Brewing in a catering urn

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ryancarlwatson

Brewing in a catering urn

Post by ryancarlwatson » Sun Aug 17, 2014 9:37 am

So I bought a catering urn off ebay for 50 quid thinking it will be perfect for making my first ever home brew.<br /><br />[img]http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08 ... e1df76.jpg[/img]<br />The thermostat should be able to maintain a pretty good temperature I should think. The problem is when whacked up to the max 110 degrees the unit cuts out when a rolling boil starts. It then cuts in later. It may be that the element temperature fluctuates and given time it will maintain a rolling boil. <br /><br />My question is - if it doesn't could I get away with it boiling, stopping, boiling and stopping knowing that it is always going to be very close to boiling temperature?<br /><br />Cheers<br/>

AnthonyUK

Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by AnthonyUK » Sun Aug 17, 2014 9:50 am

You may find that that urn has a boil over protection which is preventing a rolling boil.
I've not seen that type but it may be similar to the Buffalo so it may be worth looking at those threads which is what I did.

ryancarlwatson

Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by ryancarlwatson » Sun Aug 17, 2014 10:07 am

Thanks Anyhony! I'll see if I can dig up anything

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DeadFall
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Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by DeadFall » Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:28 am

I think you're in for some pain mate. I bought one of those and ended up spending a bit of cash on the tools to cut a hole to put a backer element in. The original electrics are just decoration now. I originally bypassed the boil-over protection (the bit in the middle) but then the thermostat wouldn't let me hold a rolling boil. When I bypassed that it blew the element and flipped the fuses on the ring it was attached to after about 5 minutes of rolling boil.

The walls are also flimsy so I have a lot of problems with leaks around the tap (I punched this out to use 1/2 ss fittings). I get a leak proof fitting to start with, but after turning the tap on/off a few times it soon deteriorates as the wall flexes.

It also doesn't actually hold 35L, the max line is just under 30 and I've had trouble boiling more than 30 in it.

I'm going to bin the thing at some point and just get a decent 50L pot. £50 down the drain.
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ryancarlwatson

Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by ryancarlwatson » Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:40 am

Haha thanks for your reply deadfall. Not the answer I was hoping for for my first ever brew! Well I have it now so ill give it a go and hope for the best.

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DeadFall
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Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by DeadFall » Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:53 am

ryancarlwatson wrote:Haha thanks for your reply deadfall. Not the answer I was hoping for for my first ever brew! Well I have it now so ill give it a go and hope for the best.
You could try pulling the temperature sensor off the bottom of the pot. I wanted to keep the use of the thermostat so didn't try this.
Let's all go home, pull on our gimp suits and enjoy life

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ryancarlwatson

Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by ryancarlwatson » Mon Aug 18, 2014 4:12 pm

I will see how I get on but if I really get into brewing I will doubtless bin it and get a decent pot like you lol.

ryancarlwatson

Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by ryancarlwatson » Wed Aug 20, 2014 7:11 pm

Started my mash

Image

ryancarlwatson

Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by ryancarlwatson » Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:06 pm

Took about three hours and a lot of agitating the grains in the bag and lifting up and down to get the sugars out. I put hops in loose and it was chaos getting the beer out lol

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DeadFall
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Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by DeadFall » Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:41 pm

Did it hold the boil?
Let's all go home, pull on our gimp suits and enjoy life

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Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by ryancarlwatson » Mon Aug 25, 2014 10:17 am

It held a boil with 18 litres but I think it would struggle with much more than that but im not sure as I haven't tried. To get the gravity from the grains using a bag takes a long time. I mashed for three hours at 65 and got a gravity of 1038. I would suggest leaving longer but it was getting late. The gravity I was aiming for was 1042. Its has been fermenting in the bucket since Wednesday. If you want anymore info let me know

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Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by DeadFall » Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:01 pm

I wonder if I had a duff unit then. Mine cut out after 5 minutes with a boil and then would start up again 5 minutes later. Maybe my thermostat wasn't calibrated correctly. Too late now.
Let's all go home, pull on our gimp suits and enjoy life

Brewing chat on slack - http://thelocal.stamplayapp.com

ryancarlwatson

Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by ryancarlwatson » Tue Aug 26, 2014 12:49 pm

I think mine cut out and in but I assumed 5 minute rolling boil intervals would be fine. I will find out soon no doubt.

ryancarlwatson

Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by ryancarlwatson » Thu Aug 28, 2014 10:06 pm

Fermented for 7 days ish. Gravity at start was 1038 and into the keg at 1012 with 75g of sugar dissolved in boiling water added as well. This stout is gonna be a bit weaker than I was hoping but from the mouthful I got siphoning it tastes good. For my first ever brew in a 50 quid catering urn from ebay I think I might just get away with something quite good here. (Assuming I haven't just jinxed it)

raiderman

Re: Brewing in a catering urn

Post by raiderman » Fri Aug 29, 2014 10:06 am

I wouldn't worry about the cycling boil, I had that with my original brew bucket years ago and don't think it made any difference. I once has quite a small tea urn, odd bugger with all sorts of pipework in it and a concealed 2kw element, but it mashed fine, because the tap is designed for tea you have to either use hop bags or a grain bag with the hops loose inside

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