Recommended Brewing Set up & Thermo Pot Size

[Belter]

Is there a particular benefit in having a bottom drain on the HLT?

James

Dead space only. If I built mine again I'd do a bottom drain. My system is 100 80 100 and each part of the process having a larger dead space means I have to add more grain to compensate for more liquid to cover the dead space. Nothing major but I lose a lot more than those on smaller setups. My pots are a bit big for lifting about. Not such an issue on a hlt as its just water.

Yes, I'm definitely going to have bottom-draining mash tun and kettle, but hadn't decided if it was worth the bother for the HLT. I'm thinking I probably will.

James

I haven't looked to see what size of brewery you're building but I definitely don't need an 80L (realistic output) brewery. I thought I did but I dont... Yet at least. I enjoyed building it though. Just saying in case you saw some big rigs and were undecided. 5gallons is enough for any man who likes variety (imo)

[JamesF]

I haven't looked to see what size of brewery you're building but I definitely don't need an 80L (realistic output) brewery. I thought I did but I dont... Yet at least. I enjoyed building it though. Just saying in case you saw some big rigs and were undecided. 5gallons is enough for any man who likes variety (imo)

I'm going 100/80/100 because I can see myself doing some fair-sized brews every so often. Generally I'll probably stick around the ten gallon mark, but before now I've done anything up to 25 gallons for special occasions and doing that five gallons at a time is a pain in the backside.

James

[ciderhead]

I herms and went 60 60 80 for a couple of reasons, occasionally mates will ask me for kegs for parties and it's easy to scale up, on boiling big wheat beers I needed the extra headspace.

[Fastline]

Can somebody clarify which order you list would normally list the size of vessels in your set ups

Great response btw this was just what I was looking for

Is there an electric element I should go for

[JamesF]

Normally (whatever that means the order is HLT/mash tun/boiler.

Element size probably depends on what pot size you're going to have and what power you have access to. And what you can get hold of at the moment, to be honest. I'd like to put one 2.4kW element in my HLT and two in my boiler, but at the moment I'm struggling to find anything for the boiler that I'm happy with. Most places seem to be out of stock. The HLT isn't such an issue, but tightly-coiled elements look like they'd be a pig to clean and my experience is that my existing boiler element gets pretty disgusting after a 90-minute boil. I don't plan to run more than two of them at the same time. The supply to my brew shed would probably be ok if I ran all three, but I'll probably run a higher rated cable out rather than push my luck.

James

[Dave S]

I'm about to do an upgrade, well more towards spring really. I currently use a Buffalo 40l and 28 l coolbox MT. I'm intending to keep the Buffalo as a HLT and I've recently bought a 50l Thermo pot and false bottom. Yet to purchase is a 70 l SS pot. I'll be switching to gas for the boil as it will eliminate the faff with cleaning elements. I reckon this setup will give me capacity for 50 l batches comfortably.

[Belter]

MrLards lwd stainless elements are really good.

[Fastline]

Where can i get these elements? What sort of power rating are they?

[Belter]

I haven't looked to see what size of brewery you're building but I definitely don't need an 80L (realistic output) brewery. I thought I did but I dont... Yet at least. I enjoyed building it though. Just saying in case you saw some big rigs and were undecided. 5gallons is enough for any man who likes variety (imo)

I'm going 100/80/100 because I can see myself doing some fair-sized brews every so often. Generally I'll probably stick around the ten gallon mark, but before now I've done anything up to 25 gallons for special occasions and doing that five gallons at a time is a pain in the backside.

James

That's what I thought :s .... I should update my build thread really as it might prove helpful to some.

[Belter]

Where can i get these elements? What sort of power rating are they?

You just missed out on some cqout was selling cheap

3kw
http://Www.brewbuilder.co.uk

[Fastline]

Would i be right in saying if using electric elements I would be best to use thermo pots for HLT, Mash & Boiler

[JamesF]

Would i be right in saying if using electric elements I would be best to use thermo pots for HLT, Mash & Boiler

Thermo pots are good for the mash tun because there's no direct heat input and you want to maintain the temperature over a long period of time. I'd say they're not as important for the HLT and boiler. You can always add insulation to them (and probably more cheaply than the difference between the price of the standard and thermo pots), and the HLT can be reheated to raise the temperature if required.

James

[barneey]

Electric = Single or Thermo
Gas = Single Only

Thermo conversion is more difficult due to having two layers of steel, single skin is easier only a qmax required. If you are spending the money I would just go all thermo pots. However unless Mark (MrL) still has some larger pots an 80 will be the biggest size of thermo available from ebay, whereas a single will be 100lt.

HLT / MASH / Boiler

[Belter]

I'd go for a thermo boiler but only if you're coiling outside (plate chiller). If cooling inside (IC) then it will take longer to remove the heat. I wish I had a thermo boiler but with 6kw in it and the lid on with a 4" outlet the boil pretty much leaps out. I reckon with a thermo 3kw would do

[Fil]

remembering the thermopot boiler build will probably be easier with a through the bottom mounted element limiting the options to burco replacements and clones or ebay china punts and perhaps a few others... thru the side is do-able but would require patience skill and tools to finish well, the beauty of bottom mounting in a thermopot is you can butcher the bottom plate without concern of how it looks as it will nver be seen, and if needed a circle of thin ply is a cheap solution..

and bigger kit means more beer which unless u drink more will require less frequent brewdays, or can lead to storage builds/costs.. while the ability to brew big when you want to is fantastic, Consider building your kit so its configured to allow easy 5 gallon brewdays too, paying attention to the liquid level needed to cover elements, probes, tun false bottom, etc..