All Grain brew pot advise

Hi Guys I'm a newb here

I was curious if anyone has purchased a turkey fryer for there brew pot set-up? If so, did you find the typical 30QT. pot too small? I am looking at a nice cheap set-up that would get me going. I would like to brew 5 gallons all grain using a cooler for a tun as well. Any advise and tips would be sweet.

cheers

dan

I have and use a 32qt aluminum tamale pot and make 5 gallon batches. My buddy uses the 30qt pot turkey fryer set for the same thing. Just watch the boil carefully to avoid a boilover and FermCap works wonders there too. When using an aluminum pot, make sure to boil water in it for an hour to make an oxidized layer before you use it for brewing.

I use a modified 30qt Turkey fryer and a modified 10 gallon orange home depot water cooler to brew 5 gallon batches.

The turkey fryer pot is a little on the small side. If you collect 7 gallons of wort from the mash tun that doesn't give you much room and you are almost certain to have at least a little boil over.

I STRONGLY recommend getting at least a 10 gallon mash tun if you intend to make any big beers.

OClairBrew said:

I have and use a 32qt aluminum tamale pot and make 5 gallon batches. My buddy uses the 30qt pot turkey fryer set for the same thing. Just watch the boil carefully to avoid a boilover and FermCap works wonders there too. When using an aluminum pot, make sure to boil water in it for an hour to make an oxidized layer before you use it for brewing.

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+1 on the oxidized layer.

I got a 50 quart aluminum outdoor cooker kit from Sams Club. I went with an outdoor cooker instead of turkey frier because some turkey friers have a shutoff built in the burner (although I've read about ways to bypass that).

I chose 50 qt because I didn't want boil over. So far so good. I chose aluminum because it's cheaper and it heats and cools really fast.

I started AG with a 30 qt kettle. It lasted me about 12 years, and I never had a boil over (but I did have to watch it very carefully). As OClairBrew said, you may want to try fermcap to reduce the chance of a boil over. It will make bringing to the boil much less stressful.

-a.

I second the 10 gallon cooler. I have a 5 gallon and I've regretted not going with the 10 since batch 1. Also the 30 qt pot is like most have said a touch small but if you don't mind a little babysitting you're in good shape.

The SWMBO got me a big 12 gallon pot for brewing for a birthday last year. So far, aside from the propane burner, thats been my favorite brewing tool. I never have to worry about a boilover. If you can find something in the 40qt range, that'd be more than sufficient. 30qt will do though.

I would buy the turkey fryer and also get a 40+ qt pot. You'll use both pots, either to catch first runnings or heat sparge water. I use the BIAB method, so I use my smaller pot to mash in (smaller headspace, narrower pot to reduce heat loss) and use my 10 gallon to heat my dunk sparge water in. You could get by with just the one pot, but then you'll need to have something else to catch your first runnings while you're prepping sparge water. I found an aluminum pot is cheap and durable enough to withstand the rigors of brewday, provided you use some care.

Zokfend said:

. I went with an outdoor cooker instead of turkey frier because some turkey friers have a shutoff built in the burner (although I've read about ways to bypass that).

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Yep, just cut the wires going to the probe and twist them together. Also, if it has a pressure switch like mine (Brinkmann I think) just push it down and shove a washer under it. I have a second pot thats much wider and wont trip the switch.

I also bought a turkey friar setup, then picked up a 32qt aluminum tamale steamer for my boil kettle. You can't beat $25 bucks and it really works well. I use the turkey friar as my HLT

I have done my first 14 batches (extract and steeping grains, and PM) in my 7.5 gallon turkey fryer. I have ordered a 15 gallon boilermaker so I can do full boil AG BIAB. 10 gallon just looked too small IMHO. I have not yet done a full boil, always top off after cooling. (only 2 or 3 boil overs)

I have a 32 gallon pot and am having to get a bigger pot, too many boil overs and too many times ending up with less than 5 gals in the fermentor. Should have a new 10 gallon pot soon