Spigot or No Spigot??

Hey all.

I'm looking into getting a new brew pot that will eventually be used for my AG system. I'm thinking about splurging and getting a 13 to 15 gallon tank to handle 10 gallon brews.

The question is whether or not it is necessary to have a spigot attached to the bottom. My first inkling is yes, so I can use it as a HLT for fly sparging, but I'm not at that level yet.

I'm currently only brewing partial mash/partial boil in a four gallon brewpot.

Cheers,

Well, I use a 30 quart turkey fryer pot, and I'm hoping to upgrade it. Just today when I was brewing, I thought to myself, "Darn! I use I had a bulkhead fitting on this do I don't have to siphon or lift and pour." I'd get a hopstopper to filter the wort, and I'd be happy as could be. If you're brewing 10 gallons, a spigot would be great.

Is a 13 gal brewpot overkill for 5 gallons?? I don't know how quickly I'm going to jump up to 10 gallons, I enjoy variety in my homebrew.

I've been thinking of getting one myself. But I keep deciding not to since I have to move my kettle around a lot. I've been using a copper dip tube as a syphon instead. That said if I were buying a new kettle (or in my case I plan to make a keggle at some point) I would go for the bulkhead.

IndyPABrewGuy said:

Is a 13 gal brewpot overkill for 5 gallons?? I don't know how quickly I'm going to jump up to 10 gallons, I enjoy variety in my homebrew.

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It's definitely overkill unless you do some pretty large beers. But bigger is better and you'll not have to worry about boil overs at least. If you plan to increase you batch sizes later you may as well spend the money now or you'll end up having to buy another pot anyway.

bradsul said:

It's definitely overkill unless you do some pretty large beers. But bigger is better and you'll not have to worry about boil overs at least. If you plan to increase you batch sizes later you may as well spend the money now or you'll end up having to buy another pot anyway.

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That's kinda where I'm at. If I'm gonna do it, might as well go whole-hog.

AG here I come!!

A spigot is an extremely good idea on just about any brewing equipment. It cuts down on lifting accidents and injuries. But increases "left the spigot open" accidents and injuries.

david_42 said:

A spigot is an extremely good idea on just about any brewing equipment. It cuts down on lifting accidents and injuries. But increases "left the spigot open" accidents and injuries.

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Or the 'whack the spigot against something' that makes it leak until the kettle is empty without any way of stopping it.