Blichmann 15 Gallon Kettle

Just wondering if anyone out there has this kettle and what their thoughts are on it. It seems kinda pricey, but the quality looks good. Also, has anyone taken this kettle and moved the thermometer to another location to accommodate a 5 gallon boil? I'm looking at doing 5 gallon batches for the most part, but may occasionally do 10 gallon batches.

Think of how many brews you could do with the money you save by using a keg as a kettle. I know the bling is nice but a polished keggle is a thing of beauty as well.

I just got and brewed with the 15 gallon homebrewstuff.com kettle with ball valve and therm. It is a solid pot. I thought it would be something a little thinner and I was wrong. It is huge but a nice 10 gallon Canadian Ale was brewed, and it just getting done with fermentation. It looks like it will last forever and will open up the funds between the blichmann to get a plate chiller. All the best for your brews.

~Diz

Unless you just really need that bling factor...go with the Brewhemoth Penrose Kettle.

Money is not a huge issue for me (Not rich or anything). I'm looking for quality and functionality. The Blichmann kettles seem to be the way to go. Just wondering if anyone has one and what there thoughts are on it.

Has anyone modified a 15 gallon kettle thermometer to brew 5 gallons of beer?

the 15 is a tweener size. It's kinda tight for 10 gallon batches and a bit over sized for 5 gallons. Bichmann has a great chart on his site for what you can do with his kettles.

I notice a lot of people mention the bling factor when it comes to these kettles...

I received a 10-gal Blichmann for Christmas and I love it. It's a seriously high-quality piece of equipment and I'm always eager to brew with it. They are very easy to disassemble and clean too.

Sorry, I don't know about moving the thermometer. You may want to email Blichmann directly about this and ask them. I've seen their email address published somewhere here in the forums before.

I have 3 15 gallon Blichmanns. You will not be able to do 10 gallons of barley wine in the mash tun. You could do an 8 gallon recipe, I think the OG was around 1.120. Everything else will be fine for 10 gallon batches. I just brewed a 1.093 with no problem for a 10 gallon batch. For boil volume, depends how much pre boil you need. I fill my BK up to 12.5-13 gallons, as long as I watch it, I don't worry about a boil over.

As far as the thermometer placement for 5 gallon batches, it is a little bit of an annoyance. The HLT is too low for 5 gallon batches, the MLT is fine once the grain is in it. The BK, not a huge deal since you are just boiling. Just have an extra thermometer for 5 gallons.

The sight glass is the best feature, I think. The thermometers and ball valves are very nice as well. After purchasing the blichmann kettles, I decided that i am not a fan of weldless fittings. I do not have any problems with leaking or anything, I just would prefer welded fittings.

the pots are pretty thin, but I doubt there will be any problems with the pots breaking. The handles on the lid and the pots seem to be cheaply attached. I often carry the pots around with water and grain. There is warning that states not to do that, but so far I have not had any problems, but I worry every time. I did have a lid resting on the handle of the pot once, and I bumped the lid off. I picked the lid up by the handle and it came off. I contacted Blichmann and they sent me a new lid right away.

Customer service for Blichmann seems to be top notch. Every time I have had a question to e-mail, I get a response shortly after.

You could probably drill your own hole for the new placement of the thermometer yourself, for 5 gallon batches, and have a weldless plug for the hole you are not using. Having an external thermometer would be easier, but I understand why you would want the option of moving the thermometer for 5 gallon batches.

vio0633 said:

Just wondering if anyone out there has this kettle and what their thoughts are on it. It seems kinda pricey, but the quality looks good. Also, has anyone taken this kettle and moved the thermometer to another location to accommodate a 5 gallon boil? I'm looking at doing 5 gallon batches for the most part, but may occasionally do 10 gallon batches.

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May I suggest the 20 gal version. The upsides are a 10 gal batch (14 gal pre boil volume to the kettle) take the boil over chances to near zero and it's only $30 more. The down side is as stated, the temp probe location makes it useless for smaller batches but the kettle itself is fine for any sized batch.

rcrabb22 said:

May I suggest the 20 gal version. The upsides are a 10 gal batch (14 gal pre boil volume to the kettle) take the boil over chances to near zero and it's only $30 more. The down side is as stated, the temp probe location makes it useless for smaller batches but the kettle itself is fine for any sized batch.

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I fully agree. I brew 10 gallon batches in a 15 gallon pot (morebeer brewpot) and the pre-boil volume has the pot totally maxed out. Fermcap is a must have. A 20 gallon pot would be a much better fit.

maida7 said:

I fully agree. I brew 10 gallon batches in a 15 gallon pot (morebeer brewpot) and the pre-boil volume has the pot totally maxed out. Fermcap is a must have. A 20 gallon pot would be a much better fit.

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I upgraded to the Blichmann 20 gal from the same exact 15 gal morebeer kettle. It really makes a difference going from around 1.5" of head space preboil to 9 or 10 inches. I did need to modify my IC for the increased height.

I am converting the old kettle to an MLT.

rcrabb22 said:

I upgraded to the Blichmann 20 gal from the same exact 15 gal morebeer kettle. It really makes a difference going from around 1.5" of head space preboil to 9 or 10 inches. I did need to modify my IC for the increased height.

I am converting the old kettle to an MLT.

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Perhaps one day I will make the same upgrade. Right now I can't afford it and the 15 gallon is workable with the use of fermcap.

My 10 gallon batches are more like 12 gallon batches. I'm really shotting for 10 gallons of finished beer in the keg so I start with more wort to make up for losses to trub, dry hops, transfers, etc...

On 90 min boils the pre boil volume can exceed 15 gallons. I just hold some wort in a bucket and add it in during the boil. I've had that pot at a rolling boil with less then a half inch of head space.

I have a 15 gal Blichmann. I really like it. The false bottom works great, everything is great quality. I like how the site glass is protected with metal so there is no chance of breaking it. Overall I'm glad I bought it and would buy again. I mash in the Blichmann and boil in a keggle. I also have the Blichmann therminator. Another great piece of equipment. Couldn't imagine not having it.

vio0633 said:

Has anyone modified a 15 gallon kettle thermometer to brew 5 gallons of beer?

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I did my mashtun, it works fine, just buy the plug they sell, and drill carefully!!

Good pots, customer service is lacking.





I have the measurements in a post somewhere, I can dig them up if need be. I have the 15's, their a good in between size imo. I do mostly 6 gallon batches, with the occasional double.

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I dig those valves...

wildwest450 said:

I did my mashtun, it works fine, just buy the plug they sell, and drill carefully!!

Good pots, customer service is lacking.

I have the measurements in a post somewhere, I can dig them up if need be. I have the 15's, their a good in between size imo. I do mostly 6 gallon batches, with the occasional double.

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That would be awesome if you can pull that up for me man! I have searched on the forum and couldnt find anything.

I think 15 would be the way to go for both 10 and 5 gallon boils. You can always boil 8 or 9 gallons in the kettle and just top it off with water when it goes in the fermenter. This way you can get more headspace room!

I went 1 7/8" from center of hole to center of hole, I could have gone 2", but that's pushing it. PLEASE check these measurements on your setup before drilling. Also, be advised that your thermometer has to be tilted up for this to work, which all mine are anyway's. No problems opening or closing the ball valve either.


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