Need a Brew Pot - can really use some advice

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Rev2010

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My houseware pots are too small so I need a real brew pot. I don't mind spending a decent amount of money, but am not sure if I need to or not. I'm still doing extract brewing since I'm still new, only three brews in so far, but know I would like:

1. A pot that has some visual indicator of the amount of gallons in the pot
2. An easy way to pour or drain the wort into my primary
3. Temperature reading. I have a 12" lab thermometer that I've been using fine, so I guess it's optional but would be nice to have one set on the pot.

I see some of these pots with ball valves which I'm guessing is exactly for draining the pot? Anyhow, some day I plan to progress to all grain, but I don't plan that for some time, want to get all these basics downpacked first. Any advice on what type of pot to get? All my batches will be 5 gallons primarily with nothing larger than 6 gallon batches. Sorry to have to ask this and thanks to anyone that can lend some direction.


Rev.
 
Here is the one I purchased locally.

http://amzn.to/ejpIw4

It has the quart amounts pressed into the metal so you can see the numbers from inside and out. No special way to transfer, I pour the wort into the carboy with a large funnel and take a temp with a standard cooking thermometer. Works great for extract and from what I'm told 30qt is large enough for all grain in the future.
 
Blichmann Boilermaker is a really good choice.

I used to brew w/a 10gal Megapot brand kettle, and it worked well too. Both have the stainless ball valve, although the Blichmann is 3 piece, so it's easy to disassemble and clean. The Megapots kettle didn't have a thermometer, or gauge built in.

I still end up using my Thermapen to measure temps, even w/the built in thermometer.

And yeah you'll connect a hose from the end of the ball valve and put the other end in the carboy. Open the valve and it'll drain down into the carboy. Just elevate the kettle above the carboy.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I used a turkey frier! It comes with everything, just make sure you get a good stainless one.
 
Ideally you want to make 6 gallon batches if you want to end up with 5. You'll lose half a gallon in the kettle by leaving the gunk behind in the bottom, and you'll lose half a gallon kegging/bottling by leaving the yeast cake behind. So to end up w/5 gal you should make a 6 gal batch.

If your boiloff rate is 1.5gal/hr, and you do a 6 gal batch, you'll need 7.5 gal in the kettle to start, or exactly 30quarts. This obviously leaves you no room to boil. Even if you only boiled off 1gal/hr you're cutting it too close, it will boil over every time. What if you do a 90 min boil? You're gonna need 8 gallons or so in the pot.

So for these reasons I'm always recommending 10gal (40q) kettles to anyone doing 5 gal batches.
 
My houseware pots are too small so I need a real brew pot. I don't mind spending a decent amount of money, but am not sure if I need to or not. I'm still doing extract brewing since I'm still new, only three brews in so far, but know I would like:

1. A pot that has some visual indicator of the amount of gallons in the pot
2. An easy way to pour or drain the wort into my primary
3. Temperature reading. I have a 12" lab thermometer that I've been using fine, so I guess it's optional but would be nice to have one set on the pot.

I see some of these pots with ball valves which I'm guessing is exactly for draining the pot? Anyhow, some day I plan to progress to all grain, but I don't plan that for some time, want to get all these basics downpacked first. Any advice on what type of pot to get? All my batches will be 5 gallons primarily with nothing larger than 6 gallon batches. Sorry to have to ask this and thanks to anyone that can lend some direction.



Rev.

if you don't mind spending a little coin, the megapots are on the lower end of the price scale as far as pots with a ball valve and thermometer. for 5 and 6 gallon batches I'd go with a 10 gallon pot but another thing to consider is your heat source. if your using propain outside, go big cause sooner or later you'll wish you got a bigger kettle
 
Build a keggle. I wish I had gone that route. Fairly cheap and a fun build. Everything you need to know can be found around here. Just need to find a keg to cut.
 
I got a 50 qt turkey frier and it has the stainless spicket, all covers and burner. I'm new to this but from what I've seen it measures up and works great so far. paid under $100.
 
This is what I recomend:

Get an 8-10 gallon pot with a ball valve and a thermometer built in. A sight guage is also nice but you can easily make a stick with markings on it that tells you how much volume is in the pot. Kinda like a dip stick. Also, I recommend stainless steel. Aluminum will work and it's cheaper but it's more difficult to keep clean.

For stainless pots the Blichmann are top notch. If you have plenty of money get the Blichmann and enjoy it. Morebeer & northern brewer are just a step down but also excellent pots that could last a lifetime. If your really tight on money get a turkey fryer pot. They are thin and flimsy but they will do the job just fine. You can add a weldless spigot and/or thermometer to just about any pot.

DON'T get any pot less then 7.5 gallons. That's the bare minimum size for 5 gallon batches.

Once you have a big pot you will immediately want a propane burner and a copper immersion chiller. So save some money for those.
 
So for these reasons I'm always recommending 10gal (40q) kettles to anyone doing 5 gal batches
10 gals. at the least! There may be times when you are boiling an all-grain batch down from 8 gal. and a 10 gal. pot will still need to be watched closely. You should get a larger one if you have the option. Mine is a 60 qt. and I think it is about perfect and was less than $50 from Sam's Club.
 
Money isn't a problem, though I don't want to go past $400 at this stage. I saw some Blichmann's in the mid $300 range. So I'm thinking it's best to think with the future in mind and go with one then. I'm b brewing on the stovetop, no outside burner stuff yet. I'll make sure to go larger, I wonder if I'll need a step stool to brew with these pot heights LOL.


Rev.
 
10 gals. at the least! There may be times when you are boiling an all-grain batch down from 8 gal. and a 10 gal. pot will still need to be watched closely. You should get a larger one if you have the option. Mine is a 60 qt. and I think it is about perfect and was less than $50 from Sam's Club.

10 Gallons is more then enough for 5 gallon batches. Even with 8 gallons in the pot you have plenty of space. If your having problems with boil overs turn down the heat. If you pot is filled to the brim try some fermcap. That stuff is magic.

I do 11 gallon batches in a 15 gallon pot. Starting the boil I have 14 gallons in the pot. A few drops of fermcap and I really don't worry about boil overs.

When I did 5 gallon batches I used an 8 gallon pot and that worked fine with no fermcap needed.
 
Money isn't a problem, though I don't want to go past $400 at this stage. I saw some Blichmann's in the mid $300 range. So I'm thinking it's best to think with the future in mind and go with one then. I'm b brewing on the stovetop, no outside burner stuff yet. I'll make sure to go larger, I wonder if I'll need a step stool to brew with these pot heights LOL.


Rev.

I wouldn't bother upgrading the pot without upgrading the burner at the same time. What's the point in doing a full boil if you can't get 7 gallons to boil?
 
I wouldn't bother upgrading the pot without upgrading the burner at the same time. What's the point in doing a full boil if you can't get 7 gallons to boil?

absolutely

get the northern brewer 10 gallon megapot for 230.00
get an immersion chiller for 60.00
and get a sq14 burner from bayou classic for 60.00

That's under your 400.00 budget and you will have a very high quality set up.
 
10 Gallons is more then enough for 5 gallon batches. Even with 8 gallons in the pot you have plenty of space. If your having problems with boil overs turn down the heat. If you pot is filled to the brim try some fermcap. That stuff is magic.

I would agree that 10 is enough but it seems that even though you think you have enough room, sometimes you get caught off guard and learn the hard way. I was just saying you need to watch it more closely.
 
I wouldn't bother upgrading the pot without upgrading the burner at the same time. What's the point in doing a full boil if you can't get 7 gallons to boil?

So I don't have any options if I'm gonna keep it stove top? So many pictures in books and videos I see are of brewing on the stove top. I know it does take forever to start the boil but this winter has been pretty bad in my area for me to even want to consider brewing outside.


Rev.
 
You might find that your stove just isn't able to do full boil batches. If that is the case, dropping 300 bucks on a pot just to find out you can't use it as intended would be a real bummer. If sticking to the Stove Top for the winter I would continue to do partial boils and invest in a chiller at the moment.

Brewing outside isn't all that bad especially when you have a 60-100k propane burner blazing away.
 
So I don't have any options if I'm gonna keep it stove top? So many pictures in books and videos I see are of brewing on the stove top. I know it does take forever to start the boil but this winter has been pretty bad in my area for me to even want to consider brewing outside.


Rev.

you can do full boils on the stove top. It just takes forever. You may want to look into getting a heat stick
 
OK, but wait... I mentioned I'm still doing extract. Right now I've not had any recipe asking for a full boil. The NB Amber Ale I did from NB had me add 2.5 gallons of water along with the ingredients. Do most other extract recipes call for a full boil? The ones I've looked at so far seem like a half boil and cool water top off. Sorry for my noobness here :eek:


Rev.
 
Brewing outside isn't all that bad especially when you have a 60-100k propane burner blazing away

+1 on this. I'm expecting a heat wave up to 32 this weekend and I can't wait fire up the burner!
 
Full boil is always better even with extract brews. Doing a full boil is the only reason that I could see why anyone would get a 10 gallon pot. If you plan on doing Partial boils than just get a 5 gallon pot and install a weldless ball valve on it and use a marked wooden spoon for volume. If and when you do upgrade, you can use that ball valve and get a sight glass.
 
Have you looked into BrewInaBag method? (BIAB)?

You might want to think about going that route and seeing what others are using for their equipment. That type of set up would work with Extract, Partial Mash and AG brews.
 
So I don't have any options if I'm gonna keep it stove top? So many pictures in books and videos I see are of brewing on the stove top. I know it does take forever to start the boil but this winter has been pretty bad in my area for me to even want to consider brewing outside.


Rev.

Who says you always have to boil 7 gallons to make beer? I just made 3 batches on my stovetop in a 5 gallon kettle but I made a 2 1/2 gallon batch instead of 5. The 5 gallon kettle works fine for that size batch.
 
Who says you always have to boil 7 gallons to make beer? I just made 3 batches on my stovetop in a 5 gallon kettle but I made a 2 1/2 gallon batch instead of 5. The 5 gallon kettle works fine for that size batch.

:confused: Heh, I didn't say that.


Rev.
 
Are those pot thermometers accurate at all? Do a search here for a thermometer thread, I don't think any coil style thermometers are listed as being accurate.
 
I started with a turkey fryer pot but later moved to a large aluminum stock pot form here:

http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/

They have SS pots too. I found their prices to be some of the best, at least for aluminum. With that, I'm going to bail on this thread before I get flamed for using aluminum over SS. :p
 
If you're not sure what you wanna do next, check out discount stores and craigslist. I got a 5 gallon stainless steel pot for $6 at an Ollies (sorta a second hand store). If had a small dent in it, a similar pot at my lhbs was over $40.
 
absolutely

get the northern brewer 10 gallon megapot for 230.00
get an immersion chiller for 60.00
and get a sq14 burner from bayou classic for 60.00

That's under your 400.00 budget and you will have a very high quality set up.

That's EXACTLY how I started, I I've brewed 35+ batches on it w/o a hitch. Great starting setup, can last forever.
 
Oh and def get a bayou burner! Stovetop boiling 7-8gal... no thanks! Bayou burners are cheap and work awesome.
 
As you can see, everyone has their own opinion on this, so ill give you mine.

I just recently went from extract to all grain and I use a 7.5 gallon SS Turkey fryer. It is the smallest you would want for a full boil. It is filled to the brim every time I brew (and I do have boil overs). I use a sanitized siphon to get the beer out because I don't know if I want to install a ball valve and then upgrade to a better pot soon after.

You can do full boils (especially with extract). All you do is ignore the recipe instructions for how much water to use and do about 6 gallons instead of 2.5. You will need to figure out your boil off rate to see how much you should start with, but after 1 or 2 batches you should be able to figure that out pretty easily. I did see an increase in the quality of my beer once I started doing full boils with extract, but I wont beat that horse to death again...
 
I just purchased my Blichmann 10gal pot today. Can't wait. I do allgrain full boils on a propane burner though.
 
I'm still doing extract brewing since I'm still new, only three brews in so far,

You're still doing extract because you want to, not because you're new.
I just started brewing myself and my first brew was all-grain.
 
As someone who has been brewing for a few yeas now, it is fun to look back to when I first started, using the stove to do partial boils, and then dreaming of doing the full boil, as it was the next "big" step. After that it was going to all grain to save money (since doing extract was really no more cost effective than just going to the store and picking up a good craft brew) and thats where I thought I would stop. Wrong... I then began to get frustrated spending my day-off brewing only 5 gallons at a time. In order to keep the pipeline going you really need to brew 10+ gallon batches or you end up brewing every week. That is, of course, if you plan to drink your own beer like 90% of the time and/or to save money.

My current setup consists of a 15gal pot, a 7.5gal, and 2-5gal pots. The 7.5 goes into service as a Mash Tun on 10+ gallon batches, and I can only brew using up to 17lbs of grain (at that point the mash gets very thin and efficiency suffers by dropping into the 60-65% range).

In my opinion, if you want to future proof your brewing plans, it is best to get, at the very least a 15gal pot for your kettle, and an 8-10gal for your mash tun. You reach a certain point where 5 gallon batches are just not enough anymore. Why? Because, once you start kegging (you will, I was a "bottle every batch" brewer until I had bottled over 1000 bottles by hand and got fed up with it.) and you realize that instead of spending an hour and a half bottling 50 beers which will be gone in the course of a few weeks if your friends come by once, you can spend 20 minutes kegging your beer and forget about it, and get on with other chores. Speaking of which, I have an Irish stout to keg. I'll be back before 9PM Eastern time posting, thats 26 minutes away. :D

Hope this is of some help to those brewers who plan on looking toward whats best for the future of their brewing.
 
Have you checked your local home brew store? They may have some inexpensive triple bottom pots they have added a non-welded ball valve to. You can use a stir paddle or spoon to check the level. Or maybe add a Weldless/site/thermometer

4EZST240_installed.jpg
 
You're still doing extract because you want to, not because you're new.
I just started brewing myself and my first brew was all-grain.

Nah I didn't mean it as a finite definite that one needs to start with extract. I'm starting with extract because I personally like to take things in steps and honestly because I feel it's wisest for me at this point. I live in the first floor of a house and am also an active musician with a full music room (guitars, amps, synths, electronic drumkit, computers... you get the point. I also have a Meade SCT scope sitting in my wife's room cause I have no where else to put it. I'm an autodidact with lot's of interests and hobbies. Thinking of starting with all grain and dealing with larger quantities of grain, bigger setups, etc is just out of the question at the moment. Not to mention the wife got me started on this with the Cooper's kit for a Christmas present.

So, I want to throttle this for sure. However, I do see a bunch of potential doing extract based brewing with grain steeping and I can do it all right now even with the beginning stuff I have. I did two Cooper's can based kits - the included one which I did fully by their instructions and their wheat to which I skipped the dextrose and added 2lb of Wheat DME and Wyeast 3068. The next day I did the NB Amber Ale kit and now plan to do a wheat and pilsner by myself (meaning making up then recipe).

So please don't misinterpret my wording, definitely was not my intention to give the impression I think everyone should start with extract :mug:


Rev.
 
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