Brew kettle option

Finding this site was great! Looks like lots of brewing wisdom here, so--a question for those wiser than me:

I'm gathering equipment to move to all grain, and found these kettles online.

http://www.waresdirect.com/products...ate-International/80-Qt168826?trackURL=nextag

They look like a good deal, with good wall thickness, laminated base, etc. Much less costly than Blichmann, or even Megapots. However, they are wider and shallower than most of the kettles I have seen. Is that a problem? Has anyone here used kettles like these? I don't have a means to get old kegs and modify them at reasonable cost, so will be buying kettles. Is there any reason not to go with these?

Thanks in advance.

Steve

I found my pot to be the best value while staying with stainless steel. I am very happy with it, a great piece. It is called the Bayou Classic Stainless Steel Stockpot (do a google search for it) and they come in many different sizes at very reasonable prices.

I know several people who swear by short & wide. Personally, I doubt it has any impact. If you are into the very pale, the clad bottom will minimize caramelization.

Those do look nice. They say they are using 1.2mm stainless, which is thicker than the 1mm SS on my 102 qt Bayou Classic crawfish pot. The bottom is a 5mm sandwich of aluminum encapsulated by stainless on either side, so 7.4mm if they are using the same 1.2mm stainless. Even if it is thinner SS for the bottom encapsulation, it would still be impressive.

80 quarts is a nice size. You could do 15 gallon batches easy. The price is quite good. Even though I prefer taller and more narrow pots, I'd have considered these very strongly over converted kegs if I'd seen them before I bought my kegs. With a 20 inch diameter they won't fit on my Brutus 10 clone, which I sized for converted kegs, but if you are building from scratch, this looks like one of the lowest cost options for big batches. Figure on another $100 per pot to add welded couplings, ball valve, and thermometer.

They also have a 40 qt for people doing 5 gallon batches, and a 60 qt good for 10 gallon batches. They both use the same construction except that the 40qt uses 1mm stainless instead of 1.2mm. The prices are incredibly good at $89 and $127 respectively. And for anyone who wants to do 20 gallon batches, they have a 100 qt pot for $166. It's not clear to me whether they come with lids, although they do sell them separately as well. And a strainer basket for the 80 qt if you want to boil crawfish (although I wouldn't suggest dual use for beer and crawfish).

billtzk said:

It's not clear to me whether they come with lids, although they do sell them separately as well.

Click to expand...

how important is a lid for a brew kettle? i ask because I am also gathering equipment for all grain brewing and am just missing a larger pot as I am currently using the 32qt bayou classic turkey fryer for my extract/pm boils.

I have a lead on a 74qt "Carlisle" brand stainless stock pot for a decent price but without a lid.

is a lid really necassary? i wonder from my info gathering since the temps for the mlt and sparge are fairly high and not sure a lid would be needed to bring to boiling. Would a bit of aluminun foil work for a quasi-lid if needed?

i was planning on getting a cheap aluminum lid for the brewpot which is 18in diameter per the seller. is there a "problem" using an aluminum lid with a stainless pot?

sorry for all the questions....thanks in advance for any info you can provide

A lid is important for a mash tun to help retain heat. Other than that, lids are mainly useful for keeping stuff from falling into your kettles, particularly if you brew outdoors. You don't use a lid on your boil kettle while you are boiling.

Any lid that fits is fine. The lids on my converted SS kegs are aluminum.

I don't mind carmelization, but the cheap thin bottom pot I have now leaves me with weissbier that is pretty dark. It would be nice to not be stuck with that.

Do the fittings have to be welded on? Sounds costly. Can I use a short piece of stainless pipe with lock nuts? Maybe with a washer or two filed to contour, and/or some gasket material? I presume this would require more cleaning, but won't the heat keep that from being much of a contamination source? If this will work, any word on what to use for a gasket?

What you are describing is called a weldless bulkhead fitting. Yes, you can buy various pieces and put one together yourself, but save your self the headache and buy one from any of the e-HBS's on the web. Your LHBS very likely sells them too.

For example, look for the Weldless Kettle Bulkhead and the Weldless Kettle Fittings on this page at Northern Brewer, or here at Austin Homebrew Supply, or here at Midwest Homebrew Supplies, or here at More Beer, etc.

You'll need a step bit that goes up to 7/8th inch to drill the hole in the pot, a drill, and some cutting oil, all of which you can find at HD or Lowes. It's not hard to drill the hole. Just support the pot so it can't move, measure and mark where you want the hole, go slow and use plenty of cutting oil.

Many people use weldless fittings. They work fine. But a welded coupling shouldn't cost you much more than $25 per fitting, so it isn't that much more than a weldless fitting. The folks at you LHBS probably have an arrangement with a local welder to drill holes and/or weld on fittings for their customer. Typically you just bring them the pot or keg, and they take care of the rest.

I like a 1/2 inch full coupling so you can screw in a valve on the outside and a dip tube on the inside. For a thermometer you really only need a half coupling, but it won't save you much. I just use full couplings for everything.

Those pots look like a good deal.

Lids are also good to heat up your water faster.

For boiling you don't want a lid I keep mine on till the boil starts it helps get the temp up faster

I am pretty sure those are the same as the megapots...like the exact same pots but not drilled.

Looks good, http://www.instawares.com/stock-pot-aluminum-120.alsksp012.0.7.htm is what I got. I didn't want stainless and I wanted to be able to do 25 gallon batches. No lid needed for a boil kettle, drilling stainless with a step bit will be a little harder than aluminum, but doable. I can boil 20 gallons on my bayou burner (basic turkey fryer) and mine is 20" x 20" or so, just be aware that boil evaporation losses will be a little higher with more surface area, its manageable.