Trouble Picking a new brew pot

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poptarts

poptarts

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I recently tried my firsts all grain batch in a 7.5 gallon kettle with somewhere around 8 gallons of wort, needless to say it got messy. So Im in the market for a new bigger better brew pot. I would like to stay on the cheaper cost side but not end up with a tin foil cup. Ive been debating between a few options and would like to here everyone's expert opinion or let me know of other options in the similar value range.

Option 1: is find a keg for cheap and cut it up and make a keggle, however im in a small town and I dont know how easy that is going to be.

Option 2: 60qt Aluminum Winco Heavy Duty 6mm for $100 shipped

Option 3: CONCORD 60 QT Stainless Steel Stockpot Brew Cookware w/ Steamer Heavy Duty Grade 18/10 Gauge 110 shipped

And Option 4: Concord 60 QT Stainless Steel Stockpot with Lid. Heavy Duty 18/8 Gauge for $100 shipped.

Once again any thoughts or other suggestions that anyone has I would love to hear.

Thanks.:mug:
 
I have the winco 60 qt. got it for 75$ on amazon. Have had it for two months. Loving it so far.
 
40 qt is plenty for 5 - 6 gallon batches. Just a matter if you think you will be wanting to be doing bigger batches soon or not.
 
I don't think I want to go over 5 gallon full boils so in theory 40qt / 10g should be fine but... everyone always says that if you can buy a 15 do it because you will want to make a 10 gallon batch at some point, so I'm leaning toward a 60qt set-up just to "future proof" a little.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Last edited by a moderator:
I went keggle. I'm still doing only 5 gallon batches but I just built a brew rig and when I decide to do ten gallon batches I can. Cost me $60 for a keg and roughly $120 for the fittings which included a sight gauge and thermometer.
 
I'd rather have a good 10gallon pot with fittings for a 5 gallon batch now than a bigger pot for the possibility of 10 gallons later.
 
poptarts said:
Sold on this one I think, 18/10 60qt and under 100 shipped. Time to go to bargain fittings and pimp my pot as the cool kids say. :D
Click to expand...

Just be aware that I had one HECK of a time drilling holes into this thing. I also own some keggles and I had little problem drilling holes into those things, but this pot was a super tough challenge. It's like the whole pot is pre-hardened. Or actually made of adamantium or something like that.
 
poptarts said:
Sold on this one I think, 18/10 60qt and under 100 shipped. Time to go to bargain fittings and pimp my pot as the cool kids say. :D
Click to expand...

Great kettle, same ones we use but just wanted to say they are not 18/10 they are 18/8. 18/10 is 316 stainless and 18/8 is 304. Not that it really makes a difference but just so you know what you're buying :mug:

LandoLincoln said:
Just be aware that I had one HECK of a time drilling holes into this thing. I also own some keggles and I had little problem drilling holes into those things, but this pot was a super tough challenge. It's like the whole pot is pre-hardened. Or actually made of adamantium or something like that.
Click to expand...

Take this to heart. Cheapo Harbor Freight drill bits can be worn out in less than a hole. Slow, lots of pressure and cutting oil will be your best friend! Or spend some $$$ and get a Cobalt step bit and/or knockout punch.
 
SpikeBrewing said:
Take this to heart. Cheapo Harbor Freight drill bits can be worn out in less than a hole. Slow, lots of pressure and cutting oil will be your best friend! Or spend some $$$ and get a Cobalt step bit and/or knockout punch.
Click to expand...

Shaa, right. My pot just laughed at the cobalt bits I bought. Once I finally managed to get a pilot hole drilled the (non-cobalt) step bit I bought worked fine. But getting that first hole drilled...oh, lordy. I used enough pressure to snap a few bits, went sloooow and used cutting oil the whole time.
 
LandoLincoln said:
Shaa, right. My pot just laughed at the cobalt bits I bought. Once I finally managed to get a pilot hole drilled the (non-cobalt) step bit I bought worked fine. But getting that first hole drilled...oh, lordy. I used enough pressure to snap a few bits, went sloooow and used cutting oil the whole time.
Click to expand...

Ahh yes people have asked us about this before. You don't want to start the hole with the step bit. Use a good 1/8" drill bit.
 
SpikeBrewing said:
Great kettle, same ones we use but just wanted to say they are not 18/10 they are 18/8. 18/10 is 316 stainless and 18/8 is 304. Not that it really makes a difference but just so you know what you're buying :mug:

Take this to heart. Cheapo Harbor Freight drill bits can be worn out in less than a hole. Slow, lots of pressure and cutting oil will be your best friend! Or spend some $$$ and get a Cobalt step bit and/or knockout punch.
Click to expand...

Good information on all levels, Thanks. :mug:
 
Spikebrewing

Do you have any plans to sell those awesome looking armored pyrex sight glass assemblies seperately?

sorry to side track the thread.:tank:
 
amandabab said:
Spikebrewing

Do you have any plans to sell those awesome looking armored pyrex sight glass assemblies seperately?

sorry to side track the thread.:tank:
Click to expand...

Honestly they would be very hard to implement onto a kettle with our tooling. There are a lot of alignment issues and tolerance issues that come up
 
Thanks for the help everyone.
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Hey Poptarts, nice job on the kettle. Do you mind sharing the website(s) you used to get the kettle, valve, and thermometer setup? What was the total cost? I love the setup so I am trying to price it out myself. Is this the 18/10 or 18/8 kettle? Did you do the drilling yourself? How difficult was it?
Thanks in advance!
 
ChicoChaRico said:
Hey Poptarts, nice job on the kettle. Do you mind sharing the website(s) you used to get the kettle, valve, and thermometer setup? What was the total cost? I love the setup so I am trying to price it out myself. Is this the 18/10 or 18/8 kettle? Did you do the drilling yourself? How difficult was it?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

18/10 means 316 and 18/8 is 304. Many people don't know the difference and a lot of times kettles are labeled as 18/10. You will not find a standard kettle that is 18/10 (316).
 
Is that thermometer a little below the bottom of the pot? Or if you put it on a flat table, is it even with the bottom? When I put mine in, i plan on it going higher, so that the heat doesn't hurt the thermometer. You may need a heat shield with it that low.
 

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