New NI Based Member

[Dale Kirkwood]

Hi folks

Glad to have joined so wanted to say hello and introduce myself.

I've been brewing for a few years now with my Father and cousin. My father started off with the 25l plastic kits and extract brewing before moving on to all grain on the same kit. I have been brewing 1 gallons for about the past 9ish months experimenting with recipes, hops etc.

My Father has recently treated himself with a retirement present of a Braumeister whihc has resulted in me looking to change what I do. I want to tighten up my small batch approach to get better control over temperatures, therefore I am thinking of making a steel pot idea with heating elements (and something like an inkbird) under a false bottom, hopefully having the same unit as the mash tun and boil kettle.

My next step is to obviously go searching through the forum for other posts relating to this but if anyone has any particular favourite posts it would be great to get a link.

My main concern is the wort making contact with the elements as I simply don't know if that will make a difference or not during the mash or boil.

Thanks and looking forward to chatting to you through the posts

Dale

 

[strange-steve]

Welcome, whereabouts in NI are you? I'm from Larne (don't hold it against me) but there are a couple of HB clubs in Belfast that hold regular meets, a good and knowledgeable bunch of lads.

Regarding your query, my first mash tun/boiler was a plastic FV with an electric element in it and it served me very well for many batches before I changed to 3V and more recently Grainfather.

 

[Dutto]

Welcome to The Forum!

Your Dad sounds like a man who knows a good retirement present and the Braumeister is a superb bit of kit.

Ever thought of borrowing it? aunsure....

 

[Dale Kirkwood]

Welcome, whereabouts in NI are you? I'm from Larne (don't hold it against me) but there are a couple of HB clubs in Belfast that hold regular meets, a good and knowledgeable bunch of lads.

Regarding your query, my first mash tun/boiler was a plastic FV with an electric element in it and it served me very well for many batches before I changed to 3V and more recently Grainfather.

I'm in Ballymena so could say the same.

Thanks very much for the reply. I've seen the house of homebrew one advertised but can't make it up for it. What other ones are there?

Good to hear about the elements BTW.

 

[Dale Kirkwood]

Welcome to The Forum!

Your Dad sounds like a man who knows a good retirement present and the Braumeister is a superb bit of kit.

Ever thought of borrowing it? aunsure....

He's spent a lot of time thinking about it, with plenty of encouragement from us

We're planning to do a brew shortly on it, going to get it set up properly and the garage laid out better on Friday coming and then try it the week after

 

[strange-steve]

I'm in Ballymena so could say the same.

Thanks very much for the reply. I've seen the house of homebrew one advertised but can't make it up for it. What other ones are there?

Good to hear about the elements BTW.

Yeah I haven't been to the HoHB meets, though I think one or two other members here have been. There's another Belfast club who are part of the Irish national HB club and I've been to a few of their meets. There's a lot of experience there but it's very friendly and relaxed. They are also involved in BJCP competitions and training if you ever fancy that sort of thing.

 

[Dale Kirkwood]

That sounds good actually. The training would be good. When do they meet? Is that with Barry McMullan etc.?

 

[strange-steve]

That sounds good actually. The training would be good. When do they meet? Is that with Barry McMullan etc.?

Yep, that's the one. They meet usually once a month in Northern Lights, unfortunately on a Thursday which doesn't suit me. Have a look at their forum here, I think they have a meet on the 27th.

 

[Dale Kirkwood]

Great thanks very much