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MQ, does your pot have a tap?

And kidding aside, I'd be interested in the running cost differences between elements vs domestic hob vs propane cylinder.
Apparently it costs about 2.5p to boil a full kettle (say 1.5l to keep the math simple).
So, in theory, a 30l boil is 20 X the amount + 2 X the elements = £1.
But it takes a lot longer to get to the boil than the kettle, and it's kept going for a lot longer too. Does maintaining the boil use less electricity than it takes to get there? Sounds logical but then the elements stay at the same temperature, don't they..?
Gas is cheaper but takes a lot longer and from what everyone has said the time goes up exponentially the greater the volume of liquid.
I know cost isn't the primary concern but it might be worth considering if one method were significantly dearer, especially if someone brews frequently.
 
TheRtHonorable said:
I have a range cooker with 7 hobs, including a wok burner, so I thought I'd be fine with my 50L pot on that. Wrong. I could get it over 3 of the burners, and even then the boil was weak.
Click to expand...

Maybe cooker dependant as I use a 50 Litre pot on my 4 ring gas gooker and 2 burners get a really good boil going.

Worth testing how a cooker performs before spending out on elements or burners etc ..
 
The cost of the electricity is easy to work out... A 2.75kw element is using 2.75kwh per hour, and each kWh is about 12p (I think, it's on your bill anyway). So just work that out for number of elements and time used.

So probably about £2 a brew.
 
Hi

Just completed my first all grain BIAB.

I use a 37.5l pot.

As people have stated in previous posts this is not big enough for a 23l FV volume using the true BIAB method, which is a drain out an no-sparge system.

My way is to fill the pot to 30l, I raise the temperature to 70c, remove chlorine using Campden and remove about 8l to 10l.

I doughed in, today with 5kgs of grain. This is a very thin mash which in this system works well for efficient conversion. I correctede the PH at this stage after 20 minutes of mash ( I have very hard water).

On removing the bag and draining back into the pot, I placed it in a small FV bin and poured in about 5l to 6l of water. I rinsed the bag out poured back into the pot and left the bag to drain over the bucket.

I still needed to empty the spare water left into the pot.

I boiled at true BIAB volume post sparge, so calcs work OK (about 27l).

I boil in a bit of the garage I have converted to a compact brew house, I use LPG and a burner. Point to consider for indoor boiling, about 4l of water is lost, the partner might not be impressed by the kitchen being turned into a wet room.

I ended up slightly light on volume but make up in the bin with cold spring water.

Thanks all, lots of advice on here that got me to this stage.
 
BruinTuns said:
MQ, does your pot have a tap?

And kidding aside, I'd be interested in the running cost differences between elements vs domestic hob vs propane cylinder.
Apparently it costs about 2.5p to boil a full kettle (say 1.5l to keep the math simple).
So, in theory, a 30l boil is 20 X the amount + 2 X the elements = £1.
But it takes a lot longer to get to the boil than the kettle, and it's kept going for a lot longer too. Does maintaining the boil use less electricity than it takes to get there? Sounds logical but then the elements stay at the same temperature, don't they..?
Gas is cheaper but takes a lot longer and from what everyone has said the time goes up exponentially the greater the volume of liquid.
I know cost isn't the primary concern but it might be worth considering if one method were significantly dearer, especially if someone brews frequently.
Click to expand...

My pot is basically a large stock pot without any tap.

I disagree that cost isn't a primary concern. Cost is the primary reason I went from kit to AG as AG cost's about 50% of a kit for the ingredients. I was quite happy with the taste of kits. Although there's no dening that AG tastes a lot better
 
I'm undecided as yet but in no rush as I was a bit over-enthusiastic in the Tesco sale have about 12 kits to brew my way through.
If I go pot I kind of lean towards clibit's preference of smaller pots, somewhere around 18 litres maybe?
But I think I might try first to make a boiler from an fv. For me this would be the cheapest option as I have two old kettles that still work fine.

Dazza1shot posted this link in another thread http://www.gardengiftshop.co.uk/acatalog/Bayou-Turkey-Fryer.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAlISlBRDHpIekkMGiiskBEiQAh-0KQH0N2TKG0bcs-o47BMNY-uBKNMUlzQeaRp_Z1DpBbdkaAm398P8HAQ
 
I think making your own boiler is definatley the way to go if your confident in your electrician skills.

I'm a real fan of small batch brewing. Clibits philosophy of smaller pots is good,unless you drink a lot of beer. I do both 23L and 10L brew lengths. The only reason I do 23L is to keep my beer stocks up as I seem to get through quite a bit of beer, simply because it's there and I can drink it :party:. I do 23L brews of tried and tested (and cheaper ingredients) receipes and 10L brews of new receipes and experimental stuff
 

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