Buying a new system, some guidance please....

[Macca]

Guys and Gals, Hi, i'm new to the forum and wanted to pick your collective brains for some guidance.

I have been brewing kit beers for a while and decided to go for it and jump into the AG quagmire, having read Mr Palmers guide back to back a number of times and currently wading my way through Graham Wheelers advice I feel I am ready to give it a go.......

I have about £500 for the set up and have selected a bunch of stuff including the boiler, mash tun, hot liqour tank and wort chillers allready, with some paddles, tubing, etc etc.

First up, Gas Vs Electric.... either way they are around the same money by the time you add in pipes, burners, gas, fire extinguisher etc, my only concern is the ability to control the temperature on the electric boilers. Gas, easy, turn it up or down, heating element with no temperature select on it, in order to get the correct temperature prior to the strike are we talking just boil it up, then let it cool down sufficiently, check temp and then strike or is there another way ?, I'm concerned about having the water at the right level and keeping it there for the sparge, i assume with the elements its a case of turn it on and itll just keep heating the water untill its boiling.

Second up, when i get to the wort boiling stage will i be able to keep the rolling boil on properly or is it a case of turning it on and off when it looks like its going to boil over.... would gas be a safer bet ? or once you have passed the hot break then its not really an issue you just keep boiling away on max for the specified time.

Third, i'm looking to make 5 gallon batches at a time, im the only one who drinks it, my wife, being the philistine she is, wont touch the stuff. what would be sensible sizes for my steelies ?, i dont want plastic, i dont like plastic, it has to be shiny and pretty, im looking at 56 ltr boilers but worry they may be too big, will the chiller have sufficient depth to submerge.

Thats it for starters, appreciate any help and if anyone knows of a better place to buy boilers then please feel free to tell me, im looking at paying £113 per gas boiler at the mo or £142 for the electric ones.

Kindest Regards
Mac

 

[Fil]

Hi Mac..

My thoughts..

Gas v electric, for hlt electric gives you the ability to control easily and cheaply to hit a specific temp with a bargain basement stc1000 controller or similar or even a pid controller, automatic control with gas is a bit more mechanical and tricky.. tho im sure someone has mastered it :)

for the boil, your boiling down to target volume as well as achieving hot break, tho as you learn your kit then perhaps? if u boil very aggressivly or calculate your volumes to accommodate a minimum boil,, possibly :) thats all your decision as the brewer most boil for a 'safe period' to ensure the break And hit target final volume.


Electric boiler control tends to be element on or off, most diy builds stick in 2 elements using 2 to hit the boil asap, and running on 1 to maintain the boil, if oversparged, a bit of 2 element boiling can help correct the error.. but you can if needed fit varying power control to an electric element, most dont bother in diy builds.
I use electric for both so cant comment much about gas, but am aware wind shields are worth looking.. i didnt fancy having to exchange the bottles, and even with power costs its still cheap beer..



Before you spend all you budget on kit, i would consider starting with minimal kit a single boiler and a grain bag to start a biab brew off, the brewday proceedures are all there heating up the mash liquor the mash and the boil. and thru brewing with the minimal kit you wil get a good feel for what direction you want to invest further in if any, many a fine beer is brewed with biab and many brewers stick with the system. just think of all the grain and hops you could buy with the remaining circa £375 of the budget

best vfm imho is the 40l buffalo boiler in SS for about £110-120? via nesbitts
add a brewer friendly tap and hop filter, or use hop socks :), and follow the well documented bypass of the over boil cut out and you have a top class boiler/hlt for 5 gallon brews with a comfortable overspage capacity oh and built in element power control if needed..
And easily insulated with a camping mat wrap.

The real budget killers are the connections between pots and hoses/pumps/ and power supplies to handle large (over 3kw) elements
The more you can rely on gravity and pour from one vessel directly into the next the better.

went on a bit whoops,,,, hope its useful..

 

[Macca]

Fil,

Thanks for the prompt reply, the buffalo ones seem to be popular so im going to order two of those bad boys, as for biab, cant do it :), im one of those people who just has to buy all the kit, never do things in half measures, not sure if thats a good or bad thing !!, i assume they are fine for the wort boiling as well ? where is the overboil info ?. Would i need to uprate my power supply or could i just run the bugger off mains, gravity will be my thing as i have turned my garage into a man cave :P.

Kind Regards

Mac

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome, buffalo boilers are good value.

 

[Fil]

we are who we are better u know yourself ..
Im not a sparky, But if u have a ring in the garage as long as u plug em into different sockets and not the same double one u should be fine if its a spur u may need to run a 13a extention lead from another ring in the house to use both at the same time.

i dont have a bufalo kinda wish i did, but am faithful to my diy kit , afaik there are 2 simple to address issues a cut out to stop a boil as boilers that boil are unsafe (elf n safety again) and then the boil dry protection, which can trip due to the long boil period both can be bypassed, but many fit a higher rated thermal fuse? to keep the boil dry protection me id start with google

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=buffa ... e&ie=UTF-8

With a couple of buffalos u have to look at thermopot mashtuns well if ur going shiny....

with access to a belt sander vice and angle grinder its a very do-able diy project saving u half the cost of a modded job. tho if u want off the shelf check out the malt miler, and thehomebrewbuilder might blow the budget tho.

 

[Macca]

Sounds like a plan, I have now ordered the boilers and the new fuses / taps / thermal cut offs, I will post a puffy when done and maybe a quick how to guide in case anyone else is wondering :)