Hlt - Keg - Brissy

[mobrien]

Hey guys,

I've got my boiler sorted, and now have the mash tun after the bulk buy I organised for Brissy.

So now to the HLT - I spent today looking at stock pots and things around Brissy - best I could do in the 30L range was $77 for a very solid aluminium stock pot from Andale. I did think about the $20 20L woolies pot - but thats not quite big enough me thinks.

Does anyone have any great ideas where to get a cheaper HLT around brissy? A keg would be great, but I don't know how muc they cost, and how legal they are. Any ideas?

Matt

 

[Guest Lurker]

The absolute cheapest option would be use the kettle you already have. Just means sparging into an old fermenter or bucket then draining into the kettle once its empty.

 

[TidalPete]

I'm soon going to be in the same predictament as mobrien for a HLT as my Woolies pot will be too small for AG. & am thinking of a used? 30 litre Birko or perhaps a 30 litre ally pot with electric element & thermostat fitted. It all boils down h34r: to the cost of the finished item.

 

[warrenlw63]

If you want to go seriously cheap 25 litre Rheem buckets will just cut the mustard. You can fit an electric element and ball-valve to them, the plastic is boil-proof. Short term, however they will get the job done.

A lot of HB stores sell them for under 20 bucks. IIRC they're originally used as chlorine buckets ??

Volume is low. I usually heat enough water to mash in (doing 40 litre batches). This "just" makes it. Then I immediately refill and the water usually comes up to sparge temp within the 90 min mash time frame.

That said I'm about to retire mine and use S/S keg for a HLT. It's my old boil kettle with elements.

Warren -

 

[Gough]

Yeah, the bucket is a good way to go to start with. You can also use the 20 litre BigW extract brewpot as a short term HLT solution. I used mine for quite a while before converting to a keg HLT. I batch sparge and brew 23litre batches and just used to heat my mash water, then my top up/mash out water, then my sparge water as I needed it and had no dramas. I used gas rather than electricity for this though. Either solution would be a good way to get you started before upgrading later if you're still keen. I reckon it is better to start simple/cheap and get your hands dirty (or feet wet as Palmer puts it ) and get used to the process before deciding on the gear you need to go bigger and better, but I can understand the alternate point of view.

Either way, good luck!


Shawn.

 

[warrenlw63]

Either solution would be a good way to get you started before upgrading later if you're still keen. I reckon it is better to start simple/cheap and get your hands dirty (or feet wet as Palmer puts it


Shawn.

[post="64499"][/post]​

Well put Shawn. Best to use whatever you can beg/borrow to get started with. There's plenty of cheap ways for the interim. Gives you a good opportunity to get started while you plan for future upgrades.

This mob sell 25 litre boil-safe buckets for less than 15 bucks. An element would probably set you back a further 30 bucks or so. Even if you upgrade the bucket is still handy as a boiler for throwing in hoses or plenty of other secondary uses.

Rheem Buckets

Either that or pick up a cheap S/S from Big W and a cheap camp stove or something similar. That's the beauty of the hobby. You can go as cheap or as expensive as you like and still produce identical beer. Give or take.

Warren -

 

[Duff]

I use the fermenter the finished beer will be fermented in with an immersion heater. After dough in, fill the fermenter to required level with cold water, pop in the heater and in 60min it's at 80C. It's already in position above the mash tun and when ready for sparging, I push on my sparge arm to the tap and sparge away gravity fed. Monitor the temperature of the water and switch on the immersion heater when required to maintain a steady temperature. During boiling, the fermenter is cleaned and sterilised all ready for the finished chilled wort.

 

[nonicman]

The absolute cheapest option would be use the kettle you already have. Just means sparging into an old fermenter or bucket then draining into the kettle once its empty.

[post="64465"][/post]​

That's what I do, except I store the sparge water in a 50 litre esky, and any overflow in a bucket.

Edit just to be clear,
heat strike water in kettle, drain strike water into mash tun. Heat sparge water in kettle, drain into spare esky and any over flow into a old fermenter (ex fermenter-kettle), drain mash tun into kettle, batch sparge with the water from the esky, draining into the kettle.

 

[TidalPete]

You can also use the 20 litre BigW extract brewpot as a short term HLT solution.

Shawn.

Thanks for your input Gough (and others), that is what I plan to do short term until I find something bigger to use outside. Although I'm in no real hurry, if there is a bargain about I will snap it up. SWMBO will be happy when I finally move out of the kitchen.