what would you have done differently...

I am I'm the market for a propane burner and bigger brew pot, I am a new brewer doing extract brews now and plan to do all grain at some point. When shopping around I wonder if I should buy something that cost 3 times as much just because I might use it later...

If you could go back and change the way you bought your equipment what whould you do different?

3x as much sounds like it might be a preference issue rather than a requirement possibly. Most of the burners that are readily available to the homebrewing community are sufficient for doing 5-gallon batches. A 10 gallon kettle is also a good place to start for doing 5-gallon batches. You can have those two items for under $100 rather easily... You can also spend a lot more.

I woudn't have done much differently.

Very true, I know I can get the econo pot... but I ask myself am I just going to want to upgrade in a year to a better kettle... just got me thinking, so I figured I would see what people would have bought differently when starting out...

If you get a small pot, you will definitely want to upgrade in a year. If you get a cheap pot, you may realize that it doesn't make a difference the material/bling factor.

My suggestion is to get an aluminum pot that is at least 10 gallons (mine is 15 and is not too big for 5 g batches). They can be had on Amazon pretty cheaply (search 40 quart stock pot) and it will be all the pot you will ever need. Go to Bargain Fittings and get a valve for it and you will be very happy.

Might you want a Blichmann in the future? Sure, who doesn't. But you won't need it.

I would do things very different. I have learned it can be costly to purchase items with no eye toward the future. I have made purchases that fit my need for the present, only to disgard or store them away when I upgraded. It can get expensive when you spend $50 on a pot that will fit the bill for today, only to spend $100 more on a larger pot when batches get larger 6 months down the road. Instead of spending an initial $100, I spent $150 because I purchased without an eye to the future. If I had to do over again, I would try to sit down and think about where I am now and where I may be 6 months to a year down the road before spending my hard earned money. It tends to make it less expensive in the long run. I see quite a few replies to posts by newbies who are looking for advice on what to buy that say, "buy this, it will get you by for now". That advice is good if the person never has the ambition to expand in the hobby, but if there is any possibility that things will grow in the future, it could be very costly advice. If I were you I would buy the biggest and best I could afford, now. If you get hooked, and it doesn't take much with this hobby, you will save in the long run.

ajwillys said:

My suggestion is to get an aluminum pot that is at least 10 gallons (mine is 15 and is not too big for 5 g batches). They can be had on Amazon pretty cheaply (search 40 quart stock pot) and it will be all the pot you will ever need.

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+1, what he said. I use heavy duty aluminum pots 15 &20gallon(3/16"&1/4") for 6 and 12 gallon batches. These replaced a cheap stainless and cheap turkey fryer pot, my only regret is not getting the good pots first.

Agreed! I have now purchased three different pot set ups. I initially bought pots from eBay, a set of four if I remember, good quality, just too small when you want to do full vol boils. I also bought a turkey fry setup, complete with 7.5 g aluminum pot...no longer being used. Most recent purchase was a 10.5 g polar ware with ball valve...very happy wit this purchase and wish I had started here. Now, saying that I often wonder if I shouldn't have bought a 16 g, bayou classic which would allow me to do BIAB 5 gallon batches.

Burners...as to the aforementioned turkey fryer...also no longer being used. Bought a Blichmann floor burner, a bit expensive you can get same result from other products. Nothing against Blichmann, quality is top notch and I am very happy. Having said that...I now have an eye towards eBIAB...so there goes the floor burner.

WRT other stuff, just buy a 2 L flask at the beginning, or larger. Buy quality hoses you won't regret it. Hope this is helpful...BTW I have a turkey fryer, alum pot and .... For sale, interested?

+1 to above posts.

I think you have to buy with some eye towards the future instead of what you need at the moment. A 5 gallon pot might be able to get you through a few brews, but being able to do a full 5-gallon boil is probably more important. Then you may only be brewing 5 gallons at the moment, but you may want to be brewing 10 gallon batches in the future.

I'd certainly recommend a 15 gallon pot or keggle and the highest quality burner you can afford. 15 gallon pots can do 5-10 gallons easy, they can grow with your system and the only reason to replace them is if you're going even bigger.

People say blichmann is overpriced, but there really isn't a better burner and it will hold most of its resale value if you ever get out of the sport.