About to order the barrel for my boiler....

[bigdave]

.... Im going to order the barrels for my boiler and HLT this weekend but I'm a bit confused as to what size I should order. I was going to order 30Ltr because they're cheap but I'm now wondering if they'll actually be big enough or should I go for 50Ltr? Initially I'm only intending brewing 5gal at a time.

[Kev888]

Hi,

Now this is something I can help with. Personally I'd suggest going for bigger as the 50l one wouldn't really take up much more space or cost that much more, and I think you'd appreciate the extra capacity. By the time you account for losses during the boil and to hops and dead space etc you're getting very close to the limit on 30l, in fact right on the rim, and whilst you could probably manage (and I believe people do), in my view for the small extra cost it would be nice to have more headroom to reduce the risk of boil over (thats assuming you intend to boil the whole brew length anyway).

I'm only just getting into all grain myself, but I beleieve the HLT would ideally be even bigger than the boiler because there are additional losses to the grain and mash tun. However, you can top it up and re-heat for the sparge water after you draw off the mash water - if your element power and volumes work out to make heating time less than the mash time. So I believe 50l would also be best for that too, but again 30l seems a bit small although still possible if you heat in stages.

Cheers
kev

[bigdave]

boiling on the rim & over boil is what I'm concerned about! I put some numbers (albeit guesstimates) into one of those calculators and for a 4.5kg grain bill it was coming out with boil of 34Ltrs! I know I could top up from the HLT as the brew boils down but Id rather be doing it the correct way from the word go rather than developing short cuts..... I think I know I should go for the bigger barrels but mrs bigdave's gunna flippin kill me

[oxford brewer]

Bite the bullet bigdave and get the bigger boiler,explain to mrs bigdave that with the smaller boiler you might run the risk of a boil over(messy) also you will save money!!if you purchased the smaller boiler, you might find you soon want to upgrade, which would cost even more

[escapizm]

50litre, I now brew to the max capacity my mash tun permits ( I batch sparge) therfore my in fv volume is about 30 litre, this ensures all the air is replaced with beer in my barrels too (king kegs). I use a 60 litre barel as a boiler and more than 40 litres goes in for evap and trub losses.

[Kev888]

I think I know I should go for the bigger barrels but mrs bigdave's gunna flippin kill me

She may not even realise - I got some of these 50l mango bins for fermenting in, and I was surprised that they don't look much bigger than my old 25l brew bin (you can kind of gauge it by the bricks in the picture). I guess a small increase in diameter makes a big difference in volume, to me the important thing is that they still go in my fermenting fridge (just!).

Cheers
Kev

[Nunfa1]

Bigger! Go for the 50l ones for all the reasons here but it also gives you the option to brew longer lengths. The thing with kits is it tends to get you into thinking along 23 litre brew lengths but with all grain you can brew what you like. I've found my 23 litre fermenter will comfortably hold 25 litres and all that fits into a KK. I also have a small 13litre bin so in future I shall brew 35 litres, 25 in the KK and 10 in the smaller fv for bottling.

[bigdave]

I think I know I should go for the bigger barrels but mrs bigdave's gunna flippin kill me

She may not even realise - I got some of these 50l mango bins for fermenting in, and I was surprised that they don't look much bigger than my old 25l brew bin (you can kind of gauge it by the bricks in the picture). I guess a small increase in diameter makes a big difference in volume, to me the important thing is that they still go in my fermenting fridge (just!).

Cheers
Kev

Those were actually the ones I was thinking of ordering!

Bigger! Go for the 50l ones for all the reasons here but it also gives you the option to brew longer lengths. The thing with kits is it tends to get you into thinking along 23 litre brew lengths but with all grain you can brew what you like. I've found my 23 litre fermenter will comfortably hold 25 litres and all that fits into a KK. I also have a small 13litre bin so in future I shall brew 35 litres, 25 in the KK and 10 in the smaller fv for bottling.

I've collected 100's of bottles and a budget barrel over the last 6 months and I'm now thinking of keeping hold of enough bottles for a 40pt lager brew but getting rid of the rest in place of a couple of decent 2nd hand barrels.

[Scotty]

go bigger, no doubt about it. Not only can you increase your brewlength (mash tun permitting of course), you will have more 'free' space in your boiler to reduce the risk of boiling over/spills etc.

[JontyR]

I think I know I should go for the bigger barrels but mrs bigdave's gunna flippin kill me

She may not even realise - I got some of these 50l mango bins for fermenting in, and I was surprised that they don't look much bigger than my old 25l brew bin (you can kind of gauge it by the bricks in the picture). I guess a small increase in diameter makes a big difference in volume, to me the important thing is that they still go in my fermenting fridge (just!).

Cheers
Kev

Gents, before you buy those barrels over the internet, just call by your local curry house, they'll be getting through one of those every 2 -4 weeks and will probably be glad to get rid. I picked three up from the cellar of my local Agraar and gave them a fiver for their trouble which they were very happy with. And a after a few Golden Pippins we went for a ruby a couple of weeks back, I asked the owner if he had any spare and two minutes later I was weaving my way home with just a free barrel to keep me company.

Just remember, shy bairns get nowt!

[bigdave]

I think I know I should go for the bigger barrels but mrs bigdave's gunna flippin kill me

She may not even realise - I got some of these 50l mango bins for fermenting in, and I was surprised that they don't look much bigger than my old 25l brew bin (you can kind of gauge it by the bricks in the picture). I guess a small increase in diameter makes a big difference in volume, to me the important thing is that they still go in my fermenting fridge (just!).

Cheers
Kev

Gents, before you buy those barrels over the internet, just call by your local curry house, they'll be getting through one of those every 2 -4 weeks and will probably be glad to get rid. I picked three up from the cellar of my local Agraar and gave them a fiver for their trouble which they were very happy with. And a after a few Golden Pippins we went for a ruby a couple of weeks back, I asked the owner if he had any spare and two minutes later I was weaving my way home with just a free barrel to keep me company.

Just remember, shy bairns get nowt!

I assumed they would be the kind of thing that a factory would buy in. It never occurred to me to ask at the local curry house!! Ive got a few big ones near me, so I'll pop in there and find out! cheers for the tip off!!

[Jolum]

May I just add...bigger is best

If you currently envisage that you probably won't be doing bigger than 23Ltr brew lengths in the future forget that and still buy bigger.

Once you realise that other than more ingredients, it takes only slightly more time and effort to make 10 gallons as it does 5 gallons you'll wonder why on earth you restricted yourself in the first place. I know the boil-over arguments are a valid point for bigger gear but for me it's the fact that it takes so much time and effort to create that wonderful pint, so why only make 40 when you can make double that in the same space of time. Then again everyone's different

[bigdave]

Ive just popped round to the local indian and look what I got:



Its only a 30ltr so not quite big enough for a boiler but will probably do as an HLT...... or...... a mashtun!?!

[Kev888]

Its only a 30ltr so not quite big enough for a boiler but will probably do as an HLT...... or...... a mashtun!?!

Jammy Gi..! My locals didn't have any - bet they're flogging them somewhere else

Yep I reckon you could get by with it for a HLT if you heated mash and sparge water in separate stages. Could be good for a MT too, if you insulated it. Maybe they'll have another one in a month or two so you could do both.

Cheers
Kev

[bigdave]

Im just wondering how best to use it really. I was about to order 2 50ltr barrels and may still as the 2nd barrel only adds £8 to the cost.

I bought an Asda coolbox yesterday, so may take that back and investigate ways of insulating this barrel instead!