residue off, and then dry it with a towel. Bare 2 x 4's would probably look pretty bad after a few batches.

Lastly, the Mash Tun Stand needed to contain the electricity required to run the system. I installed an on/off switch to run the Recirculation Pump on the front of the stand. This is important because you want to be able to switch the pump on and off during the mash session. Next, I installed a switched outlet for the Heat Exchanger agitator. Lastly, I installed a 2 outlet plug box on the back of the stand for the Recirculation Pump and the Control Box to plug into. One of the plugs is controlled by the on/off switch on the front of the stand (for the Recirculation Pump). The other plug provides power to the Control Box. I labeled the plug locations so that I wouldn't get them confused since one is switched, and the other is not. To power the whole thing, I wired a three prong plug into the outlet box to plug into any 20 Amp household outlet. One plug runs the whole system off of one 20 Amp circuit.

The portability feature almost mandates that you run your system off of 120 VAC. There won't be too many places where you can plug into 220 VAC away from home. Give some real thought to this before deciding on your power requirements.