Robcl
Member
Hello All!
I have a review of 2 new pieces of gear I just got.
1- Stout Tanks and Kettles - 9.2 gallon kettle w/ thermowell ($268.00 w/ s&h)
2- Dudadiesel 30 plate heat exchanger ($83.00 w/ s&h on *bay)
I just brewed my 1st batch with these two new toys
. The kettle is a conical kettle/whirlpool tank. The stainless has a mirror finish and the kettle is equipped with stainless ball valve and tri-clamp fittings. I boiled this on a kitchen stove, so I had to do a partial boil. It took 4 gallons to cover the thermowell. The skirt around the bottom of the kettle seems to have kept alot more of the heat contained under the kettle because my stove (gas) boiled 4 gallons in about 30 minutes, a bit less than it took to boil 2.5 gallons in my old 16qt kettle.
When the boil finished, I did a 'gentle' (no HSA!) whirpool w/ a long stainless knife. The hard part was not hitting the thermowell on every swirl of the knife. A full boil will eliminate the problem (note to self: buy an sq14 burner soon). After a 12 minute whirlpool I let is sit covered for 15 minutes to settle. When that was done I drained the wort throught the chiller into the fermenter. The Dudadiesel chiller dropped my 190+ deg wort to 68 deg. in about 8-10 minutes running tap water through a bath of ice water. This is a perfect use for my old I/C.
The wort was crystal clear while transfering to the fermenter. I have to say that the whirpool feature worked great. All solids stayed in the kettle, settling in the cone at the bottom. I would recommend both of these to any brewer in the market for them. The only thing I would do different would be to get the heat exchanger with male threads. That model was out of stock, so I took the model w/ female threads. I'll have to be thorough when cleaning it. So far, so good.
Both are made well. The exchanger is 304 stainless w/ copper brazing. The seller is quick and responds to emails fast. Stouts & kettles are easy to communicate with and the kettle is real nice. it has all sanitary food grade welds. The interior is mirror-shiny and smooth, making cleanup a breeze. These 2 items took over 45 minutes off my brewing time. It would have been over an hour without the whirpool/settling time.
I hope someone finds this usefull, can't wait until my next batch!
Happy brewing everybody. 
I have a review of 2 new pieces of gear I just got.
1- Stout Tanks and Kettles - 9.2 gallon kettle w/ thermowell ($268.00 w/ s&h)
2- Dudadiesel 30 plate heat exchanger ($83.00 w/ s&h on *bay)
I just brewed my 1st batch with these two new toys
. The kettle is a conical kettle/whirlpool tank. The stainless has a mirror finish and the kettle is equipped with stainless ball valve and tri-clamp fittings. I boiled this on a kitchen stove, so I had to do a partial boil. It took 4 gallons to cover the thermowell. The skirt around the bottom of the kettle seems to have kept alot more of the heat contained under the kettle because my stove (gas) boiled 4 gallons in about 30 minutes, a bit less than it took to boil 2.5 gallons in my old 16qt kettle. When the boil finished, I did a 'gentle' (no HSA!) whirpool w/ a long stainless knife. The hard part was not hitting the thermowell on every swirl of the knife. A full boil will eliminate the problem (note to self: buy an sq14 burner soon). After a 12 minute whirlpool I let is sit covered for 15 minutes to settle. When that was done I drained the wort throught the chiller into the fermenter. The Dudadiesel chiller dropped my 190+ deg wort to 68 deg. in about 8-10 minutes running tap water through a bath of ice water. This is a perfect use for my old I/C.
The wort was crystal clear while transfering to the fermenter. I have to say that the whirpool feature worked great. All solids stayed in the kettle, settling in the cone at the bottom. I would recommend both of these to any brewer in the market for them. The only thing I would do different would be to get the heat exchanger with male threads. That model was out of stock, so I took the model w/ female threads. I'll have to be thorough when cleaning it. So far, so good.
Both are made well. The exchanger is 304 stainless w/ copper brazing. The seller is quick and responds to emails fast. Stouts & kettles are easy to communicate with and the kettle is real nice. it has all sanitary food grade welds. The interior is mirror-shiny and smooth, making cleanup a breeze. These 2 items took over 45 minutes off my brewing time. It would have been over an hour without the whirpool/settling time.
I hope someone finds this usefull, can't wait until my next batch!
Happy brewing everybody
.
