Peco boiler.

[yeastinfection]

Boiler,chiller and mash kit turned up today.
Its a little flimsy.doesnt take a lot to distort the plastic sides.i guess you guys have never had an issue?
Oh and wifes new fridge turned. So i get the old one.

 

[Spapro]

Boiler,chiller and mash kit turned up today.
Its a little flimsy.doesnt take a lot to distort the plastic sides.i guess you guys have never had an issue?
Oh and wifes new fridge turned. So i get the old one.

No issues in a dozen or so brews, just crack on and use it, the beer will be superb.

Oh and well jell if you getting a brew fridge:thumb:

 

[Leon103]

I wouldn't describe mine to be flimsy. Works great.

 

[yeastinfection]

does anyone use an electric thermostat control with the boiler.
i ask as i guess it would take a while to heat up and if it goes above tem[ then it would be a while before it cooled down again,
id like to set a temp and come back to it when its reached,
i have an inkbird for the fridge but its not man enough for the boiler .

 

[Spapro]

does anyone use an electric thermostat control with the boiler.
i ask as i guess it would take a while to heat up and if it goes above tem[ then it would be a while before it cooled down again,
id like to set a temp and come back to it when its reached,
i have an inkbird for the fridge but its not man enough for the boiler .

Time how long it takes to get to your desired strike temp (72°C ?) from cold first time out - will be about 40-45 mins I think.

You then know broadly speaking when to go back to the boiler for future brews.

Not looked at thermostatic control myself as its really only the strike temp where you would need it if doing BIAB in the Peco boiler.

When are you doing your first brew? I'm planning a First Gold Yorkshire Bitter brew tomorrow morning - wifes away, got a HBC grain and hop delivery arriving by DPD this afternoon, daughter is at work tomorrow so got the house to myself, happy days !

 

[yeastinfection]

the plan was tactical, i was thinking ,,,if i could set up the boiler the night before, then i could have it on a timer and a stat, so that when i got up ,i could just through the grains in for an hours mash,just to shorten the waiting around time,,,

as for my brew, i have 2 ready to do,i have an esb,from Mr Hughes book, which i scaled down to use my 18ltr pot,ordered it,then bought the peco boiler and cooler

so very keen and very excited,but unfortunately allso very going to cornwall tomorrow for a weeks holiday, so wont be doing a lot of anything,
but at least its something to look forward to when i get back,
im so excited i even bough some more swing top bottles i found in The Range today..(i have enough bottles):whistle:

 

[Leon103]

When the mash is warming I am usually cleaning sterilising the rest of the kit.

 

[yeastinfection]

When the mash is warming I am usually cleaning sterilising the rest of the kit.

Fair point.

 

[GlentoranMark]

Ikea do a temperature probe with an alarm for £7.25, you could combine that with a timer plug?

 

[yeastinfection]

Ikea do a temperature probe with an alarm for �£7.25, you could combine that with a timer plug?

I like your thinking. But worth a punt just to save checking the temp every 2 minutes.

 

[yeastinfection]

[URL=http://s626.photobucket.com/user/Simbo09/media/20161010_202557_zpspkt1vskr.jpg.html] [/URL]

is this normal? how clean does yours come up? do you take the element out and scrub it?

 

[IainM]

Mine has come out scorched once, but it didn't look as dark as that. Yes, I clean it after every brew.

 

[Leon103]

Mine is usually trub colour not black. Did you add sugar? I leave mine into clean. Boil with white vinegar

 

[yeastinfection]

nothing added, its quite thick as well. i might take it out tomorrow and give it a scrub,

i take it you dilute the vinegar ?

 

[Flatline9]

Yes that's what I do.

I control my mash temp with my fridge's Inkbird but the thermostat would do the same job. .

I'm currently in the process of getting a fridge and inkbird for getting into lagers. Is the thermostat waterproof then? And do you plunge it fairly deep into the mash? Or just in the first inch or so?

Cheers

 

[IainM]

I'm currently in the process of getting a fridge and inkbird for getting into lagers. Is the thermostat waterproof then? And do you plunge it fairly deep into the mash? Or just in the first inch or so?

Cheers

Mine is the IHC-230 that I won on here, and the head isn't submersible, but I think the probes in the ITC range are. Either way, you probably want to put it into a thermowell for controlling the fermentation temperature, for hygiene reasons. For lagering there isn't any active fermentation, so the temp in the fridge will be the same as the liquid so no need to submerge. For mashing, unless you are going RIMS/HERMS, you can just use a thermometer.

 

[yeastinfection]

Yes that's what I do.

I control my mash temp with my fridge's Inkbird but the thermostat would do the same job. If you use a separate mashtun then there would be no need for this but it does a great job mashing and boiling all in one. I recirculate the wort manually. I've done 2 brews like this and both have been my best to date.

One thing I would recommend is the false bottom. I BIAG including my hops but it still captures a lot of sludge.

Used the false bottom today.it just twisted on its side. Does yours stay in place?

 

[GlentoranMark]

Used the false bottom today.it just twisted on its side. Does yours stay in place?

Yes, fits great. It pushes in tight, that's why there's a little tab remove it again. Give it another go, you probably just had it set in incorrect, it amazed me the amount of trub it gathered.

I've had another brain wave for the sparging stage which I'll detail in my next brew.

 

[xdaver]

There seems to be alot of complicated ways to clean an element. I personally am a bit lazy, so I just cover it with warm water whilst it is still in place and clean it with my bottle brush.
Comes up a treat. (just have to do it straight away so it's not like concrete).

 

[yeastinfection]

mine seams to sit really high, does yours sit this high?if it does ,maybe i need to push it in a bit more,
[URL=http://s626.photobucket.com/user/Simbo09/media/20161106_105706_zpsrf4zz0wf.jpg.html] [/URL]

[URL=http://s626.photobucket.com/user/Simbo09/media/20161106_105721_zpsnxg5nr0y.jpg.html] [/URL]

it twisted like this when it reached a boil,

[URL=http://s626.photobucket.com/user/Simbo09/media/20161106_105756_zpsriss0hgj.jpg.html] [/URL]