Pot quality...

[Mark Goodin]

Hey, Can anyone vouch for the quality of some of the Brew Pots on TM? There have been a bunch popping up over the past month or so and are at reasonable prices.

 

Pots like this 31Lt one...buy now of $55 is quite tempting. Or even $75 for a 71Lt pot....

http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-farming-industry/retail-hospitali...

[Kelly Milligan]

All sorted! They sold out of the 31L ones, so I got given the option to take a 51L for the same price. 51L pot for $31 is a sweet deal. Time for some BIAB baby!

[Dave W]

lol you got a pretty good deal out of it then!!

Sounds like the Trademe trader is a pretty straight up and honest outfit. :o)

[Kelly Milligan]

Absolutely! overall very satisfied with their service. 

[James Millar]

Hey guys, sorry to resurrect an old thread but it seemed the most relevant place to post...

There seem to be pots galore on trademe at the moment. I've seen 50L S/S pots for $55 and $49, and a range of other sizes from the same dealers - 20, 30, 50, 70, 100L.

Has anyone seen these sort of pots in the flesh and can comment on their quality? I'm after a 30L one (I think - or would 50L be better for 22L batches?) to use as a HLT for my current HERMS project (got a 45L chilly bin for my MLT).

Also, can anyone comment on whether using a water boiler like this one (with adjustable temp) might be a really easy, lazy way to make a HLT? 

[Dave W]

Yup that's exactly what I use for my HLT.

You'll need to calibrate it to get your temps dialed in before your first brewday with it, but I've found it to work great.... I also wrapped some insulation around it to speed up the heating and keep the temp more stable.

[Dene McDonald]

I am be over simplifying things, but could that water boiler be used as a BIAB option? The temp runs from 30-110 so you could set it for mash temp and chuck in a bag. Then when you are done you could pull the bag out and up the temp and get a boil going. Or is 110 not hot enough for a good boil?

[Dene McDonald]

Hi Dave,

Do you have that exact model? Are you able to get a full boil going or does it have a safety cut out? I'm looking at getting the 38 litre version for BIAB but it's no good to me if I can't get a full boil going.

Thanks,

Dene

[Dave W]

Um can't remember the brand sory and the sticker is long gone.

It's just a random Chinese special off trademe.

Has a 15amp type plug so won't fit the normal household three pin socket...... you need the beefier wall socket. I have had a full boil going, took about an hour 15min from tap temp.

I posted this in another thread already but here's what I had to say about it.....

http://www.forum.realbeer.co.nz/forum/topics/gas-or-electric?xg_sou...

 My electric HLT takes 50-55 min for 40L to hit 75 deg from welly tap temp?
Just a standard hot water urn that I wrapped insulation around.

[Dene McDonald]

I'm interested in the pots too, so would be good to hear comments from people who have purchased these. I've only done extracts before so no really sure what I should be looking for. I'm guessing stainless steel but not sure if there are different grades and not sure about thickness.

Does a thicker pot mean a slower boil time, but less chance of burning anything? And would I burn through the bottom of a thin pot quickly?

[David Malpas]

I got one of these recently which looks similar - the actual pot doesn't look like the picture but I didn't get it for it's looks.

Got it for $30 in an auction rather than buy now. it's pretty thin stainless steel with a join up once side but it did the trick with my most recently brew.

I'm brewing on a 4 ring burner and it left the pot with a bluish rainbow stain that I'm led to believe is from heating it too much - and that can eventually lead to corrosion.

At $30 a pop though I don't really see a problem swapping out your pot once a year or so, the same you would with a plastic bucket fermenter.

[Kelly Milligan]

I put about 10 batches through my 50L pot, worked fine. The handles a bit flimsy but the newer ones seem to have a different handle design. The metal is real thin, which makes cranking up your burner power necessary to get a good boil going (thick base does WONDERS). Since sold it to a friend who has put a couple of sucessful batches through it too. For the price it's great, it makes moving to full boil easy. 

[Sambo]

I purchased a 50L pot for $49 + $15 postage. Sure its relatively thin steel but worked like a dream today on a 23L batch. with the 50L capacity allows for an awesome whirlpool after cooling.

I also use a hot water urn similar to the one you point out - mine is Birko which is a good brand - unsure of the qualityof the Chinese imported ones? I wouldnt say its lazy, its just using resources to your advantage - no point in making things more difficult if you dont have to!! :) Good luck