After 2 years of brewing I'm debating a big (for me) investment for new equipment. I'd like some advice on the topic since I only know the equipment I own and I'm making assumptions on the new stuff.
Here is my current equipment and some notes:
My thoughts on upgrades consist of the following:
The main issues I see with my current setup are:
I'm just not sure where to focus first, if at all. Each issue can be helped by a new fancy kettle but it's hard to see a big change unless you redo the entire setup.
Thoughts? Anyone have experience with a similar change?
Here is my current equipment and some notes:
- 5g kettle HLT - used to heat water, causes problems when my sparge water calcs are for more than 5g
- 8g kettle - my boil kettle, no real problem with it but no spigot so my process to drain it consists of "spooning" out using a big measuring cup
- 48 qt square cooler - this is my MLT, uses a ss braid, seems to work well but my temps do not hold, I commonly lose 5+ degrees over 60 min
My thoughts on upgrades consist of the following:
- Round cooler with false bottom - from what I hear this should solve my problem with losing heat during mash, a false bottom should be more efficient, downside is I would need to fly sparge, upside this is pretty cheap
- 10-15g "fancy" boil kettle - I'm thinking something like the Blichman kettles, get rid of 5g pot and use 8g for HLT, this would add a spigot, downside is cost
- 10-15g "fancy" kettle MLT - spigot and false bottom are options, replaces the cooler, now can control heat if it's lost during mash, cost is downside and still have issue with 5g HLT
- Two 10-15g "fancy" kettles - can replace the cooler and 5g pot, 8g pot can be HLT, big cost, would still need to modify 8g pot for fly sparge
- Three 10-15g "fancy" kettles - all parts now replaced by kettles, spigots everywhere, major cost (imo), might need to rework tables/stands for gravity feed
The main issues I see with my current setup are:
- 5g HLT too small for all recipes
- MLT doesn't keep temp for 60 min
- Boil kettle lacks spigot for easy/clean transfer to primary
I'm just not sure where to focus first, if at all. Each issue can be helped by a new fancy kettle but it's hard to see a big change unless you redo the entire setup.
Thoughts? Anyone have experience with a similar change?