Brew Kettle

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Sorry for poor reading skills - i have been looking after 2 poorly kids for 4 days and I am a bit braindead!! If your 50L Mash Tun was adequate for 46L runs then the 48L should be fine for me - I will get that one. I will maybe only need a 50L pot to make a boiler which would save me some space. The 70L would likely be a waste of space and dosh. Although there is sparging to consider, isn't there? Oh f**k, I don't know!

Okay - 50L MASH TUN - what size boiler, 50L okay or go with the 70L? Last question on this set up for now I promise!

B x

I'd go for 70L minimum, 100L would let you brew 15 gallon.

 

[periolus]

Cheers! That's grand. Having looked at some of the calculators and now taken some of the other factors into account, this makes perfect sense. The 70 it is!

 

[periolus]

Just a quickie - the boiler that I have planned would be converted from a 70L pot with 5.5kW output (very nice!) The only problem I have is that my garage is protected by a 20A breaker, and this setup would draw 22.9A :x Damn the laws of physics!

So - in theory, a drop to a 4.5kW setup would draw 18.75A and leave me a little headroom, as I do also have a small upright freezer in there.

My question is - would 4.5kW still cut the mustard with 70L liquid? I am guessing so, as it is still about 80% of the original output.

This is all dependent on the elements available and MD being happy with it. Maybe a rewire is in order - only trouble is we had a total rewire in January when we bought the house, and I don't really want to do the garage again so soon - especially with precious funds being saved for the AG brewery! What to do!

Oh well, I reckon a beer will sort everything - tonight of course :thumb:

 

[jamesb]

I regularly brew 50l (60l preboil) with 3kW in my 70l pots. Although it takes a while to come to the boil. I was just too lazy to get round to putting my second element in.

By the wya, you don't want to be putting anymore than 60l into a 70l pot, and even then it's hairy for a bit.

 

[periolus]

Hi!

Cheers for that! Do you actually bring it to the boil then? Or just up to temp for sparging and then mashing?

I can imagine a rolling boil in something like that being pretty scary! My mash tun will be 47L so 60L should be okay. Exciting stuff!

 

[jamesb]

Hi!
Cheers for that! Do you actually bring it to the boil then? Or just up to temp for sparging and then mashing?
I can imagine a rolling boil in something like that being pretty scary! My mash tun will be 47L so 60L should be okay. Exciting stuff!

I can do a rolling boil with it. Not a particulary vigorous one, I'd prefer it to be better, but I still need a case of round tuits to fit the other element.

It would help if you insulated the pot.

 

[Vossy1]

Just a quickie - the boiler that I have planned would be converted from a 70L pot with 5.5kW output (very nice!) The only problem I have is that my garage is protected by a 20A breaker, and this setup would draw 22.9A :x Damn the laws of physics!

You could just run an extension lead from another circuit in your house to take some of the 'strain', that's what I do*

*Assuming your garage is near your house

 

[evanvine]

You could just run an extension lead from another circuit in your house to take some of the 'strain', that's what I do

Vossy, you never cease to amaze me with your practical ideas :thumb:

 

[periolus]

Well, that was an idea I had - the kitchen is very close and the window is opposite side door to the garage. Plus, the kitchen is on an all-important 32A circuit, so would solve the problems. Ultimately, i will go for a rewire on the garage, but as we have only had it done in the last year, I would rather wait for a while!

Bring it on!

 

[Sean_Mc]

If you run a cable from the kitchen unroll the extention lead completely, I've found they tend to melt if you don't

 

[periolus]

Oh don't worry, I have previous form for that! :nono: Lesson learned the hard way!

 

[commsbiff]

If you run a cable from the kitchen unroll the extention lead completely, I've found they tend to melt if you don't

Thought it was just me

 

[Vossy1]

:lol:

 

[pjbiker]

Hi Periolous

I've been using a 70L boiler with 33L plastic mash tun, to make 2 FV's and 2 king kegs worth of ~4.5%ABV beer for a while now and have just upgraded with another 70L HLT and a 38.5L Mash tun which is a perfect accompaniment. see my latest post with pictures.
70L pot is about £55 inc delivery and 38.5L mash tun (thermos) is about £75 inc delivery. Then a few plumbing fittings and kettles, probably another £40. Not sure what Muddydisco charges for conversion. Its fun to do yourself if you like that kind of thing.

viewtopic.php?p=129610#p129610

 

[pjbiker]

On the 'current' issue. For reasons I've yet to sort out. The feed to my brewery is on from a RCD socket I wired to a ring main 32A circuit. I'd hoped to run 2x 2.5mm (squared) cables from this to maintain the 32A rating but the socket only allowed the RCD'd exit via the plug itself (13A) rated. I've temporarily run the 2x 2.5mm from the single plug. (I can hear the sharp intake of breath from the forum :nono: ). Of course I wouldn't recommend this but, whats the worse that can happen? the 13A fuse blows. Surprisingly, both 2.2Kw elements will run through this and the fuse has blown once, twice if you include when I tried 3 at a time (of course it did). Yes, the plugs get hot but they've not melted or caught fire. I plan to have my my fusebox upgraded to all RCD protected so I can dispense with the RCD socket and have proper 32A feed to the brewery.

Anyway, I only use 2 elements to heat quickly when I need to, it boils a little too vigorously with 2 on constantly. A timer switch set the night before is the way to go to have your strike liquor ready using just 1 element. 2.2Kw, 60L to ~80 degrees takes about 2 hours IME.

Fitting extra sockets is pretty easy, get the 'how to' book from B&Q though 'the man' would probably say its illegal/invalidates your insurance these days. Your're only supposed to run 1 element from each socket as they're rated 13A each.

 

[pjbiker]

Just a quickie - the boiler that I have planned would be converted from a 70L pot with 5.5kW output (very nice!) The only problem I have is that my garage is protected by a 20A breaker, and this setup would draw 22.9A :x Damn the laws of physics!

Have you tried that theory though? For some reason, my 13A fuse seems to take the strain OK. Maybe because its an actual cartride fuse rather than an electronic device.

My question is - would 4.5kW still cut the mustard with 70L liquid? I am guessing so, as it is still about 80% of the original output.

Yes, it more than would, based on my experience.