Beginner brew pots for all grain setup

Hey everyone,

I am just getting into the "home brew" and after reading a lot of forums I think I want to take the curve head on and skip the extract brewing. I figure learning the hard way is a great education.

I am shopping for some brew pots, any suggestions as to which to buy and how many with what fittings? I don't want to spend $400 per kettle so please keep in mind a budget of about $100 - $250 per brew pot.

I want to do 10 gallon batches, if this is the case I think I am looking for 15 gallon brew pots?

Thanks in advance!

I've been all grain for a little while now. I'm still making batches in my crap 7.5 gal aluminum pot. I've recently been looking into upgrading my kettle as well. After much research, I have found that you should probably spend in upwards of $300 for a decent kettle. AH HE'LL NAH, I said. The ones that are $100 are made so poorly that it's not worth it. I read that on some of the cheap pots they have a sticker on them saying not to carry a pot by the handles if it is full. WHAT??? That didn't sound promising.

Cheaper solution?? What I am currently doing to upgrade my kettle is looking on Craigslist for an empty 15.5 gal keg and cutting the top off of it. Probably spend about $100 and it is heavy duty with built-in handles. Just kinda makes sense to me. Good luck on you kettle adventure.

If you're at all handy, or have some decent tools, you can make a keggle. Hardest part, typically, is getting a good keg as the base. I found a local guy that gets them from a legit source, so I don't need to worry. I can also inspect them before purchasing one (have a few 'spare' now).

With my latest keggle build, I polished it before making any holes, or cuts, in it. Made for a much easier time polishing. I then drilled the holes, used the hole punch, and cut the top. Came out really good too.

You can get the additional hardware to do the conversion for pretty cheap (check the vendors like Bargain Fittings) depending on how far you want to go. All you really need, to start, is a ball valve, 1/2" NPT to 1/2" compression fitting/adapter, and then a dip tube. That will allow you to extract much more of the wort from the keggle than just having a ball valve installed.

I have pictures of the keggles I've made in my gallery. That should give you an idea of some of your options.

A keggle is a great solution.

I am unfortunately not particularly handy and so opted to throw down the cash. Bought a 15 gal megapot with the ball valve and brewmometer -- both of which are great options. It is not the cheapest solution, but I figure I won't have to buy another one for some time to come.

Found these when i was looking for a buddy

http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2012/05/9-and-15-gallon-stainless-kettles.html

Their sold out of the 2 spout version, but i think you could probably get by fine with just 1 for a drain, the thermometer seems fairly useless unless your going to mash in it.

As a boil pot you shouldnt really care about temperature, its either boiling or its not.

Double post...

FuzzeWuzze said:

the thermometer seems fairly useless unless your going to mash in it.

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Unless you are using a plate chiller, it's great for knowing when you are chilled down to pitching temp... my 2c.

kmos said:

Unless you are using a plate chiller, it's great for knowing when you are chilled down to pitching temp... my 2c.

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True, but a cheap 10 dollar digital or floating thermometer works just as well because there is no time constraint and your unlikely to overchill your wort if you step away for 5 minutes, and they can be used for other things in the process.

Atleast in my mind, why spend $40 or more on an extra weld + nice thermometer that can only be used for 1 thing, when you can just spend $90 and get a Thermapen that has WAY more use in the all grain brewing process, and many outside of brewing.

Both work, its really a matter of bling factor if you want one on your pot Just throwing out other options for OP.

kmos said:

Unless you are using a plate chiller, it's great for knowing when you are chilled down to pitching temp... my 2c.

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I've gotten past that. I have one thermometer right after my plate chiller, so I know the chilled wort temp. I have the sensors for my Fluke 52II that can also go into the keggle to get it's reading. Once the wort in the keggle reaches a certain temperature range, I change over and run the wort into the fermenter. No thermometer in the boil keggle. I've also removed the thermometer from my mash keggle, since it just got in the way. :rockin: :fro:

BTW, the sensors I use with the Fluke 52II are far better than some floating thermometer. For one thing, I have the 52II at least a few feet away from the keggle. I don't need to reach in to get it out and a reading. I also don't need to worry about it breaking and things getting into the batch.

All the fittings in my mash tun are weldless. Only my sight glass attachment fittings are welded to the keggle. The rest is all weldless. :rockin: Next boil keggle I make will be all weldless again (like it better).

Both good points!

For my process, I knew I wanted to do BIAB, so I opted for it. I do still use my digital thermometer too, though, for reference.

kmos said:

Both good points!

For my process, I knew I wanted to do BIAB, so I opted for it. I do still use my digital thermometer too, though, for reference.

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I've had enough holes poked into bags from thermometer stems inside of kettles to avoid them. Especially with decent size grain bills. I also like how I can send my thermometer sensors in deep. I have more than two (the 52II base has two sensor connections) so I can get a reading from two spots at the same time. All without opening up the mash tun. :rockin: I might use my other thermometer that takes the same kind of sensor at some point. Then I'll have three temperature readings to get a better picture of what's going on inside the mash tun.

FuzzeWuzze said:

Found these when i was looking for a buddy

http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2012/05/9-and-15-gallon-stainless-kettles.html

Their sold out of the 2 spout version, but i think you could probably get by fine with just 1 for a drain, the thermometer seems fairly useless unless your going to mash in it.

As a boil pot you shouldnt really care about temperature, its either boiling or its not.

Click to expand...

Are those decently made? The price is pretty cheap.

SoonerDoc said:

Are those decently made? The price is pretty cheap.

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A buddy of mine ordered one 2 weeks ago, so it should be here shortly...im sure there are others on this forum that have gotten them though.

Found this topic about them, consensus for the 9G version(assuming they are the same construction) is that they are good quality and use 18 gauge...some mentioned the bottom wasnt that thick, but you cant expect a triple clad copper core bottom or something for $100 bucks...thats why the fancy ones are $300+

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/new-brew-pots-adventures-homebrewing-247863/

Awesome info! thank you everyone for your feedback. I am trying to decide between building a keggle as suggested or I found decent priced stainless brew kettles at Spike Brewing . Anyone bought from them before? Are they good quality? One other option is I found some aluminum kettles at walmart (Stock pots), would these work for the time being or ....

Oh one more question , should I buy 2 fermenters for 1st and 2nd or just bite the bullet and buy a conical fermenter (mini brew plastic one as I cannot afford those nice stainless atm ).?

Im using the 8 gallon aluminum IMUSA Tamale Steamer pot from Walmart($20) for all my 5 gallon batches, it works just fine. I boil down from 7g to 5g, with fermcaps i dont have any boilover.

Some day i may drill a hole and put in a valve. For now lifting 5 gallons isnt that hard

I'll second the use of the IMUSA 8 gallon tamale steamer. It works great and is very cheap! Also, if you don't have some fermcap handy just keep a spray bottle filled with water around if the boil starts to get crazy.