This is intended as a mini-review and unboxing. First impressions if you like. I won't be using it until the weekend at least so I can't comment on brew day specifics. I'll update this it after I use it.
Wee bit of background......I had 2 thermopot mash tuns. Both 80 litre and both from Germany. I had one and then decided big batches weren't for me so I flogged it. Then I changed my mind....bought another....then changed my mind again! Anyway, both times I bought them for about £80 or whatever and I got my false bottom from The Malt Miller.
Then Bergland decided to bend the EU laws a wee bit and decided to stop selling to people in certain countries and pointed you to their "distributors" who were changing (in some cases) over £300 for the same thing. Anyway, I decided to avoid buying one for quite some time until I found Powell Brewing.
Now they seemed cheap. Over £100 cheaper than other UK "distributors" of Bergland products so I was sceptical. In addition, I was so impressed with The Malt Millers previous false bottom, the fella had a lot to live up to. Lastly, I found next to no info on the net regarding the products they offer other than the odd chap saying "they're good", etc.
So I decided to buy a 70l thermopot mash tun and matching false bottom. Total price to my door was £200 which I thought was pretty decent a my old thermopot and false bottom was about the same. I then had to convert it myself. So in my mind, if the worst comes to it I've just replaced what I had and even if the false bottom, etc is total ****, I'll be able to make do.
The main thing in my mind was that this is a side draining vessel. That's obviously how Powell save cash as it's a LOT less work and less parts. The Malt Miller welds in a new lower ring FFS! That's a lot of work and therefore they cost more.
So it arrived today April 2nd (ordered 26th Mar) which is bang on what they said. I messaged them and they said the pot was ready but the false bottom needed to be made and it would be here middle of the week. Spot on. Email when it was shipped, etc. Can't really ask for more.
It arrived in the Bergland box ironically! If I'd paid over £300 for this I'd be a bit ****** off as only last year these boxes were flying around for 1/6th of that! Nevermind....no big deal to me.
First impressions are decent. The pot has two pretty big dents in the lower ring but I'm not overly fussy. It's in better condition than the two I had previously direct from Bergland so not bothered. Plus I brew in the garage so it's not going to stay pristine for long.
The first moan is the tap. It's utter *****. It's probably the cheapest metal tap you can get. That said, as long as it functions well then I suppose it's ok.
Another slight moan is that on the inside there's no thread exposed. This probably isn't a big deal but I'd rather have a wee bit thread so I could have (potentially) put a 90 degree elbow on it to act as a scavenger therefore minimising dead loss even more. I could never find any internal pics of the thermopot prior to buying so I literally only just found this out.
I would have rather paid £20 more for a proper long nipple through the pot and a good 3-piece ball valve. Fortunately I have a 4 inch brass nipple and a good 3 piece valve sat here as spares so I'll fire a brew through the tun and see if I need it.
The other wee moan is the dead loss. On another thread on here I read that the company stated a 750ml dead loss in this boiler. I can tell you right now that it's more than that. However, as I said at the top, I haven't used the tun so can't accurately comment on specifics but in my years of brewing (and remember I've had 2 of these before that bottom drained) I'll be AMAZED if this has a 750ml dead loss.
Plan is to flush it through with water/oxy tomorrow night and I'll see what the volume is. I'll bung in 50 litres or whatever and drain it fully then dump the retained liquid out and measure it. Will update the thread tomorrow.
Moving onto the false bottom.......
I previously had a Malt Miller false bottom which was a work of art. Anyone's that's never seen one would be amazed. The only slight issue was they were pretty pricey. Can't remember what I paid for it but I remember it being on par with the un-converted thermopot. Basically the pots price again.....that said it was a good false bottom and would last a lifetime. The main issue I had when using it was that it sometimes left wee scratches in the tun when being removed/inserted. That was simply down to the superb fit but would **** me off over time. In other words, the Powell false bottom had a lot to live up to!
First things first, my old one was 1.5mm thick stainless and powell use 1mm thick. Yes there's a noticeable difference but the Powell one isn't flimsy at all. Happy with that slight change. In addition the Powell bottom is a ring supported on bolts and the Malt Miller one was a disc supported by an outer ring. Both are good and the Malt Miller bottom is something that looked professional and something I could never replicate.....the Powell one looks like something I could knock up in a few hours. That said it's very well done and all the screws are in nicely, etc so it's probably a better job than I could have done.....but I could have made it. For example, it's regular beer line round the outside to create a seal. I think it would have been nice to get coloured beer line or something to make it look a bit different. I know it's a small point and it's on a part you'd never see but when you open the box the first thing I think is given a morning in the garage I could have made that. If there was a point of difference, however small, it would have looked a wee bit better. Not going to knock any marks off though as it fits perfectly and will do the job perfectly.
It also has a nice big handle on top to aid removal which I don't remember seeing on any imagery I found online. The same as the Malt Miller version....it's a very tight fit. So tight in fact that I'm scared to shove it in dry and think wetting the beer line might be a good idea when I put it back in. However, it won't scratch the surface so I'm cool.
So in summary, and without having brewed through it, I'm chuffed. Got back a thermopot and false bottom for pretty much what I paid previously. Yes it's not as nice a false bottom as The Malt Miller and it's not bottom draining......but I can live with the false bottom and in some ways I think it's better. Not as nice to look at obviously, but I can see this version being easier to use long term.
The bottom draining thing isn't an issue....unless dead space is HUGE! Both my previous termopots were bottom draining and they both had issues. The only good long term way to do it is weld a ring in and go right through the centre like the Malt Miller does. I simply don't have the skill to do this and as a result he can charge a premium for it...which is totally fair in my book. It's a specialist job. If bottom draining is your thing then I'd say save up and go with the malt miller. However as I fly sparge, if there's 2 litres of dead space it doesn't matter. I just sparge longer.
Would I recommend it? Based on first impressions I'd say you'd be daft not too buy from Powell.
Reason is simple, these pots aren't going to be around long.....or maybe they will??? Depends what the folks at Bergland decide. Can't get cheaper than Powell for them though at the moment and his work is up there with the best of them.
Hope this helps some people thinking of buying from Powell but find the lack of info a bit daunting.
K
Wee bit of background......I had 2 thermopot mash tuns. Both 80 litre and both from Germany. I had one and then decided big batches weren't for me so I flogged it. Then I changed my mind....bought another....then changed my mind again! Anyway, both times I bought them for about £80 or whatever and I got my false bottom from The Malt Miller.
Then Bergland decided to bend the EU laws a wee bit and decided to stop selling to people in certain countries and pointed you to their "distributors" who were changing (in some cases) over £300 for the same thing. Anyway, I decided to avoid buying one for quite some time until I found Powell Brewing.
Now they seemed cheap. Over £100 cheaper than other UK "distributors" of Bergland products so I was sceptical. In addition, I was so impressed with The Malt Millers previous false bottom, the fella had a lot to live up to. Lastly, I found next to no info on the net regarding the products they offer other than the odd chap saying "they're good", etc.
So I decided to buy a 70l thermopot mash tun and matching false bottom. Total price to my door was £200 which I thought was pretty decent a my old thermopot and false bottom was about the same. I then had to convert it myself. So in my mind, if the worst comes to it I've just replaced what I had and even if the false bottom, etc is total ****, I'll be able to make do.
The main thing in my mind was that this is a side draining vessel. That's obviously how Powell save cash as it's a LOT less work and less parts. The Malt Miller welds in a new lower ring FFS! That's a lot of work and therefore they cost more.
So it arrived today April 2nd (ordered 26th Mar) which is bang on what they said. I messaged them and they said the pot was ready but the false bottom needed to be made and it would be here middle of the week. Spot on. Email when it was shipped, etc. Can't really ask for more.
It arrived in the Bergland box ironically! If I'd paid over £300 for this I'd be a bit ****** off as only last year these boxes were flying around for 1/6th of that! Nevermind....no big deal to me.
First impressions are decent. The pot has two pretty big dents in the lower ring but I'm not overly fussy. It's in better condition than the two I had previously direct from Bergland so not bothered. Plus I brew in the garage so it's not going to stay pristine for long.
The first moan is the tap. It's utter *****. It's probably the cheapest metal tap you can get. That said, as long as it functions well then I suppose it's ok.
Another slight moan is that on the inside there's no thread exposed. This probably isn't a big deal but I'd rather have a wee bit thread so I could have (potentially) put a 90 degree elbow on it to act as a scavenger therefore minimising dead loss even more. I could never find any internal pics of the thermopot prior to buying so I literally only just found this out.
I would have rather paid £20 more for a proper long nipple through the pot and a good 3-piece ball valve. Fortunately I have a 4 inch brass nipple and a good 3 piece valve sat here as spares so I'll fire a brew through the tun and see if I need it.
The other wee moan is the dead loss. On another thread on here I read that the company stated a 750ml dead loss in this boiler. I can tell you right now that it's more than that. However, as I said at the top, I haven't used the tun so can't accurately comment on specifics but in my years of brewing (and remember I've had 2 of these before that bottom drained) I'll be AMAZED if this has a 750ml dead loss.
Plan is to flush it through with water/oxy tomorrow night and I'll see what the volume is. I'll bung in 50 litres or whatever and drain it fully then dump the retained liquid out and measure it. Will update the thread tomorrow.
Moving onto the false bottom.......
I previously had a Malt Miller false bottom which was a work of art. Anyone's that's never seen one would be amazed. The only slight issue was they were pretty pricey. Can't remember what I paid for it but I remember it being on par with the un-converted thermopot. Basically the pots price again.....that said it was a good false bottom and would last a lifetime. The main issue I had when using it was that it sometimes left wee scratches in the tun when being removed/inserted. That was simply down to the superb fit but would **** me off over time. In other words, the Powell false bottom had a lot to live up to!
First things first, my old one was 1.5mm thick stainless and powell use 1mm thick. Yes there's a noticeable difference but the Powell one isn't flimsy at all. Happy with that slight change. In addition the Powell bottom is a ring supported on bolts and the Malt Miller one was a disc supported by an outer ring. Both are good and the Malt Miller bottom is something that looked professional and something I could never replicate.....the Powell one looks like something I could knock up in a few hours. That said it's very well done and all the screws are in nicely, etc so it's probably a better job than I could have done.....but I could have made it. For example, it's regular beer line round the outside to create a seal. I think it would have been nice to get coloured beer line or something to make it look a bit different. I know it's a small point and it's on a part you'd never see but when you open the box the first thing I think is given a morning in the garage I could have made that. If there was a point of difference, however small, it would have looked a wee bit better. Not going to knock any marks off though as it fits perfectly and will do the job perfectly.
It also has a nice big handle on top to aid removal which I don't remember seeing on any imagery I found online. The same as the Malt Miller version....it's a very tight fit. So tight in fact that I'm scared to shove it in dry and think wetting the beer line might be a good idea when I put it back in. However, it won't scratch the surface so I'm cool.
So in summary, and without having brewed through it, I'm chuffed. Got back a thermopot and false bottom for pretty much what I paid previously. Yes it's not as nice a false bottom as The Malt Miller and it's not bottom draining......but I can live with the false bottom and in some ways I think it's better. Not as nice to look at obviously, but I can see this version being easier to use long term.
The bottom draining thing isn't an issue....unless dead space is HUGE! Both my previous termopots were bottom draining and they both had issues. The only good long term way to do it is weld a ring in and go right through the centre like the Malt Miller does. I simply don't have the skill to do this and as a result he can charge a premium for it...which is totally fair in my book. It's a specialist job. If bottom draining is your thing then I'd say save up and go with the malt miller. However as I fly sparge, if there's 2 litres of dead space it doesn't matter. I just sparge longer.
Would I recommend it? Based on first impressions I'd say you'd be daft not too buy from Powell.
Reason is simple, these pots aren't going to be around long.....or maybe they will??? Depends what the folks at Bergland decide. Can't get cheaper than Powell for them though at the moment and his work is up there with the best of them.
Hope this helps some people thinking of buying from Powell but find the lack of info a bit daunting.
K
