Dedicated kettle - worth it?

[iz_g]

Hi all,

I've been brewing for several years now on on a 100l two vessel system, and am now thinking of upgrading to a third vessel.

Currently, I collect the wort in two 25l buckets (I usually brew for 60l fermenters) and simply pour it back into the kettle/hlt once sparging is finished. I suppose my question is, do people think it's worth the couple of hundred quid it will cost to add the third vessel (100l, with two 2.4kw elements)? What you guys think?

On a related note, what are people's experiences with pumping directly from the MT?

Thanks!

 

[grooves]

Another option - brutus20 and save some cleaning

 

[The Baron]

Have you the ability to use over 3kw as that generally means looking at commercial 3 phase electrics I think, I am sure more qualified will advise better as not a sparky

 

[user 18729]

Hi all,

I've been brewing for several years now on on a 100l two vessel system, and am now thinking of upgrading to a third vessel.

Currently, I collect the wort in two 25l buckets (I usually brew for 60l fermenters) and simply pour it back into the kettle/hlt once sparging is finished. I suppose my question is, do people think it's worth the couple of hundred quid it will cost to add the third vessel (100l, with two 2.4kw elements)? What you guys think?

On a related note, what are people's experiences with pumping directly from the MT?

Thanks!

I use two 50L vessels in exactly the same way- I’ve often considered adding a third. I think I will at some point (when the other half isn’t likely to react to another brewing investment )

 

[iz_g]

Have you the ability to use over 3kw as that generally means looking at commercial 3 phase electrics I think, I am sure more qualified will advise better as not a sparky

My current kettle/HLT has a 2.4kw kettle element and a 3kw ULWD element - I run them off separate ring mains to be safe. If I had a third vessel, I can't see a situation where I'd be running both kettle and HLT at the same time, which really would overload things

 

[steve123]

I use a 3 vessel system, and find it much better than the one and two vessel systems I have used in the past. I’m not an electrician but I often run 3 x 3 kw elements (when using 2 boil kettles) at once from extension cables plugged into separate plugs, and not had a problem, think it equates to about 37 amps in total, I will generally turn one off when I get a rolling boil.

 

[iz_g]

Yeah, it sounds like it would just save some of the faff. A bit of an investment, but then, that's half the fun!

 

[An Ankoù]

Why not get yourself a propane burner (this one's 9.2 KW max) and use your electric kettle for heating the mash and sparge water.?
For example: Foker Triple Burner Cast Iron Gas Boiling Ring (FK003200)
Here's a cheaper option if you can find similar in the UK:
https://www.braumarkt.com/en/gas-burner-drago-8-5-kwHere's a nice chunky one:
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/7-5kw-gas-burner-and-stand/
You'll need a kettle, too, of course.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Out of interest, what do you use as a mash tun and how do you regulate temperature?

 

[Bill_g]

Ring mains for 13A sockets are generally rated at around 30A but of course each individual socket rated 13A max. So multiple (up to ) 3kW heaters should be ok inside those constraints.
The important thing for safety is to ensure that your entire installation is protected by an earth leakage current breaker. Worth checking if your house wiring is old or if you are working in an outside building with a possibly amateur wiring installation.

 

[iz_g]

Out of interest, what do you use as a mash tun and how do you regulate temperature?

It's a brewbuilder 100l vessel with false bottom, wrapped with a very cheap yoga mat (the cheap ones seem to be made out of the perfect closed cell foam for the job). The volume of mash tends to simply hold its temperature - I've considered HERMS in the past, but to be honest, if the beer is good, don't fix it.