Peco Boilers and first kit to buy

craiclad

Hi there,

So I'm planning on starting to homebrew, and I'm looking into what kit to buy. Originally I was looking at this starter kit from the mottly brew (http://themottlybrew.ie/product/starter-kit/). Since I don't particularly fancy the PET bottles that come with that kit, I was planning on buying the parts individually, plus a capper and some bottle caps which would come out to around the same price.

After a little sleuthing around, I've found this all grain starter kit from get er brewed http://geterbrewed.ie/biab-all-grain-starter-kit-includes-a-mash-kit.html. This boiler plust wort chiller combo would allow me to make extract brews, and do full boils instead of partial boils. My question is basically, does anyone have experience with these boilers? The lack of temperature control doesn't seem like it would pose a problem for extract brews, but it looks like it would be difficult to do a proper all grain brew if I can't maintain a specific temperature.

Does anyone successfully brew all grain with one of these boilers? And if so, would you recommend this kit for a first time brewer?

MrGee

I got a peco boiler in january and using the Biab technic same as your link i have brewed 3 all grain starter kits ( 23l) sucessfully. I bought my equipment and kits from the brewing company. Ive had no issue with temperature control. I heated the water to 75 degrees, added my full grain ammount, mixed it in and the temp usually dropped to to 67 degrees or so. Once i made sure there was no clumps of grain in the bag i put the lid on it wrapped a small blanket around the top of it and it stayed within the target temperature ranges. you can give it a stir every 15 mins just to circulate temperature and mix grains if you like.

HopsAndJumps

I have a PECO boiler, keep the insulation on during the boil too. It really helps with the rolling boil as the boil is a little weak without it. Just bought a Buffalo 40L there was a great deal on amazon for a few days.

craiclad

MrGee wrote: »

I got a peco boiler in january and using the Biab technic same as your link i have brewed 3 all grain starter kits ( 23l) sucessfully. I bought my equipment and kits from the brewing company. Ive had no issue with temperature control. I heated the water to 75 degrees, added my full grain ammount, mixed it in and the temp usually dropped to to 67 degrees or so. Once i made sure there was no clumps of grain in the bag i put the lid on it wrapped a small blanket around the top of it and it stayed within the target temperature ranges. you can give it a stir every 15 mins just to circulate temperature and mix grains if you like.

Do you use a false bottom or anything to stop the bag from burning? I've heard that the element can scorch the bags if they touch... Also, have you found it hard to brew a full 23L in the bucket? I've heard it can be a bit of a push.

Looking forward to getting brewing though, the kit should arrive sometime this week

HopsAndJumps

craiclad wrote: »

Do you use a false bottom or anything to stop the bag from burning? I've heard that the element can scorch the bags if they touch... Also, have you found it hard to brew a full 23L in the bucket? I've heard it can be a bit of a push.

Looking forward to getting brewing though, the kit should arrive sometime this week

Yeah I used a cake rack, the reason I upgraded was for higher ABV beers. It can be a struggle, 19L of beer at an OG of 1065 was all I could manage.

craiclad

HopsAndJumps wrote: »

Yeah I used a cake rack, the reason I upgraded was for higher ABV beers. It can be a struggle, 19L of beer at an OG of 1065 was all I could manage.

Any clue where I could grab one of those...? I really don't want to scorch my brand new kit on the first go around. Or do you think I could tie the bag to something so that it doesn't hit the element in the first place...? So many questions.

HopsAndJumps

craiclad wrote: »

Any clue where I could grab one of those...? I really don't want to scorch my brand new kit on the first go around. Or do you think I could tie the bag to something so that it doesn't hit the element in the first place...? So many questions.

Ikea maybe, give the company you bought the boiler a shout, they would be the best source.

MrGee

craiclad wrote: »

Do you use a false bottom or anything to stop the bag from burning? I've heard that the element can scorch the bags if they touch... Also, have you found it hard to brew a full 23L in the bucket? I've heard it can be a bit of a push.

Looking forward to getting brewing though, the kit should arrive sometime this week

I dont, the element isnt hot when the bag is in. I put the bag in for the mash only , comes out obviouslly before boil. I do however use small hop bags which float around during the boil. No scorching there, they float on the surface.
It is tougher with the bigger volume recipes but doable. Ive since started creating my own recipes using beersmith mobile, so all my batches will be 12litres for now while im experimenting. Much easier and faster boil. Im hitting my og targets with BIAB which im surprised at, maked me wonder what the point of sparging is.

macnug

MrGee wrote: »

I dont, the element isnt hot when the bag is in. I put the bag in for the mash only , comes out obviouslly before boil. I do however use small hop bags which float around during the boil. No scorching there, they float on the surface.
It is tougher with the bigger volume recipes but doable. Ive since started creating my own recipes using beersmith mobile, so all my batches will be 12litres for now while im experimenting. Much easier and faster boil. Im hitting my og targets with BIAB which im surprised at, maked me wonder what the point of sparging is.

Thinking of getting into biab myself. When you say your achieving og targets, are you adding more grain than you would for a normal mash? I mainly do 20lt 5-7% beers as I have a keg, would this be doable with this kit/boiler?

MrGee

macnug wrote: »

Thinking of getting into biab myself. When you say your achieving og targets, are you adding more grain than you would for a normal mash? I mainly do 20lt 5-7% beers as I have a keg, would this be doable with this kit/boiler?

The first 3 batches i did with the boiler were 23L AG kits. The instructions that came with the kits stated what the OG and FG should be based on the ammount of grain in the kits and making them to the 23L mark. So the OG was near enough for all 3 kits. Beers ranged between 4.7-6% abv. Id say youd get away with a 7% 20L beer, you might need a bit of help lifting the bag out of the boiler when mash is done but should be ok.