Brew UK Forum | Equipment
Rolling Boils
Well I've made a decision (Missus will never believe me - actually she will if it involves beer, curry and football!). After my unforgettable moments spent dismantling my Electrim boiler trying to get it to do a rolling boil, I've decided electric is not for me. I'm sure lots of you guys are really happy with your boiler and get good results with them, but after my problem, anything with an element seems to be a worry. I know a lot of boilers have hidden elements which don't come into contact with the wort, but i am left wondering how long these actually last before burning out, as 90 mins of constant juice going through them must shorten their life considerably. Getting spares is an issue and may be (correct me if im wrong) quite pricey.
As I'm only really going to be brewing outside (or under the garage door in poor weather) I've decided to turn to propane gas with a 5kw burner. I have got a nice 50L stainless steel brewpan on order which will be customised with a tap and hop strainer on it's arrival. - Items are pricey but i'd rather pay up front now rather than later. Got a good source for cheap propane - it's not what you know but rather who you know!. I feel I would have total control over brewing rather than the worry of being let down during a boil like good old Mr Electrim did to me. Might salvage the Electrim and butcher it for various ideas (yet to think of) - maybe just to provide hot water for mash and sparging my coolbox mash tun.
Now I've blown my fuse - no pun intended, and had a daily rant - I'm off into Fareham to get some goodies to knock up some Turbo cider!
Have a goodun!
Regards
Howard
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Responses
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Sounds like a plan. I have wondered about burners, but then I dont have much space and also have a (soon to be) 3 year old boy who likes to destroy/touch/shake/play with all my stuff and having a fire with him around would almost certainly end in a destroyed house and several dead people (and 1 cat).
I wonder how long a bottle would last and what kind of price comparison vs electric would be.
Answers please when you get it sorted Mr H! And well done for taking the plunge in buying great equipment. Better to do it when you start then to find out you want better/bigger down the line.
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Fantastic Mr H. I too thought about splurging on a gas setup, but being the cheapskate I am, couldnt justify the expense and inevitable divorce proceedings.
Very interested to hear how you get on, and what the running costs are. Pics please when you get it set up
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Nice one Howard. Make us all jealous with some photo's when it arrives.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Hi Guys - My new toys have arrived !! Hooray !
Apart from the (Growl.....) Electrim - just put on pic so you can see it's size against 50L pan.
Can't wait to play!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Did have a good laugh reading Nath's post - sounds like a typical 3 year old! Our cat decided to move into the giant cardboard box which my pan arrived in whilst I was taking the picture - seemed most displeased about the following eviction that took place !! Will let you all know how i get on with it on next brewday. Saw a post somewhere on here about Electrim boilers - took element out and sure enough underneath it, found loads of caked on chalk and muck - soaked in citric acid and it came off with a sponge. Probably caused the cutting out on last brew. Only used it twice, which would mean cleaning element thoroughly on every brewday - still the heavy duty kit has now moved in (have sneaked it into a corner of the garage where the missus doesn't go, will tell her i saw a large spider in the corner - that will keep her out!! (must destroy the invoice 'Evidence') or I will be moving along the lines of Stu's thread - mind you it was still 5 times cheaper than one of the missus Gucci handbags!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
That is proper sexy. Make sure you get the times it takes you get up to boil and such. Very very interesting!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Wow. There is something so appealing about a big shiny stainless steel pot isn't there?
If its not a rude question, might I enquire what sort of money that setup costs? Or can you link to where you got it from?
Bet you can't wait to fire it up.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Hi Stu. Got from Hopandgrape.co.uk. In Darlington. Was gonna customise ity end then I got lazy and let them do it and fit a hop strainer for me. You will need a beer or perhaps something stronger when you see the price. Had lots of overtime this month so treated myself. Still on bright side it will
Probably out live me!
Cheers H
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
You're going to need a SHINY mash tun to got with that. And HLT. And pumps. And HERMS. And conical fermenter. And temp controlled brew fridge... Oh no you're credit cards gonna get a hammering.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Nice shiny Mr H! Absolutely gorgeous! Why does 'shiny' look better with an 'e' in it? Shiney.. hmmmmm.
Beautiful. I want one! :o)
Heh heh ..... I can just hear Greg saying that without taking a breath!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Lol - Thats what the missus is for, This was a snip compared to her handbag! Might have a cornie keg or 2 off you yet Greg - will be saving some pennies!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
It's a go for gas this coming Friday. One of mates who does kits asked if I could do him an AG after he sampled some of my London pride clone. Got a nice large 13kg propane gas earlier today from B&Q after the helpdesk woman initially refused to sell it for making homebrew - I jest not! when I promised I would use it only for the BBQ she let me have it. Apparently B&Q policy is to sell it for BBQ and patio heaters only, so my paella cooking ring doesn't fall into that category. Ironic really as a paella ring does not need constructing like a flat packed BBQ with loads of bits to be joined together along with instructions that look like a NASA space shuttle flight manual! Blooming jobsworth! will try to gauge running costs and will note boil times etc.
Cheers
H
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Great post Mr H, looking forward to the results.
can you send or post your London pride clone recipe please
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Hi Plopleuk,
This is the recipe I used out of the Dave Lines 'Brewing beers like you buy' book
Looking forward to a taster very soon!
It turned out at 5.2% but i believe it should be between 4.1% cask/barrel or 4.7% bottled, so you may need to tweak a little! - Also i Have the recipe in a brewing British real ales book that i just bought - i can post the recipe from this one also so you can compare if you like?
Cheers
Howard
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Size: 21.70 L
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: Brew Pot (5 Gallon)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.80 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 87.16 %
250g Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 5.73 %
45.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (105 min) Hops 24.5 IBU
5.00 gm Fuggles [4.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
25.00 gm Fuggles [4.50 %] (105 min) Hops 12.3 IBU
10.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
15.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (15 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
310g Dememera Sugar (2.0 SRM) Sugar 7.11 %
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.045 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.047 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.007 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.29 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.21 %
Bitterness: 40.5 IBU Calories: 433 cal/l
Est Color: 5.7 SRM Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 4.05 kg
Sparge Water: 16.14 L Grain Temperature: 22.2 C
Sparge Temperature: 77.0 C TunTemperature: 22.2 C
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 10.56 L of water at 74.4 C 67.8 C
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
I cant wait to see this one, I want detailed figures as it may just be enough to make me "cook with gas". Im gonna second that London pride recipe please!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Thought i would be a little devil and just put the other recipe on for you - havent tried this one!
23 litres of London Pride
3.75kg crushed pale malt
370g crystal malt
13g Target hops (90mins boil)
7g Challenger hops (90mins boil)
7g Northdown hops (90mins boil)
9g Goldings hops(last 10 mins of boil)
Total water - 32.4 Litres
Mash water - 10.3 Litres - mash at 66c for 90 mins
Boil time 90 mins
Dry hop with Goldings when racked to 2nd Ferm Vessel (to taste!)
SG 1.040 FG 1.010 (ABV 4%)
IBU/EBU 30
Colour EBC 22
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
bugger - i just had to try some from my barrel now - beautifully clear, lovely fruity taste from the hops - very nice! very moorish!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Ah just spoke to friend - it's the Exmoor he wants me to do - Good choice sir! will be getting him to jot down some facts and figures during the brewing. Hope your well Nath - have you finished those nights yet? theres both recipes for you now. If you want to move them into recipes section - please feel free! If you go gas and go to B&Q - treat them like the Gestapo - tell zem nuzzink!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Yep nights are over so back to normality. All this talk of you brewing has got me hungry for a brew so I may follow suit on sat or sun as the kids will be away! It will probably be a stryian pale but the london pride recipe will be next! Have a great friday mate, seriously cant wait to see that gas in action.
Ta,
Nath
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Which Exmoor beer are you doing? I had some Exmoor Gold at the weekend and that was really nice. Quite similar to Summer Lightning.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Hi Greg - You hit the nail on the head, It's the Gold. Had a sneaky taster of the Gold i brewed recently, just hit 2 weeks in the barrel. It tastes fantastic, mid sweet with the biterness of the Challenger hops following through. Great aroma also (Styrian Goldings). Steeped the East Kent Goldings in this brew also. Certainly one i could keep on as a 'house special'.
Must pop over for some goodies from you.... now to the shop for a browse!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Mr H,
your a bloody genius, I have been lining up either an electric or gas boiler up for my next brew purchase but could not make my mind up, your thread has been really informative
keep us up to date with how the brew goes but cooking on gas I think makes sense - off now to browse hop and grape - the credit card is staying IN the wallet
Posted 1 year ago by Member
wow, just seen the price, ouch, comparable to the Burco but could last longer??
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Cheers for the post Davea. Really took some deciding on what was best so i decided to go for something that I know would last. In all honesty if you have the tools and time there is nothing to stop you from making your own brewpan. eBay is a good source for burners and you can pick up more powerful burners than my 5kw for the same price. I will post some facts / figures and pics on here after Friday. Running costs
May be difficult to gauge as it will be difficult to estimate gas used until I can get an average from my 13kg bottle.
Regards
Howard
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Brewday done !!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Hi - Brewday done on Friday - 24.5L of Exmoor Gold clone - cooked by gas!
Well, it went really well, very impressed by gas and the ability to control the heat output from the burner.
After the mash I got all the wort into the boiling pan and checked the temperature which was 48c prior to lighting the burner. After 12 mins the temperature hit 65c, and 29 mins later I hit a rolling boil - Total time on full burn from starting temp of 48c to a rolling boil was made in 41 mins. The brew pan contained a starting volume of 23.50 litres. Once I hit a rolling boil on full burn, I cranked the gas back to save fuel and still maintained a great boil.
Fuel wise, I found it to be very efficient on gas. I bought a 13kg propane cylinder midweek and i also held a small 5kg propane which has been used for about 5 BBQ's and i decided to use this up first before swapping to the main 13kg bottle. I expected to have to change this during the boil, but to my shock and surprise, I didn’t have to - It still has propane in it!
I definitely will be sticking to gas and was pretty impressed to say the least!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
photos to follow!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Well done Mr H ... glad that it went smoothly. I must say that one thing that has always put me off is not knowing how much gas remains .. I'd have to keep half a dozen cylinders in reserve just so I felt I was covered. I'm the same with camera batteries! :o)
Looking forward to the pics! Some good beers coming from Exmoor... I grew up in N Devon, love Exmoor!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Good stuff Howard. Is that the Exmoor Gold recipe from Graham Wheeler? If so its very similar to my house Pale (based on Summer Lightning) but with bobek and never fails to impress and be very drinkable indeed.
I debating whether to use gas or electric in my planned brewery upgrade. I do like the idea of gas as you can monitor how much energy you are using and there is less to go wrong but not sure how suitable it would be in a garage setup. I guess it would be okay if installed properly and used with the door open.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Pictures from brewday
Garage shelf – groaning under the strain!
My first pint of AG – London Pride clone at 5.2% (oops....!) Nice and clear and very tasty. Won’t be around long!
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Great stuff. It will be interesting to see how long the gas lasts you. Looks like you had a crackin day bud, well done on the gas setup, looks the business!
Uh oh.....turning greeeeeeeeeen!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Love the labels Howard, I thought they were the real thing at first glance!
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Well done Greg - you got it in one - it is the recipe by Graham Wheeler's real ale brew book. The labels I scanned from kit boxes and reprinted - after a few beers and a wander into the garage reading becomes a 'no no' - the pictures look more easier to decypher! Just had a bottle of turbo cider - didnt taste very alcoholic but i know the gravity was 1055 and dropped to 997 (7.6%). It has started to kick innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Conditioning - Theakston Old Peculier
Conditioning - Christmas 2010 (Strong Xmas ale)
Maturing - Peach wine kit
Drinking - Summer Lightning, Summer Wit
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
turbo cider is great.
Fermenting:
Conditioning:Pale with Styrians
Drinking:Cascade Pale Ale, Summer Lightning
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