The Homebrew Company BIAB starter kit

[simon19791]

Hey guys,

Im taking the big jump and i am going to start doing BIAB, i have seen the HBC do a starter kit for BIAB, does anyone have any opinions on thois kit, i like the fact that i dont have to make the wort chiller and it frees up me having to use my stove.

What are peoples thoughts on this kit?

Cheers!

 

[clibit]

It looks like a remarkably good deal. I'm thinking about it myself as i currently do stove top brews around 10L at a time.

Ideally I would want a metal boiler, either a pot with tap and hop strainer plus a gas burner, or an electric boiler. A fitted pot of that size and a gas buner would be around £100 I think, an urn would be similar.

But when you consider that a wort chiller would cost £30-40 at least, a mash bag id £10, and a 23L AG kit is £15-20, the Peco boiler is only costing you £25 at the most. And it will do the job, at least for a while. Further down the line you could upgrade, or you could get a mashtun, and/or you could use the Peco boiler as a HLT, to heat the mash and sparge water.

 

[Hopplehammered]

Evening all,

I bought this from the HBC 5-6 weeks ago, inspired by Clibit's BIAB sticky.

I got the extra special bitter mash kit with it. The mash kit was worth the cost alone - seriously, it is amazing! It's two weeks in the bottle and it's now ready for a full on assault this weekend. I took photos of my first brew day, and plan to post as one on Clibits sticky this weekend with the finished article.

Since have made a Summer Lightning clone (GW's recipe +10% for BIAB) using the kit, it was tight with 5.5kg of pale malt, but for whatever reason I got a much better boil this time round.

Anyway, thanks Clibit for the inspiration and instruction, and the HBC for the kit. Definitely an affordable way into all grain, and if I do upgrade the boiler, I'll use the PECO as a HLT.

 

[clibit]

Thanks for the feedback, hopple!

 

[simon19791]

Well, I've done it, gone and bought it! Went and got the American double IPA. I'm excited to get starting with a BIAB!

Master brewer... Here I come!

 

[simon19791]

Just received my new BIAB kit and i am over the moon!!!!

First recipe....?
I would love to try a Yorkshire Bitter very soon!

 

[Covrich]

Simon I am very very interested in this so will be very keen to know what you think and how you get on..

Cheers:

 

[simon19791]

well i got the Double IPA as the included kit, but dont have any kegs empty, but saying that, an ameriacan IPA would be best bottled me thinks!

Might get it going this weekend, just need to get the Army v Navy rugby at twickenham out the way first! (hick)

 

[Tony1951]

Looks an interesting kit this. Not much info on the website about the kit, just a brief list. I googled Peco boilers and some have remote digital controllers for temperature. I suppose this one isn't that clever. Amazing what they put into this £81 package. The local HB shop is offering a plastic mash tun / boiler for about £86 on its own!

This looks like a great deal if the boiler is any good for the job.

EDIT:

Ohhh - this doesn't look that good.... Hope ok to post link to another forum. I think this is a peko boiler.

http://www.brewuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=243

 

[clibit]

This looks like a great deal if the boiler is any good for the job.

I agree - it does.

 

[simon19791]

Looks an interesting kit this. Not much info on the website about the kit, just a brief list. I googled Peco boilers and some have remote digital controllers for temperature. I suppose this one isn't that clever. Amazing what they put into this £81 package. The local HB shop is offering a plastic mash tun / boiler for about £86 on its own!

This looks like a great deal if the boiler is any good for the job.

EDIT:

Ohhh - this doesn't look that good.... Hope ok to post link to another forum. I think this is a peko boiler.

http://www.brewuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=243

I hope they have redesigned the heater, as this was nealy 5 years ago. Still, i'll have to wait and see

 

[Tony1951]

I hope they have redesigned the heater, as this was nealy 5 years ago. Still, i'll have to wait and see

Oh - I didn't notice the date. Hopefully you're right and they have a new product out now. The deal is outstanding with the chiller and all that stuff.

 

[clibit]

That's not a Peco is it? Or is it?

 

[Covrich]

There is a peco Electrim one but it I believe is for mashing and sparging and not designed as such for boiling

http://www.geterbrewed.com/peco-mashing-bin-beer-brewing-all-grain/

 

[gobuchul]

I have the Peco boiler/mash tun.

The Peco is OK, I didn't use it for mashing, just as a HLT and boiler.

The one I have has a simple heat controller, which would allow you to have some temperature control to mash with.

As a boiler, it's fine. At full power it could maintain a rolling boil with 30 litres of wort.

I have recently upgraded to a SS 70 litre boiler and a gas burner. To be honest, I wouldn't buy a plastic boiler again. Although for that price it seems pretty good value.

 

[Covrich]

I have the Peco boiler/mash tun.

The Peco is OK, I didn't use it for mashing, just as a HLT and boiler.

The one I have has a simple heat controller, which would allow you to have some temperature control to mash with.

As a boiler, it's fine. At full power it could maintain a rolling boil with 30 litres of wort.

I have recently upgraded to a SS 70 litre boiler and a gas burner. To be honest, I wouldn't buy a plastic boiler again. Although for that price it seems pretty good value.

Any reason why? or just because SS is nicer / better?

I hear you can get a false bottom to fit these so you can mash and still flick the heat on if required.. and the false bottom helps catch the debris so you can rack it off..

 

[gobuchul]

Any reason why? or just because SS is nicer / better?

The 70 litre boiler lets me do bigger batches. Also, the gas burner is 7.5kw, which is a lot quicker than the 2.4kw boilers. If you want to fit an extra element to speed things up the electrical supply becomes a bit complex.

Stainless steel is also "nicer"! The cost of the boiler, burner and gas bottle is significantly more than that Peco.

I might get a false bottom and try using it for the mash, although the insulated tun I have is pretty efficient.

If you have a money and the space, I would recommend the ss and gas burner option,(I'm lucky, I have an old workshop in my back garden for storage and brewing) however, I did use the Peco successfully for a number of brews and for that price it seems a good deal.

 

[clibit]

Thanks Gobuchul, that's helpful info and advice.