Brew Pot Quality?

My main question is: How important is brew pot quality?

Recently I bought a Progressive International brand 30 qt. stainless steel brew pot from my local home brew supply store. It cost $105, and comes with a 5-year warranty. Seems like a pretty good quality pot (the box boasts of 18/10 polished stainless steel).

However, I am transitioning to all-grain brewing, and was at Dick's Sporting Goods last night looking for some kind of camping stove. While I was there, I found a complete turkey fryer set including a 30 qt. SS brew pot, a propane stove, thermometer, etc. It was 89.99, so I bought it.

My dilemma is this. Is it worth keeping the expensive brew pot, and trying to sell the cheaper 30 qt pot online, or should I return the expensive one? Even the one that came with the camping stove seems and looks pretty nice, but I just don't know what defines quality in a stainless steel pot, other than that it holds liquid and gets hot.

Any advice would be great...

Thanks,

JBL

If you are transitioning to AG, then you are going to need at least 2 pots since during the sparge you will collect your runnings into one pot and boiling sparge water in another. The second pot can be smaller, but it's your call...more capacity always comes in handy it seems.

Well if quality isn't an issue, then couldn't I just return the $105 pot, and buy another turkey frying set (pot and stove included) for $90?

Hmmmm....

You should check home depot too, they have a complete turkey fryer setup from Bayou Classic for 49.99.

If you are transitioning to AG, you will definately want a larger pot. 30-qt is barely, just barely, big enough to pull off an AG batch.

I'd return or sell the expensive SS pot and use the proceeds to buy a 15-gallon aluminum stock pot (mine cost $70). Keep the turkey fryer pot to use for heating mash/sparge water.

IMO, the only real concern is that the pot is sturdy enough to withstand drilling for either a welded or bulkhead valve, and maybe a thermometer fitting. If it's sturdy enough for that, it's likely thick enough to eliminate any concerns about hot spots/scorching (which are less of a concern with full-wort boils, anyway).

Since you're starting from scratch, though, I'd suggest a bigger pot than 30Q. I know lots of people here use them for AG brewing, but they do take more attention (to avoid boilovers) and limit the OG of your brews somewhat (big OGs typically require larger sparge volumes, and thus more wort in the kettle).

If you go the turkey fryer route, probably no need to run out and buy a new pot right away...try the 30Q and see if you like it. But if you're spending for the higher-quality standalone pot, return the 30Q and get something bigger.

EDIT: yeah, like Beerthoven said

Darn! The employee at the homebrew store told me that 30 qt (7.5 gallon) pot would be perfect for an all-grain brew, especially since I am only going to do 5-gallon batches...

Thanks for the advice! Where did you get your aluminum pot?

zythe84 said:

Darn! The employee at the homebrew store told me that 30 qt (7.5 gallon) pot would be perfect for an all-grain brew, especially since I am only going to do 5-gallon batches...

Thanks for the advice! Where did you get your aluminum pot?

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I got my pot from instawares.com. Its a 60-qt aluminum stock pot. You could also find a 1/2 barrel keg and convert it to a kettle. Lots of people do this.

You can do 5-gallon AG batches in a 7.5 gallon pot. The problem is, you have to watch it like a hawk so it doesn't boil over which get really tiresome. It also doesn't give you any extra room for those times when you want to brew more (say 5.5 or 6 gallons) or make a big beer, like a barley wine.

Thanks for everyones advice! Will I be able to use the 60 qt pot with the turkey fryer stove, or will I have to get a bigger burner? The stove seems big enough, I just hope it puts out enough heat...

zythe84 said:

Thanks for everyones advice! Will I be able to use the 60 qt pot with the little camping stove, or will I have to get a bigger burner? The stove seems big enough, I just hope it puts out enough heat...

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It depends on the BTUs of the camp stove. My burner puts out 55,000 BTU right now, and it works OK with the 60-qt pot. Still, I'm going to get a higher PSI regulator to increase the heat. If your camp stove is small, then you'd be well served getting a "real" propane outdoor cooker like the Bayou Classic from Home Depot.

If you are stuck with the 30 qt. pot, just use some Fermcap-S and you will be fine.

High quality pots last longer, provide more even heat distribution, resist denting and rusting better, look nicer,... Would you rather have a Porche or a '94 Corolla with 240,000 miles on it? Both will get you where you need to go, it just depends how stylishly you want to get there and how much money you have to spend.

Personally, assuming you have the cash, I would go to 10 gallon batches right away with a keggle setup. I am very happy with mine. Later you can upgrade to the boilermakers and continue adding goddies as you see fit.

What BTU is your burner? I use a 55,000 BTU old junky turkey fryer burner and it works very well for 10 gallon batches in my keggles.

Good luck

The box says it is a 142,800 BTU maximum output burner. And it shows a picture of a full sized propane tank on it. I'm guessing this will do just fine... Looks like I just need a larger pot, and then a delicious porter will soon be in order...

Thanks!

zythe84 said:

Looks like I just need a larger pot, and then a delicious porter will soon be in order...

Thanks!

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Check around your town for a restaurant supply store. Ours in OR is called Cash n Carry. I picked up my 10 gallon aluminum pot for $40. Works great.