Boiler to get into AG?

[kearnage]

I'm in North Devon.

Cheers

[Fil]

Andover Patio centre will give u a deposit free liquide air bottle you can exchange with a more local supplier for a £22 refil charge, Family day out to stone henge with a lil detour perhaps

[Jerk Alert]

Great thread, thanks for posting so much detail!

I've been following closely and making a similar set-up myself. Just wondering how you connected the bazooka to the tank connector on your boiler? I can see from your pics that there's copper piping running through?

Cheers

[kearnage]

Hi Jerk Alert

You are correct with the copper pipe bit. You can see it a little clearer here



I took a length of copper pipe. Pushed it into the tank connector from the inside of the boiler. I then got a nut and olive form a 15mm compression fitting and used them to attach the bazooka to the short length of pipe. You'll see from the original large picture that the other end of the bazooka is almost touching the opposite side of the boiler. This means that the pipe/bazooka setup wont come out of the tank connector unless I bend the bazooka slightly and work it out. It worked out well as it doesn't need a spanner to get it out to clean but there is no chance that it will work it's way off on it's own. Three brews down and it's been a success.

Hope that help some.

[Jerk Alert]

Brilliant - thanks Kearnage!

I have a spare nut and olive so I will attempt that method when I get home tonight. Other than that, me and my girlfriend are all set to go for our first AG brew. Hopefully this Sunday.

Glad to hear it's all going well!

Thanks again

[kearnage]

No worries.

Did you go down the temp controller route?

That's the one thing I'm very happy that I did. So far I've used the online calculators to work out strike water temp. Set that into the controller and got on with other bits. It keeps the water at the exact temp I need and I've hit perfect mash temp every time so far. As soon as the mash starts I adjust the temp setting and by the time I need to sparge it's sat ready. All by brews have come in at just over 80% efficiency. It's just freed me up to get other things done while I have the long waits during initial heat up and mash.

[Jerk Alert]

[quote="kearnage"]No worries.

Did you go down the temp controller route?

That's the one thing I'm very happy that I did. So far I've used the online calculators to work out strike water temp. Set that into the controller and got on with other bits. It keeps the water at the exact temp I need and I've hit perfect mash temp every time so far. As soon as the mash starts I adjust the temp setting and by the time I need to sparge it's sat ready. All by brews have come in at just over 80% efficiency. It's just freed me up to get other things done while I have the long waits during initial heat up and mash.[/quote]


We haven't sorted out the temp control yet, but are planning to in the future. Sounds like was a worthwhile investment! For the time being one of us will have to keep turning the elements on and off whilst reading the meat-probe thermometer...

Hopefully get the temp controller sorted out int he next month.

[Fil]

HI J A ..

imho you will probably get a much better result if you insulate the bucket by sitting it on cardboard layers and wrapping with a sleeping bag? or £shop camping mats or what u have to hand, and a cushion on the lid during the mash to retain heat, than trying to heat it during the process, any heat you apply will be at the element point and with a big bag of grain suspended in the liquor its not going to heat up evenly resulting in cooked grain below and cool grain above..

if your referring to the boil an on off controller isnt the tool for the job, you want to maintain a rolling boil not hit a boil and cool down a degree or fraction of and start to heat up again, power controllers which will limit the power to the elements is whats better suited to boiler element control.
*edit tho is a luxury brewday toy.. what works well for most is to use 2 x elements to heat up and 1 x to maintain the boil.. on a really cold windy day on the patio you may need to add the odd burst of the 2nd element occasionally..

have a good brewday, and dont let any lil cock ups stop you in your tracks, beer wants to get brewed and can be very forgiving, my first ag brew went so wrong i was dreading tasting it, and it a real surprise to find myself supping a Very good pint...

[Jerk Alert]

Hi Fil

Sorry I should've been more specific in my last post - the temperature control set-up is referring to my HLT which I have not yet built. I am just going to use my boiler as the HLT for the first brew or two. Turning the elements on and off would just to be hit the right temp before adding to my mash tun.

Thanks for the advice on the boil! Handy to know that only one element is need to maintain the boil. Both nervous and excited about brew day one....

[Fil]

Good 2 hear and a on off controller such as the stc is a good tool for the hlt control, I just wasnt sure and thought i would stick my oar in anyway

[kearnage]

Make sure you sterilise that oar first. Could be all sorts of nasties on it.

Seaweed hops. Now there's a thought.

[Fil]

U need a shiny oar in a brewhouse..

[kearnage]

This all gets a bit addictive doesn't it. Today I picked up a fridge for £10 and I've already ordered an STC 1000, two sockets and a 1ft 60W tube heater. By the weekend I'll have another excuse to get a brew on again to test my new fermentation setup. Oh well.