Friday 21st was to be a pre Birthday #BrewDay, I was all set to do a Simcoe Double IPA I Got up early opened up the shedquarters before I had my breakfast, Rinsed out the HLT and then I promptly Burnt out the element
I thought I’d got away with it but it took too long to heat the Liquor..
1/2 of the element had burnt out !….I’d Had to modify the boiler to maintain a rolling Boil otherwise the thermal protection would have saved it…
I spent the rest of the day looking for a spare but finding it was listed as obsolete and then contemplating should I get a 70L or 100L boil pot and propane ring. I couldn’t decide!
Saturday was my Birthday and I had a leisurely day , a few beers in Coopers of Guiseley and then home for a nice Curry from IndianSpice also in Guiseley and some Sticky Buns..
Sunday Back in the shed.. 40mm hole cutter in one hand and £5 kettle and assorted ‘o’ rings in the other. The Kettle Element stripped out and into that 40mm hole but No Joy I just could’t get a seal….
Back to searching ! I think this will do the job until I decide on what to get….
So there’s still a Big un answered question, Do I get a 70L of 100L pot?
Shame to hear about your troubles man! Was that the challenge rebrew?
I have a 70lt pot myself and whilst I’ve not filled it yet i suppose its only a matter of time, i’m constantly wishing the rest of my equipment was bigger!
Hi Gaz
No It was a Simcoe Double IPA that I was going to tryout. I haven’t re brewed the challenge yet but I have the Hops..
The more expensive Element has arrived and it fits and seals perfectly….
but I still want to get a bigger boil pot, that way I can try my hand at doing a firkin as all I’ve done so far is 20L kegs or bottles !
Hi Rich,
Do you ever use hop pellets?
No not used them yet,have you ? I’ve always used leaf, I’ve also yet to use whirlflock tablets but I believe from reading one of the brewing forums they are just Irish moss but in a different form…so I’ll be giving them a try soon 🙂
Hi Rich,
no, i haven’t used pellets either, from what i gather they are just as effective as leaf though and they would probably store for longer i imagine. I actually bought some whirl flock tabs a few weeks ago but i haven’t used any yet. The guy at the hbs explained that they were a a more processed form of irish moss. You only need 1/2 a tablet for a 5 gal batch so they are quite economical.
I bottled my dunkleweizen last night, it’s tasting pretty good at this stage, I’m quite pleased with it. Bottling is such a pain though! it’s by far the worst part of this hobby!
You been to belgium yet?
is the dunklewiezen your challenge Brew ? Yes bottling can be a bit of a chore and i’m always wary of breaking the bottle neck…do you use a bottling cane ?
No Bruges is next weekend 🙂
Yea, its for the challenge. I actually bought a bottling cane a few weeks ago and used it for the first time this week. It did make life much easier.
I got my boiler from homebrewbilder, its a nice piece of kit, i got the cheapest hop filter in mine, i would recommend you upgrade that to one of the screens if you get one from there as the standard is a bit hard work to clean.
Enjoy bruges!
Did you get a sight glass on your boiler ? I’m not sure I’d put one on, but I would put one on a dedicated HLT ..
Since looking at the HomeBrewBuilder site, I have been looking at the couplings they supply, I had to replace a fitting on one of my cornie kegs and got it from Guysons in Guiseley, they also do the cam-lock coupling.. http://www.guyson.co.uk/assets/uploads/files/hansen_cam_locking.pdf
I didn’t get a sight glass no, but i wanted one! i wanted everything but unfortunately i had to stop somewhere, the budget was only so big!
I’m please with what i got though, although i have had quite a few drips from the seal around the thermometer of late.
I’d love to get a cornelius keg, where did you get yours?