Plastic Hlt

[tynian]

Hi Guys,

I am just in the stages of gathering the gear together for AG. I have my mash tun constructed and ready to roll. The Kettle is in the works as is the burner and HP reg. So now I am on the hunt for a hlt.

My options seem to be either, purchase an aluminum pot from allquip or I was hoping to reduce the cost and sipmly use a plastic vessel such as a water container modded with a kettle element. I saw a round type in bunnings yesterday - much like a fermenter and was thinking this could do the job.

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing, or should i just bite the bullet now and get a pot from allquip?

Cheers
Rob

 

[ozpowell]

Hi Guys,

I am just in the stages of gathering the gear together for AG. I have my mash tun constructed and ready to roll. The Kettle is in the works as is the burner and HP reg. So now I am on the hunt for a hlt.

My options seem to be either, purchase an aluminum pot from allquip or I was hoping to reduce the cost and sipmly use a plastic vessel such as a water container modded with a kettle element. I saw a round type in bunnings yesterday - much like a fermenter and was thinking this could do the job.

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing, or should i just bite the bullet now and get a pot from allquip?

Cheers
Rob

I use a 30L stainless steel urn. You often see second hand ones on ebay.

Which ever way you go, you'll probably want to pick up a temp controller. I use that MashMaster Mashmate.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[tynian]

I would love an urn, but they dont appear on ebay all that frequently.

I am looking at doing something right now to get up and going - improvements can be obtained along the way.

Rob

 

[fixa]

search for "plastic bucket of death" on here. Someone uses a plastic fermentor fitted with 1 or 2 kettlt elements as their boiler would you believe...
I've been toying with the idea of using a plastic hlt for a while now. I previously used a food grade bucket with 2 kettle elements as my HLT, but moved to an urn. Now i'm looking for more capacity, and a 30 litre fermentor is cheap compared to an urn...

 

[crozdog]

tynian,

with careful (or not so careful ) planning you can get away with just a mash tun & kettle. All that is required is to overcome the logistics issues. On Saturday I had the ISB boys around for a brew day. We made 150l using just a mash tun & kettle + a few spare cubes.

Before I explain the process note that I mash in with half the desired final volume, mash out with the weight of grain + losses then batch sparge with half the desired final volume.

Here's what we did:

1. Heated around 170l to 80 degrees
2. Mashed in with 80l hot water + 5l cold to give strike temp.
3. Added 30l to the kettle & reheated to 80 degrees during the mash
4. At end of mash, added 30l from the kettle to mash out
5. Transferred 85 l to cubes. this emptied the kettle.
6. Ran off 1st runnings to kettle - started burner when underway
7. Emptied 85l from cubes to mash tun to batch sparge
8. Drained 2nd runnings to kettle.

If you think about what you're doing and are careful moving hot water around :excl: you will be surprised at what you can do.

 

[tynian]

Crozdog, thats not a bad idea.

As you say, just figuring out the logistics and how to handle the hot water is the key. I will certainly keep this in mind.

Cheers
Rob

 

[Mitternacht Brauer]

Hi Guys just wondering is there any problem with the element coming in contact with the wort or grain ? I have a 40 litre s/s vessel that I use for other things that I was thinking of using for a kettle but have been worried about burning wort etc to the element . any ideas from others who have used elements in theirs would be gratfully taken on board before I try this out . :unsure:

 

[Barge]

i use a fermenter as an HLT and a 40L plastic drum as a kettle. the next brew i'm planning on boiling the first mash runnings in the kettle and the second runnings in the HLT.

each have 2 kettle elements in and have no worries with a rolling boil. as far as wort darkening goes, i am currently drinking a bo-pils and a light lager (both extract; the pils was boiled in the kettle and the lager in the HLT/kettle as a test run). the pils came out the right colour according to beersmith but the lager, which was meant to be lighter than the pils (20% dextrose) was significanlty darker. at this stage i'm not sure if i should put it down to caramelisation from the boil or from darkening of the LME used in the lager, as the pils used dme.

the elements do look a little crusty at the end of the boil but clean up fine with a bit of vinegar

 

[mark_m]

I've made up a couple of plastic HLTs. One old 30l fermenter & one 27l cube, 2200w element from Warehouse cheapie kettle fitted to each, gives about 1 degree/minute temp rise when full.
Having 2 gives some flexibility for single or double batches & 25 - 30 l of water is not too difficult to move when cold.
Both insulated with camp mat taped around.
Some stirring needed for even temp distribution as elements are mounted a bit high.
Much easier & safer than trying to move around 30 - 60 litres of hot water.
Cheers
Mark

 

[Plastic Man]

Rob

Go to Bunnings and grab one of the 25 litre drums (fermentors) with the wide lids (about $14 from memory). Take the bung out, (dont throw away it has a nice O-ring/washer on it for use later).

Walk up to Plumbing and grab the 20mm to 15mm brass reducer and a 15mm brass ball valve.

When home, wack some Teflon tape on both ends of the reducer. Attach the 15mm end to the ball valve. Pull the O-Ring/washer thingamy off the plastic bung you got with the drum, and wack it over the 20mm end of the reducer. Then screw this into the bung hole, using the leverage you get on the ball valve to screw it in nice and tight. Fill it up with water to see if you have a good fit. Should be OK.

Go to Big W and buy a Belle brand kettle NOT The cordless one. Should cost about $9.90, (buy two if you want it to heat up quicker and the wiring can handle the load). Pull it apart at home to get the element out. One of the screws on the bottom is a security type screw, but I found that an allen key would jam in and get it undone. Pull the element out and take the O-Ring seal out of the hole in the kettle. There is a steam switch on the element that turns the kettle off when it boils. I just pull this off. Comes off pretty easy. If you lose the little push switch this pushes dont worry. Pulling this off just means the element is locked on.

Then drill a hole in your plastic drum, as close to the bottom as possible. Just make sure its on a flat part of the plastic. I used a 38mm hole saw. Clean up the hole a bit with a round file, or some wet and dry. Put the rubber O-Ring / flange thingy in the hole, with the thin side on the outside wall, and then install the kettle element. Should be a good snug fit. You could use some high temp silicon, (selleys clear roof and gutter silicon their help desk told me unofficially that it is food grade once cured), to seal it if necessary but I got a good seal without it.

You should probably then protect / seal the outside of the element somehow so that if you do get some splashing it doesn't get wet. I never have and the element sitting there "naked" in all its glory is a constant reminder to BE CAREFUL.

Give it a test drive fill up with water, plug kettle cord into an earth leakage safety device, plus the other end into the element, and away we go.

As per every post on this subject - use at own risk - no responsibility taken - electricity and water can be lethal. Be very carefull, and use earth leakage / RCD on the circuit. Other than that its a pretty cheap and easy way to get a 25l HLT. (about $35 all up). Scorching wort is not an issue of course as its only being used as a HLT to heat water.

 

[Mitternacht Brauer]

Thanks for the reassurance I am more inclined to try another partial and continue to acquire gear for an AG in the near future. :lol:

 

[tynian]

Thanks Plastic Man, that is awesom and kind of what i was hoping hear.

Look out bunnings here i come