Recommend a kettle?

I've already bought most of my equipment but one of the final pieces I need before I can start brewing is a kettle. Been looking at a 30l Burco Cygnet to start with. Will probably upgrade with a brew pot and induction hob later on and use the Cygnet as a HLT.

My question is, is there anything else to consider before buying a Cygnet? I've seen a few other similar products but not really sure which are good.

I don't want to spend much more than I am planning at this stage, around £100 (£75 for kettle, £20 for ball valve and hop screen and might add a sight glass too)

Cheers

r-evans said:

I've already bought most of my equipment but one of the final pieces I need before I can start brewing is a kettle. Been looking at a 30l Burco Cygnet to start with. Will probably upgrade with a brew pot and induction hob later on and use the Cygnet as a HLT.

My question is, is there anything else to consider before buying a Cygnet? I've seen a few other similar products but not really sure which are good.

I don't want to spend much more than I am planning at this stage, around �£100 (�£75 for kettle, �£20 for ball valve and hop screen and might add a sight glass too)

Cheers

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Check out this thread about the Ace Boiler, mine was about £100 http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=54132&highlight=boiler

Im going straight for the grainfather or similar when I get some money this year. I was looking at this type if set up but a one vessel solution will fit in my garage better.

BeerCat said:

Check out this thread about the Ace Boiler, mine was about �£100 http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=54132&highlight=boiler

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That looks pretty good, where did you get for £100?

Ale said:

Im going straight for the grainfather or similar when I get some money this year. I was looking at this type if set up but a one vessel solution will fit in my garage better.

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I'm going full AG in our 1 bed apartment haha.

Considered a Grainfather but couldn't justify the spend.

this is on offer,and well known brand.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/Buffalo-Manual-Fill-Water-Boiler-30Ltr/GL348/ProductDetail.raction

r-evans said:

I've already bought most of my equipment but one of the final pieces I need before I can start brewing is a kettle. Been looking at a 30l Burco Cygnet to start with. Will probably upgrade with a brew pot and induction hob later on and use the Cygnet as a HLT.

My question is, is there anything else to consider before buying a Cygnet? I've seen a few other similar products but not really sure which are good.

I don't want to spend much more than I am planning at this stage, around �£100 (�£75 for kettle, �£20 for ball valve and hop screen and might add a sight glass too)

Cheers

Click to expand...

#1 a sight glass on a kettle can be a pita to clean and depending on materials used can get stained at boil temps and a dipstick is much easier to use and clean and will not break if banged awkwardly

#2 consider the volume you want to brew, if its 5 gallons/23l or thereabouts your preboil volume could be 28-30l or more even, and a rolling boil can require a good 4-5cm of pot wall above the still liquid level to simply contain it. the maximum volume of your kettle is crucial.

i would suggest a 60l PP bucket from the copper kettle hop shop they will cut holes for taps and elements foc and with the addition of a couple of £5 budget kettle elements your good to go..
£35 + bucket pnp and your done..
http://www.copperkettlehomebrewing.co.uk/buckets-kegs-spares/180/30-litre-or-60-litre-pp-buckets
the only work involved is plumbing in the tap and filter which you expected to do anyway. And hacking the kettle elements tho there are lots of write ups how to's and U-tubes on that subject

Fil said:

#1 a sight glass on a kettle can be a pita to clean and depending on materials used can get stained at boil temps and a dipstick is much easier to use and clean and will not break if banged awkwardly

#2 consider the volume you want to brew, if its 5 gallons/23l or thereabouts your preboil volume could be 28-30l or more even, and a rolling boil can require a good 4-5cm of pot wall above the still liquid level to simply contain it. the maximum volume of your kettle is crucial.

i would suggest a 60l PP bucket from the copper kettle hop shop they will cut holes for taps and elements foc and with the addition of a couple of �£5 budget kettle elements your good to go..
�£35 + bucket pnp and your done..
http://www.copperkettlehomebrewing.co.uk/buckets-kegs-spares/180/30-litre-or-60-litre-pp-buckets
the only work involved is plumbing in the tap and filter which you expected to do anyway. And hacking the kettle elements tho there are lots of write ups how to's and U-tubes on that subject

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

A dipstick is a good idea actually, I might just do that rather than a sight glass.

I think I prefer SS over plastic, not much reason other than it's stronger and shinier :) probably a bit more hard wearing too.

My plan is to brew a few 5 gallon (maybe even smaller to start) Pale Ales and lower ABV IPAs that I know I'll have room to do in a 30l kettle. When I'm a bit more experienced (and hopefully enjoying it/want to continue) I'll probably buy a Buffalo Induction Hob and a big 20 gallon kettle, then use the boiler as a HLT.

Fil's idea is really good! Cheap and reliable. I didn't know about the plastic bucket option when i started.
These are the ones i was talking about. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-ACE-D...476539?hash=item3399314abb:g:t3sAAOSwmLlYAOq0 They have been ugraded though hence the new price tag.

connor7932 said:

this is on offer,and well known brand.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/Buffalo-Manual-Fill-Water-Boiler-30Ltr/GL348/ProductDetail.raction

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Yep, just bought myself one of those for Christmas at a similar price. Not tried it out yet - I'm in a new (but decrepit!) house & have got rather sidetracked from brewing at the moment.....:???:

Regarding boil volumes, good advice from Fil.
But there is another way....
Which is to boil whatever volume of wort is convenient, and then dilute it to suit the volume you want in the FV. I always do this. OK, you can't take it to extremes (i.e. boil 1l and then dilute it to 25l, say! :lol:)
Mind you, I've been looking back through my brewing notes into the 1990s, it seems that I did dilute a lot. My notes (not my memory!) say that I regularly boiled about 20l of wort, left it to cool overnight with the hops in. Next day, strained the hops out through a big sieve. Washed the hops through the sieve to give about 30l, (at maybe 1.075 SG) and then split this, diluting to 50l thereby reducing the OG in the brew to about 1.045)
My notes suggest that all beers brewed this way were good, if not very good.
What didn't work (only memory here, I'm afraid) was to cut down my volumes. I tried to brew 1.080 beer & then dilute it at serving 50:50 with water, so it would effectively be 1.040 OG. Clearly this must have worked alcohol-wise, but although all the malt & hops had been doubled, the taste was nothing like on dilution! Very disappointing

Fil said:

i would suggest a 60l PP bucket from the copper kettle hop shop they will cut holes for taps and elements foc and with the addition of a couple of �£5 budget kettle elements your good to go..
�£35 + bucket pnp and your done..
http://www.copperkettlehomebrewing.co.uk/buckets-kegs-spares/180/30-litre-or-60-litre-pp-buckets
the only work involved is plumbing in the tap and filter which you expected to do anyway. And hacking the kettle elements tho there are lots of write ups how to's and U-tubes on that subject

Click to expand...

After 10 days of thinking and looking into it a little I've decided I do want to go down this route :)

Any recommendations for cheap elements? I see some that you get out of cheap kettles look a little unfinished, would prefer something that comes with an outer casing.

I tried cheap from eBay but not very good. These ones are great though and what I use now...
http://www.angelhomebrew.co.uk/en/kettle-elements/95-24kw-kettle-element-kit.html

Buy cheap buy twice

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these things were less than £4 a pop when i got mine
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Stain...395721?hash=item27f8a6a689:g:EWcAAOSwoydWs1ni

being both open loop and low power they are imho a cheap(er) route to low watt density elements..

In used 2 x in my 60l hlt..


Now in Brians shed..

2 x without insulation were not sufficient to maintain a boil without lidding the bucket, 3x or 4 x however would i am sure.

the all be it cheap n cheerful plastic shroud that comes for backing the electrics however is a nice inclusion..

If you opt for em IIRC they are designed for thin steel walled kettles i think and in order to make a good positive electrical connection between the element and its securing back, i needed to shave half the sealing grommet off to accommodate the thicker bucket wall..

its an easy test when connected up use a meter to check a current can flow between the 2 power prongs, if not you may need to tighten further or mod the too thick sealing gasket a tad

being open the elements are easy to scrub back to shiney post boil, unlike budget kettle elements with the tight spiral.

Camco elements off Amazon very good,they are low watt density no scorching of the mash,depends what size of brews your doing really,Tesco kettle elements can be a very cost effective way of converting a bucket or stainless pot,it's how far you want to go.But once you start going to big elements,you need to think about spending money upgrading your electric at home,and it's not cheap.

If thinking of getting the 'cheap' ebay 1.5kw elements And considering a copper kettle bucket, DONT get the element holes cut at 40mm as thats too big for the elements hence the bodge patch and 2 new smaller 38mm holes cut..

dave_walton said:

I tried cheap from eBay but not very good. These ones are great though and what I use now...
http://www.angelhomebrew.co.uk/en/kettle-elements/95-24kw-kettle-element-kit.html

Buy cheap buy twice

Click to expand...

There's something wrong with that website but also I think they are out of stock.

Fil said:

these things were less than �£4 a pop when i got mine
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Stain...395721?hash=item27f8a6a689:g:EWcAAOSwoydWs1ni

being both open loop and low power they are imho a cheap(er) route to low watt density elements..

In used 2 x in my 60l hlt..

Now in Brians shed..

2 x without insulation were not sufficient to maintain a boil without lidding the bucket, 3x or 4 x however would i am sure.

the all be it cheap n cheerful plastic shroud that comes for backing the electrics however is a nice inclusion..

If you opt for em IIRC they are designed for thin steel walled kettles i think and in order to make a good positive electrical connection between the element and its securing back, i needed to shave half the sealing grommet off to accommodate the thicker bucket wall..

its an easy test when connected up use a meter to check a current can flow between the 2 power prongs, if not you may need to tighten further or mod the too thick sealing gasket a tad

being open the elements are easy to scrub back to shiney post boil, unlike budget kettle elements with the tight spiral.

Click to expand...

I'm thinking a 30l bucket so maybe easier to heat with just 2?

BREWERS DROOP said:

Camco elements off Amazon very good,they are low watt density no scorching of the mash,depends what size of brews your doing really,Tesco kettle elements can be a very cost effective way of converting a bucket or stainless pot,it's how far you want to go.But once you start going to big elements,you need to think about spending money upgrading your electric at home,and it's not cheap.

Click to expand...

Just had a quick look, only one I saw was £80 :-(

What do you mean by 'upgrading your electric at home'?

2 x 1.5kw elements will equal 3kw total heat input a tad higher if your supply exceeds the 220v stated. so should be sufficient to maintain a boil of less than 30l thats more power than a grainfather or a burco/buffalo

when you start looking at greater than 3kw elements you start exceeding the capacity that a 13a domestic plug/socket can handle. And even running 3kw and lower power elements from a single wall socket can result in hot plugs after 90 minutes+ of continual use.

Always double/triple check power leads are fully inserted too and while they may fit dont use an old pc power lead to supply a kettle element, only use made for purpose kettle leads.

r-evans said:

There's something wrong with that website but also I think they are out of stock.



I'm thinking a 30l bucket so maybe easier to heat with just 2?



Just had a quick look, only one I saw was �£80 :-(

What do you mean by 'upgrading your electric at home'?

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Try Amazon USA I got my 5.5kw for £25 posted and use a galvanised steel enclosure box.
If you use the smaller elements you can use a stainless steel flour shaker of Amazon as the enclosure box very neat too.

As regards electric,that's been answered below,mine run off 30amps