New to full mash

[Ian]

Hi folks,
I'm a newbie to the splendid art of full mash brewing and am busy trying the set myself up to indulge this wonderful pastime. I have plumbed for a Barley Crusher and plate wort cooler which I finally have ordered from a crowd in WA called TWOC Brewing Supplie - Roy there has proven VERY helpful. Now I am on the hunt for a suitable esky with tap (I have material for a false bottom) and a ss brew pot with a thick bottom. I intend to do just 25 L brews initially but I understand a 36 to 40 L HLT is desireable to allow room for the boil and also that the chilly bin need to be large enough.
I would be most grateful if anyone has ideas as to where I might procure these items affordably and what would be most suitable. I look forward to his new group very much.
Cheers,
Ian

[Reviled]

Have you looked into BIAB? Then you wouldnt need as much extra equipment...

[Ian]

Hi there,
I haven't but I'll look further into that.
Cheers,
Ian

[jt]

Hi Ian,

What batch size will you want to end up brewing ? If you're setting up, you may aswell go to the maximum size that you'll eventually want.
There was some discussion about some pots available on trademe not long ago, take a browse there, they looked good value, but maybe one of the guys that bought could give an opinion on quality ?

[Ian]

Thanks for that advice, I'll look into the pots you mention. Regarding gearing for the batch size you eventually want to aim for, that sounds like good advice and has been mentioned to me by others. I had in mind smaller batches around the 25L mark, but, as you suggest, this could change with a bit of experience.
Cheers,
Ian

[jt]

What's the homebrewers community like down there ?

[Ian]

I expect the brewing community is likely great...if I could find them! I know a fair number of people but have only managed to find one locally who does AG brewing and he has been too busy pruning vines and olive trees to get to it much lately. So I'm doing my own thing for the time being - but this group I see is ver forthcoming and I'm looking forward to getting into it.
Cheers,
Ian

[Mike Neilson]

Bought one of those Stainless Pots off Trade me. was cheap at $80 but now which I never bought it. The pots are pretty thin and I have rust forming in the bottom and my uneducated guess is that Iron oxide is not good for brewing. I have now up graded to a keg and intend installing a tap to the bottom to make extraction after wort boil alot easyer and can retain most of all that trub in the kettle.

[studio1]

phew, glad I read this - was planning to buy on of those TM pots.

[Ian]

Cheers for that mate, you've just saved me $80 I think.
Cheers,
Ian

[Mike Neilson]

Good plan probably cheaper to just go buy a keg of beer pay the deposit for the keg, have a great time drinking it contents and just not return the keg beats wasting your money on those pots; but in saying that now, I have a great pot for cooking crays!!

[vdog]

I went for a 40L aluminium one and it's been great so far (4 AG brews to date) - had wanted stainless, but wasn't willing to stump up with $200+ for a decent one. Combined with a decent-sized burner it doesn't take long to get up to the boil, and you can boil up to about 30L or so without any difficulty (might not want to go too much past that to avoid boilover, specially when you chuck in the hops).

If you want to do the chillybin thing, you should be able to get a 55L bin and all the fittings for around $120 I think?

Good luck with the brewing!

[Ian]

Only thing is that the jury is still out on the aluminium pot thing - but maybe I'm just being paranoid. Probably a great alternative.
Cheers,
Ian