Thoughts on Kit

[LOAMY]

Right this is it, I've convinced myself to move on from kits and want to start doing brewing on a more personal level and really want to explore my wheat beer addiction to the full. So with this in mind I'm going AG. Ive got my head round the process of mashing, sparging, boiling and cooling (form there on I'm back on familiar ground).

I appreciate it that its a bit of a "how bigs a shed" question but is it advisable to buy a separate mash tun and boiler or is it perfectly ok to mash in the boiler (in a bag) then sparge to a FB, before transferring to the original boiler for boil ? this leads me to the next question. H&G sell an ELECTRIM 5 Gallon BOILER but will this be big enough for my usual 23L brew up or is it more advisable to go with a 10G boiler.

They sell the 10g boiler kit with 2 elements and also an insulated mash tun and all the gubbins for a little over £160 Here which would leave me only needing a cooling method.

To be honest just writing it down seems to have helped with my confusion, not only am I asking for opinions of the H&G kits but also if ive epically cocked up my requirements ?

Any advice ?

LOAMY

[adm]

My tuppence worth is that the H&G 10G kit is a good start. It seems that many here have used it to good effect - including me! Although it's more expensive than making your own, you won't go far wrong with it and can reuse the bits if you upgrade later. You do need to modify the hop strainer a little, so also budget for a 3mm drill bit!

[agentgonzo]

It's perfectly possible to do the mashing in the boiler, sparge to another vessel and then transfer back to the boiler to perform the boil. It's just more hassle and it takes longer. That is exactly how I did it before I upgraded. Before the Mash, you'll need to heat up the sparge water (in your boiler) and then transfer it to a container to act as the hot liquor tun (I used a spare barrel). In all, you'll need a barrel (or similar) to act as a hot liquor tun, your mash/boiler and a spare fermentation barrel/bucket to collect the wort before cleaning out the boiler, transfering the wort and then boiling it.

The 5 gallon electrim boiler will be fine for a 22l brew (that's what I use - it gets full pretty much to the top but will hold it - the 10gal boiler will just give you more room).

I'd go for the kit as if you enjoy brewing, you'll get fed up with the constant transfering/moving of the mash/wort and upgrade anyway (I did).

One thing to mention though - if you get the kit, the copper manifold in the insulated mash tun is rubbish as supplied. Get a hacksaw and cut as many slits in it as you can (it comes with them spaced out an inch apart which is not enough) otherwise you'll just end up with a stuck sparge almost every brew.

[LOAMY]

thanks chaps, I was sort of 95% on the 10G kit so its good to hear its been used here as well, Gutted though as my folks were in Darlo yesterday and could have collected it, ho hum.

Thank goodness its nearly Xmas and the wife is asking what I want


OH on the cooler front, my Bro in law used to be a plumber and could knock a copper coil out for me in no time, I'm guessing just regular copper piping is fine ?

LOAMY

[agentgonzo]

thanks chaps, I was sort of 95% on the 10G kit so its good to hear its been used here as well, Gutted though as my folks were in Darlo yesterday and could have collected it, ho hum.

Thank goodness its nearly Xmas and the wife is asking what I want


OH on the cooler front, my Bro in law used to be a plumber and could knock a copper coil out for me in no time, I'm guessing just regular copper piping is fine ?

LOAMY

Regular copper piping is fine. You can get coils of 25m or so copper tubing that's easy to bend (a lot easier than starting out with straight pipe and trying to bend it) that makes an idea IC. 10mm thickness or thereabouts seems to be the norm for ICs.