Beer Gear

So I've finally taken the plunge to buy my own gear to be able to brew all-grain. I have been using Mr. Luff's for the past few months and our brew days have been amazing days of beer drinking, chatting, and brewing mis-happery.

Unfortunately, we have been plagued by electric heaters failing on us. For a few years I have been a fan of the Burco boiler, and firmly believe that every household should have one. Unfortunately though, after consigning a second one to the loft after burning the element out with an extract brew, I decided that a simpler method was needed. Enter a very large brew pan (33l - I can see you green with pan envy).

That was fine, but how to heat it. My first attempt to boil 20l of water to boiling took 1 and a half hours on our (not insubstantial) range cooker. So I found a gas boiler at a brew shop online. When it arrived it was a little bigger than I imagined :) but it heated the water 25 deg in 15mins before the gas ran out.

Next I found a cheap wort cooler online. But, even better than a wort cooler at a budget price was 10 minutes with the lovely Nige (My new best friend) who owns a local micro brewery. He was really kind and showed me some of his gear, answered some of my questions, and gave me a load of bottles. What I've found is that brewer's (even pro ones) are not touchy about sharing knowledge. There are loads of online threads where home brewer's have emailed breweries to ask what hops/ grain/ or yeast they use to make a beer. In a lot of cases the brewers are happy to share the info with amateur brewers wanting to have a go at their recipes.

Finally, I purchased a mash tun. Basically it's a cool box to keep the grain and water mix at a stable temperature while all the lovely sugar gets turned into something fermentable. I was a little disappointed when it got here as it's not the most sturdy Item. But, a homemade cardboard box and gaffer tape case should do the trick until I design something more suitable.

Safe to save my palms are itching as I consider what to brew first, and when to brew it. More of that later.