Homebrewer Simon Boughton walks us through his Brew Tank set-up and updates.
“I am an Englishman who has lived in Estonia for 12 years. I started brewing just over two years ago when a friend said to me ‘You make good bread, surprised you haven’t tried beer’. So the challenge was set and within a week I had a 35 litre steel pot, a gas heater, a ‘Brew-in-the-bag’ bag, a plastic fermenter, a hydrometer, a bottle capper… I am sure you will remember how the kit seems to exponentially grow at an alarming rate! And so I set off to make my first All Grain brew. It was terrible, about 20 litres of grey oxygenated fizzy liquid that had a smell similar to that of old beer and cardboard. We forced it down, trying to pretend it was the best thing since sliced bread. Undeterred and a bit wiser (and probably 20 YouTubes on beermaking mistakes later) I made a second brew which turned out to be OK.
Quite quickly I realised that the Brewzilla type machines made life easier, so, you guessed it, a Klarstein 30L copy of one of the better brands was soon in the house and the original kit became grain storage. As with all things, practise improves your results and after 18 months my beer was more than drinkable, and friends actually asked for it when visiting.
By October 2021 I had outgrown the Klarstein (that’s what I told my girlfriend) and wanted something with more capacity. Most importantly it had to be simple and capable of being modified to suit my personal preferences. I was taken by the Clawhammer system from America but being American there is no way it can be used in Europe, as they have some very strange electrical system there.
By chance I read an article on the Dark Farm Brew Tank and realised it was European-friendly and similar to the concept of the American contraption. At the same time Nikita Vorontsov produced a video about the 40 litre version (see below) and having watched that 20 times, Googled loads and pestered Gareth with questions, I eventually ordered a 60 litre version with the ‘Summit’ bundle, 3KW heater and a mashing basket.
The reason I went for the 60 litre version was simply because there were no 40 litres in stock at the time (Editors note: they’re back in stock now!) and the price seemed reasonable. Having now used the system for some months I am actually very thankful that there were no 40 litres in stock! I also am a firm believer in keeping it simple (KISS), as much as I enjoy a brew day, I wanted it to be efficient and preferably half a day not a full one.”
“I live in a forest on the North Estonian coast, my water is from a well and a constant 13C. I usually aim to produce 28 litres of wort, which nicely fills an All Rounder fermenter. I can’t be bothered with sparging, so I start with 38 Litres of water and recirculate through the spinning ball during the mash. It takes 35 minutes to reach 65C, I usually mash for 60 minutes and boil for 45 minutes. Boilover is never a problem due to the additional capacity. Whilst boiling I have the T valve set to the whirlpool port which then ensures a constant flow of liquid over the heating element and prevents any scorching.
Including cleanup I can normally complete a brew session in around 4.0 hours from the start. I have a couple of times done double brews to fill two All Rounders where I do have to sparge, and this including the longer heating times is nearer to 5.5 hours. Using the Brewer’s Friend calculator, my mash efficiency is around 72%, which seems satisfactory.
So in summary I am now really pleased with my personalised set up. The quality of the Brew Tank is excellent, it’s well made and the insulation is very effective. I thoroughly enjoy my brew sessions and have no regrets of going with the Dark Farm Brewtank. Thank you Gareth for developing it!”
MY BREW TANK SETUP & UPDATES
- Controlling the mash temperature
I retired the Inkbird to a Kegerator and made a self-built PID controller using an Inkbird PID unit, SSR (Solid State Relay) and thermocouple. This worked much more efficiently, although the PID unit does have to learn your system. It took me about 3 hours to make the controller and I added pump control at the same time.
Logic told me that if you controlled the wort temperature as it entered the mash basket it must then be less likely to fluctuate. Now I could have bought a RIMS system but having seen videos of them I thought them a bit too complicated for my needs and a waste of the 3KW element. I found a right-angle tri-clamp bend with a thermowell port. Once fitted it solved all my problems and now the temperature band is always within half a degree C. I do still use the thermowell on the back of the brew pot, as it fits nicely for the boil. It takes just a few seconds to move the thermocouple.
- Upgraded the hoses
Switched to steel braided silicon pipe, which also seems to have decreased temperature loss.
- Reduced coupling and minimised accessories
To simplify the system I went online and purchased a Tri-clamp T-valve. Wort can be directed to the mash port or the whirlpool port at the turn of a single valve, or switched off. Two butterfly valves became surplus, no more moving hot tri-clamps and a far simpler cleaning operation at the end of brew day. Another advantage of having the T-valve on the outflow side of the pump is that you can control the flow without starving the pump of liquid.
Here's The Video
Discover More About The Brew Tank
- Maximum flexibility – customise your Brew Tank electric brew kettle to suit your brewing needs. Plus add on new tools as your style (or budget) grows
- Dual walled – for superior insulation and efficiency
- Professional standard tri clamp fittings throughout – super adaptable and easy to keep hygienically clean
- Excellent quality – built to last with strong, 1.5mm stainless steel. A great homebrewing investment!
- Choice of heating elements as and grain baskets
- Lots of useful add ons to expand your homebrewing equipment over time.