Batch Sparge Pot Size

I have just done extract brewing and want to do a all grain batch sparge batch. I have a 40qt (10 gal) stock pot, for my boil. What size pot should i get for boiling the sparge water? I will be cooking on my kitchen stove and be making 5 gallon batches. I plan to build a cooler mash tun. thanks.

6 gallons would be the minimum in my opinion. Larger would be better. Your going to be boiling at least 6 gallons in your boil kettle, maybe more depending on your boil off. Are you sure the kitchen stove will be able to handle that? No way mine will. With extract you can add water. Not so easy to do with all grain.

really? I thought I could do my first batch of mash water with my 10 gal. brew kettle, then mash and drain off into that (and that would be where i'd boil everything at the end), and then I'd just need a second pot for bringing 3 or 4 gallons of sparge water to temperature. So i was thinking i'd just need an additional say 5 gallon stock pot - but I guess 6 would be ok. I was hoping I could store it in my 10 gallon pot.

Yeah, you can store the runnings in your kettle. That's what we all do. Your first runnings may only be a couple of gallons or less. You may need to sparge with more than 5 gallons. Depends on the brew and its intended OG. So, if you need to boil 6.5 gallons and your first runnings are only 1.25 gallons....you see where you may come up short. Of course you could juggle the numbers and do more than the normal 1.25qts of water per pound that is sorta the standard for your strike water amount. Either way, something a little bigger will give you more wiggle room.

Or get a cheap bottling bucket (with volume markings on the side) and collect the wort in there. Use your boil kettle to heat the sparge water during the mash. Cheap solution!

TromboneGuy said:

Or get a cheap bottling bucket (with volume markings on the side) and collect the wort in there. Use your boil kettle to heat the sparge water during the mash. Cheap solution!

Click to expand...

Would dumping the wort into the kettle after collection do anything adverse?

eobie said:

Would dumping the wort into the kettle after collection do anything adverse?

Click to expand...

No it will be fine. I use an 10 gal boil kettle for my 5 gal batches. I use an 8 gal pot for heating sparge water. I can do this on my stove, heating the sparge water to 170 F. I boil on a banjo burner on my back porch. I have to split my sparge into two though because I batch sparge and only use a 5 gal cooler for my mash tun.

Hammy71 said:

Yeah, you can store the runnings in your kettle. That's what we all do. Your first runnings may only be a couple of gallons or less. You may need to sparge with more than 5 gallons. Depends on the brew and its intended OG. So, if you need to boil 6.5 gallons and your first runnings are only 1.25 gallons....you see where you may come up short. Of course you could juggle the numbers and do more than the normal 1.25qts of water per pound that is sorta the standard for your strike water amount. Either way, something a little bigger will give you more wiggle room.

Click to expand...

I've found I actually prefer a standard strike volume instead of a standard ratio. This works for me for a lot of beers around 1.050 (at 4 gallons of strike water...6 gallon batch size) at 75% efficiency. I have 2 10 gallon kettles now, but I find I often still use my boilermaker and my old 5 gallon pot, since the 5 gallon pot is less awkward to lift. I normally need 5 gallons for my sparge water, so I heat that in my 10 gallon kettle while the mash is going and I top up the mash with .5-1 gallons of water before the first runnings. Then, I dump the rest in to my smaller kettle until I'm ready to sparge. So, I'm curious, what are your reasons for using a standard 1.25 quarts/lb (I'm not trying to be judgmental...just curious..)?

would a second cooler "hot liquor tank" be a better setup than a second stockpot?