Keggle vs SS pot vs almighty Boilermaker

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I have 3 keggles and IMO they are the best. I gaurantee, though, that anyone who spend the clams on a shiny blichmann pot will differ.
Not everyone.:) But I haven't tried everything out there so I certainly can't say what's best.

I have a Blichmann and for the most part I agree with the previous posters on the features but it has it's own set of issues (perhaps shared with some/all of the other contenders).

The thermometer is mounted too high so it's essentially useless until you get up to a certain volume. Even then I find it almost useless because it rarely agrees with a thermopen stuck in the middle of the mash. As the thin wall of the Boilermaker cools (and it does so very quickly) the built-in thermometer reading plummets along with it. I don't want to have to stir for several minutes to get a decent temp reading. I still never use the built-in thermometer so for me it's a waste.

When used as a mash tun, the thin-wall of the BM allows the mash to cool quite a bit. A thick-walled Megapot doesn't do this to nearly the degree the BM does. But you'd prob have to insulate just about anything anyway so maybe this is a push. It does save weight.

Those are my biggest issues when using it as a mash-tun. The thin-wall and thermometer placement (and accuracy) are not an issue when used a boil kettle.

Some people love building brewing stuff but some of us would just rather spend that time brewing or drinking or w/e. If I save a tiny bit of money but spend many hours working on it, I've lost. But those that love to build have won because they enjoyed the whole process. It's just about what works for you.:mug:
 
Agree 100%. The Boilermaker thermometer placement is dogschit. I basically do not use it. Since I recirc my thermocouple placement is in the stream and that's calibrated and works perfectly.

Sad part is, the only reason it is there is because of the limit of the jig that they use to line it up :(
 
One thing that no one mentions is the risk attendant with drilling several holes in your pot or keg. The 3/4" aren't too bad for the 2-4 valves, the sight glass, the thermometer, HERMS connections. The 1 1/4" hole for the electrical element is a ball-buster. I have done this to 4 keggles and I didn't worry about screwing up because I would only be out about $30. Screw up an expensive pot and it is a very different story.

This might be an argument for buying a pot with all the fittings already installed.
 
yeah...

My mind is pretty much set on the keggles...anyways, this will be my first AG rig, thus leaving much room for improvement :D

do any suggest a false bottom for the kettle? Will this be of any use if I tend to brew with pellets most of the time??
 
yeah...

My mind is pretty much set on the keggles...anyways, this will be my first AG rig, thus leaving much room for improvement :D

do any suggest a false bottom for the kettle? Will this be of any use if I tend to brew with pellets most of the time??

I use a braid. And I use a Sparky hop spider. I am pretty close to moving to getting rid of the braid and getting a Jaybird hinged false bottom, but I'll still keep the Sparky.

I ALWAYS brew with pellets.
 
i use jaybirds hinged false bottoms. i believe i mentioned that. i also believe that one of the downsides to keggles is drilling holes in the wrong places. if you intend on using the keggles for 5 gallon batches more of the time, then be sure to mount temp gauge low, to the side of the drain valve. 5 gallons doesnt go up very high in a keg. if you mount the temp gauge above the drain valve, it wont read 5 gallon volumes and becomes useless. it works great for 10 gallon batches though. i use an inline thermowell with my drain valves so i can get accurate readings out of the tun.
 
^^ good point on the 5gal!!

how much are jaybird's false bottoms?

--> me likes the spider thing!!!!
 
I just thought I would throw my 2 cents in. I have Keggles with welded in couplers. If I were to do over again and money was not a problem, I would go with a MegaPot. They are built like a brick chithouse, have copper sandwiched bottoms to spread out the heat and welded in couplers. I don't like the Blichmann's because they are all stainless steel and use weldless fittings and kettles are sometimes a pain in the ass.
 
I just thought I would throw my 2 cents in. I have Keggles with welded in couplers. If I were to do over again and money was not a problem, I would go with a MegaPot. They are built like a brick chithouse, have copper sandwiched bottoms to spread out the heat and welded in couplers. I don't like the Blichmann's because they are all stainless steel and use weldless fittings and kettles are sometimes a pain in the ass.
Add Blichmann's asking cost $$$$$$$ also into this project.
 
^^ hmmm they sure look nice...too bad the 15gal are out of stock...

the blichmann's are definately out of my mind...at least for now, although I might go with their auto sparge arm
 
^^ great! I'm thinking of using herms for mash recirculatin using electric HLT but propane for the boil...what do you think of this approach?
 
just not feeling the direct contact between wort and element...

what are your thoughts on an electric BK?
 
just not feeling the direct contact between wort and element...

what are your thoughts on an electric BK?

Well, with electric you can mathematically determine your boil off rate, which is nice, you dont scorch the wort (this has been proven) and most electric BKs heat about 2X as fast as a gas BK.

Id go electric
 
^^^ does make more sense...is there anyway to get this done without access to 220V?
 
just not feeling the direct contact between wort and element...

what are your thoughts on an electric BK?

I have very good feelings, of course, because this is what I do!

If you don't have 240, I'd do exactly what you are considering. Electric HERMs and propane boil. It seems odd, but you are going to have a lot of problems boiling 13 gallons with 110V. The HERMS will work fine at 110V, I'd guess.
 
^^^ does make more sense...is there anyway to get this done without access to 220V?

How large are your target batch sizes?

Really, ideally, you would have a 240VAC outlet available. If you are looking at 10 gallon batches you want to have 4500W, this gets complicated if you are limited to a 120VAC circuit, you are looking at two to three elements on separate circuits...

There is no "simple" way to heat with electric though. You will need a large enough circuit (30-50A 240VAC). You will then need to route that to a box of some sort where you will have a couple SSRs, heatsinks and those will be controlled by a PWM or PID for the boil portion.

The creation of an electric supply for a kettle requires more doing than a simple gas burner, but in the end it is much more refined and precisely controlled, not to mention fast as all git out

I can build a box that houses all of the electrical controls for $200, then all you would have to do is plug that into a 240VAC outlet and plug the element into the box. Youd have to plug in two plugs, that is all.
 
You can run any control panel you see here on HBT on 120VAC basically. All of the controllers are 120VAC anyway, that is just tapped off one hot of the two that come into the box anyway. The problem is you arent really going to boil on 120VAC
 
hmmm...this seems to be getting much more complicated that I had thought...which only makes things more interesting! I'll check my folk's place see if i'd have access to 240V (no room in my apartment...:() and I'll go from then on. If not I'll leave it to the hybrid option...
 
hmmm...this seems to be getting much more complicated that I had thought...which only makes things more interesting! I'll check my folk's place see if i'd have access to 240V (no room in my apartment...:() and I'll go from then on. If not I'll leave it to the hybrid option...

If you decide that you want to do it but dont want to build "the box", let me know, it would be a fun afternoon project.
 
wow, thanks for the heads up!

in terms that i could understand, what would be the difference between the box and without the box?!?!
 
wow, thanks for the heads up!

in terms that i could understand, what would be the difference between the box and without the box?!?!

Without the box, your element will be running at 100% all the time, giving you no control of the boil at all :D

I have built a few of these, it is nice to have, it gives you great flexibility.
 
FWIW, 10 gallons boils pretty well for me on 120VAC, 2 elements @ 2000w on two separate 120VAC circuits.

Agreed, w/ 240 you are not as limited, but I have plenty of 120 available.

Do you have control on the elements, or do they just run full tilt
 
alright, then a box for me it is! So say I decide to go half E half propane, I want to emphasis the control on the HLT and MLT (obviously) using 120V, what I am expecting in terms of equipement (elements, controls, etc...)

thanks for the help guys...seriously!
 
alright, then a box for me it is! So say I decide to go half E half propane, I want to emphasis the control on the HLT and MLT (obviously) using 120V, what I am expecting in terms of equipement (elements, controls, etc...)

thanks for the help guys...seriously!

I would have (2) 120VAC elements in the HLT (4000W total)

(1) PID (one for the HLT )

(2) SSRs (one for each hot)

(1) Liquid tight RTD probe

A 12 x 12 x 6 NEMA box

Stuff like that, but that is me
 
hmmm...wouldn't be more of a herms and not a rims...say elements in the HLT with a copper coil for mash recirc and use a burner for the bk?
 
heheh,

I think that would make sense, do you think that this would resultin a rather efficienct system? For the copper coil, any suggestions as to the length and diameter?

cheers!
 
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