is ball valve and thermometer worth the money

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monk420

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Getting started and try to decide what i want to get. My prob. I need a burner ketttle/pot, want to use a worth chiller, will like to do all grain at some point. So should i spend my money on a 32q bayou classic ss turkey fryer w burner, comes with a thermometer. Or should i get a 10g mega pot w a ball valve and thermometer built right in. Turkey fryer setup is about 100 cheaper. Not sure how much a mash tun out of a cooler and cpvc would run me i would think less than a 100 bucks and if i ever wanted to turn my mega pot in to a mash tun i need to get the false bottom at $90. I only want to do 5 g batches would like to do full boils. Would an 8 gallon pot handle that. also does a worth chiller add alot of volume to the pot. Sorry this is kinda all over the place but i guess my main question is does that ball valve and thermometer really worth spending the extra money pot alone is 132 with all goodies about 100 more. I am kinda on a buget but don't want to buy something now thats pretty expensive only to have go out and spend more on the same thing in 3 months. Want something that will grow with me. thanks sorry this is kinda long i say good day
 
Not knowing much about your brewing background, I would likely suggest the turkey fryer setup. Save yourself over $100. Brew on it until you decide you want to upgrade. I did my first 2 full boils in a turkey fryer before moving to a keggle with a weldless ball valve. Did about 25 batches on that before upgrading to bulkhead thermometers and craploads of welded couplings.

That's my 2 cents.
 
I am of the opinion, pay me now or pay more later. I have worked on projects in the past that I approached in steps where I made compromises in the beginning to learn and save money only to upgrade at a later time spending more money and have what I originally purchased sit on a shelf never to be used again. To me that was wasted money. My advice is to try to purchase something that may be useful as you progress. It is a expensive to purchase a beginners setup only to disgard it and purchase something new when your brewing advances to the next level.
 
You will see many, many different answers here, as there are infinete solutions and ways to brew. All of which 'work best' for each particular brewer.

I started with the turkey fryer kit - it got me brewing outside (SWMBO approved) and allowed for full boils. This is a great way to start!

When I decided to go all grain (it won't take long), I found a 10 gal pot at a restaurant supply house for a new boil kettle (thick, sturdy and cheap) and converted the cheapo turkey fryer pot into a hot liquor tank. With a cooler MT using a diy braid or a manifold, the upgrade to all grain was about $100.

Really, you should do what you think is best for you, what ever you choose, you will most likely continually modify , on a never ending quest to brew that perfect brew.

cheers,
jason

PS - pay attention to that Sawdust guy - he knows of what he speaks.
 
Haha, I posted when I first woke up, sorry. The Fryer would be fine as well, in that, you could always use that pot as an HLT when you do decide to switch to AG. I would prob go that route looking at the situation without sleep in my eyes. GL with the decision!
 
well i am currently waitin on a keggle on craiglist but i think i missed it, if the sale from another dude falls threw then i'm gonna go that route. If not then a turkey fryer it is. Is 32q big enough to do a full boil on a 5 g batch using a wort chiller. Thats what i would like to do but i think thats the biggest size pot that comes in a turkey fryer kit so i guess it will have to do either way
 
I am very new to this, and am kind of in the same boat as you. I am converting a 60 qt ice cube cooler to a MT with cpvc and bought a 42 qt turkey fryer. This will probably work fine for me for a while, but my intention is to eventually go with a keggle setup, but right now I am wanting to test the whole thing out on a simple relatively inexpensive setup and later I can spend a little extra to upgrade.

The 60 qt MLT conversion cost me about $40. Cooler was $22 at Walmart, and I got all the manifold and drain parts at Lowes.
 
Additionally, if you just want to go with a keggle, look around on ebay as well. I have found some pretty decent deals on kegs uncut, and some that are started an you might even find one that has all the couplers added for a decent price. It takes some searching but you can always find some deals.
 
We did full 5 gal boils in a 24 qt pot. No chiller so the 32 qt pot will be fine. :) If you want to go the keggle route, I have bought 2 1/2 bbl sankes for $25 and $20 respectively. The most expensive one was the 50L keg that we paid $30 for. Go figure. Check CL, and be patient, you will find some.
 
A 10 gallon megapot would be my choice. It's a little big for 5 gallon extract batches but you'd only need to add a cooler mashtun and you're ready for all grain. You really can't do all grain with 32 quarts.
 
The phrase "grow with me" tells you everything.

Get a 60 (or 80) quart pot: aluminum or SST it really makes no difference.
60 quarts because before you know it, you are going to be brewing ten gallon batches. That will happen very quickly.

If you go aluminum try to find one that is 1 gauge or as close to it as you can.
It'll last you till you die and your grand kids will fight over it.

If you go SST don't get less than 18/10 gauge and try to get 304 SSt not 316 because 304 has more chrome in it and the chrome is what makes SST Stainless.

Valve. Well it matter not a rat's fart in the wind because you can always drill a hole put in a nice weldless fitting and attach the valve of your choice later on down the road.

You really don't need a valve on a BK.

The valve becomes useful when you start pumping using a pump like the march or the LG.
So until you get to it you can use a siphon.
The best siphons I've used are the SST racking canes and there there is a really slick gadget I picked up at Lowes and have been using regularly. It's a blue poly tube with a copper fitting on one end and inside that is trapped a little marble. Stick that end in the liquid to be pumped and shake it up and down and VIOLA you got a nice siphon going.
It was like 6 bucks.

If you want to go all grain then don't screw around and just do it.
There's no reason not to.
It's not all that complicated.

Take a long hard look at PET Carboys for fermenting. They are sold under the trade name "better bottles."
They are thicker than soda bottles and probably as oxygen permeation resistant as you can possibly want.
All the studies discussing oxygen permeation of PET are done on soda bottle thickness PET and not the two or three times that thickness in a carboy. Reason I say go PET is they are oodles cheaper and easier to handle and won't break while you are washing them and then the heavy as hell and sharper than razors carboy halves won't slice through the muscles and tendons of your wrist or arm ( it happens), because you won't have glass to break.
 
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