Klarstein

[Scrattajack]

I vaguely remember someone on the forum added an aftermarket pump and hose that collected wort from the tap and fed it back into the malt pipe.

That's interesting, I'll have a look at that. By malt pipe do you mean the bin they provide with the holes in the bottom?

Thanks,
John.

 

[Keruso]

That's interesting, I'll have a look at that. By malt pipe do you mean the bin they provide with the holes in the bottom?

Thanks,
John.

Yes, that’s the malt container

 

[Horners]

I have the 25L Klarstein kettle and on balance, I'd say it was good value for money. Apart from the fact that I should have ordered a larger one, the only problem I've had is with mashing. I'd fondly imagined that I could just set the thermostat to 67C, say, and disappear for 90 minutes but what actually happens is that when the temperature drops and the heater kicks in, it over-compensates and the temperature goes up to the low 70s. It's still usable, you need to avoid setting the thermostat, keep an eye on the temperature and give it the odd blip of heat to keep it at the right sort of level. This is without any lagging, so as mentioned above that's something you could do to make it a bit less hands-on.

I used to use the Maischfest.
For mashing I would get to strike temperature and then turn off. Post dough in I would jug through a few times. Using dual probe thermometer I used to find v little temp differential between different parts of grain bed. Also at this time of year would only lose 1C over 60 min mash. In winter I fashioned a jacket from that reflective aluminium bubble stuff and velcro tape with appropriate slots cut out for tap, handles etc . I did a detailed write up somewhere on my Maiscfest brewday and I still reckon that (particularly when at its lowest price) this represents good entry level system particularly if you cant stretch to one with recirculation pump. I now have GF - is it better? Undoubtedly. Is it over 450 quid better, prnot