thinking of switching to 7.5 gal kettle...

I'm thinking of switching from a 5 gal kettle where I do 3-4 gallon boils and switching to a 7.5 gal kettle, in hopes of doing full boils. I'm sort of thinking out loud about the pros and cons, any advice is appreciated.

I do extract + steeping grain brews on my stove. I suspect some day I'll do some partial grain brews.

Will a full boil make a difference in the end product? Is it worth the trouble?
is 7.5 gal enough for a full boil? How much would I boil for a 5 gal batch to account for boil off - 6.5 gal?
How much time will it add to the time it takes to get the water boiling?
Will it add much time to the cool down (i use a wort chiller)?
Will I still be able to lift it off the stove and pour into fermenter, or will additional 2-ish gallons be enough weight to make this difficult?
Will my stove be able to handle a boil this big?


thanks.

Will a full boil make a difference in the end product? Is it worth the trouble?
Most will tell you yes, hop utilisation is better, malliard reactions will occur appropriately. Going to full boils is a definitely step in bettering your brews.

is 7.5 gal enough for a full boil? How much would I boil for a 5 gal batch to account for boil off - 6.5 gal?
7.5 is about the minimum. I use an 8 gal and it works just fine, you may need to use Fermcaps to prevent boil overs in the 7.5

How much time will it add to the time it takes to get the water, boiling?
That depends entirely on how you are boiling. A crappy electric stove just won't get it up to a boil. You'd need a heatstick, propane burner outside, or a good gas stove, some straddle the kettle over two gas burners

Will it add much time to the cool down (i use a wort chiller)?
I can cool a full boil down to pitching temp in 15-20 mins using my IC, sometimes faster if the tap water is cold, like right now.

Will I still be able to lift it off the stove and pour into fermenter, or will additional 2-ish gallons be enough weight to make this difficult?
I can lift mine, but I don't pour. I put a weldless spigot on it from Bargain Fittings and just open to drain.

Will my stove be able to handle a boil this big?
See above.

Gremlyn1 said:

How much time will it add to the time it takes to get the water, boiling?
That depends entirely on how you are boiling. A crappy electric stove just won't get it up to a boil. You'd need a heatstick, propane burner outside, or a good gas stove, some straddle the kettle over two gas burners

Click to expand...

maybe not always true... I have done full volume boils on a crappy electric stove. I used an aluminum pot. It was not a hard boil, but it worked until I got a keggle and moved outside. It is also possible to straddle 2 burners on an electric stove. It actually hellps distribute weight as well.

Some people also reccomend insulate with a fireproof insulation wrap for better reulsts on electric.

That is my direct experience with electric stoves. It can and will work in many situations. Other solutions maybe better, for sure.

Personally, I would suggest going the burner (i.e. turkey fryer) and a BIGGER pot. Being able to do bigger batches with a lesser risk of boilovers makes me happy. But always remember - go bigger than you think you need to. I bought a 10 gallon brew pot a while back, but while I can do 5 gallon batches easily, I CANT do 10 gallon batches.

If I could accomodate 10 gallon batches, I could still do 5 gallon ones if I wanted.

There are two things I would recommend in going to a bigger brew pot. One, go bigger than 7.5. You can always brew smaller batches in a bigger pot. You can brew bigger batches in a smaller pot. And second, go with a propane or natural gas burner. I purchased a few turkey fryers. They are great, they come with the burner, a good stand, and the hose and regulator all for about 50 bucks.

7.5 works great with the spigot, but you do have to pay extra attention to boil overs. I have a 7.5 keggle and I am looking to buy a larger keggle just so that I dont have to worry about boil overs.

Thanks everyone. Brewing outside is not an option for me, so whatever I do needs to work on my gas stove.

When I do 3-4 g boils it's sort of a rolling boil, not explosive. So maybe going bigger might not work for me...

Have you tried straddling 2 burners? Previously, with a 4 gallon boil, I could just barely get the wort up to 215 F. Straddling 2 burners, I got the temp up to 225 F in about 2/3 the time, and after that, one burner kept it at that temp up for the full boil.