Cheap Ebay seller.

Picked up a 52 quart aluminum heavy duty BK with lid and grate to hold bags off the bottom for 35 buck shipped to my door. The vendor is called Icydeals. The item number is 140701225030. It is located in California so it will take a few days to arrive, but this is about the best price I have been able to find for stainless or heavy guage commercial aluminum pots. I can now do a full volume 5 gallon boil with no worries abot hot break boil overs. I know I still need to watch, but it is way better than a 7.5 Gallon pot. Now I have a BK, HLT amd MLT. Only have one burner so I need to cache water to lauter while I drain the MLT. Easy issue to work out though, just another trip to wally world for another 5 gallon round igloo cooler for 20 bucks. Also ordered from Bargain fittings and they are just too good. I did two orders back to back and they combined them and refunded the extra shipping in about an hour after I ordered. Those guys are on the ball. One step closer to all grain. Can't wait!!!!
Wheelchair drivin' Bob

Wow that is a hell of a deal. I just paid almost that much for a lid for my 32 quart. I might have to pick one of these up.

Quick update on the order from Bargain Fittings. Ordered mid morning on the 14th and have it in the mail at my home today on the 16th. Damn, that was pretty quick even from Texas. Wendel has my business as long as he keeps this up. Super fast and paying attention to the orders gets my vote everytime.
Bob

UPDATE: This seller has raised his current price to 59.00 for the exact same item. After 5 days of no shipping info I emailed the seller and got a canned reply and a useless tracking number for USPS. Attemted for 2 days now to use tracking number and NO SUCH NUMBER exists in the USPS system. Hmmmm, wonder what my feedback is gonna be for this deal. I appologize to all my brewing brothers and sisters for turning you onto such a schmuck. Hope nobody else is getting there time wasted being jerked around by Icydeals. Hate it when a good deal goes sour like this.

"Bob, Pissed with crappy Vendors"

Sorry for your luck. I haven't had any bad experiences with eBay yet (fingers crossed). Sounds like I won't be doing business with "Diceydeals" anytime soon, thanks for the heads up.

In my experience I have found USPS tracking numbers mostly useless. Keeping my fingers crossed that it arrives as expected.

Rbeckett said:

UPDATE: This seller has raised his current price to 59.00 for the exact same item. After 5 days of no shipping info I emailed the seller and got a canned reply and a useless tracking number for USPS. Attemted for 2 days now to use tracking number and NO SUCH NUMBER exists in the USPS system. Hmmmm, wonder what my feedback is gonna be for this deal. I appologize to all my brewing brothers and sisters for turning you onto such a schmuck. Hope nobody else is getting there time wasted being jerked around by Icydeals. Hate it when a good deal goes sour like this.

"Bob, Pissed with crappy Vendors"

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Some of the "tracking" numbers are actually just delivery confirmation numbers, the seller/shipper will use them to verify that you received your item.

You can get this for $10.00 more, and it has two fittings already installed on it.

10 Gal Aluminum Brew Kettle

I purchased this pot as well, and finally got notification that it had shipped yesterday. No tracking number though.

USPS tracking numbers are definitely worthless and usually days behind.

Heres another vendor from Ca. with inexpensive pots
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-50-QT-Q.../200729147575?pt=Cookware&hash=item2ebc63b8b7

AAIndigo said:

Heres another vendor from Ca. with inexpensive pots
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-50-QT-Q.../200729147575?pt=Cookware&hash=item2ebc63b8b7

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I got 2 60 qt and a 80 qt from here and I love them. $306 shipped

Now I am really pissed. Icydeals is screwing up bad. Sent me a tracking number stating they shipped on the 19th, USPS just confirmed electronic shipping notice from them on the 21st. Still no merchandise shipped. Whooo Boy, wait till they see my feedback on this. Gonna blast em with a zero stars for jerking me around. So I say stay away from "Icydeals", and apologize to anyone I may have influenced to buy from them.
Bob

Rbeckett said:

Now I am really pissed. Icydeals is screwing up bad. Sent me a tracking number stating they shipped on the 19th, USPS just confirmed electronic shipping notice from them on the 21st. Still no merchandise shipped. Whooo Boy, wait till they see my feedback on this. Gonna blast em with a zero stars for jerking me around. So I say stay away from "Icydeals", and apologize to anyone I may have influenced to buy from them.
Bob

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You can't go by the USPS tracking I have an order from an online seller where the dates are all over the place.

Did you get free shipping ? Most of the big sellers on ebay don't rush out a shipment unless you buy the one or two day shipment. If you got a good deal and get your item in a reasonable amount of time , I wouldn't be in a hurry to blast a seller with a 0 stars.

Yeah, I definitely agree. USPS tracking is nearly worthless. Dates are always all over the place and it doesn't seem to update until you've actually received your package. Have some patience and give em a chance before you flame the seller too hard.

Thanks guys, I buy quite a bit on Ebay and usually get about a one week turn around to Fla from Cali. I have used USPS and UPS mostly and know the Postal service is notorious for not updating. The reason I am pissed is because it was over a week from order to electronic data being sent to the postal service. There still is no confirmation they have the package. There ad states clearly that they ship within 3 days of a paid order. I used instant payment so it should have shipped no later than the 17th. The ad also said UPS and now it is USPS which is traditionally much slower over that distance. My issue therefore is failing to adhere to their own terms of service and lackadaisical response when asked about the status of the package. I can live with whatever time it takes, but dont tell me one thing, make me agree to it, then do something completely different. That's my gripe with the whole deal.
Bob

RazzBarlow said:

You can get this for $10.00 more, and it has two fittings already installed on it.

10 Gal Aluminum Brew Kettle

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Link doesn't show anything, unfortunately.

mccabedoug said:

Link doesn't show anything, unfortunately.

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Wow! It would appear that since my posting of that link, they have discontinued that kettle. Anyway, it's www.spikebrewing.com and they're a sponsor of HBT, worthy of our support.

Rbeckett said:

Thanks guys, I buy quite a bit on Ebay and usually get about a one week turn around to Fla from Cali. I have used USPS and UPS mostly and know the Postal service is notorious for not updating. The reason I am pissed is because it was over a week from order to electronic data being sent to the postal service. There still is no confirmation they have the package. There ad states clearly that they ship within 3 days of a paid order. I used instant payment so it should have shipped no later than the 17th. The ad also said UPS and now it is USPS which is traditionally much slower over that distance. My issue therefore is failing to adhere to their own terms of service and lackadaisical response when asked about the status of the package. I can live with whatever time it takes, but dont tell me one thing, make me agree to it, then do something completely different. That's my gripe with the whole deal.
Bob

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File a claim with PayPal and get your money back.

I received mine today. This thing is huge! I cant wait to use it for my first try at BIAB! Its a little thinner than i hoped, but it will do just fine.

I still cant believe how much of a steal this thing was. Theyve jacked the price up go $60 now, so I feel very lucky to have jumped on this.

mccabedoug said:

Link doesn't show anything, unfortunately.

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RazzBarlow said:

Wow! It would appear that since my posting of that link, they have discontinued that kettle. Anyway, it's www.spikebrewing.com and they're a sponsor of HBT, worthy of our support.

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Just to clarify guys... That kettle was a one-off. We don't (couldn't afford to) offer that kettle on a regular basis.

I have a few quick questions. I am super new to brewing. So new that my first beer kit is due to arrive this wednesday. I am currently shopping for a 5 gallon pot to brew my first batch in. What is the difference in purchasing an aluminum or a Stainless steel pot?
Is one better than the other?

Stainless is always best, but aluminum is also just fine. The biggest difference is the quality and fit of the handles. The aluminum pots tend to loosen the handles if filled and lifted very much. Alli also requires a good layer of oxidation on the inside surfaces to avoid the tangy taste it tends to leave. Fortunately the oxide layer is super easy, just boil a couple pots of plain water and it's done. If you can afford the wallet shock a 10 gallon stainless is ideal for a new comer to grow with. Otherwise do the largest pots your budget will over and call it good. I had found a vendor that was cheap but have experienced poor service and am still waiting for it to arrive after 2 weeks. Welcome to the addiction, I caught it doing my first batch in a Mr Beer set up and have been trying to get to all grain as fast as I can go on a disabled persons budget. Hope this helps.
Bob

Thanks Bob. Another question if you don't mind. Can a 10 gallon be boiled on a stove top or will I then need to buy one of those propane burners? If so what BTUs do I need.

djelemenohpee said:

Thanks Bob. Another question if you don't mind. Can a 10 gallon be boiled on a stove top or will I then need to buy one of those propane burners? If so what BTUs do I need.

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A 10 gallon works on my stove, covering 2 burners, but half the time I brew over at a friends house and his microwave is in the way so we use a 5 gallon pot there.

Depends a lot on what kind of stove. Ceramic cook tops cannot safely stand the weight of a 10 gallon ppot and water. Thats about 75 Lbs. Also it takes a really long time to get a boil going and most times you need to leave the lid on so it will boils at all. Wally world has turkey fryers with a 30 QT pot for around 40 bucks and it works pretty fast for me. I boil strike and sparge wtaer in the 30 qt and full volume boil in the 50 Qt. I use a rubber maid cooler for a mash tun. So far so good.
Bob