Pros & cons between 30 & 50l allinone?

[Jamesman]

Hi everyone, like the title says what's the pros and cons of 30 or 50l all in one? The obvious thing is the 30l is 150 euro cheaper and that's the one I think I'm leaning to.But then I think it's not much more for the bigger one and will I regret not getting the 50l in a few years time? Then I think am I really gonna brew that much at a time and could the extra money be used towards something else like kegs maybe.? Whats the average batch people brew do many people brew that much at a time? Cheers.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Buy cheap, buy twice. Get what you want trust me you'll regret buying the cheaper one.

 

[Galena]

I don't have an all in one, I use a BIAB kettle. However at 30 litres to the brim I do wish it was larger most of the time. I have been considering getting a larger kettle, 50 litres in fact but I keep thinking maybe it is too large. I think what you need to consider, or at least I do, is how large a batch is going to be useful. I find 30 litres most of the time gives me 21 litre batches which leaves a lot of headspace in my 30L FV's and I would like to brew 25, 27 or 28 litre batches.
50 litres is quite a big pot and do I really want to be brewing that much, the pro's are I could do double batches and split into 2 FV's but then how often would I do that and how practical is it to do a small batch?
I think the sweetspot for me is possibly about 40 litres but I am going to have to give it more consideration.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

You can always brew 40L in a 50L but not in a 30L.

 

[Jamesman]

Thanks for the quick replys. Yes I suppose the bigger one has the advantage that I could brew smaller if I felt like it but couldn't brew more in the 30l if I fancied it. They've got the 50l in Stock now but I'd have to wait for the 30l cause they're still waiting to get it in. its probably on its way from China. Cheers

 

[Galena]

You can always brew 40L in a 50L but not in a 30L.

But can you brew 10 litres in a 50 litre?

 

[Scrattajack]

Having a 50 L or larger and parti-gyling would be my ideal if I had space and the time.

 

[Jamesman]

But can you brew 10 litres in a 50 litre?

That's a good question. I'll have to find out. Cheers.

 

[Griff097]

I nearly pulled the pin on a 50L recently to add to my 30L as I wanted to be able to do at least a double batch, it's the same amount of time brewing for half as much beer, in the end I got another 30L of the same model to do double batches and have commonality of parts for fault finding in the future.
I can now also split the start times of the brews to do two different batches at the same time with a staggered start so there's no panicking and at the end start cleaning one system and the malt pipes, screens etc from both, so by the time I have cooled the second batch there is not much cleaning up to do and I have spent the same amount of time more or less for twice the beer.

 

[crowcrow]

I thought I'd want bigger but in the end I got a 30 litre klarstein (note it is 30 litres to the brim, to the max fill line it is actually 27 litres and I'd be worried about a rolling boil at that volume).

But I'm very happy with it. Since I like to keg in a corny I don't have much use for much more, and also I like variety. I don't fancy drinking too much of any one thing. 19 litres in a corny is more than enough before I'm itching for something different tasting. That is just me though. If you have more room to keep stuff, then fair play, make loads and build up a massive stockpile in both volume and variety! But for now with 2 kegs, I can't see me needing to go larger. (that said I have a 35 litre stock pot sitting idle so I could knock up a vast volume if I ever needed too!

 

[Thatscold]

For balance I have a 70L kettle and brew batches to fill 2 Corny kegs. I only get time to brew once a month so this works for me. Double batches allow plenty of conditioning time if you have sufficient kegs

 

[Jamesman]

Cheers everyone, I'm still none the wiser . I can see pros and cons for both. It does sound nice having a good stockpile of ale to dip into and to have the option to brew bigger batches if I felt like. I think though id probably stick to smaller batches most of the time really. Decisions, decisions.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Cheers everyone, I'm still none the wiser . I can see pros and cons for both. It does sound nice having a good stockpile of ale to dip into and to have the option to brew bigger batches if I felt like. I think though id probably stick to smaller batches most of the time really. Decisions, decisions.

Well just throwing this into the mix, I upgraded from a 35l Robobrew to the 70 litre Guten and I'm really pleased. Great for doing 30 litre batches and bigger.
The smaller batches are really stress free, no boilover worries, pump is powerful I recirculate thru a coolossus and then back in to whirlpool and it's fine with that.
100W increments all the way up to 3000 watts and it's fast.
Bigger ABV beers to a kegful or double keg are easy, it's an imposing bit of kit and well made.

 

[Cwrw666]

Haven't got an all in one but I have a 30L boiler for BIAB in which I do 20L brews. Soon to be upgrading to a 50L boiler so I can do double brews. As others have said - same amount of work for double the beer. (Just don't do a bad batch!)
As to doing 10L brews - just go stove-top for that small an amount. Not that I've ever wanted to spend 5 hours to brew so small amount of beer.

 

[Tanglefoot]

My experience for what it's worth
I had a 30L Klarstein ordered a few months ago but it took so long (because of usual brexit shenanigams)
I ended up cancelling it.
In the meantime I'd picked up an 8 gallon ( approx 38L ) pan, wort chiller, assorted bags etc.
for £60, I'm sure I've learnt a lot more about all grain brewing this way.

I can comfortably do batches up to around 18 ( probably a bit bigger, that's limit so far ) but you can also
brew double strength and liquor back.
Now I just like the simplicity of BIAB and have spent money instead moving onto a corny keg system.

The main advantage of the all in one systems that I can see is controllability of mash and boil, though
the efficiencies often don't seem much better than is possible with BIAB.

Plus there can be electrical faults with thermostats, elements, pumps etc as well as more parts to clean.
The model I looked at had a wort circulator for an even mash temp which seems advisable though plenty
of people seem to do well with straightforward boilers and hand sparging.

In a similar way as a carpenter I have lots of fancy expensive tools to make life easier but a lot of the time
I'll reach for a hand tool first if I can get the job done quicker.

That said, as Cheshire Cat said, buy cheap, buy twice, so if you go down the all in one route
get the best you can afford now and you won't regret it later.

 

[Coomzy]

I have a 45l and wish I sprung the extra £100 for a 60l. I can just do 2 cornys with the 45l by sparging the grain with fresh water in buckets and then topping up the kettle in the boil phase. Works well but the extra capacity would have been nice.

I would say the more you drink the greater capacity you should get. If you have more time to brew or you like to brew as many styles as possible then you'll probably be fine with the 30l.

 

[Covrich]

I got the 45l hopcat.. i came from a 50l biab pot .. i only do 23l still but having that capacity to do whatever I want and i still only single stage full volume mash which I couldn;t do in a 30l.


if you think the extra volume is something that you would make use off as in bigger batches bigger beers and or single msh no sparge simplicity then I would be inclined to go for the bigger bot.. If not the 30l is fine too

 

[Jamesman]

Thanks for the help everyone. Im leaning towards the 30l. Mainly because I like the thought of doing different brews and because I usually just drink of a weekend so if I done bigger batches they would last me for ages. I did look at the 45l hopcat but because I live in Germany I'd rather get something over here incase anything goes wrong. I'm gonna get a Brewmonk 30l with the wort chiller thrown in from a place in Holland. Just waiting for it to come back in stock. Cheers.

 

[Magog]

I;ve struggled with the choices - which allinone to get and what size. I've now laid my mney down for a 45 Litre Hopcat Mini Mega! Very keen to get the first brew on and find out why I shouldn't have bought it!!
From my constatnt study on the web for the last month it's clear that the cheap Chinese transport days are coming to an end for thse larger items so I've gone for what's available as well as it being a great package with immersio chiller, jacket, hop spider, and paddle for under 415 delivered - we shall see!!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@Magog
I assume that 415 is pounds.

Looks like I got a steal on my guten 70litre for the same price on special offer just before the Covid hit. Didn't get a paddle but had one and made a jacket from sleeping mat which works well.
Had a double brew day on Saturday, two 32 litre batches a keg bitter and a stout. Went well until wife called from shopping trip with a flat battery and I had to pause the mash on the second batch to go and give her a jump start ( and the car ).