Hamstead Brewing Centre S/S Boiler

[StrangeBrew]

Just wondering if anyone here would reccomend the 10 gallon stainless steel boiler from Hamstead Brewing Centre?

There's not a lot of detail on their website so I'll call them tomorrow and ask a few questions but just wanted to know if anyone here had seen one up close and could share their thoughts and opinions.

10 Gallon Stainless Boiler

[Scotty]

I wonder what size elements it uses to boil up 10 gallon in 20mins?

I have a gas boiler and it is lethal, just ask Garth. That takes about 45-60 mins to boil.

I have a feeling their price will be sky-high as most are, but if your DIY-inclined I reckon you could knock a 100l S/S boiler up for around £100. I'm in the process of doing so after buying a Nordic stockpot to be fitted with kettle elements.

[rick_huggins]

I've a gas keg/boiler which does the job but am interested in tinkering with a 100l electric jobby too.

Where did you get your Nordic?

[Scotty]

I've a gas keg/boiler which does the job but am interested in tinkering with a 100l electric jobby too.

Where did you get your Nordic?

From the French Le'Bay. Click the lick and type in marmite - http://www.ebay.fr. For referrence, I order the 100l pot on a Thursday and arrived the following Tuesday . It cost a total of £59

[Scotty]

I've a gas keg/boiler which does the job but am interested in tinkering with a 100l electric jobby too.

Where did you get your Nordic?

From the French Le'Bay. Click the lick and type in marmite - http://www.ebay.fr. For referrence, I ordered the 100l pot on a Thursday and arrived the following Tuesday . It cost a total of £59

[Nermal]

I wonder what size elements it uses to boil up 10 gallon in 20mins?

I have a gas boiler and it is lethal, just ask Garth. That takes about 45-60 mins to boil.

I have a feeling their price will be sky-high as most are, but if your DIY-inclined I reckon you could knock a 100l S/S boiler up for around £100. I'm in the process of doing so after buying a Nordic stockpot to be fitted with kettle elements.

Hum - well 10 gallons is 45.4 litres - so ~ 45.4kg of water.
If we take the water to be at 14C then to get it to boil will be a temperature difference of 100 - 14 = 86 C

The formula is Q = mcT where m is the mass of water in g , c is the specific heat capacity of water - 4.18, and T is the temperature difference

So:

Q = 45400 * 4.18 * 86 = 16,320,392 Joules

Converting that into watts = 4.53 KW/h - would heat that water to boiling in an hour.

As they say 20 minutes we need to times that by 3 so 4.53 * 3 = 13.59 KW/h

With 13.59KW of heating power you're going to need a very thick cable at 230v - It'll be pulling 59 amps

[Aleman]

I have one of the original . . . if not the original 10 Gallon boilers from Chris, and when I got it it was 300 quid . . . it was made to order about 12 years ago, before all these cheap pots etc were available. . . . there are a few design flaws, that I have corrected in mine. . . .it has two elements in it a 3KW burco type and a 2.4KW old style kettle element. . . . unless they have changed the design significantly it takes a lot longer to heat 10 gallons of liquor to boiling than 20 minutes.

It is a solid sturdy boiler, with an incredibly strong false bottom, and works well . . . I replaced the tap in mine for a ball valve, did away with the FB and used a stainless scrubby around a pickup tube as a hop filter, with these mods it works really well . . . but I decided to go for a bigger brew length, and went down the gas route . . . it does occasionally see action though.

[StrangeBrew]

Didn't get around to ringing them today so I'm none the wiser as to price and other details.
You would think though that they would at least have a few photos and a fixed price on their site.

[Aleman]

That is the one thing I really hate about their website . . . they could really do with a major update for it . . . Rob and Chris are great though . . . and more than happy to adapt things . . .costs me a fortune whenever I 'pass'

[Scotty]

I wonder what size elements it uses to boil up 10 gallon in 20mins?

I have a gas boiler and it is lethal, just ask Garth. That takes about 45-60 mins to boil.

I have a feeling their price will be sky-high as most are, but if your DIY-inclined I reckon you could knock a 100l S/S boiler up for around £100. I'm in the process of doing so after buying a Nordic stockpot to be fitted with kettle elements.

Hum - well 10 gallons is 45.4 litres - so ~ 45.4kg of water.
If we take the water to be at 14C then to get it to boil will be a temperature difference of 100 - 14 = 86 C

The formula is Q = mcT where m is the mass of water in g , c is the specific heat capacity of water - 4.18, and T is the temperature difference

So:

Q = 45400 * 4.18 * 86 = 16,320,392 Joules

Converting that into watts = 4.53 KW/h - would heat that water to boiling in an hour.

As they say 20 minutes we need to times that by 3 so 4.53 * 3 = 13.59 KW/h

With 13.59KW of heating power you're going to need a very thick cable at 230v - It'll be pulling 59 amps

Thanks Nermal, that's a handy formula to help with costs of electricty etc.