Newbie bitten by the bug

[gonzo]

Hi all, very new to this brewing lark ,got a woodsfordes micro brew kit for christmas and have been eating, drinking and dreaming beer since.
Was up in dublin (i live in the wilds outside of newry)a couple of of weeks ago at  the altech beer talks (to do some tasting) and have just finished  Loughry colleges "start up and brew" short course to get some hands on all grain and the technical side of things down . since then i ve been piecing my new kit togather got my cooler box pipe and fittings,a kettle element was going to put it in a ferm bucket but ive just realised i have a 50l franke keg that i want to furnish with ss ball valve ,and sight gauge, my rambling question is this will the 2.75kw kettle element be sufficent for the keg or do i need gas?dont want to regret cutting a hole for it not to work ,suggestions please   G

[Ciderhead]

You need a second hole

[DEMPSEY]

2.75kg will bring up a boil slowly in 50 liters. If you insulate the vessel that will help. Check out the Belfast club lads for meetings and you will be able to chat homebrew over a beer.

[sub82]

Hi Gonzo!

How was the Loughry course? Have been thinking of attending some of their stuff.

There's a Belfast meet on Friday if you can make it.

[gonzo]

Thanks Chris sorry i couldnt make your meet up but I will in the future.

Loughrys brew course was very informative it, didnt pull its punches on spelling out the pit falls and hurdles an aspiring brewery may have.
The practicals (for me anyways) were enlightening from recipe design, to all grain 20L  batchs start to finish, and there was also the demos from filtration ,carbonation,pasturlsation, brewery design etc etc, oh and their nice big shiny kit with a very friendly master brewer Pat .
so in essence something for everyone and a couple of new breweries are on their way soon Tyrone will be first.

 

[LordEoin]

You need a second hole