BeerBorg

Kealia wrote:'Tis better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Of course, it's not always better for the marriage....

Hmmm pay for three daughters in college and alimony? Nah not worth it!

Banjo-guy wrote: I also plan using this for no sparge 3 gallon batches. I’ve read that there is a fairly large kettle lose so final volume will probably end up at 2.5-2.75 gallons.

On the level there will be 64 oz/1/2 gal left below the spigot, can tip it up at the end and pull more out, but I like leaving most of that sediment there and not putting it in the fermenter. The boil off rate seems to be a little higher then what they say also, I have been getting about 3/4 to close to a gal boil off in 60 min boil in what I call a 5 gal batch, but that might also depend on your location and altitude. Why I have been starting wth 6.5 for a 5 and working on the numbers to get it what I want, I got it pretty good now.

My Mash and Boil came! It only took 3 days to get to NY from Texas. It’s in perfect condition and was packed very well.



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Nice Banjo, you might want to see if there is a little steel dowel taped on somewhere, that goes in the bottom hole for the reset or maybe it already is installed on yours.

She sure is pretty. Just curious what the diameter is and if standard chillers will fit in it or if it comes with any type of chiller.
There's a number of similar units being sold in Australia and New Zealand and even some in Britain and most everyone gives these type of units good reviews.

berryman wrote:Nice Banjo, you might want to see if there is a little steel dowel taped on somewhere, that goes in the bottom hole for the reset or maybe it already is installed on yours.

This what the inside and outside bottom looks like. Do you see the piece that you are asking about?


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Beer-lord wrote:She sure is pretty. Just curious what the diameter is and if standard chillers will fit in it or if it comes with any type of chiller.
There's a number of similar units being sold in Australia and New Zealand and even some in Britain and most everyone gives these type of units good reviews.

The boil pot itself is 12” in diameter but there is an insert that holds the mash bin for draining and sparging. A 10 1/2 inch diameter chiller would fit but just barely.

I’m going to get my chiller back from my son and I don’t remember what it’s diameter is.


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Banjo-guy wrote:

berryman wrote:Nice Banjo, you might want to see if there is a little steel dowel taped on somewhere, that goes in the bottom hole for the reset or maybe it already is installed on yours.

Do you see the piece that you are asking about?

Yes it's already in the top pic mine wasn't and it took me awhile to figure out what it was for.

Mine came in 2 days, it shipped from South Holland IL (suburb of Chicago).

It has the little dowel thing installed for the reset button.

I know for sure that I am most certainly not going to use it on my counter top.

mashani wrote: It has the little dowel thing installed for the reset button.

Must be they figured out that a lot didn't know what that was for and it didn't say anything in the directions about it, I just put it in my tool box until it kicked out and then it hit me like a light bulb, now I know what that little rod is for, was easy to put in.

mashani wrote: I know for sure that I am most certainly not going to use it on my counter top.

LOL, Yes as I have been saying, quite high up. It might work good on a counter top if you had a hatch on your second story above it....

I heated 4 1/2 gallons today to check it out. The volume markings read 4.25.
75 degree water took less than 25 minutes to reach 162. From 162 to boil was a little over 30 minutes. I wasn’t watching it that closely so I may be off on those numbers and I didn’t write them down. I always think that I’ll remember these things but I always forget.

I’m anxious to try a brew. I need to set up a profile in Beersmith for it. I think I’ll brew exactly as they say to see how it turns out. I’ll tweak things next brew.

The 162 default setting seems a little to high for me on a 10 lb grain batch and I dropped it down to around 158 and can get closer to 150-152. you will need to experiment some and see what works best for you.

berryman wrote:The 162 default setting seems a little to high for me on a 10 lb grain batch and I dropped it down to around 158 and can get closer to 150-152. you will need to experiment some and see what works best for you.

I’m trying to end up with 2 1/2 gallons going into the serving keg. Looks there will some trial and error to dial this in.


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I've got to play around with mine, but from things I've read it seems any temp 205+ for the boil shouldn't power cycle and potentially trip an error and require a reset. So you can probably play around with the "boil" temperature to reduce steam output and boil off rate, and quite possibly even do a "not quite boil" type of boil like the Zymatic does. As long as it's hot enough that the wort is circulating around it should be fine, boil off less, and not fill up your house with as much steam if you are doing it indoors.

That said, I think Berryman would suggest that you put it on something (or make something to put it on) where you can get to that reset switch on the bottom just in case something trips the sensor (IE if a whole hop leaf sticks to it, it might trip because apparently it's pretty finicky). It would be a huge PITA if the thing was full of wort and you had to push that button and can't get to it. I guess with lesser boil volume for a 2.5-3 gallon batch it would be safer to tip when "full" but I'd still not want to have to do that.

BPGreen-
If you are not an electrician-
Instead of installing a GFCI outlet, you can buy a GFCI that plugs into your existing grounded outlet at Lowes or Home Depot https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tower-Manuf ... wAoduYwGog.

Adventures in Homebrewing offers the same one for 16 bucks.