5 gal stockpot in beginners kit?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

eighteez

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
143
Reaction score
0
We've all seen the kits at midwest brewing supplies.

I'm assuming that the ingredients they give you there are for a batch that is equal to the 30 bottles they say you'll need... 2.8 gallons.

Yet all the recipe kits are saying they are for 5 gal batches. 54 bottles...

So.....

I need to scrap the 5 gal stainless steel pot in the kit and get a 7 gal dont I?

And 30 more bottles? (60 total)

Anything else that I'll need right away?

(here is the kit I am eyeballing - http://www.midwestsupplies.com/everything-a-carboy-complete-brewing-package-equipment-kit-2.html )
 
The kit comes with 2 cases of bottles. Case = 48 bottles @ 12 oz. = 4.5 Gallons.

I usually get 2 cases and a sixer out of my '5' gallon batches. So, you'll need to come up with 6 more bottles....(My bottles were all free, I just had to pay for the beer in them!!). As far as the pot goes, for doing extract brews you only need a pot that can boil around 3 gallons minimum. A 'full boil' (5 gallons) is better but not a necessity. A full boil will require a bigger pot, like 7-8 gallons or so. That kit looks fine for starters. Eventually you'll want to grow your brewery with a wort chiller and other items...but for a starter it's fine. You'll find that even if/when you progress to all grain or even kegging, you'll still use the items from the kit. I do love the quote at the bottom:

"Well, almost everything - You'll actually need about 6 more empty beer bottles. We figure if you'd have trouble emptying 6 beer bottles, you should consider a different hobby."
 
so when I buy kits that say they are for 5 gallons, a 5 gallon pot is enough? That doesnt sound right...
 
If doing extract batches you only boil about 3 gallons of wort then top off to make 5 gallons(has something to do with getting the most out of your hops I believe).
If doing a full boil then you need more than a 5 gallon pot due to the full "roiling" boil that is needed to help prevent boil overs.
If doing all-grain then you will end up with about 6 or 7 gallons of wort from the sparge that will boil down to about 5 or 5.5 gallons.
Just my humble opinion though.
 
ahhhh ha! You arent boiling all the water at once for extract batches...

That's what I was missing.

So if the goal is grain. A 9 gal kettle would serve me well. For extracts, the 5 gal will do.

Got it!
 
Well, you can boil all the water for an extract batch if you have the ability. I often do, but, when I don't want to haul out the propane burner and big kettle I revert back to my five gallon kettle on the stove top and it still makes pretty good beer.
 
This summer I scored a big (1 foot diameter, 4 feet tall) propane tank for free too. The hose coming off of it wont fit my grill but I'm sure there are adapters to make it work with whatever the turkey fryer uses....
 
In the few batches I've brewed (I'm a newb), each 5 gal batch has resulted in about 48 bottles. Some of the beer was lost in transferring from primary to secondary - trying to keep as much sediment out as possible.

This technique has worked well for me: Brew 3 gallons on the stove. When you start brewing, put a gallon jug of water in the fridge and a gallon in the freezer. When the boil is done, set the pot in an ice bath in the sink. This drops the temp down to about 90 deg in 10 minutes. Transfer the wort to the fermentation bucket and add the water you have in the fridge and freezer. This should get you to the proper ferm. temp in no time. Top up to 5 gal, then pitch your yeast.

I just picked up an aluminum 5 gal pot from a local restaurant supply store for about $65. It's pretty solid.
 
ahhhh ha! You arent boiling all the water at once for extract batches...

That's what I was missing.

So if the goal is grain. A 9 gal kettle would serve me well. For extracts, the 5 gal will do.

Got it!

Also, when you go to all grain having two kettles is handy (one to heat sparge water in while you collect wort in the boil kettle). So don't "scrap" the 5 gal, it will do as a HLT while the larger kettle from the turkey fryer will do for your boil.
 
great info. I was just now parting out the kit since I thought I didnt need the 5 gal.
 
Back
Top