Hi all what's a good boiler to buy I have £80 to spend on one, I'll be malt extract brewing as well as all grain, what's out there best to buy on sale maybe, what do you guys use, if you can post you boiler picture that would be a good help to me as well,
Thanks on this one
What boiler
-
Stewb
Re: What boiler
Do you want to go electric or hob top? (and gas or induction if external heating)
For me, I wanted electric and for much less than £80 I am very pleased with the mango chutney barrel route
(not in the customary brewing position can you inagine the argument!- just attaching some plugs for the elements)
and indeed the modded plastic bucket
as seen here as an HLT
and here as a boiler (with 2 elements rather than one in the HLT)
I picked these up second hand off this forum for very reasonable amounts and am really pleased with them (was also monitoring other forums [fora?] and gumtree, but JBK came up trumps for gear as well as community)
I had been contemplating shiney shiney but am happy I kept my wallet in my pocket (for now) and am also glad I'm keeping some gear in use that someone has put a bit of love in the making of (plus I didn't actually have to faff about with the construction myself!)
For me, I wanted electric and for much less than £80 I am very pleased with the mango chutney barrel route
(not in the customary brewing position can you inagine the argument!- just attaching some plugs for the elements)
and indeed the modded plastic bucket
as seen here as an HLT
and here as a boiler (with 2 elements rather than one in the HLT)
I picked these up second hand off this forum for very reasonable amounts and am really pleased with them (was also monitoring other forums [fora?] and gumtree, but JBK came up trumps for gear as well as community)
I had been contemplating shiney shiney but am happy I kept my wallet in my pocket (for now) and am also glad I'm keeping some gear in use that someone has put a bit of love in the making of (plus I didn't actually have to faff about with the construction myself!)
-
TheSumOfAllBeers
- Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Tue May 05, 2015 11:21 am
Re: What boiler
Is this for 3 vessel brewing or single vessel(Biab) brewing?
What size batches do you wish to make?
I do Biab, 25L + batches with a 40l buffalo boiler, but that's over your budget, at around 110
You might want to look at the pot conversion options on the malt miller and hop & grape, or the brew builder
What size batches do you wish to make?
I do Biab, 25L + batches with a 40l buffalo boiler, but that's over your budget, at around 110
You might want to look at the pot conversion options on the malt miller and hop & grape, or the brew builder
-
trickybrew
Re: What boiler
I have 3 19l kegs I'm going to use, just a boiler and diy cool box mash, so all the help I can get on this one, and electric boiler, I could do a diy but I'm thinking I could get this from eBay 171685307765
Or something like it, I think I'll have to add my own hop filter in it, but that's ok, or something like this
http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/pec ... -1995.html
What do you think
Or something like it, I think I'll have to add my own hop filter in it, but that's ok, or something like this
http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/pec ... -1995.html
What do you think
Last edited by trickybrew on Wed May 13, 2015 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
sbond10
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2999
- Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 6:42 pm
- Location: Warrington England usually drunk or being mithered by my 2yr old or wife
Re: What boiler
So your asking for a boiler now you have 3 kegs..... I'm confused
-
sbond10
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2999
- Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 6:42 pm
- Location: Warrington England usually drunk or being mithered by my 2yr old or wife
Re: What boiler
There's a few in the for sale section
-
Stewb
Re: What boiler
OK,
so start point then is batch size- it sounds like (if you want to just fill one keg per brew) you want a30-40l boiler)
second is where and how you brew.
are you going to do it in a kitchen? do you want to do it on the hob or using electric. Hob is nice and easy with no elements internal to clean etc, but perhaps not the most efficient on heating (and depending on the sizes of your hob may take a while to get a boil going). also leaves you stuck with where and how high the boiler is.
Electric (for me anyway) offered more flexibility and allows me to brew out in one of the sheds out the way and not mucking up the kitchen or in the kitchen if it is winter and my wife is away...
I can also then do my 3v brewing using gravity to feed and not pumps by arranging things at diff heights- basically i feel it is what works for me
once youve answered this question you can then move on
do you fancy the diy project? do you want a ready made solution?
What do you want the boiler made from? SS, plastic?
also consider second hand vs new (are you in a rush- can you wait until the right thing comes along at the right price?)
the answer to your question really depends on lots of your answers
by lucky synchronicity the for sale section on here has some boilers of diff types available at the moment- go have a look!
so start point then is batch size- it sounds like (if you want to just fill one keg per brew) you want a30-40l boiler)
second is where and how you brew.
are you going to do it in a kitchen? do you want to do it on the hob or using electric. Hob is nice and easy with no elements internal to clean etc, but perhaps not the most efficient on heating (and depending on the sizes of your hob may take a while to get a boil going). also leaves you stuck with where and how high the boiler is.
Electric (for me anyway) offered more flexibility and allows me to brew out in one of the sheds out the way and not mucking up the kitchen or in the kitchen if it is winter and my wife is away...
I can also then do my 3v brewing using gravity to feed and not pumps by arranging things at diff heights- basically i feel it is what works for me
once youve answered this question you can then move on
do you fancy the diy project? do you want a ready made solution?
What do you want the boiler made from? SS, plastic?
also consider second hand vs new (are you in a rush- can you wait until the right thing comes along at the right price?)
the answer to your question really depends on lots of your answers
by lucky synchronicity the for sale section on here has some boilers of diff types available at the moment- go have a look!
-
trickybrew
Re: What boiler
Ok I'll try and work my way down the thought list lol
Yes I'm only brewing one 19l keg at a time, with a electric boiler yes
I'd like to do all grain most of the time, but I'll do the malt extract to start with I guess
I'll start with the boiler and cool box for the mash,
My intentions R to use the shed once I clear most of the crap out lol, so the kitchen will play a part at the start of things.
I don't want to complicate things to much, as for time! I only have a week a week and half lol and I want to brew up,
No boiler no mash tune,
But I do have one thing! a positive Hob Goblin thought in mind as my 1st brew, and the more I keep thinking about it the more I want to do the all grain, malt or grain hob is my 1st port of call
you said with a 19l keg I'll need A boiler of 30 to 40L ????? The boilers I've been looking at R only 25 with a mx of 32, is this not ok, if not I'll have to build a diy one but I don't think I Want a diy one so now what,
Yes I'm only brewing one 19l keg at a time, with a electric boiler yes
I'd like to do all grain most of the time, but I'll do the malt extract to start with I guess
I'll start with the boiler and cool box for the mash,
My intentions R to use the shed once I clear most of the crap out lol, so the kitchen will play a part at the start of things.
I don't want to complicate things to much, as for time! I only have a week a week and half lol and I want to brew up,
No boiler no mash tune,
But I do have one thing! a positive Hob Goblin thought in mind as my 1st brew, and the more I keep thinking about it the more I want to do the all grain, malt or grain hob is my 1st port of call
you said with a 19l keg I'll need A boiler of 30 to 40L ????? The boilers I've been looking at R only 25 with a mx of 32, is this not ok, if not I'll have to build a diy one but I don't think I Want a diy one so now what,
Re: What boiler
There is a Buffalo boiler on eBay at the moment (they come up relatively regularly):
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1690101681
They are easy to modify.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1690101681
They are easy to modify.
-
MarkO'B
Re: What boiler
I made my own. A PP bucket, two elements, a tank connector and drilled pipe for the hop strainer. It's easy and pretty cheap.
One thing though, what size is your mash tun, because that will really dictate to size of boiler. If you going 45l cool box, there is no point having anything less than a 60l bucket.
Also, there is something to be said about scale. AG brewing takes a good few hours, if I turn the HLT on about 7am I'm done around 14:00. The more I brew the more efficient my time is. I've done 120 litres over the last four weeks. So one corney keg's worth of brew, for me wouldn't be that great. Right now that might well be grand for you, but to be honest, a bigger boiler will give you flexibility in the future if you decide to go bigger.
One thing though, what size is your mash tun, because that will really dictate to size of boiler. If you going 45l cool box, there is no point having anything less than a 60l bucket.
Also, there is something to be said about scale. AG brewing takes a good few hours, if I turn the HLT on about 7am I'm done around 14:00. The more I brew the more efficient my time is. I've done 120 litres over the last four weeks. So one corney keg's worth of brew, for me wouldn't be that great. Right now that might well be grand for you, but to be honest, a bigger boiler will give you flexibility in the future if you decide to go bigger.
-
trickybrew
Re: What boiler
Ok so what min size cool box ( for the mash ) do I want for my 19l keg , and to that what size min boiler do I need to look at to go with it chaps please, I don't want to get this wrong 
Thanks
Thanks
Re: What boiler
For 23l batches In have a 33l boiler (plastic bucket) and a 24L mash tun, the boiler size means I need to add the last 5L ish of wort part way through the boil (to be safe against it boiling over) and the mash tun limits me to 5Kg of grain (unless I lower the water grain ratio) so this same equipment would be perfect for 19L batches. You could get away with less and have similar limitations I do.
