40 Qt vs 60 Qt pot for 5 Gal batches

It's my anniversary this weekend, 12 years. My gift is getting to spend 100 bucks on brewing equipment!

I've been planning to buy a 40 Qt pot. (I use a 5 Gal MLT) But I'v got my doubts, and think maybe I should go with a 60 Qt. 40 is great for anything below 1.065 or so O.G. I just got through formulating a Wee Heavy which will be about 1.088 in gravity. In order to get peak effeciency I would need to boil quite a bit of wort, pushing a 40 Qt pot's capacity.

So the question is:
Are there any drawbacks to using a 60 Qt pot for brewing something like a Mild with an O.G. of 1.036 where I'm only putting 5.5 Gals. into the kettle for a boil? (just seems odd putting 22 quarts into a 60 qt pot)
Should I just forget it and go with the 40 Qt or buy the 60 Qt and then I'll be able to brew most 10 Gal batches in the future?

A decision must be made!
Thanks,
Phillip

No bad points...more space = better!

If the 60 qt pot is wider, your boil losses will increase slightly due to increased surface area. Otherwise, there aren't any disadvantages.

If you have the slightest inkling to do 10 gallon batches, go with the 60QT. It will be fine for 5 gal. batches, along with what Yuri stated.

You make some good points... Any wories other than increased evaporation loss?

Schlante,
Phillip

Increased evaporation loss just means doing a little extra sparging, which means being able to get more sugars.
Plus being able to answer the phone without worry of a boil over, being able to move to 10gal batches.
This is I think a case of "bigger really is better", as long as the cost does not bust your budget I don't think you will be thinking it was a mistake on your death bed.

Kauai_Kahuna said:

Increased evaporation loss just means doing a little extra sparging, which means being able to get more sugars.
Plus being able to answer the phone without worry of a boil over, being able to move to 10gal batches.
This is I think a case of "bigger really is better", as long as the cost does not bust your budget I don't think you will be thinking it was a mistake on your death bed.

Click to expand...

I was thinking of going with the 40 to begin with as If I do go to 10 Gal batches I'll have the 40 to heat sparge water in/HLT.

Nope, probably wouldn't consider it a mistake on my death bed! Thanks for the input guys! I'll toast all your help tonight with an Ole Speck Hen tonight after anniversary dinner with swmbo.

Schlante,
Phillip

MVKTR2 said:

So the question is:
Are there any drawbacks to using a 60 Qt pot for brewing something like a Mild with an O.G. of 1.036 where I'm only putting 5.5 Gals. into the kettle for a boil? (just seems odd putting 22 quarts into a 60 qt pot)

Click to expand...

Two insignificant possibilities:

Since there is more mass that it would take longer to heat/cool a larger pot. Might use more propane as greater pot surface area could radiate more heat away.

I just got my keggle cut done this week. I rarely do any batches that are over 1.050 gravity / 7gal , but I think it will be nice to have the extra room.

Heck, I do partial boils in my 80 qt. pot. Doesn't even come up to the thermometer. I have a 30 qt. pot, but it's much thinner, so it's just a HLT these days.

Immersion chiller coils might not be covered with a deeper pot and small volume

Two observations:

1. 40q is plenty big enough to boil 5g providing you turn down the heat when the hot break forms. If you don't do this, the 60q will also be too small.
2. Getting a 5g batch with an OG of 1.088 in a 5g MLT is going to be quite an achievement unless you are doing PM. Perhaps you may want to increase the size of the MLT.

-a.

ajf said:

Two observations:

1. 40q is plenty big enough to boil 5g providing you turn down the heat when the hot break forms. If you don't do this, the 60q will also be too small.
2. Getting a 5g batch with an OG of 1.088 in a 5g MLT is going to be quite an achievement unless you are doing PM. Perhaps you may want to increase the size of the MLT.

-a.

Click to expand...

Very good points.

I've been using a 30qt pot for AG beers up to almost 1.070 and extract supplemented to 1.095. It is tight when the hot break forms and has to be watched closely but 40qt should be no problem for 5gal batches.

I also use a 5gal cooler MLT and the biggest beer I can get out of the cooler is under 1.070. Any more than that and the mash thickness and number of sparges required gets infeasible. If you want to go 10gal get the 60qt otherwise just get the 40 and use the extra money to get a 10gal cooler.

Craig