Predicament

So I bought my equipment to make my mash tun to do my first all-grain kit. I have done a Malt extract kit. My brew pot is only about 22qt's (not large enough for a full 5 gallon boil (not safe w/ boil-over etc).

With malt extract kits i can just add the extra water later before fermentation.
However with all-grain, I'm sure ALL of the wort needs to be boiled w/ the hop additions. With a smaller brewpot, is there any way I can brew all-grain with decent/good results...?

If not, I'd love to know where I can get a large brewpot for less than $150 - $250...
Thanks So much.

It's not the best method, but you can up your grain by 25-50% to take into account for the smaller boil. So, if you were making a 1.050 SG beer for 5 gallons, if you were boiling in 3/4 of that volume, you could formulate your beer for 1.075 SG, then top off with water. Just make sure you change your hop utilization.

You can get a keggle for less than that, OR do a half batch! If you are AG brewing you have to get all of that wort into the kettle... and if you do not, it will have affects on your hop utilization etc... get a keggle, look at pedalbiker on ebay... good luck!

At the very least get a larget turkey fryer kettle, 32 qts is not uncommon and they are CHEAP

Wow, thanks for the fast replies. I am still new to brewing, so obviously, the easier I make things for myself, the better.

When I was getting started, I read that you really should stick to Stainless steel for brewing, and not use aluminum. All of the turkey friers I found were all aluminum (yet very cheap - i did see that!) sorry, what is a keggle??

Aluminum is fine... 50% of brewers use it, there are no issues. A keggle is a KEG that simply has a ball valve conversion so that you can drain it.

jmmarvel said:

.......If not, I'd love to know where I can get a large brewpot for less than $150 - $250...
Thanks So much.

Click to expand...

Check the megapots at Northern Brewer. They are pretty nice.
http://northernbrewer.com/kettles.html

Seeing as how some sites frown upon posting about other sites, can somebody Pm me as to the whereabouts of a place to get a cheap keggle/brewpot?
much obliged
justin

$150-$250?! you can get a lot of pot for that kind of cash; and quality pot too! in all seriousness, the standard size for 5g AG is about 8g. i think a lot of people have 7.5g kettles just because of brand/style. i have a 15g megapot from northern brewer. $160 for just the kettle, $212 with SS valve. i wouldn't recommend the brewmometer option unless you wanted to mash in it. my LHBS sells converted kegs with 2 fittings welded in for $140, and the SS valves are about $20. if you don't want to bother with the added capacity to do larger batches then an 8 gallon mega pot with valve is $140.

You can go almost anywhere for that sort of cash. Ebay has them, pedalbiker is the seller... or northern brewer.com

A buddy of mine sold me a keggle for $25, so I got lucky, beore that I brewed for 2 years in a 32qt alum. pot

jmmarvel said:

Seeing as how some sites frown upon posting about other sites, can somebody Pm me as to the whereabouts of a place to get a cheap keggle/brewpot?
much obliged
justin

Click to expand...

i'm not sure what you mean, but people here often make recommendations about a certain store, and post links. this site doesn't sell anything, and isn't affiliated with any store, so it's not a problem. in fact, i think there is a sticky around here somewhere with links to all the online stores. you could probably tell from my previous post that i'm megapot fan. you can get those at northernbrewer.com. morebeer, austin homebrew supply, williams brewing. all will have similar products at similar prices.

Just google stock pots. I got a 10 gal. aluminum with a lid for $70 delivered. I have done 11 AG and have never gotten a metal taste. Just keep the pot clean! I only use a little soap and a scotch bright pad to clean and rinse realy good to get rid of soap.

I use an aluminum turkey fryer pot. Remember, if you use a great big pot, your stove probably won't be able to bring 6.5 gallons of wort to a boil anyway so you may need to buy a propane burner and boil outside. I'm one of the few that can boil on my kitchen stove.

You can also use two smaller pots, and split the boil and then combine them in the fermenter. That's what I did until I bought the turkey fryer.

Also, keep in mind that after you boil your wort, you need a way to cool it quickly. It's not safe to carry five gallons of boiling wort to your sink to try to chill it. You reallly need a wort chiller or someway to do the speedy cooling in the pot.

plumber said:

Just google stock pots. I got a 10 gal. aluminum with a lid for $70 delivered. I have done 11 AG and have never gotten a metal taste. Just keep the pot clean! I only use a little soap and a scotch bright pad to clean and rinse realy good to get rid of soap.

Click to expand...

Keep in mind that you want the aluminum to be passified, so dont clean it shiny clean. It should have a dull gray look to it where the wort or water has actually boiled in it. If it is shiny clean, it may not taste metallic, but you are allowing the aluminum to leech into your wort. The gray film basically acts as a barrier between metal and wort...

There's no problem with posting links to help other brewers.

stupid question. so until there is a layer of "stuff" on the inside of an aluminum pot, should i not use it?? just a little bit confused...

fill it with water, boil it... drain it... let it dry and you will see the difference...

If you don't already have a turkey Fryer or some sort of propane burner you should either get one or boil in two smaller pots. Five gallons is just too large of a boil for a household stove. Anyway, check out the site weliveoutside.com. They specialize in anything you would use to cook outside. If you need a burner you'd probably be better of to buy it locally, but they have a 36 quart stainless stockpot for $65. When I bought mine I think shipping and all it came to like 75. great deal for a 9 gallon pot. So for about $120 you could buy a turkey Fryer, and that pot. Or if you don't mind aluminum you could just use the pot that comes with the fryer.

Thanks for all the help guys. Unfortunatly my stove is old and weak, so even when I was using my 22qt pot, I was forced to buy an outdoor burner. So I've already got the outdoor burner. Ill check out some of these sites. Unfortunatly I bought a house and other petty stuff last year so funds are a little tight as of now. Im trying to find a used 30 - 32qt pot to save some money, but i'll be sure to check these sites out first. Thanks for the help.

SenorWanderer said:

i wouldn't recommend the brewmometer option unless you wanted to mash in it.

Click to expand...

If you are using an immersion chiller, then the Brewmometer is a good idea so you can monitor the temp as you chill.

You can buy an enamel canner for about 30 dollars for a cheap short term fix, just make sure you don't chip it and take care of it. Not the best but it works.

With your current pot you could do a partial mash and supplement the gravity with DME.
The next cheapest solution is to pick up a turkey fryer from your local hardware/ home improvement store. Make sure it has at least a 30qt pot (7.5 gal). You will need the outside burner as you stove most likely does not have the power for a full boil. 30qts is the minimum pot size for a 5gal AG batch. Turkey fryers can usually be had with pot for under $50.
Craig

Do a google search for 40 qt stock pots. There's several that have thick aluminum for less than $50. That's what I bought and added a weldless valve for $25.

if you're cool with aluminum, just head to your local restaurant supply store. You'll find a 40 qt for $50 or so.

I got my pots from HERE

They have the 36qt stainless for $65 and they go a lot bigger then that for a little extra each step up.