Brew kettle for all grain questions

Hi, I'm new here and I got to say this is the best home brewing forum that I've seen.

I'm planning to start AG brewing but I want to ask some questions about Brew kettles.

Ok, I was thinking of getting this:Bayou Classic 82 Quart Stainless Steel Stock Pot with lid

For 10 gallon brews. My only concern is wall thickness. I wonder if is ok to weld a ball valve to it? and if I do Will the kettle over some time of brewing and movement will it get cracks because seems to me that the steel is bit thin?. Or just simply go weld-less?.

I could get a thicker SS 80 qt stockpot (1.2mm). But the majority of the other stock pots are IMO too wide. Some of them are 20" by 16"h, 19.7" by 15.7"h. That's why I like the shape of the 82 qt Bayou pot (a little narrower) than the others. The Bayou pot is 18.75" by 17"h. Seems to me that the wider they are the bigger the evaporation rates?. A keg from Sabco could be good for the job but my main concern is boil overs that's why I want a 20 gallon pot.

Other option is an 80 qt aluminum kettle (a lot cheaper) with very thick walls but to weld a ball valve coupling will have to be made of aluminum? or SS ?. I thought I heard that if you use SS with Aluminum the aluminum will deteriorate?. Or again just go weld-less?.

If I could I'll just grab the 20 gallon Blichmann BUT that's a lot of $.

Thanks.

Welding a ball valve to the Bayou should be fine. Keggles are fairly thin also but have no problems.

If your OK with weldless an aluminum pot will save you some cash. Aluminum is a bit harder to weld (maybe not harder, but requires more expensive equipment).

dragon99 said:

Welding a ball valve to the Bayou should be fine. Keggles are fairly thin also but have no problems.

If your OK with weldless an aluminum pot will save you some cash. Aluminum is a bit harder to weld (maybe not harder, but requires more expensive equipment).

Click to expand...

I might get an aluminum pot and then later upgrade to SS I guess. Thank you.

to be honest I don't think there is any "upgrade" to SS unless you count shiny.

z987k said:

to be honest I don't think there is any "upgrade" to SS unless you count shiny.

Click to expand...

Well I was just thinking upgrade in the sense of going from a 80qt aluminum stock pot to a 20 gallon Blichmann brew kettle.

ok that's an upgrade

IMHO, go weldless. The thickness and issues involved in welding stainless just aren't worth it.

beerkrump said:

IMHO, go weldless. The thickness and issues involved in welding stainless just aren't worth it.

Click to expand...

The Blichmann kettles are weldless as well. That's a fairly hefty recommendation for weldless on stainless.

mmb said:

The Blichmann kettles are weldless as well. That's a fairly hefty recommendation for weldless on stainless.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I might even get the Blichmann brew pot strainer and adapt it to my converted stock pot.

Will that strainer work ok with the aluminum stock pot?.

Or will it be better if used with Bayou Classic 82 SS stock pot?.