Do I really need a keggle?

Looking at making the jump to all-grain shortly, and I have a few questions.

First off, do I need to make a keggle? I really do not drink my batches very quickly, and my wife doesn't drink much beer at all, so five gallon batches last me for quite a while. Thus, a 32-qt pot should do me just fine, and I'm pretty sure I could handle putting in a spigot by myself.

Second, making a MLT from a cooler looks pretty easy, after reading this thread. I'm going to check out Home Depot today for the cooler and parts. Does a 5 gallon versus 10 gallon cooler make much of a difference?

Finally, the most expensive and least-DIY-friendly part of this looks to be the wort chiller. Any good, inexpensive sources to simply purchase one?

NOVA Brewer said:

Second, making a MLT from a cooler looks pretty easy, after reading this thread. I'm going to check out Home Depot today for the cooler and parts. Does a 5 gallon versus 10 gallon cooler make much of a difference?

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I'd seriously look at the the 10 gallon cooler. The cost difference is minimal and it will enable you to brew 5 gallon batches with a big grain bill. Plus you could easily make the jump to 10 gallon batches if you ever got the keggle without having to get a new MLT.

1. Nope, you don't have to have a keggel. You just need a pot that is capable of handeling about 6.5 gallons of boiling wort that will boil down to your 5 full gallons.

2. The MLT conversions are pretty simple. Use the link that you provided and try to get a rubbermaid cooler. They work better than Igloo IMO. As for the size, you can produce most normal 5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon cooler. However, you might be pressed for space if you want to do a Barleywine or something with a real high gravity.

3. As for wort chillers, I would check out the regular retailers and see what fits your needs best. Northern Brewer, AHS, and Midwest are all good retailers. There are also wort chillers on Ebay all the time so check that out as an option.

Also, welcome to the world of all grain when you get there. It really is a magical thing. My first AG beers killed the quality of my previous extract batches.

I use a 30qt aluminum pot that came with a turkey fryer. I use an immersion chiller and siphon out of the pot. I have heard some say that putting a sipgot on an Al pot can be trick since it tends to bend easily.

I got my chiller from http://www.ebrew.com good price and fast shipping (one day to my house).

NOVA Brewer said:

Finally, the most expensive and least-DIY-friendly part of this looks to be the wort chiller. Any good, inexpensive sources to simply purchase one?

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Not at all. Just buy 50' of 3/8" copper refridgerant line and wrap it around something about half the diameter of your pot. I used a primary pail but my pots are really big.



Leave one end much longer than the other so you can bend it up to the top of the coil. Make sure that you always bend the copper AROUNG something or you will kink it. After that all you need is some compression fittings and couplings for a garden hose. This picture isn't very good for seeing the fittings, but you get the idea. In fact, when I was buying my fittings I had planned on soldering both of them on but some jackass put a compression fitting in the same bin as the solder fittings so I got one of each.

I use a 30qt turkey fryer, but actually just bought a keggle that will be here soon. The fryer did the job, but I had to babysit it the whole time since it would boil over and put out the flame, it's been annoying as hell and I can't wait to get the keggle.

32 quarts is large enough for all but the biggest beers. A 5 gallon cooler will limit you to 12-14 pounds of grain, I'd get the 10.

nope, all I have is a 30 qt. pot.

A 30qt is ok if you really go for exactly 5g in the fermenter. I've been leaning towards nearly 6g in the fermenter so that I have 5.5 in the keg after racking off twice. You will have to babysit for boilovers and you'll have to hard-stop your sparge when you have exactly 6.5g of runnings whether you're leaving a sugar behind or not. Not too big a deal. A 40qt pot would be ideal.

While we're talking keggles, and not to hijack this thread, but is $45 fair or a bit high for a used keg (seller claims it is a legal keg)???

Might be buying soon, want to start gathering what I need for the switch to AG.

To the OP -- Is it overkill to have a keggle for 5 gallon or 6 gallon batches -- probably. But when you look at the cost of making a keggle vs. buying a $200 pot that is sized to give you the same flexibility as a keggle and avoiding boilovers, etc. I think it becomes a no brainer. Storage space and SWMBO are always wildcards, though...

LouT said:

Storage space and SWMBO are always wildcards, though...

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Sig material...

LouT said:

While we're talking keggles, and not to hijack this thread, but is $45 fair or a bit high for a used keg (seller claims it is a legal keg)???

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Don't know if it's "fair" but that's what I paid when purchased directly from a brewery.

When I did five gallons I used:

30 Quart Turkey Fryer (no spigot)
5-gallon Rubbermaid cooler (going with 10 is a great idea if you want to)
30' of 3/8" inch copper tubing and some clear vynil hose and hose clamps
Some scrap copper for a manifold
A few large pots for heating mash water

It really is not as daunting as you think. Make it all yourself.

BierMuncher said:

When I did five gallons I used

It really is not as daunting as you think. Make it all yourself.

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Yeah, but your junk is UGLY!

Actually, I'm thinking about doing just about the same thing, but I'm going to start with 10 gal MLT and a bigger kettle/keggle and hopefully a decent propane burner setup.

Where'd you get your "ugly" new burner, I've seen it with the ugly keggle on it, it actually looks not-ugly...

LouT said:

Yeah, but your junk is UGLY!

Actually, I'm thinking about doing just about the same thing, but I'm going to start with 10 gal MLT and a bigger kettle/keggle and hopefully a decent propane burner setup.

Where'd you get your "ugly" new burner, I've seen it with the ugly keggle on it, it actually looks not-ugly...

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That thar is the Bayou Classic Banjo.

The king daddy of outdoor burners. 210,000 BTU's.

I got it off of Amazon. Do a search...there are number of on-line dealers. I paid $65 delivered, but that was a deal.

I won't bog down this thread with an embedded video...but to the burner in action.

Thanks -- a couple more quick questions. Is the one you have this one: http://www.divine-mercantile.com/Bayou-Classic-Banjo-Cooker_p_58-662.html

It appears they make several models, which model is the one you have? I really like it. Or did you buy the burner and make the stand yourself?

LouT said:

Thanks -- a couple more quick questions. Is the one you have this one: http://www.divine-mercantile.com/Bayou-Classic-Banjo-Cooker_p_58-662.html

It appears they make several models, which model is the one you have? I really like it. Or did you buy the burner and make the stand yourself?

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Yep. That's it. They've modified the stand a bit, but that's the same exact burner.

I purchesaed a 14 gal kettle a while back and I'm thinking of picking up a couple of kegs.
One for sparge water. It will be easier to heat the water in the tun than transfer after heating and hope the temp stays up while I start sparging. Also easier to install sight glasses to monitor how much water I am sparging with.
I may make the other one into a kettle. It's a lot easier to start drilling a $45 keg than a kettle over 3-6x the ammount.
May even turn a third into a mash tun and make an insulated box for it even tho the Igloo cube drops less than a degree in 90 min. I can modify it a bit more.



That and the larger system gives you the room to do a 10 gal. batch. There really isn't much time diffrence between a 5 and 10 gallon batch, minutes really. So give your self the room to grow. It's probably cheaper to set up a system with keggles (if you can cut them yourself. Or have someone cut them for you with payments in homebrew)

This is the burner I have
http://www.lalagniappe.com/mall/KKoutdoorcooker86pkt.htm

I've got a 14 gallon kettle, and the cooking base is bigger than the pot. The bottom ring is even bigger than that. I can stand on it and try to rock it, it's solid. The brew shop owner was even jumping up and down on it.

I had gone to Agri supply and ordered the 160KBtu burner and the high pressure hose. Turns out the burner is the same. Just order a high pressure hose. Or you can order the burner too and use the low press for the HLT.

Great extra info, D*Bo! Yeah, if it's the same burner, a high pressure regulator is cheap.
Do most of you guys get a fixed 20psi high pressure reg, or do you get an adjustable one? I rigged an adjustable reg onto an old grill a few years back and used to love the ability to throw the coals to her for searing, etc., but it was finicky sometimes.

BierMuncher, thanks for the extra detail, too - now I'm getting excited to put this all together in the next couple of months!