Nostalgia! - I know I have talked about nostalgia quite a bit in my posts, but I am about to do it again. You know how people sit around and talk about the good times? Well, you could be having a good time right now and not know it yet, without the benefit of hindsight. As I wind down my time at my current employer and prepare to go elsewhere, I started thinking about how fun it used to be at my job several years ago. I don't recall feeling particularly fond of those times while they were happening, but looking back now, those were some damn fine times. Maybe because things suck so bad right now. So anyway, it made me think that when I get to my new job, I should try and enjoy it as it happens, rather than having to have it pass, and then think about how cool it was in hindsight. I am going to try really hard.

OK, so more Brutus 10 fun and excitement. Now that I have the top of the frame laid out and welded up, it is time to add some cross members and legs and such, and get this thing looking like a Brutus should.

Welding in the cross members is pretty simple work. I put in a total of 4 across the top, one for each side of the three kegs, and of course the outside of the frame acts as the other two keg supports.

Next came the legs. I bought a shitty 90 degree jig at home depot for 6 bucks to help hold everything perpendiculous while I tacked it in place with the welder. Once tacked, I was able to fill it in right.

So after the legs were on, it was time to get the burners in place. I figured the best thing to do was to just sort of hang them in there. So I took some 1" steel and drilled some holes in it so the burners could be adjustable and welded them to the insides of the frame on the two spots where the burners will be.

You may notice I only have two burners instead of three. Why? Well, you may remember a few posts back when I talked briefly about the mash lauter tun or MLT. The MLT holds the grains and the water at a steady temperature for a certain amount of time. With a properly insulated MLT, there is no need to directly fire this vessel. So I have opted for quality insulation versus direct heat to maintain the temperature level. I'll cover the insulation at a later date. Also, another reason is because I employ a technique called batch sparging, where I let the grains set in a batch of water at the right temperature for a certain amount of time, then drain it into the brew kettle, and then add another batch of water at higher temperature to bring on a different reaction from the grains. I will go over all that stuff later when I do a post on the maiden voyage of this bad boy.

If anyone is keeping score, I promise this will get more interesting once I get past the basic structure build out.