Brew ktl size???

I'm looking to purchase a brew kettle to do my extract brewing. But I'm not sure of the size I want. It would be easer and cheaper to just get a 20qt ss pot to do 2.5-3 gal boils then add the remainder to get 5 gal. On the other hand, should I get a bigger pot to do full boils? Is it better to do full boils for extract?

It's better to do full boils with extract, all-grain or BIAB. If you get the smaller kettle you will be wanting a larger one almost right away. If you get the larger one you will be able to use it for years, even if you later go all-grain. I personally like the stainless steel 10 gallon kettles from Bayou Classic.

If you're doing extracts the 20 qt. pot will serve you well. A 2 1/2 to 3 gallon boil will be fine. Do this, and later you will see if you want to increase your kettle size and move to AG.

Another option is to purchase a turkey frying set up including a burner. You will have a 6-7 gallon kettle with that and the basket will work well for grain bags for partial mash. You can do some AG with it as long as you are not getting too tall with your beer recipes. The burner with a decent kit should work fine for an upgrade to 10 or 15 gallon kettle when you get to that point and most likely you will.

Early on,we found a set of four nested SS stock pots with steamer trays & lids,all polished SS at Giant Eagle for about $25 on sale. I use the 20QT,5G one as a BK/MT. I started with AE,then AE with steeping grains,then partial boil,partial mash BIAB now. I've been using the same kettle the whole time. I heat sparge water in the 3G one as well. I've been doing 2.5-3 gallon brews in AE,then 3.5 gallons with PB/PM BIAB. Keeping the stir going when the hot break starts helps keep boil overs neglidgable.
I mash 5lbs of grains & use 3-3.3lbs of extract as a late addition. OG's/efficiency have been very good,so this kettle size will last you quite some time imo.

I think going to full boils is preferred. One note, though, if you go to full boils it's harder to bring it to a boil (your stove might not be up for the task) and it's harder to cool wort in a timely fashion.

So my advice is to get a turkey fryer setup, take the brewing outdoors, and maybe get a wort chiller too. Brewing is a lot less stressful when you know you can clean up a boilover with the hose

I don't think they are ever big enough....

Yup. BK's are like your race car,they're never fast enough. In this case big enough,but the same thought applies. My 5 gallon BK/MT is plenty big enough for stove top with aftermarket heating elements from amazon.

Having used an 8 gallon brew kettle for some time now, I have to say that getting the 10 gal. kettle is worth the money, especially if you can take it outside. I often end up using two kettles for my boil-down - the 8 gal. and a smaller 3 gallon - and even then heating it on a stovetop takes over an hour to bring the larger kettle to boiling. While my setup works well enough, I would strongly recommend the larger kettle and the exterior burner if those are an option for you. They aren't an option for me, as my garage is filled with other things and the backyard is totally unsuited for it, but if you can, do it.

Buy your equipment to be useful for your brewing future, not just your brewing present.

With that being said, before you buy your pot, you need to decide if you want to stay on your stove(how much power it has) or get a burner for outside. A good burner can be had for 50 bucks http://www.imarketcity.com/baclsqoupa55.html

IMO the smallest pot you should buy is 10 gallons. Even if you never scale up your system or switch to AG, full boils are beneficial and you're going to be starting with 6-7 gallons depending on boil off rates and boil time(60, 90, 120).


If you do scale up or move to AG a 10 gallon pot can serve many purposes on your new system. A 5 gallon pot will likely be useless.

It really comes down to how fast one switches to AG. It's not a rapid process for most of us. I do 5lbs of grains in my 5G,but can easilly handle 7lbs or so.
5g kettles aren't entirely worthless. It's a good,all around size to have for many purposes,depending on your brewing style.

Yeah that's the issue I have. I have a glass top stove but I could "borrow" the burner from my moms deep fryer kit. I'm selling my house to move to Denver so most likely will be in a small apartment which might not allow me to have a gas stove.

I do plan to go AG but not in the near future. When I do, wouldn't I need an extra pot to heat my sparge water?

Yes,you would. I wrap my BK/MT in my thinsulate lined winter hunting coat for the one hour mash. It gains one degree rather than loosing temp. I then use the same burner & my 3G stock pot to heat sparge water on the same burner the BK/MT was on.

juggabrew said:

I do plan to go AG but not in the near future. When I do, wouldn't I need an extra pot to heat my sparge water?

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Not if you do BIAB. But if you go that route, my understanding is that having a bigger pot (i.e. 10 gal) is better than 7.5-8 gal (30-32 qt) for BIAB.

I do BIAB,but with a paint strainer bag with the top of the bag rolled over the lip of the BK/MT so I can stir the mash. Efficiency went up.

^ what he said ^

I started on the stove top with a 20qt, but after 2 batches I decided to go out and buy the burner and a bigger pot. Wish I had just done that in the first place.

5gal kettle for partial boil is more than adequate. I always did a partial boil because I liked the idea of cooling my wort rapidly with cold water top off. There are many good comments on here, you just need to decide where you see your brewing hobby in one year. FWIW, I upgraded to AG and now use my 5gal for sparge water as I lauter into my 10gal kettle.

I have to agree with xpertskir - buy for the future. I moved from extract to all grain in a matter of batches. The from 5 gallon to 10 gallon batches shorty after. When I moved up from the stuff we already had in the kitchen to my own equipment, I bought a 20 gallon boil kettle and am really glad I did. I now have a 15 gallon HLT, a 15 gallon mash tun and a 20 gallon kettle. I'm fortunate enough to have the storage for these larger pots in the basement, and they allow me to make some pretty good beer that lasts long enough to last until the next brew.

great! now I'm more confused than ever! j/k i appreciate all the help

Does anyone do AG scaled down to do full boils on a 5 gal ktl? would this be the BIAB method?

5 gal is too small for anything but extract batch with topping water going into the fermenter on top of the wort. I have two of them for some silly reason. Until I got my 10 gal pot I'd split my boil between the 2 pots and then combine for chilling (still a good strategy if you are a stove top brewer btw) but PITA trying to chill 5 gal of wort in a 5 gal pot with immersion chiller...

I do still use my 5 gal pots almost every brew day so not a terrible investment, but do get at least one 8 or 10 gal pot for boil and chilling (+1 on the bayou classic, mine is 10.5 gal, seems to be perfect size for 5-6 gal batches).

Note it is really worth debating whether to just get a 15 gal pot to enable 10 gal batches. When I bought my 10 gal I was sure I wouldn't want to mess with 10 gal batches but not so sure now. Could be a bigger pot in my future, but if so I'm thinking my current pot should still be decent size for heating strike water. Right now I'm telling myself that I could probably do a 9 gal batch in my current system, starting with 8 gal in the 10 gal pot and 4 gal in the 5 gal pot and combining for chilling...

Having some extra pots is pretty handy on brew day. I use my 5 gal pots to condition grain, collect filtered water, collect second runnings, even split my wort between 2 or 3 to get it boiling allowing me to use multiple burners on the stove top.

Soon I'll get a burner and move outside. Soon as it warms up anyway.

juggabrew said:

great! now I'm more confused than ever! j/k i appreciate all the help

Does anyone do AG scaled down to do full boils on a 5 gal ktl? would this be the BIAB method?

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The marginal cost of getting a bigger pot is pretty small, especially if its aluminum.

The cost of buying a bigger pot when youve already bought a pot that no longer works is much greater.


Again, the most important decision is how burly is your stove and do you want to move outside. That is the main limiting factor for pot size.

IMO, outside is much nicer. You dont have to scrub a drive way(or garage) after a boil over. A lot of peoples SWMBO prefer them to brew outside.


As for down the road BIAB only requires one pot, but you would need a 15 gallon pot to do 5 gallon batches of "big" beer. A 10 gallon pot would be ample room as a BK for any size beer for 5 gallon batches of normal AG. It could also serve as a HLT for 10 gallon batches.