B3 Heavy Duty vs. Boilermaker

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B3 or Blingmann

  • Blichmann 15g

  • MoreBeer 15g HLT setup


Results are only viewable after voting.

Boerderij_Kabouter

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So I am working very slowly toward my rig build. My design is detailed in the link in my sig. I have been researching kettles because I decided if I am waiting a few years to collect everything for my nice system, I may as well have nice kettles and sell off my keggle system. Kettles look nicer IMHO.

Anyway, please let me know your opinion between these two kettles:

B3's heavy duty line with welded in fittings for sight-glass, thermo, and ball valve.

phpThumb.php

# 10 Year Warranty from MoreBeer!
# Food Grade Stainless Steel with brushed finish will stay good looking for years
# Extra thick. 1.2 mm thick sidewall and a 5mm thick bottom!
# Includes stainless lid and handles
# 14" H x 18" D

or

The BoilerMaker with weldless ball valve, sight-glass, and thermo.

20gal_BoilerMaker.JPG



The B3 kettle is cheaper by ~$10 so cost is not an issue and the false bottoms are also comparable in cost.

The way I see it...

1. B3 has a higher quality kettle with the thicker walls and sandwiched Al base. However, that isn't really necessary with brewing.

2. The BoilerMaker has the tiltable thermo which is nice. However, the thermo that comes on the B3 is really nice and that is an easy upgrade down the road.

3. The BoilerMaker is weldless, whereas the B3 has welded fittings. I think I want welded but would be happy to hear from BoilerMaker owners about the fittings.

4. The Blichmann false bottom seems nice, but my regular perforated FB works just great.

5. The sight-glass design on the BM looks really nice, and I haven't held a B3 version.

Please vote and give a short description of why. I know the Blingmann image is nice, but both kettles will be equally beautiful IMO so please don't count that in your criteria. Also, please don't tell me to stick with the keggles, that's not the route I am taking. Thanks

Which is better?????:tank:
 
I recently made a similar decision and went with the B3 pot. It is seriously heavy duty, and I love it. IMO the Blichman pots are just so nice I would be afraid of dingng them.
 
To me, the B3 just seems well made. Plus I have always been very pleased with the customer service. That goes a long way with me.
 
to me the Blichman is much nicer the site glass is better and better protected , the tiltable thermo is cool and the 3 pc stainless ball valve on the Blichman comes apart for easy clean and that ball value vs the b3 is more than 10 bucks right there
 
Are there any other BoilerMaker or B3 owners who would care to comment? Anything you specifically like/dislike?

Do you have an opinion on which features are more important?

How are the weldless fittings? I am skeptical of those...
 
I've got a tri-Blingman setup. 20g bk, 15g MLT and HLT and I couldn't be happier with them with one exception. The weldless fitting. I'm running a modified version of Brutus 10 and came to the early conclusion that I need to run my temp probe for my MLT into the grain bed, not the outflow. The problem is that the hole drilled for the weldless therm is too small for a standard thermowell, so I'm going to need to get a 1/2" coupling welded in.

Still - other than that I've got to say you really can't go wrong with the Blingmans. I've had no problems at all with them and they're super easy to pull apart and clean. And the false bottom works like a dream. I recirculate throughout the mash and haven't had any problems. The spando-flexo thermemoter face is also a very underrated add on...

I haven't seen the B3s in person, but it looks like its difficult to go wrong here. Still, I'd recommend the Blichman's if the difference is only $10.
 
Ooohhh-- I forgot to ask about that! How does the pickup work? Can I replace it with a longer tube and angle it and whatnot? I use those as returns for whirlpooling so the have to be angled just right.
 
Ed, I was talking about adding length to the pickup and angling it, like this:

Brouwerij_der_Boerderij_Kabouter_9.png


Can I replace the dip tube with a custom one? Or is that thing a single piece that has to stay that way?
 
You could pretty easily modify the pickup tube so long as you're not using the false bottom. Actually, you could probably modify it with the false bottom as well if you get creative. You might have to cut it, though. Its pretty efficiently close to the bottom and there isn't much clearance there. Works awesome with a march pump and leaves very little in the kettle.

The pickup tube pulls straight out. If you look at the picture, the collar around the port secures it in place. You loosen a bolt on the collar and just pull it free. It goes about 2-3" into the valve assembly and there's about an inch more metal on port-side of the pickup tube bend, if it helps you visualize. Real easy and works well. I've even stopped tightening the collar.

I've got the boil screen as well. I never really had a problem except when using fistfull after fistfull of pellet hops. I went back to using hop bags and have no problems with whole hops either. The boil screen also comes apart without tools and a garden hose spray nozzle makes short work of cleaning out the screen.
 
I like the Blichmann, but the MoreBeer setup is functionally the same. I know the MoreBeer is significanly cheaper so if cost is an issue, I would go that way. OTOH, if you have the extra money to spend on the Blichmann why not go for a bigger kettle from MoreBeer?
 
If money were no problem and it was falling out of my pockets I would go for a Blichmann system. Since i'm not rich my common sense prevents me from purchasing any brand posted on this thread. I'll build my own with my Tig, Mig, Plasma, Lathe and Bridgeport mill when the time is ready.
Enjoy your purchase which ever brand you pick.
 
If money were no problem and it was falling out of my pockets I would go for a Blichmann system. Since i'm not rich my common sense prevents me from purchasing any brand posted on this thread. I'll build my own with my Tig, Mig, Plasma, Lathe and Bridgeport mill when the time is ready.
Enjoy your purchase which ever brand you pick.

That is what I thought as well... When it comes time for your build it will be worth your time to look up the costs. Factoring in all the things that are on them (all features I want) these kettles will cost me about $20 over cost. Well worth 0 work IMO.

:mug:
 
The one question I have is the MoreBeer kettle is 18" in diameter or 254 sq/in of open boil surface area that would increase your boil off rate vs a 12" diameter of a keggle for 113 sq/in of open boil surface area.
I didn't locate the diameter of the Blichman kettle which looks smaller in diameter but taller for the same 15 gallon size. Just by that open boil surface area alone I would rather have a Blichmann over a MoreBeer unit. I'm thinking what extra volume you must start with to the whole brewing process to get the net volume you want in your corny kegs if your using them. After spillage and any other problems I still like to have both corny's filled to the max when done not 1 and 3/4 filled corny's. Shop around, out of state no sales tax, shipping price differences you may save some money for other brewing items like a March pump. Post what you purchase later. It's a different feeling when you have some extra money and can shop vs tight on the money and can only look and dream.
Cheers to you.
 
If I'm looking at ten gallon batches, with the occasional five gallon batch, I think the 20 gallon Blichmann would be the best. The B3 kettles go from 15 gallon (too small for a 10 gallon batch, which usually starts at 14 gallons preboil for me) right to a 26 gallon kettle. Do you think the 26 gallon is too big, especially if I'm doing five? I wish B3 made a 20 gallon.
 
In another thread, started by member Kal, he contacted John Blichmann and it turns out that the thermometer will be above the wort for a 5g batch int he 20g BoilerMaker. You must be doing some very long boils to boil off 4g... you could look into some fermcap-S to solve your space issues.

26g will be a bit ridiculously over-sized for 5g batches.
 
If I'm looking at ten gallon batches, with the occasional five gallon batch, I think the 20 gallon Blichmann would be the best. The B3 kettles go from 15 gallon (too small for a 10 gallon batch, which usually starts at 14 gallons preboil for me) right to a 26 gallon kettle. Do you think the 26 gallon is too big, especially if I'm doing five? I wish B3 made a 20 gallon.

Seriously? 4 Gallons of evaporative boil off? Are you in the dessert or are you boiling for 2 hours?
 
B3 kettles do not come with the ball valve. 1 piece vs. 3 piece can then be a personal choice.

I wish the diverter for the MT that B3 offers would bend 90 degrees at the end like Blingmann instead of 45 degrees. You can get more wort out of the kettle with a 90 degree bend that reaches closer to the bottom. Not too big of a deal though and actually B3 diverters are cool because if you do not like the length and bend angle of the copper tube you can replace them with your own with 3/8" copper tubing as the stainless fitting is a compression fitting and tubes swap right out in a snap. I would think twice about messing with purdy stainless dip tube on the Blingmann.

I like the dimensions of the B3. 15" height is nicer on a 3 tier setup which I have.
 
The one question I have is the MoreBeer kettle is 18" in diameter or 254 sq/in of open boil surface area that would increase your boil off rate vs a 12" diameter of a keggle for 113 sq/in of open boil surface area.
I didn't locate the diameter of the Blichman kettle which looks smaller in diameter but taller for the same 15 gallon size. Just by that open boil surface area alone I would rather have a Blichmann over a MoreBeer unit. I'm thinking what extra volume you must start with to the whole brewing process to get the net volume you want in your corny kegs if your using them. After spillage and any other problems I still like to have both corny's filled to the max when done not 1 and 3/4 filled corny's. Shop around, out of state no sales tax, shipping price differences you may save some money for other brewing items like a March pump. Post what you purchase later. It's a different feeling when you have some extra money and can shop vs tight on the money and can only look and dream.
Cheers to you.

My 20 gallon Blingmann has an 18" diameter.
 
You can not hang your lid on the side handles of a B3 kettle. I believe you can do this on the Blingmann. Might seem like an insignificant feature to some, might not to others...
 
You can not hang your lid on the side handles of a B3 kettle. I believe you can do this on the Blingmann. Might seem like an insignificant feature to some, might not to others...

That comes in handy, but remember to use a gloved hand to grab it if it's hanging there and you have been boiling for 90 minutes.
 
My BE315 kettle came UPS yesterday and I'm so happy! I lucked out and ordered during the black friday sale and got 30% off the normal price. For $170, I got a very heavy duty stainless steel 15 gallon brew kettle, 2 welded threaded ports (welds are very nice looking), a stainless plug for the top port, a stainless threaded section (don't know what that's for yet), a one piece stainless ball valve, 1/2" & 3/8" stainless hose barbs (they added about $5 a piece but is included in the $170 price) and everything was shipped to my house free of charge.

I was saving my $$$ for a 15 gallon Blichmann, but for a savings of approximately $230, I'll gladly notch my brew spoon (instead of using the nice Blichmann sightglass) and take temperature readings using a digital thermometer probe. The top port where the Blichmann thermometers are located aren't even in the wort unless you have at least 6.5 gallons in the kettle, which to me seems pretty useless since I'm doing mostly 5 gallon batches.

So far I'm very happy with my decision, but I haven't actually tested it yet. The only dissapointment is that the box had "Made in China" written all over it. The Blichmann's are made in the USA...
 
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