AG brewing pot size

What is the best volume for a brew pot for making all grain 5 gallon batches? The one (and first) AG brew I made needed about 7 gallons total. Is it common for the volume to be much higher than that, or would purchasing a 7-8 gallon pot be perfect for any 5 gallon batch?

i have been doing just fine with an 8 gallon pot.

but i would love a 10!

Yeah, you can do it in an 8 gallon, but you'll be much happier/safer in a 10gal or larger.

I used a 7.5 gallon pot and always had boil overs. I had to throw a glass of ice water in just as it started to boil to keep all the hops from spilling out. I've since found an old 1/2 barrel Iv'e converted to a kettle and no more worries. I think you should use a 10 gal kettle minimum to achieve a good hot break on a 6 gallon boil

My first all grain was last weekend and I used an 8 gallon pot. It worked fine. I need a keggle for 10 gallon batches.

I get boilovers ALL the time with my 9 gallon pot. If you can swing it, get a 10gallon, or a converted keggle if you wanna be the coolest kid on your block

I consider my 10 gallon to be barely large enough for a 5 gallon batch. Gotta watch for boilovers all the time.

I have an 8 gallon and regret not getting a bigger pot. Get a bigger one if you can!

These guys have the best prices on aluminum stock pots I've been able to find. Shipping is $14 to my zip code for the items below.

40 Quart Aluminum Stock Pot - $45.50

Lid for 40 QT Aluminum Stock Pot - $9.10

Hope this helps.

I have an 8 gal pot, and am ballsy enough to get up to 7.2 gal of wort into it. The key is once the boil starts, lowering the heat and stirring the foam. Heat gets adjusted up and down depending on teh foam. Soon, I get my hot break and I'm golden from there. I don't add my boil hops until the hot break, and usually let it roll for at least 5 minutes before adding the first addition.

I just ordered a keggle for a little less than $200 including shipping. I probably could have found a better deal but I went with what was readilly available. 15 gallons will easily brew 10 gallon batches.

I'll be doing my first all grain this weekend in an 8 gallon pot. For dealing with the hot break, does anything work really well besides lowering the heat and a squirt bottle?

I'll be doing my first all grain this weekend in an 8 gallon pot. For dealing with the hot break, does anything work really well besides lowering the heat and a squirt bottle

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1. Fermcaps
2. An electric fan aimed at the surface of the boil
3. Vigorous stirring
4. Vigilance

I use a 15 gallon pot for 5.5 gallon batches. It's awesome. I found it online for about $70, delivered. No worries about boil overs, ever.

Would a 15 gallon kettle be large enough for 10 gallon batches?

marc06 said:

Would a 15 gallon kettle be large enough for 10 gallon batches?

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Yes, but it'd be close. Depends on how much wort you collect and your boil-off rate. For 5.5 gallons into the fermenter, I collect 7.2 gallons of wort. So I'd be pushing the edge with that pot for a 10-gallon batch.

Like a lot of people, I use a 7.5 gallon pot and wish I had a 10. One thing to consider also is that a 7.5 gallon pot really restricts what recipes you can do. If you have a recipe with more than say 10 or 11 lbs of grain. A pot that size simply isn't big enough and your efficiency will suffer substantially. If you keep your recipes less than 10lbs of grain then the 7.5 g may be fine as long as you watch it like a hawk.

As soon as it comes to a boil and when I do a hop addition, I just stand over it with a pair of oven mitts on ready to lift it off the burner when it tries to boil over. Usually for me, once the original hot break is done then I haven't had a threat of a boilover but that doesn't really mean anything because plenty have with more vigerous boil.

I have a 30 qt. and, yes, it sucks. I use my older 16 qt. for a HLT because it is etched nice for measurements. I would push boils to the rim in it too. I believe I will never have a big enough pot because I'll just fill it up anyway. I just need three hands for the spoon, spray bottle and regulator knob.

i know someone who uses a clip on fan aimed at his wort to prevent boil overs

he says it is also very good at reducing the volume of his wort

blacklab said:

I consider my 10 gallon to be barely large enough for a 5 gallon batch. Gotta watch for boilovers all the time.

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really???

Hagen said:

I have an 8 gal pot, and am ballsy enough to get up to 7.2 gal of wort into it. The key is once the boil starts, lowering the heat and stirring the foam. Heat gets adjusted up and down depending on teh foam. Soon, I get my hot break and I'm golden from there. I don't add my boil hops until the hot break, and usually let it roll for at least 5 minutes before adding the first addition.

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i use a 30qt and have put 28qt in it at the start, the keys are a spray bottle and a skimmer to remove the break material, i also believe this contributes to a clearer final beer

In my opinion, you will want a pot in the 10-15 gallon range. There enough going on during a brew day that a small pot will just add to...

+1 on converting over an old keg. 15.5 gallons will give you the freedom to brew 5 or 10 gallon batches with room to spare.

Rick

I think it depends on the shape of the pot, I have a 10 gallon and my initial hot break has to be watched carefully and the heat must be adjusted while stirring to avoid boil over with +7 gallons. After the hot break I don't have to watch it at all. My pot is 17" wide so a taller pot would be less problematic I think.

ChemE said:

These guys have the best prices on aluminum stock pots I've been able to find. Shipping is $14 to my zip code for the items below.

40 Quart Aluminum Stock Pot - $45.50

Lid for 40 QT Aluminum Stock Pot - $9.10

Hope this helps.

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I have one like this but went with the 60qt instead. Similar product though. Added a no-weld spigot to the bottom too. It's great for 5 gallon batches and will be great for 10 once I start doing those. Possible downside would be that a 15 gallon pot would be tough to use on a stove. I don't know if you use a burner or not, but for something that big you'd pretty much need to.