I really enjoy the construction side of home brewing, but there comes a time when you have to reflect on what you've got and what you actually need, particularly as you get older. I've come to the reluctant conclusion that I have built too much brewing equipment for any present and possible future needs. A probable house move before the end of the year to a smaller place means that I also need to scale down. Therefore, I am offering for sale my three large stainless steel brewing kettles. These are a 100L HLT with a HERMS coil, a 100L Boil Kettle with a hop stopper, and an 80L thermopot mash/lauter tun with a false bottom. At a later date I shall also be selling two mounted DC pumps with power supplies and a 60L stainless steel hybrid mash tun/boil kettle, so watch out for those if you are interested.
The design and build of these 3 vessels has been modelled very closely on The Electric Brewery web site instructions (www.theelectricbrewery.com). The major difference is that I have not used the recommended Blichmann Boliermaker kettles due to their high cost at the time of the build. However, my pots are 25L bigger than the suggested Blichmanns, so you can brew more beer! Another difference is that my power leads are not permanently wired into the element junction boxes. I use the recommended junction boxes, but connect the leads via waterproof high amp plugs and sockets as I prefer them to be detachable. This makes it easier to move the kettles for cleaning and storage. The only other noticeable difference to The Electric Brewery design is that, due to having larger pots, I use an additional heating element in each of the HLT and Boil Kettle as well as using the recommended ones. However, if anyone is thinking of building an Electric brewery clone and is unsure of their abilities or how to start, buying these pots will save a great deal of money and an awful lot of time!
The three pots are made to a very high professional standard, using quality workshop tools and techniques. All the pots are less than two years old and have had very little use. When they have been used they have always been thoroughly cleaned and dried out. Here's a picture of the three on my brew bench.
All external connections to the pots are made using weldless fittings as advocated by The Electric Brewery. This gives a permanent water-tight fitting, but at the same time will allow the joints to be dismantled and reassembled if ever required. All pipework fittings are high quality 316 stainless steel, mostly from BES. All the ball valves are full bore 1/2 inch 316 stainless steel from BES. All exit valves are 3 piece, the rest are 2 piece. All inlets and outlets on the vessels are fitted with a 1/2 inch BSP male 316 Type F Camlock fitting.
The fitted temperature sensors are high quality precision RTD units from Auber Instruments (www.auberins.com). You should note that the pots do not come with the push-fit leads that plug into the sensors. You will have to make or buy the leads yourself, depending on what temperature control system you are going to use. Also, the pots do not come with the power leads. I will be supplying the Neutrik Powercon plugs that go into the junction boxes, but you will need to make up your own power cables depending on the power control method you intend to use. Detailed descriptions of each of the pots are in the following sections. Apologies if readers find the descriptions too long.
100L HLT
The HLT is built using a ''High End Brew Pot'' from homebrewbuilder.co.uk. Described as: ''Simply the best quality pots out there!'' They have a wall thickness of 1.2mm and a compound/Triclad bottom of 5mm. The diameter is 50cm and the height is 50cm. Weight, including lid and HERMS coil is approximately 22kg. It is fitted with two stainless steel electric elements for rapid heat rise - a 5500w and a 2400W. This gives a choice of 2400, 5500, or 7900 watt output. The elements are sealed in equivalent IP67 metal junction boxes with brushed stainless steel face plates. Connections to the two junction boxes are by Neutrik Powercon 32 and 20 amp plugs and connectors. The HERMS coil is made from 50 feet of thin walled 1/2 inch coiled 304 stainless steel tubing with 1/2 inch stainless steel ball valves for entry and exit. The coil was purchased from The Electric Brewery. The coil is fitted to the inside pot wall with two 1/2 inch stainless steel cone hex unions for easy removal if required. The inlet and outlet valves on the HLT are also 1/2 inch stainless steel ball valves fitted with stainless steel dip tubes, again with cone hex unions for easy removal. The outlet valve comes with a T piece containing a Pt100 RTD temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the output flow. The pot has a polycarbonate graduated sight glass, the bottom T piece of which contains an additional Pt100 RTD temperature sensor. The pot is fitted with a two inch dial thermometer, so could be used without connecting up the temperature probes. The back handle of the pot has been modified so that you can neatly hang the lid on it out of the way.
100L Boil Kettle
The basis of the boil kettle is the same ''High End'' stainless steel pot as the HLT. The diameter is 50cm and the height is 50cm. Weight, including lid is approximately 17kg.The inlet valve is a 1/2 inch stainless steel ball valve fitted with a stainless steel weldless inlet tube, with a cone hex union for easy removal. This means you could readily replace it with a whirlpool inlet tube (not supplied) if you so desired. It is fitted with two stainless steel electric elements for rapid boiling - a 5500w and a 2400W. This gives a choice of 2400, 5500, or 7900 watt output. Depending on wort size, once the boiling point is reached only one element is needed to keep a rolling boil. The elements are sealed in equivalent IP67 metal junction boxes with stainless steel face plates. Connections to the two junction boxes are by Neutrik Powercon 32 and 20 amp plugs and connectors. The boil kettle is fitted with The Electric Brewery's recommended Hop Stopper. This is made from fine mesh stainless steel with an internal stainless steel dip tube. This will filter hops and hot break material from the Boil Kettle. It is highly effective and works equally well with both pellets and whole hops. You can extract almost every last drop of wort. It is attached by a cone hex union to the outlet ball valve and this allows easy removal for rapid cleaning. Fitted to the pot wall is a Pt100 RTD temperature sensor. The pot is fitted with a two inch dial thermometer and has a polycarbonate graduated sight glass. The back handle of the pot has been modified so that you can neatly hang the lid on it out of the way.
80L Thermopot Mash/Lauter Tun
The mash tun is a converted 80L thermopot purchased from Bergland. The OD is 50cm and the height 55cm (including the skirt). Total weight with false bottom is approximately 17kg. Fixed into the 25mm bottom rim of the pot by permanent compression is a stainless steel fabricated skirt or ring. The skirt dimensions are 2mm thick with OD of 484mm and 75mm high. Using a skirt for the drain and ball valve pipework removes the need to cut out pieces from the bottom and sides of the thermopot to accommodate the drain fittings. I believe it gives a better look and is a more desirable approach. Thermopots are double walled and filled with foam insulation. Therefore, all fittings and pipework going through the two walls is double sealed with custom made stainless steel and silicon washers to prevent liquid leaks or ingress between the walls. The mash tun is centre draining through a 1 inch stainless steel skin fitting running into a 1 inch 304 stainless steel pipe, and out through a reducer into a 1/2 inch three piece stainless steel ball valve. The outlet valve comes with a T piece containing a Pt100 RTD temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the output flow. The mash tun has a polycarbonate graduated sight glass. The pot is fitted with a three inch dial thermometer, so could be used without connecting up the temperature probes. The lid of the pot has been fitted with a stainless steel handle for easy lifting and can be hung neatly on the rear of the pot out of the way when filling with grain. The 398mm x 20mm perforated stainless steel false bottom was obtained from The Malt Miller (www.themaltmiller.co.uk). It is purposely designed slightly smaller than the internal base of the pot, but the welded rim that it sits on is perforated all around its edge. This means that sidewall shunting and channelling are greatly reduced, or basically eliminated, when sparging or lautering. I have fitted a stainless steel handle to the false bottom to easily lift it in and out. A 5ft silicon sparge hose is fitted to the circulating/input ball valve via a cone hex union and elbow hose tail. This enables the sparge hose to be removed while filling with grain or cleaning.
Prices
Prices for individual pots are as follows:
100L HLT with HERMS - £350 complete.
100L Boil Kettle with Hop Stopper - £325 complete.
80L Mash/Lauter tun with false bottom - £300 complete.
If someone wants to buy all three together they can have the lot for £850 - a £125 discount.
As stated previously, the price includes Neutrik Powercon plugs for 32 and 20 amps, but power leads and sensor leads are not included as I still need these for my revised brewing setup.
The pot prices may appear expensive, but note that they are for sale at a price that is 50% under the total cost of the parts. The pots are far better than anything commercially comparable at this price. They are built to a proven Electric Brewery design that is used in over 42 countries by home brewers and are ready for use. If any interested buyer wants a copy of a spreadsheet of parts and costs I am happy to oblige. Please private message me if you want the spreadsheet or have any questions.
Due to the weight and size of these pots I would prefer the buyer collects. However, I will provide free delivery of any pot or pots to buyers living in Greater London south of the Thames or in any southern home counties. I may be willing to meet buyers from other locations half way between my place and theirs if they pay me for the fuel used at 15p per mile. I am willing to discuss other delivery arrangements at your cost and risk. Cash on collection or on delivery please.
The design and build of these 3 vessels has been modelled very closely on The Electric Brewery web site instructions (www.theelectricbrewery.com). The major difference is that I have not used the recommended Blichmann Boliermaker kettles due to their high cost at the time of the build. However, my pots are 25L bigger than the suggested Blichmanns, so you can brew more beer! Another difference is that my power leads are not permanently wired into the element junction boxes. I use the recommended junction boxes, but connect the leads via waterproof high amp plugs and sockets as I prefer them to be detachable. This makes it easier to move the kettles for cleaning and storage. The only other noticeable difference to The Electric Brewery design is that, due to having larger pots, I use an additional heating element in each of the HLT and Boil Kettle as well as using the recommended ones. However, if anyone is thinking of building an Electric brewery clone and is unsure of their abilities or how to start, buying these pots will save a great deal of money and an awful lot of time!
The three pots are made to a very high professional standard, using quality workshop tools and techniques. All the pots are less than two years old and have had very little use. When they have been used they have always been thoroughly cleaned and dried out. Here's a picture of the three on my brew bench.
All external connections to the pots are made using weldless fittings as advocated by The Electric Brewery. This gives a permanent water-tight fitting, but at the same time will allow the joints to be dismantled and reassembled if ever required. All pipework fittings are high quality 316 stainless steel, mostly from BES. All the ball valves are full bore 1/2 inch 316 stainless steel from BES. All exit valves are 3 piece, the rest are 2 piece. All inlets and outlets on the vessels are fitted with a 1/2 inch BSP male 316 Type F Camlock fitting.
The fitted temperature sensors are high quality precision RTD units from Auber Instruments (www.auberins.com). You should note that the pots do not come with the push-fit leads that plug into the sensors. You will have to make or buy the leads yourself, depending on what temperature control system you are going to use. Also, the pots do not come with the power leads. I will be supplying the Neutrik Powercon plugs that go into the junction boxes, but you will need to make up your own power cables depending on the power control method you intend to use. Detailed descriptions of each of the pots are in the following sections. Apologies if readers find the descriptions too long.
100L HLT
The HLT is built using a ''High End Brew Pot'' from homebrewbuilder.co.uk. Described as: ''Simply the best quality pots out there!'' They have a wall thickness of 1.2mm and a compound/Triclad bottom of 5mm. The diameter is 50cm and the height is 50cm. Weight, including lid and HERMS coil is approximately 22kg. It is fitted with two stainless steel electric elements for rapid heat rise - a 5500w and a 2400W. This gives a choice of 2400, 5500, or 7900 watt output. The elements are sealed in equivalent IP67 metal junction boxes with brushed stainless steel face plates. Connections to the two junction boxes are by Neutrik Powercon 32 and 20 amp plugs and connectors. The HERMS coil is made from 50 feet of thin walled 1/2 inch coiled 304 stainless steel tubing with 1/2 inch stainless steel ball valves for entry and exit. The coil was purchased from The Electric Brewery. The coil is fitted to the inside pot wall with two 1/2 inch stainless steel cone hex unions for easy removal if required. The inlet and outlet valves on the HLT are also 1/2 inch stainless steel ball valves fitted with stainless steel dip tubes, again with cone hex unions for easy removal. The outlet valve comes with a T piece containing a Pt100 RTD temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the output flow. The pot has a polycarbonate graduated sight glass, the bottom T piece of which contains an additional Pt100 RTD temperature sensor. The pot is fitted with a two inch dial thermometer, so could be used without connecting up the temperature probes. The back handle of the pot has been modified so that you can neatly hang the lid on it out of the way.
100L Boil Kettle
The basis of the boil kettle is the same ''High End'' stainless steel pot as the HLT. The diameter is 50cm and the height is 50cm. Weight, including lid is approximately 17kg.The inlet valve is a 1/2 inch stainless steel ball valve fitted with a stainless steel weldless inlet tube, with a cone hex union for easy removal. This means you could readily replace it with a whirlpool inlet tube (not supplied) if you so desired. It is fitted with two stainless steel electric elements for rapid boiling - a 5500w and a 2400W. This gives a choice of 2400, 5500, or 7900 watt output. Depending on wort size, once the boiling point is reached only one element is needed to keep a rolling boil. The elements are sealed in equivalent IP67 metal junction boxes with stainless steel face plates. Connections to the two junction boxes are by Neutrik Powercon 32 and 20 amp plugs and connectors. The boil kettle is fitted with The Electric Brewery's recommended Hop Stopper. This is made from fine mesh stainless steel with an internal stainless steel dip tube. This will filter hops and hot break material from the Boil Kettle. It is highly effective and works equally well with both pellets and whole hops. You can extract almost every last drop of wort. It is attached by a cone hex union to the outlet ball valve and this allows easy removal for rapid cleaning. Fitted to the pot wall is a Pt100 RTD temperature sensor. The pot is fitted with a two inch dial thermometer and has a polycarbonate graduated sight glass. The back handle of the pot has been modified so that you can neatly hang the lid on it out of the way.
80L Thermopot Mash/Lauter Tun
The mash tun is a converted 80L thermopot purchased from Bergland. The OD is 50cm and the height 55cm (including the skirt). Total weight with false bottom is approximately 17kg. Fixed into the 25mm bottom rim of the pot by permanent compression is a stainless steel fabricated skirt or ring. The skirt dimensions are 2mm thick with OD of 484mm and 75mm high. Using a skirt for the drain and ball valve pipework removes the need to cut out pieces from the bottom and sides of the thermopot to accommodate the drain fittings. I believe it gives a better look and is a more desirable approach. Thermopots are double walled and filled with foam insulation. Therefore, all fittings and pipework going through the two walls is double sealed with custom made stainless steel and silicon washers to prevent liquid leaks or ingress between the walls. The mash tun is centre draining through a 1 inch stainless steel skin fitting running into a 1 inch 304 stainless steel pipe, and out through a reducer into a 1/2 inch three piece stainless steel ball valve. The outlet valve comes with a T piece containing a Pt100 RTD temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the output flow. The mash tun has a polycarbonate graduated sight glass. The pot is fitted with a three inch dial thermometer, so could be used without connecting up the temperature probes. The lid of the pot has been fitted with a stainless steel handle for easy lifting and can be hung neatly on the rear of the pot out of the way when filling with grain. The 398mm x 20mm perforated stainless steel false bottom was obtained from The Malt Miller (www.themaltmiller.co.uk). It is purposely designed slightly smaller than the internal base of the pot, but the welded rim that it sits on is perforated all around its edge. This means that sidewall shunting and channelling are greatly reduced, or basically eliminated, when sparging or lautering. I have fitted a stainless steel handle to the false bottom to easily lift it in and out. A 5ft silicon sparge hose is fitted to the circulating/input ball valve via a cone hex union and elbow hose tail. This enables the sparge hose to be removed while filling with grain or cleaning.
Prices
Prices for individual pots are as follows:
100L HLT with HERMS - £350 complete.
100L Boil Kettle with Hop Stopper - £325 complete.
80L Mash/Lauter tun with false bottom - £300 complete.
If someone wants to buy all three together they can have the lot for £850 - a £125 discount.
As stated previously, the price includes Neutrik Powercon plugs for 32 and 20 amps, but power leads and sensor leads are not included as I still need these for my revised brewing setup.
The pot prices may appear expensive, but note that they are for sale at a price that is 50% under the total cost of the parts. The pots are far better than anything commercially comparable at this price. They are built to a proven Electric Brewery design that is used in over 42 countries by home brewers and are ready for use. If any interested buyer wants a copy of a spreadsheet of parts and costs I am happy to oblige. Please private message me if you want the spreadsheet or have any questions.
Due to the weight and size of these pots I would prefer the buyer collects. However, I will provide free delivery of any pot or pots to buyers living in Greater London south of the Thames or in any southern home counties. I may be willing to meet buyers from other locations half way between my place and theirs if they pay me for the fuel used at 15p per mile. I am willing to discuss other delivery arrangements at your cost and risk. Cash on collection or on delivery please.
