5 gal batches in 15 gal kettle

I'm thinking about a Spike Brewing 10 or 15 gal kettle and will be focused on 5 gal batches..... for now. Not sure if I'll go 10 gal later but interested in how some of you have progressed as well.
If I go with a 15 gal kettle and horizontal couplers, will it be a hassle to brew and handle 5 gal batches? I might end up leaving more wort in the kettle than I'd like.
Your thoughts, suggestions? Cheers!

I use a 15 gal pot for 5 gallon batches and I love it. No ball valve or anything fancy. I just pick up my pot a pour it in my fermenter. I'll be moving to 10 gal batches soon so ill prob just have to syphon my wort to the fermenter. It's not ideal but it works

I ended up tossing around getting a 10 or 15 gallon kettle but after reading different posts I decided on a 15 gallon because the price wasn't that much more when it really came down to it and if I wanted to do 10 gallon batches I could without any worry. Currently I'm doing 5 gallon batches and it works great. I have a megapot with thermometer and ball valve which makes it way easier to transfer my wort. Also keep in mind that if you do decide to do 10 gallon batches how much easier it would be to just hook up a hose and open a valve. Good luck!

i have been using a 10 gallon kettle for a while and it works great, but i just ordered a 20 gallon kettle so i can do 10 or 15 gallon brews in the future, also if you can't get the valve close to the bottom, you can just use an elbow or dip tube and the siphoning action will pull out all your wort

Thanks for the input guys. 15 gal sounds like the way to go in the long run. The only downside I see is with two horizontal couplings, the thermometer will only be 1.5 inches off the bottom. This will bring the probe too close to the bottom of the kettle and also place the dial below kettle level. The vertical thermometer mount places the probe at the 5.25 gal mark which is obviously too high. I'll see if he can drop the upper coupling 3 - 4 inches off the bottom so it will still work for 5 gal batches, clear the heating surface and separate the probe further from the bottom of the kettle.
Cheers!

One thing to look out for with 5g batches in bigger pots -- make sure your immersion cooler (if you choose to use one) is mostly under the 5-6gal liquid level so you don't have a bunch of useless copper doing nothing.

Bukit said:

15 gal sounds like the way to go in the long run. The only downside I see is with two horizontal couplings, the thermometer will only be 1.5 inches off the bottom. This will bring the probe too close to the bottom of the kettle and also place the dial below kettle level.
Cheers!

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I have a 15 gallon from spikebrewing with horizontal couplings and use it for both 5 and 10 gallon batches. I opted for a thermometer from ebay that faces up instead of of the normal style thermometer so that it is easier to read.
It is similar to this one, but mine does not have an adjustable angle, http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Bimetal-t...191?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f106bed3f

I mounted the thermometer thru a T-fitting which also serves as the sight gauge.

http://www.bargainfittings.com/inde...word=sight gauge&category_id=0&product_id=194

I don't think doing a 5 gallon boil would be bad with a 15 gallon kettle.

If I were you I would go ahead and make 10 gallon batches, divide into two fermenters, and experiment with different types of yeasts. See how the yeast affects the same wort. At least I think it would be neat.