Here's something silly. I need a pot

Maestro Homebrew Kit with Amber Ale Kit | Home Brewing Supplies from Monster Brew

GF got me that for Christmas, but we don't have a pot or spoon to cook it all in! She bought everything else however. Went to a brewing shop today, and they were closed. Can I just go anywhere to buy a cheap pot to cook in? It looks like I'm going to spend $40-$50 on a stainless steal one

Check your grocery stores for a 32 quart Tamale steamer. Walmart has them for about $23.

You will need a pot. I recommend picking up something that is about 5 gallons if you are doing extract on the stovetop. The reason is to give a bit of room for boilovers (not a good thing for a stove!)

Stainless would be my first choice, but you could use copper, or aluminum, or even porcelain as long as it's not chipped or cracked (allowing the wort to contact the metal underneath could cause off-flavors in the beer, so they say...)

If you get aluminum, you should boil some water in it first to introduce an oxide layer that will help protect it from your acidic wort.

I recommend a plastic or wooden spoon, personally. I have a stainless spoon and it likes to scratch my plastic buckets and cooler mash tun. The plastic and wooden spoons are less noisy in a metal pot and don't scratch.

You can probably get a 20qt pot at Sam's Club for a reasonable price to get you started.

You could also skip the stove top and go straight to outdoors brewing with a turkey fryer/pot combo. I think most people end up outside anyway, and there are some good deals out there for the fryers right now.

Home depot had a 30 qt al turkey fryer combo for 39$ I think. If you do indoors, after one boil over, you will be outside

Great advice Taypo ! Even if you don't use the burner right away, the pot and burner cost the same as a pot alone !! one of those and a wooden spoon and you're off to the races !

Another thought might be a restaurant supply store.. my local one has used eqpt from business that have gone under.. or simply upgrading. But, I agree.. a turkey fryer is a great start.. you have the pot and the burner.. You might even check out Craigslist for beer or beer brewing, or brewing or turkey fryer.. the list is endless.

Not sure I'd waste money on a wooden spoon.. a good plastic or SS would be easier to sanitize.. unless it was ONLY going to be used in hot water.

Academy Sports has 30qt aluminum pots for $20. They also have other sizes and stainless steel ones.

https://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/...gId=10051&N=0&krypto=iCh8P1m15tXJnSJzzSyPFw==

This might not help you, but the local mexican supermarkets in my area sell 40 to 54 quart aluminum pots for $20- $25 with a false bottom as well. Look around at budget dollar type stores.

badbrew said:

the local mexican supermarkets in my area sell 40 to 54 quart aluminum pots for $20- $25 with a false bottom as well

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are they 'vaporeras' by any chance? Those pots are usually used to cook tamales & corundas. Have used one in the past with decent success for BIAB.

cval said:

are they 'vaporeras' by any chance? Those pots are usually used to cook tamales & corundas. Have used one in the past with decent success for BIAB.

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I've seen these as well, and contemplated picking one up. I believe the one I saw was 30qt

Most big box and department stores sell 20 qt kettles (I know Target does). That'll work well for partial boil 5 gallon stovetop extract batches (or if you're stuck in an apartment and can't go outside, you can make passable BIAB partial mash or all-grain with a partial boil)

If you're able to brew outside, the propane burner/turkey fryer set will suit you better in the long run.

Me, I'm saving up for a 10 gallon Blichmann boilermaker.

And +1 on the plastic spoon in place of wood or stainless.

badbrew said:

This might not help you, but the local mexican supermarkets in my area sell 40 to 54 quart aluminum pots for $20- $25 with a false bottom as well. Look around at budget dollar type stores.

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I'll have to check this out there are a bunch of mexican supermarkets in my area. I'm using a ceramic coated turkey fryer pot right now but I know I'll have to replace it eventually if it chips.

Whoever suggested home depot is correct- you can get a turkey fryer burner and 30qt pot for $40. That's what I'm using, works great.

You got a basic extract with grains kit, which means to start out you'll be brewing on your stovetop, boiling about 3-3.5 gallons down to 2.5 gallons and topping off.

You don't need anything fancy. Just go to dollar general and get a 10 dollar 5 gallon pot. They're stainless and work well for stovetop batches. Or go into any big box store and get a 5 gallon pot, even a chap enamel canning pot.

You don't need to spend an arm and a leg to do this. Any cheap pot will do until you get into full volume boils in a turkey fryer or other setup and need a larger kettle.

Ibanous said:

I'll have to check this out there are a bunch of mexican supermarkets in my area. I'm using a ceramic coated turkey fryer pot right now but I know I'll have to replace it eventually if it chips.

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I'm probably going to buy one of the ones I mentioned later this week to dedicate my turkey fryer pot to cooking food. I'll start a thread when I do. I think I may even install a valve at the bottom and attach a screen to the false bottom to filter trub and hops. Was thinking mash tun too but assume the lack of insulating properties will cause it to fail.

The OP seems to be just starting out. Buying a turkey fryer setup is a great way to upgrade your equipment, and will improve a few aspects of brewing. But be aware, if you use a turkey fryer to do full boils, then you should probably also consider buying/building a wort chiller to go along with it, since you won't be chilling with top-up water.

Then again, you can buy a turkey fryer for about the same $$ as a decent kettle. Then you will have the ability to do full boils when you want, or for when you upgrade to All Grain brewing.

But I would still use it to do extract batches with top up water to make the process easier for a batch or two. If the OP likes brewing, then the turkey fryer is a nice stepping stone to AG/Full Boils.

No matter what, the biggest concern should be yeast. Pitching rate, temperature, etc. THAT is where the focus should be IMO. I'd spend extra time setting up some sort of temperature controlling system: swamp cooler, etc. because keeping the beer at a fairly regular temperature is going to make a bigger difference than whether there was a full boil. Just something to think about.

I just went through the same thing. I picked up a 20qt one at Target for $50 and it worked real well. Has a double bottom to prevent burning and a nice lid with a vent hole.

Homercidal said:

No matter what, the biggest concern should be yeast. Pitching rate, temperature, etc. THAT is where the focus should be IMO. I'd spend extra time setting up some sort of temperature controlling system: swamp cooler, etc. because keeping the beer at a fairly regular temperature is going to make a bigger difference than whether there was a full boil. Just something to think about.

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Amen, brother.

Thanks for all the help guys. It seems like the worst thing I have to worry about is a boil over! My first batch is the Amber Ale, and I have an electric coil stove at home. So I'm thinking of getting this:

30 qt. Turkey Fryer-815-4001-S at The Home Depot

I've helped a buddy make a couple of batches of beer before, so I'm hoping at least the pot should be good for boiling! If it sucks, oh well, always wanted a turkey fryer!

So I think this would have been money, but it looks like it's Aluminum instead of stainless steel. Is it really that huge of a deal? (beside all of the cancer and stuff)

*Edit: Herp Derp
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...talogId=10053&productId=202038907&R=202038907

woulda helped if I added a link

as mentioned earlier... boil a full pot of water in any new aluminum pot... then when you clean it don't scrub off the oxide layer and you can just keep brewing beer and never look back. Many award winning beers (worts) have been brewed in aluminum pots. The biggest drawback is their sensitivity to the harsh/powerful cleansers used in the brewing industry. Just clean it right away and you won't have any problems

I use a 10 gal aluminum tamale steamer ($36 at a local grocery store) and have no trouble. Got a got oxide layer going in it, and just make sure to rinse it out really well as soon as I am done with my boil. Haven't had a problem yet. Also, it just fits the biggest grain bag I can find, so BIAB is a perfect fit until I can get my cooler mashtun set up for bigger grainbills.

If I had to make a recommendation, I would say go for at least an 8 gallon pot now (probably even a 10 gallon if you can swing it). If you like this stuff, you're gonna upsize. And you'll have no real use for the smaller pot, unless you want to mess around with partial boils later (not sure why you would want to do that).

I got a 20 qt. Stainless pot w/ lid that I use for soaking and removing labels from Old Time Pottery for 16$