upscaling from to 3 gallons - what's best?

[isitbeeroclock]

I've made a number of 1 gl AG brews recently which have worked out well. I'm now considering scaling up my equipment to 3 gallons. I don't have a lot of room and don't want to be moving 5 gl or more of hot sticky liquid around (small kids about).
Would an electric boiler such as a Brupaks Electric Boiler (Polypropylene) 29L boiler combined with a BiaB method work? So use the boiler as a HLT, mash tun and boiler? Is there a better/cheaper product to do this?

Is it okay to ferment 3 gl in a 5gl plastic bucket type FV or will there be too much space for air instead of CO2?

Hope you can provide some advice.

 

[aamcle]

A nice Burco 30litre would suit you with a stand/mesh or what ever to keep the BIAB bag off the element.

A 25litre FV will be fine.


Atb. Aamcle

 

[isitbeeroclock]

I'm now looking at a 'Peco Electric Digital Mashing Bin / Boiler' for about £110. 32L and digital control. Looks just the job. Anyone used one of these for BiaB and got any advice before I spend my hard earned cash?

 

[aamcle]

No insulation you'll need to do a lot of stirring during the mash to avoid hot spots.

Talk to the supplier about that.

If you like DIY you can do better for the money.


Atb. Aamcle

 

[Fil]

+1 While Im sure the off the shelf jobs will work fine, i agree if you have a go at diy you will get much more bang for your buck.

i would agree a 25-30l burco style boiler which is just shy of what most brewers with a 5gallon target are looking at will appear on ebay at a bargain price within a week or two if not there already.. and a few simple mods detailed here and all over the web will give u a superior bit of kit to what your looking at.
add a better tap, upgrade or bypass the thermal cut out, and if u want add a hop filter..

Also a cylindrical pot is a lot easier to wrap a few £shop camping mats round to insulate, imho your better of maintaining a mash temp with insulation than replenishing losses with an element during the mash.