Blichmann or Spike Kettle

I have been lurking here for some time now and I am finally able to set up an electric system. Kind of torn between Blichmann and Spike Kettle and can't make up my mind.

Some questions:

I am not made of money, but like to invest wisely. IF, this endeavor and investment turns into something bigger down the road, are weldless fittings ok for commercial use? Up to proper health code regulations?

How have the welds been holding up for you all who own a Spike?

Any other thoughts are welcome.

I like to read and plan things, but just can't find the answer for the fittings and commercial health codes.

First off what size kettles are you thinking about getting? Im not sure the kettles both companies offer would allow you to go "commercial".

Dont forget http://conical-fermenter.com/products/.. they are about the same price as both mentioned above for 45+ gal kettles.

20 gallons. Just thinking small scale.

The Spike Brewing kettles are said to have "Sanitary Welds". I have one of their 20 gallon kettles with 3 welded couplers. There are no integrity issues with the welds so far, it has been a great kettle! I will say that the welds on my kettle aren't a pretty as what is shown on their website but apparently are examples of a sanitary weld.

I chose Spike Brewing over Blichmann for the lower cost plus the good reviews I had read and I lucked into a "group buy" event that happened when I was looking. I think they are comparable in construction except for maybe in the appearance department. However I'm guessing even a Blichmann's Bling would dull over time and multiple brew day's.

I do think that the Spike Brewing Kettle is a quality product that will last me a very long time. I would buy another one!

No idea about actual health codes regarding welded fittings but I would guess there may be verbiage about the use of "sanitary welds". Spike does that!

I love my Blich kettle, plan to get one more if I get a holiday bonus this year. I especially love the sight glass quality and ease of maintenance. I know 3 breweries that use Blich for small batches, so I assume there aren't restrictions.

I have spike's 25 gallon and the 45 gallon kettles with sight glass and and ports for all the calving and temp probe , and it works awesome and is well worth it to buy these over blichman.

Agree with kickflip in that you should also check out Stout Kettles which is the route I'm going. Downside to that though is the time it takes to get them in - in my case December.

Roadie said:

Agree with kickflip in that you should also check out Stout Kettles which is the route I'm going. Downside to that though is the time it takes to get them in - in my case December.

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+1. I got my 15 gallon setup with 2" TC element port from them and love 'em. Great quality, long wait. I ordered mine in early April and got them mid-August. Price with shipping was close to $1800.

I actually just got done with planning out a three vessel 15 gallon electric system with Kristin from Stout Kettles and they're anticipating shipment in late October. They're a little pricy but, once you factor in the ports and tri-clover valves, hose barbs, and the like they're not much more expensive than if you were to buy through other sources. One of by buddies has a kettle through them and they were my go-to choice from the moment I started saving up for my own system. I could,if I wanted to, have stood on the tri-clover kettle outlet ferrule without hurting it in least. When they say "stout kettles" they're not kidding. For about $200 in shipping and $1800 in parts I'm looking at an electric kettle with whirlpool capability and an electric port, bottom-outlet recirculating mash tun w/ sparge arm, and a recirculating electric HERMS HLT, all with all the valves, barbs, and port caps I need to plug and play. These are all hefty 15 gallon capacity vessels and I doubt I'll ever have to upgrade again (unless I lose my mind and try to go pro).

I have a 20 gallon Spike with two welds and a cutout for an element. I've done about 6 brews on it and love it. I'm no expert, but the welds seem good to me.

Just got my stout tanks in the mail. All 3 vessels, 20g, all bells and whistles.

Price was around 2k with shipping. They come with almost all fittings and valves and false bottom, so i think the prices in the end are comparable.

Quality is amazing... And stout is an understatement.... HEAVY

BadWolfBrewing said:

Just got my stout tanks in the mail. All 3 vessels, 20g, all bells and whistles. Price was around 2k with shipping. They come with almost all fittings and valves and false bottom, so i think the prices in the end are comparable. Quality is amazing... And stout is an understatement.... HEAVY

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That's awesome! Mine won't be in until December but that's when my Electric Brewery control panel will be here too hopefully all at same time! Still need to knock a wall down and finish basement space in that time plus pick up numerous items like plate chiller, pumps, etc.

I suppose it depends on what you want. I have been brewing for over a decade. When I started it was pretty much a build your own hobby and used weldless kits on my 15 gallon setup happily for years. However, wanting to switch to electric and knowing brewing is a hobby that was staying around for me I didn't want to compromise. That means nothing that can impact quality. Weldless fittings are great places for bacteria to hide and are labor intensive to clean. So, as far as I'm concerned TC fittings are the way to go. everything about my setup I'm building is wrapped around the idea of getting maximum beer quality with maximum ease if use. Stout kettles fit the bill for me with TC fittings and doing any modifications I wanted. It looks like spike uses threaded fittings but if they are doing in house welding I'm sure they could customize for you too. IMO blichmann doesn't cut it. For the price they should be selling kettles with welded fittings. I appreciate their innovation, it really pushed competition, they are just lagging in the kettle market now like a brewery that never updates their recipes.

Anyway, it is a big investment for the long term so think about what you really want or you will regret it later and be selling your equipment before too long.

Great ideas and thoughts y'all. I guess my question now with all thos TC fittings talk is what is so bad about welded/threaded fittings? Isn't it boil to fermentation that is of the concern? Are TC fittings really needed on mash amd hlt?

BroadStreetBrewery said:

Great ideas and thoughts y'all. I guess my question now with all thos TC fittings talk is what is so bad about welded/threaded fittings? Isn't it boil to fermentation that is of the concern? Are TC fittings really needed on mash amd hlt?

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TC fittings aren't really "needed" anywhere in the hot side of the brewery. Even on your boil kettle, you have just boiled, so risk of infection is pretty low. They do, however, allow for easier break down and cleaning if that is important to you. If you have fittings somewhere on the cold side of your brewery (e.g., fermenting in a sanke keg), then there is more of a need to have something easy to break down and thoroughly clean.

For me, I like to be able to remove the herms coil, sight glass, heating elements, etc... After each brew. Threaded would be a pain to do that.

I did like cam locks for hose changes though.


My TC preference had nothing to do with sanitation, just didn't like threaded fittings when building, modifying, cleaning.

Ahhhh, gotcha.

BroadStreetBrewery said:

Great ideas and thoughts y'all. I guess my question now with all thos TC fittings talk is what is so bad about welded/threaded fittings? Isn't it boil to fermentation that is of the concern? Are TC fittings really needed on mash amd hlt?

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I read somewhere, perhaps more beer, who did a test and found that nasty critters could live through the hot side. Perhaps stuff stuck in ball valves just don't get hot enough to kill everything. So if you aren't tearing everything down after each brew you are invariably getting some crap in your finished product. If you drink your beer quickly that isn't an issue. However if you want to age your beer, it is. Likely you can get away with doing a deep cleaning before a big brew and all would be fine. However that is a lot of work compared to the relative ease if clean TC fittings, especially if you use brewers hardware quick clean ball valves. Another thought, is that it makes life easier to have one consistent fitting type in the brewery, especially where hoses are concerned. I know that my 1.5" TC hoses can be used from the water filter to the wort chiller and everything in between.

BadWolfBrewing said:

For me, I like to be able to remove the herms coil, sight glass, heating elements, etc... After each brew. Threaded would be a pain to do that. I did like cam locks for hose changes though. My TC preference had nothing to do with sanitation, just didn't like threaded fittings when building, modifying, cleaning.

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Seconded. TC are about as close as you can get to "plug and play" modules, 15 seconds to remove each component and, if you have everything else supported, nothing else has to be twisted or moved. It makes it extremely easy to clean at the end of the day.

Happy Blichmann owner here. No infections from the weldless fittings after 200+ batches. Nothing against TC, just haven't used them yet.

Bensiff said:

I read somewhere, perhaps more beer, who did a test and found that nasty critters could live through the hot side. Perhaps stuff stuck in ball valves just don't get hot enough to kill everything. So if you aren't tearing everything down after each brew you are invariably getting some crap in your finished product. If you drink your beer quickly that isn't an issue. However if you want to age your beer, it is. Likely you can get away with doing a deep cleaning before a big brew and all would be fine. However that is a lot of work compared to the relative ease if clean TC fittings, especially if you use brewers hardware quick clean ball valves. Another thought, is that it makes life easier to have one consistent fitting type in the brewery, especially where hoses are concerned. I know that my 1.5" TC hoses can be used from the water filter to the wort chiller and everything in between.

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Do you have a reference for this? I would think it extremely unlikely that an organism that survives boiling temperature would thrive at pitiching temperature in competition with a healthy yeast colony.

jeffmeh said:

Do you have a reference for this? I would think it extremely unlikely that an organism that survives boiling temperature would thrive at pitiching temperature in competition with a healthy yeast colony.

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I said I think it was more beer. It isn't things living through the boil its things getting stuck in the weldless fittings, threads, and ball valve pockets that are not necessarily subject to boiling. I personally have never had an infection with weldless fittings, but I have gotten lazy about cleaning and the crap that hides in the gasket and thread areas is pretty nasty when left to fester, certainly nothing I would want in my brew.