Cheap Brew Kettles!

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alohanole

alohanole

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I was at Sam's Club tonight getting some apple juice for...wait for it...Apfelwein!

Anyway, I saw a nice display of huge aluminum stock pots that caught my eye. They have a strainer basket and lid included.

kettles.jpg


These pots are "seasonal items" so your mileage may vary on availability.

They are not super heavy duty, but for the price maybe worth a shot.

60 qt $59.36
80 qt $79.42
100 qt $99.88
160 qt $167.23

I have been looking for another brew kettle to reduce the boilover possibility for 5-gal batches and to do an occasional 10-gal batch.

Would a 60 qt/15 gal pot be big enough, and do you guys think this is a good deal? Or should I just wait and spend the extra cash for a stainless pot?
 
Orfy said:
Every time I see these prices I can't help thinking Keggle.
Click to expand...

exactly.....

Good find, but for that type of cash you can take a keg to a welder and get an 12 gall batch keggle with thermometer and sight glass installed.
 
That's true....but there's some merit to that strainer basket! Line that with screen, throw your hops right in, and just yank it out at the end!

That beats any hopstopper, mesh bag, etc. that you can find!
 
Chimone said:
exactly.....

Good find, but for that type of cash you can take a keg to a welder and get an 12 gall batch keggle with thermometer and sight glass installed.
Click to expand...

I think that'd cost quite a bit more. A welder would charge you $50 on the low side to do the cutting and welding. You'd have to buy the couplers. A thermometer is $35, and so is a sight glass.

The 60 qt (~same size as keg) is 60 bucks. I guess it depends on how much you pay for the keg :D
 
I would like to do a keggle, but craig's list around my area is like a deserted island for anything beer-related. I have seen a few kegs on ebay, but they aren't cheap. This would be an interim solution for me until I can score a keg one day.
 
Well, the difference is the keg would have a spigot and the pot wouldn't. You could just cut the top out yourself and not put a spigot in. Then the two have the same features, 15 gallon pots, expect the keg is stainless. Keggle is the way to go :D.
 
I think if you HAVE a keg, or can legaly obtain one from a scrap dealer, or craigs list then go for it. I couldn't find one so I went with a 60 gallon AL pot from waresdirect.

If I HAD a keg, I would certainly have been able to cut the top and use as a boil kettle. But I didn't. So I got this monster boil kettle. it's 6mm thick and I think it's going to crush my turkey fryer with 13 gallons of wort in it. If the pots at Sams don't crush when you look at them funny, then it's a great deal. Especially since they have a strainer and lid. Mine didn't.

Some of us are good lookin, and some of us are able to obtain kegs cheaply. :D
 
Yeah - the bare-bones keggles on ebay start @ $200 and go up from there. The reality is locating used kegs is very rare. The only thing I've seen on craigslist is people looking for kegs over the last 2 months.

I've seen some cheap aluminum steamers at wally-world but the aluminum was so thin I'm concerned about scorching. How do you think these Sams kettles will hold up to scorching? How big a problem is scorching with super cheap stock pots?
 
alohanole said:
I would like to do a keggle, but craig's list around my area is like a deserted island for anything beer-related. I have seen a few kegs on ebay, but they aren't cheap. This would be an interim solution for me until I can score a keg one day.
Click to expand...

Post a "Keg Wanted" ad. You'd be surprised how many kegs are sitting out back of someone's house/trailer.
 
alohanole said:
I would like to do a keggle, but craig's list around my area is like a deserted island for anything beer-related. I have seen a few kegs on ebay, but they aren't cheap. This would be an interim solution for me until I can score a keg one day.
Click to expand...

What's with all this talk about kegs being hard to find? Not to single you out either-- it seems like any time keggle questions start coming up someone mentions that they're hard to find, or I hear that someone 'scored' a keg.

Everywhere I've ever been you can go get a 1/2 barrel sanke keg of some crappy beer for sixty bucks with a deposit. The deposit's usually $10-$35. I picture making a keggle just using one of these. Are there regions where this availability is different? Or are people finding keggles to be expensive because they don't want to pay the $60 for the beer and include that in the cost of the thing? I guess as a young guy that can still tolerate Milwaukee's Best, I might have a different perspective and that's why I'm confused.

Liquor stores around here couldn't care less if you return the keg or not. The deposit money and keg is all through the vendors... at least around here the liquor store does not lose or make any money on any keg deposits (tapper deposits excluded). I always paid only $10 for the deposit, though the past couple ones I've gotten were $35. I heard distributors upped the costs because they were worth more than $10 as scrap and people kept getting scrap money for them instead...
 
It has been debated to death around here on the ethics of getting a keg from just the deposit. The deposit on a 15.5 gallon stainless steel keg comes nowhere close to actual cost of the keg. It's basically stealing from the brewery.
 
alohanole said:
Would a 60 qt/15 gal pot be big enough, and do you guys think this is a good deal? Or should I just wait and spend the extra cash for a stainless pot?
Click to expand...

I have a question for the group.

I've heard that you shouldn't brew in an aluminum pot because it will impart flavor in your wort. Any truth to this? What's the advantage to using stainless stee?

I've been trying to find a cheap stainless 20 qt pot and the best I keep finding is aluminum.
 
Hilbert said:
I have a question for the group.

I've heard that you shouldn't brew in an aluminum pot because it will impart flavor in your wort. Any truth to this? What's the advantage to using stainless stee?

I've been trying to find a cheap stainless 20 qt pot and the best I keep finding is aluminum.
Click to expand...

Not true I started with a 32 qt Aluminum fryer and did at least 20 batches . I have done the same recipe's with the SS keggle no taste difference. Just season the aluminum by boiling water in it you want the dark oxidized layer to be on the pot then just clean with dish soap and a sponge no brillo or scrubbies
 
Brewsmith said:
It has been debated to death around here on the ethics of getting a keg from just the deposit. The deposit on a 15.5 gallon stainless steel keg comes nowhere close to actual cost of the keg. It's basically stealing from the brewery.
Click to expand...

I see. So it seems that, at least to some people, that getting a keg that someone else "stole" is better than doing it yourself? :)
 
Dougan said:
I see. So it seems that, at least to some people, that getting a keg that someone else "stole" is better than doing it yourself? :)
Click to expand...

Some people are able to get them from the brewery once they don't want them any more. So there are kegs that the brewery still owns and some that people actually own. But to tell you the truth the place where you get full kegs from around me wont take a keg back unless it has paperwork on it and my dad had a few that have just been sitting around the house/shop since the 80s that he just gave me.
 
Dougan said:
What's with all this talk about kegs being hard to find? Not to single you out either-- it seems like any time keggle questions start coming up someone mentions that they're hard to find, or I hear that someone 'scored' a keg.

Everywhere I've ever been you can go get a 1/2 barrel sanke keg of some crappy beer for sixty bucks with a deposit. The deposit's usually $10-$35. I picture making a keggle just using one of these. Are there regions where this availability is different? Or are people finding keggles to be expensive because they don't want to pay the $60 for the beer and include that in the cost of the thing? I guess as a young guy that can still tolerate Milwaukee's Best, I might have a different perspective and that's why I'm confused.

Liquor stores around here couldn't care less if you return the keg or not. The deposit money and keg is all through the vendors... at least around here the liquor store does not lose or make any money on any keg deposits (tapper deposits excluded). I always paid only $10 for the deposit, though the past couple ones I've gotten were $35. I heard distributors upped the costs because they were worth more than $10 as scrap and people kept getting scrap money for them instead...
Click to expand...

So if you rent a car you should be able to keep it for the cost of the deposit? You are renting the keg, not buying it so keeping it is stealing no matter how you try to justify it.

I know this has been beat to death but I know people that own breweries and this hurts them a lot since new kegs are around $125.00
 
Dougan said:
I see. So it seems that, at least to some people, that getting a keg that someone else "stole" is better than doing it yourself? :)
Click to expand...

I just assume that the person I'm getting the keg from is NEVER going to give it back. Maybe when I'm done with it being a keggle, I'll have someone weld the lid back on, then take it in for my "deposit" refund! :D
 
springer said:
Not true I started with a 32 qt Aluminum fryer and did at least 20 batches . I have done the same recipe's with the SS keggle no taste difference. Just season the aluminum by boiling water in it you want the dark oxidized layer to be on the pot then just clean with dish soap and a sponge no brillo or scrubbies
Click to expand...

Thanks. That makes me feel better. I was nervous to buy the aluminum ones.
 

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