Testing the boiler

[AdamC]

Hi all,

Have bought all my kit ready to start my first full mash brew on Sunday - please be gentle with me!

In my local homebrew shop I was advised to test as much of the equipment as possible - particularly the boiler - not only to see if it works, but also to see what temperatures the ambigious 1-10 markings on the dials actually give. Stupid question, but can I just do this with tap water? I live in a hard water area and don't want to wreck the element before I've even started!

 

[jamesb]

Yes, you'll be fine. You're not going to get much scale on the element from one boil with water. You'll need to scrub and clean the elements after a proper brew though.

 

[AdamC]

Marvellous - thanks for the speedy reply!

 

[prolix]

Adam it is always a good idea to play with your new toys to find out how they work.

The dial on the boiler is pointless for boiling as I believe it will be a very rough thermostat, I have one somewhere and if I set it by coming down to a mark it gave a different temp than going upto a mark, anyway you don't need it to boil, I ended up removing mine as it kept cutting out during boils and you want it on all the time.

one thing you will want is volumes either marked on the kit or on a stick you put in the boiler, I weighed water in 5 kg amounts (far more accurate than the markers on the buckets ) and added those one at a time to get 5 litre marks.

As for scale I use a little citric acid soln to clean my boiler after a boil brings the elements up a treat.

Enjoy your brew this weekend

 

[AdamC]

Thanks for the advice. Had read about recalibrating measuring bits before but had forgotton about this - thanks!