£80 to spend...

[Scott]

I need your guys help, I recently left my job for pastures new and received a collection of £80. I'm wanting to spend this on some home brew stuff, I currently have two FV's, two demijohns, a pressure barrel, a load of syphons, hydro meters etc.

I was thinking along the lines of a Corny? Or should I just stock up on various kits and ingredients?

 

[bobsbeer]

If you like kegged beer then £80 will get you well on the way to cornies. They will last you a lifetime. And then you can will them to your heirs. :grin:

 

[LeedsBrewer]

for that amount you could get yourself a nice boiler and ingredients to do a BIAB . http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/33l ... p-576.html

or you could get yourself a nice big pan and do some decent extract brews like brewuk's way to amarillo and the exmoor gold one.

or 4 kits

or a nice fermentation fridge with stc1000 and a tube heater...

oh the possibilities...

 

[Scott]

Are Cornies worth the expense then? What are the benefits?

 

[bobsbeer]

Decent size for homebrew, 19lt. Stainless steel so doesn't degrade like plastic. No light gets in so brew stays fresh. Easy to clean and steralise, wide mouth. Can be attached to a beer tap remote from the keg. The beer can be carbonated bright, ie no priming needed so clear beer. Need I go on. :grin: There is a down side. They are more expensive to start with, but last for generations not years. You need to find a co2 supplier near you. Apart from that.

 

[Scott]

for that amount you could get yourself a nice boiler and ingredients to do a BIAB . http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/33l ... p-576.html

or you could get yourself a nice big pan and do some decent extract brews like brewuk's way to amarillo and the exmoor gold one.

or 4 kits

or a nice fermentation fridge with stc1000 and a tube heater...

oh the possibilities...

Ooo hadn't thought of any grain type brews! :hmm:

I'll have to YouTube the BIAB stuff, see if its something I could do. Would it be cheaper to build my own boiler?

 

[Scott]

Decent size for homebrew, 19lt. Stainless steel so doesn't degrade like plastic. No light gets in so brew stays fresh. Easy to clean and steralise, wide mouth. Can be attached to a beer tap remote from the keg. The beer can be carbonated bright, ie no priming needed so clear beer. Need I go on. :grin: There is a down side. They are more expensive to start with, but last for generations not years. You need to find a co2 supplier near you. Apart from that.

Hmm, it does sound tempting, I like the idea of attaching a tap to a corny, would be ideal for gatherings.

 

[bobsbeer]

And you can make a kegerator. :thumb:

 

[tazuk]

right wot type of brewing you in to ie tin brewing or all grain or thinking of going in to all grain ?????

ie shiney brewing i am still using plastic and so do a guys who been brewing for years :thumb:

so it depends in witch direction you going in brewing :thumb:

 

[Scott]

Well I'm on canned kits, only started brewing beginning of December properly so still fairly new to the whole thing. AG and Extract do interest me though, just not sure I'm ready to take the full plunge! Would like to dabble a little first, the BIAB method sounds good.

 

[bobsbeer]

In that case you could spend the £80 on a plastic AG kit as long as you are a little bit handy with DIY. I have a plastic HLT, coolbox mash tun and it probably came to less than £80. Have a look at the Tesco element threads in the How To. But kit beer goes into cornies too. :thumb:

 

[Titus A Duxass]

for that amount you could get yourself a nice boiler and ingredients to do a BIAB . http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/33l ... p-576.html

Sorry for the hijack, that AG kit looks like it uses a normal FV with a heating element and strainer. Will as normal FV cope with heat of a boil?

 

[bobsbeer]

Depends on the bucket. If it is an older one it will be thicker and will be ok. But the newer ones are too thin in my opinion. Some are sold that say they can be converted. I have one.

 

[jonnymorris]

Would it be cheaper to build my own boiler?

Significantly so. Vossy has a post on how to build a SS one that I followed and there are others for plastic versions. Go for it.

 

[tazuk]

here is a few pics of my boiler hlt and mashtun all plastic easy to build :thumb:

here is my boiler :thumb:

here is my hlt

mashtun