Hop And Grapes response RE 11gal buckets

[jimw86]

Here is an email I recieved from John at hop and grape regarding the conversion of their 11gal buckets to boilers.

Hi James,

Thanks for your enquiry.

Around the middle of last year we were told that HK Plastics had changed the design of their 60litre buckets to give a stronger, more rigid top. We asked for and received some samples. The first thing I noticed, apart from the re-designed top was how light the buckets felt.

I drilled one to take an element and tap and found that the thickness of the body was reduced, from 3mm down to 2mm. I filled one and set it heating. When boiling it was a lot softer and the tap, when pushed from side-to-side, distorted the bucket and felt that it might pull through the plastic very easily. Patsy and I were considerably disturbed by this and as responsible retailers felt that we could not use these as boilers.

We bought up all the original stock we could find and continued to make boilers whilst informing people that the new design was, in our opinion, not suitable.

A few days ago I had some stainless reinforcing plates made to strengthen the tap hole, which worked but the body of the bucket still felt very soft and dangerous.

The situation now is that after I make the current orders, we will not be able to supply our 10gallon boilers unless I can find a suitable substitute. I have tried and better tried to find a suitable alternative, but with no success, although we will continue looking.

I am sure you can imagine that we have not taken this decision lightly but as responsible retailers we have no choice. Anyone converting these new-style buckets into boilers do so at their own risk, we strongly do not recommend this and will not accept any responsibility in this regard.

I hope that this makes everything clear and you may forward this to Jim's forum if you wish,

Kind Regards,

John

So that about sums it up.

[badgerdan]

Fair enough. Obviously they're the ones missing out on this as they can no longer make and sell these boilers so will lose money on it, but great to know they put the safety of their customers first

[boingy]

John and Patsy at H&G are amongst the good guys. They are that rarest of retailers - they will advise you against spending money if they don't think you need to. The logic is pretty simple. Treat your customers fairly and they will keep coming back.

[dcq1974]

Quite right and everyone knows who to keep trading with and I'm sure all agree that H&G are on everyones' trusted supplier list.

Good on them

[jason123]

I made my first order from H&G a week or 2 ago and everything turned up when expected and well packed. Cheaper than my local HBS as well even after posting. They've got my trade!!

[badgerdan]

I had bought an FV in the hope to convert it into a boiler but when I'd cut a hole I found out it was only 2mm It's only a 5 gal bucket though, so do you guys think it'll be just as weak as H&G's 11 gal or could it be a little sturdier being shorter?

Seeing as I've got a hole in it I guess I could also do a test?

[kay-jay]

hi everyone,

i,ve had problems bringing my stockpot to the boil and as i'm planning to go all grain in the future and plan to do larger brews, i was considering getting one of these hop and grape buckets to convert but definately won't bother now!!
thanks for the heads up!

my question is - can anyone reccomend a bucket with a capacity large enough to boil 10 gallons??? suitable for converting to a boiler with a couple of kettle elements, and also what capacity would a mash tun need to be in order to provide 10 gallon brews??

i've already bought the kettles and was just about to buy the h and g bucket when i saw this thread...phew!!

hope someone can help....

thanks guys

KJ

[Horatio]

Would these H&G buckets be okay for use as a HLT? I have one of thier 11g boilers and it is the thicker material, I was thinking of buying the 10/11g FV to convert to a HLT as my 27 litre one is a bit small for 10g brews (it takes too long to heat up when batch sparging).

[Horatio]

"Probably but will the kettle element clamp down sufficiently to seal on the thinner material ?"

Good point, hadn't thought of that!

Although I do have two spare 2.4k elements that are a tight squeeze to fit the 3mm wall (they only show a couple of turns of threaded metal when in place) so hopefully one of them will fit the thinner wall?

[kay-jay]

hi chris,

Why not buy the H&G boiler. You wont have to bodge a budget kettle element or a printer lead and it far outlast it, the 2.4kw elements that they use in their boilers go on for many years.

i would do but unfortunately i'm on a shoestring budget. and i could save a lot of money by building my own!!

KJ