Boilers and Tea Urns

[Barticus]

Having done a bit more scouring of the big wide world, I find myself quite liking the idea of BIAB using a boiler or Tea Urn.

It would appear to cut out having to work in the kitchen on an induction job and avoid having to go down the propane gas route.

I'm thinking I could brew indoors if I wanted too or even in the garden. Is this a common way to brew amongst people on here and apart from the initial cost, are there any big drawbacks that I haven't discovered yet.

I am like Frank Spencer at DIY so the cheaper kettle element route is a bit of a non starter.

I'm thinking a 40 litre one would suit my needs.

The bit that I haven't seen covered yet is cooling the wort. Do people just leave it in the boiler to cool down?

Any tips / advice greatly appreciated. Itching to give this type of brewing a go.

 

[BIGJIM72]

I use the 27 lt version of this

www.cnmonline.co.uk/Cygnet-Catering-Urns-c-1481.html

I use a separate mash tun rather than BIAB.

Only drawbacks are the tap (sighted quite high & tricky to get a hop filter into) & an exposed element which can be hard to keep clean.A false bottom helps me a lot with both issues.

I brew indoors-does make the house smell interesting for the day but that fades quickly.

You can leave to cool naturally but I would suggest using a wort chiller

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... iller.html

 

[PD]

I too am looking at ways of exploring AG brewing without going to all the expense with the equipment. I'm doing kits now and that suits me but as a little aside I would like to have a play, if the bug takes over fair enough I would carry on.
I don't want to take over our kitchen, the garage seems fine but has no water supply just power. I don't fancy lifting large heavy tubs around with hot water in them.
Some kind of boiler on a worktop, sparging or rinsing the grains via kettle's of hot water poured through a colander or similar device. The wort then being drained by gravity into a fermenter where it could be cooled via a cold water bath, filled perhaps with a couple of bags of ice cubes.
The fermenter when cooled could then be replaced on the work bench and fermented out as normal. Am I missing something here ?
All I need is a reliable boiler or as you say tea urn, capable of boiling water at the required temps for that period of time......

I have a colander....

 

[Barticus]

I use the 27 lt version of this

ww.cnmonline.co.uk/Cygnet-Catering-Urns-c-1481.html

I use a separate mash tun rather than BIAB.

Only drawbacks are the tap (sighted quite high & tricky to get a hop filter into) & an exposed element which can be hard to keep clean.A false bottom helps me a lot with both issues.

I brew indoors-does make the house smell interesting for the day but that fades quickly.

You can leave to cool naturally but I would suggest using a wort chiller

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... iller.html

So if you use a 27 litre one, how much wort do you end up with in the FV?

It looks canny.

 

[Barticus]

I too am looking at ways of exploring AG brewing without going to all the expense with the equipment. I'm doing kits now and that suits me but as a little aside I would like to have a play, if the bug takes over fair enough I would carry on.
I don't want to take over our kitchen, the garage seems fine but has no water supply just power. I don't fancy lifting large heavy tubs around with hot water in them.
Some kind of boiler on a worktop, sparging or rinsing the grains via kettle's of hot water poured through a colander or similar device. The wort then being drained by gravity into a fermenter where it could be cooled via a cold water bath, filled perhaps with a couple of bags of ice cubes.
The fermenter when cooled could then be replaced on the work bench and fermented out as normal. Am I missing something here ?
All I need is a reliable boiler or as you say tea urn, capable of boiling water at the required temps for that period of time......

I have a colander....

Yup, this is what I want to get too. I think AG is the only way I am going to end up with the kind of beer I like from Home brewing.

 

[BIGJIM72]

I generally make a 23lt batch- I try & get about 25lt of wort back into the boiler & have a large stockpot on the stove to deal with the remainder.

I picked it up from Ebay for about £40. The seller asked me what I was going to use it for & he was absolutely gutted to discover that it could be used to produce beer!

 

[rich27500]

Check this out http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=352 anything is possible. You can do a 23l brew length with a 19L stockpot. A 40l buffalo is great for BIAB but you'll struggle to find a bag to fit, they are available but not common. Easy to make from net curtain material. I use a 25L electrim bin with a brupaks mashing bag. I don't chill and this isn't an issue. However theoretically it should be so if you want to chill there's coil chillers, your ice bath will work too or there's no chill using a plastic jerry can.

 

[Barticus]

I generally make a 23lt batch- I try & get about 25lt of wort back into the boiler & have a large stockpot on the stove to deal with the remainder.

I picked it up from Ebay for about £40. The seller asked me what I was going to use it for & he was absolutely gutted to discover that it could be used to produce beer!

:lol:

 

[Barticus]

Check this out http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=352

Very interesting, however I would still prefer to get a big boiler and keep the mess all in one place, away from the kitchen.

It just shows though what can be achieved with a little space and smaller containers.

Cheers

 

[BIGJIM72]

Might be worth a punt

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Burco-Water-B ... 145wt_1185

 

[Slate Miner]

Would this be what you're looking for?

http://www.hamstead-brewing-centre.co.uk/itm01594.htm


They also do another boiler @ £69.99. :hmm:

I'm also looking to get a boiler sometime and came across the above whilst surfing the web. I'm thinking of trying a few extract brews and would prefer a boiler rather than a large pan. Not sure if they're suitable or not.

 

[BIGJIM72]

Don't need one myself-just thinking for someone else it might be useful