I've been doing some research into pre-built electric all-in-one brewing systems (Robobrew, Grainfather, etc) vs DIY electric systems. The prevailing sentiment is that a DIY 110v 1500 watt system is not enough to achieve a full rolling boil, however the descriptions for the Robobrew and Grainfather systems are claiming that a full rolling boil can be achieved with this wattage. I've seen many reviews backing this up as well. What are the fundamental differences between a pre-built system and what …
I'm looking at buying a larger brew kit to go alongside the current 27L setup I currently have. I've been toying with the idea of upgrading to 200L and simply not brewing to capacity, maybe brew around 120L at a time or 80L at a time, or even as low as 50L at a time. The question is, are there any risks with boiling in an oversized kit? Will there be a risk of the evaporating DMS condensing on the …
For various reasons (climate being one) I'm trying to bring my brewing indoors and I cannot simply vent the steam out. A condensing pipe could allow me to remove the vast amount of steam and thus close the garage door. I am also looking to upgrade to a bigger kit so understanding how these work will help me pick the best equipment for my needs. The following link explains a little bit but it doesn't detail the explanation: http://microbrewerysystem.com/Blog/Steam_condenser_in_microbrewery_934.html What …
I'm aware of this answer to How to brew all-grain indoors. It says It gives a good rolling boil and doesn't go all floppy when it's hot. It has a 2kW element holds 29 litres That's nice, about the volume I need, but it looks insulated. We'll be buying new gas stove to our apartment, preferably one with 5 burners. Sadly, most of them only have 3.8 kW on central burner. Of course, on a gas stove I can't use …
I have a propane burner I recently purchased to do my boils. It works great, however I noticed some minor scorch marks in my stainless steel brew pot afterward. I read somewhere that a copper or aluminum plate placed between the burner and the brew pot would help with this issue. Any ideas where I can find such a plate? Update I was not able to find a copper or aluminum plate as other posters have suggested. However, I did …
One hears a lot of different comments regarding the use of galvanized or bronze pipe fittings. I have a 50L urn as my boil tank and I want to replace the tap, but the tap is an odd size - 17mm - and I can not find a stainless steel ball valve of that size. But with a galvanized washer and ring attachment I can fit a 15mm galvanized ball valve. What are your guys comments re: galvanized pipe fittings …
I'm very new to this but home brewing is something I always wanted to try but never got around to it. I have my first batch fermenting made with a PicoBrew Pico appliance which is very nice but I think I might want to try making bigger batches using the brew in a bag method at times as well. I don't want to go the turkey fryer route and hoping to be able to boil indoors on my natural gas …
I'm in the process of converting my house from LP to NG and I'd like to have the plumbers run a drop for inside and outside by garage for my burner. Has anyone converted their LP burners to NG? What should I be considering when setting this up? I currently have a KAB6 bayou classic. I have read the Brulosophy article on how he converted his KAB4 to use NG. http://brulosophy.com/2014/05/12/propane-to-natural-gas-conversion-best-investment-ive-made/ He used a simple turn valve regulator because his …
I did a brew at the weekend with my usual kit (electric boiler). Everything was identical, apart from the location (a shop) and the water (I usually use filtered water from a Brita tap, but this time I used plain tap). I usually get about 19 litres, but this time, I got closer to 15, so it seems like the boil off rate was much higher. What factors could influence such a dramatic change in boil off rate?
My current brewing set up is as follows: 2 Fermenter's Favorite 10 gallon all grain coolers hot liquor tank and mash tun, 15 gallon Megapot boil kettle, Edelmetal Bru Burner, and a homemade gravity stand. I usually brew 10 gallon batches with 12 to 13 gallons pre boil. My local hardware store has a killer deal on 15,20, and 25 gallon aluminum pots. I was thinking of picking up a couple to replace my coolers and outfit them with ball …
I currently have a turkey fryer 8.5 gallon turkey fryer kettle and I have a Home Depot Rubbermade diy mash tun with a stainless steel worm for sparging. My mash tun will need the worm replaced soon. I do need a brew kettle. 1 Keggle w/ brass ball valve (made from 15.5 used kegs) at AIH are $133.77 shipped to me. I can also get the The Brew Bag for about $35 shipped. I'm seeing a lot of benefits timewise …
My boil kettle is about 56x85cm, so relatively tall and narrow. I get a good rolling boil but no matter how much hops I throw in in the last 5 minutes I can never seem to get any aroma whatsoever. I'm using a very large fine-meshed filter bag to through the hops into. Could the poor hop utilisation be due to the kettle shape and size, or more likely the hop back (bittering is fine)? Or otherwise, any other ideas? …
i'm new to the brewing game and am currently waiting for a few whole grain brews to come of age. One thing i'd like to do is purchase a larger mash boiler and dedicate a bit of space in the shed for my 'micro-brewery'. What makes a good boiler? Where should I start? Any suggestions would be gratefully received! Rik
I am shopping for a brew kettle so I can upgrade to full volume boils. Many pots have ball valves. I can think of two reasons to use a ball valve Drain through it to avoid picking up the kettle to pour wort into the fermentor Transfer wort through a counterflow chiller I don't plan on doing either of these things any time soon, so it seems like I'm better off avoiding the extra complexity and possible leaks. Should I …
I'm thinking about buying some a HUGE Blue food grade steel drums, which is either painted or enameled.If I correctly modify them, will these be okay for FV, Mashing Tubs, Boil Kettle, Strike Boiler? My concern is they are 205 liters / 45 Gallons
I'm putting together my first all grain system. I'm converting a 44qt SS stockpot to be used as a boil kettle using a weldless bulkhead and SS ball valve. I automatically assumed that I needed to install this as low on the side as would provide a tight seal (i.e. not below the top of the 'roll' at the bottom) but then I started thinking that there might be a reason why I should leave a minimum depth, although I …
I have an electrim mashing bin (the standard one of these) that I use as a boiler. This morning as I went to heat my liquor, the element started to cut out (water was around 60°C). When I left the power off for a while, the element turned back on, but then cut back out after a couple minutes. I tried this a couple more times then gave up on brewing. I figured the problem was scale build up on …
I'm thinking of popping for this brew kettle - http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-equipment/brew-kettles/megapot-with-ball-valve-brewmometer.html It comes with a ball valve and thermometer. Both will be useful to me as it is becoming more difficult to transfer wort form kettle to carboy all by myself. I also would like to get the false bottom to ease cleaning. My question to you is: is this really worth the price? I would get the 10 gal one for $309.98. Sure seems like a lot of money!