Hey mate,
yeah I use a hot water cylinder. It's copper. Couldn't tell you what size.
I cut it in half, the bottom half is my HLT and the top half my boiler. I only make keg size batches, I reckon the boiler would struggle with any more than say 35lt - I would probably have to leave the lid half on to maintain a boil (of course I could add another element but I would have to rheostat one of them for some control otherwise my keg-size batches would scorch).

One of the issues I have is element placement. In my HLT the top one is pretty high up, and the temp probe is above that - means I have to have it quite full to be able to use it. In my kettle the minimum boil volume is about 18lt. Just over half of my usual batch sparge volume, so I have to complete the sparge before I can switch the heat on. Bummer.

If your gear already does 50lt (!!) I'm not sure what you'd gain from using a hot water cylinder.

45l !! WOOHOO!
That's awesome. I've steered clear of double batches, maybe I need to give one a try :)

Hey bud, it was the recipe that Joseph posted on here, but I changed it a bit.. Can PM you the recipe when I get home tonight...

Cheers

Thanks for that. It's an older one, probably 1960's but it has the copper vessel which I want to look at for HLT conversion. At 270 litres, if I cut it in half I can easily double my batches from my 50L keggle.

I'll take a look and if it looks dodgy research it some more!

75L... hmm that will take up all my kegs... maybe I need to get a co-op with a couple of mates to help bottle it!
I have yet to consider the right set up for heating. I see you guys used 3kW for and had issues with getting 80L up to boil for the kettle, which sort of pushes me back to gas for the kettle. The HLT will be set up with a timer to come on before I get my lazy ass out of bed on brew day. :) Are you guys using the HWC thermostat?

Not yet, it's still sitting in the backyard! Been working on my efficiency with my current set up albeit sporadic! I have collected all the steel for my stand, so in the next month will be learning how to weld and weld up the frame. Will decide on which vessels to use then! How is your co-op going?

Hi there vdog! Just have a query on your elements - are they the normal hot water cylinder 'prong' types, and if so, it there an issue cleaning them? I am thinking about an electric kettle and want to put in 2 x 2000 kW (for an 80 litre kettle), but was worried that the normal ones would be difficult to keep clean.....