Bolier gone pop on first brew what can I do?

[jonnyt]

I made myself a boiler using an element from an Argos Kettle, test boil for 30 minutes went fine.

I make my first brew and the mash went great. Mash out went great. However 5 minutes into my boil the whole thing cut out.
Using a meter I reckon there is no circuit round the element. Could this have cut out? I didn't remove anything other than the ring of metal at the top. The bimetal strip etc is still there.

If I managed to fix the boiler would boiling in two days still work? Or is this batch a write off?

Any help appreciated.

[Naich]

I don't know about Argos elements, but Tesco ones have two cutouts on them - a temporary bimetal strip one and a permanent plastic one that melts. It's a white plastic post that gets pushed against the metal of the element. If that has melted then it's cattled and you might want to investigate why it got that hot.

[greenxpaddy]

You are going to boil it sterile anyway so cover it and it should be ok. Boil it as soon as you very can

[jonnyt]

I got up early today switched it back on and it's working again so this does look like its s cutout. If I remove the bimetal strip I'm hoping it will go away.

My plan is now to let it boil, spend my day at work and fix it this evening then complete the 90 minute boil and reduction.

I'll let you all know how the brew turns out!

[jonnyt]

Removed a little grey plastic stick to disable the overheat control, tonight I have boiled the wort for the 90 minutes and just put it into the FV.
Smells good, lets hope the delay hasn't ruined the brew!

[jonnyt]

After the boil I achieved 1.043 and 23c litres against the recipes 23L at 1.042

Not bad for my first attempt using BIAB, tastes nice and hoppy just like Landlord should.

Now fermenting away happily using Nottingham yeast.

Hopefully in 14 days time I'll have my first taste

[Naich]

Excellent stuff. Just remember that you are now running without a cutout though. If you accidentally turn it on dry then you might not notice anything until stuff starts burning.

[jonnyt]

Tested today and down to 1.011, not bright though.

Tasted the sample and although not conditioned it's very like the pint of Landlord I consumed at Lunchtime! Nice rounded flavour with the hopiness coming through at the end.

Will probably barrel in the next few days and condition for XMAS

[jonnyt]

I had my first pint of this just now and all I can say is WOW.

Certainly better than 80% of pints of real ale I buy in a public house.

Can really get the Landlord taste despite cocking up on the hops using 23g instead of 30g after using brewmate.
Note GWs IBUs in his book don't include later hop additions hence my scaling back then finding the error of my ways later.

My next brew is going to be this again with the correct level of hops and water treatment to see if what I consider a really good pint can be made into an exceptional pint!

BIAB rocks.

[RdeV]

Awesome stuff all round jonnyt, well done!