New Northern Mega Pot - Great Buy

I have looked long and hard for a good buy or a heavy bottom 30 Qt brew pot to do 5 gallon boils. Northern had a 32 Qt "Mega Pot" for $89.95 and I thought - yeah, right. Specs looked good though and I called Northern and they said it was comparable to Polar and I could return it if I was dissatisfied. Ok, I bit.
Was I supprised. It was every bit as good as a Polar as far as I could tell. The thing came in a big box by UPS and the first thing when I picked it up, I thought they had put bricks in there to weight the thing down - it was heavy.
Installed my valve, put 5 gallons of cold water in, cranked up my turkey fryer and got a good rolling boil in 20 min. Added a half cup of baking soda and boiled it 20 min. Drained that and put in B-Brite to soak. Here it is after the final rinse is going out my valve.

Can you add a link to it..?? thanks..

Here is the link. When you get there, go down to Mega Pots. It will be the first one.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/kettles.html

Thanks... thats the one thing that keeping from starting my first brew...!!!

Did you drill your own holes in the pot..??

If it was comparable to Polar you got a hell-of-a-deal!

Did you drill your own holes in the pot..??

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Yes, I have a 7/8" hole saw and I filed and sanded the burrs out before I put it together. Works great.

I may have to try this brewpot... I found some SS brewpots locally for really cheap, but dont ever like to get the cheapest (quality) thing I find... you somewhat get what you pay for.... this Mega-Pot seems like a good deal... I may have to get one and drill my own hole later on...

Added a half cup of baking soda and boiled it 20 min. [/quote]

what does the baking soda do?

Don't know. Just sounded like a good idea.

Do you think I'd be able to use this pot on the stove..?? I dont have a propane burner yet...

Yes, it will work as good as a thin one but don't try to increase the amount of the boil unless you try it with plain water first. An increase in water requires an increase in heat to get a rolling boil.

That turkey fryer seems to be the ticket and your brew pots perfect, i mean way better than the light weight thing i brewed my 1st batch in last week. the wifes stove is a new fangled piece of crap, its electric with complete glass top burners the dard thing has some type limit swich and it shut on and off
I couldnt get 3 gallons to boil in the thin pot , after trying for a complete hour. I'll sure be putting this new info to use. Thanks.

Oh yeah i would try this type pot on a stove like my wifes, to much like a hole lot of work !

mine is on the way now...!!! on the 15th I'll give it a try...

I got my Mega-Pot last night... I'm not going to be able to test it out ill this weekend... I havent had much experience with all the different SS brewkettles out there, but this thing really feels solid...

I bought a used 40 qt. SS Polar pot from my wife's grampa for $30 last weekend. He used to make wine but quit. It's in near mint condition. Woo hoo!

Also bought three 5 gal. carboys w/ stoppers and airlocks for $10 each.

AHU

Jester said:

I got my Mega-Pot last night... I'm not going to be able to test it out ill this weekend... I havent had much experience with all the different SS brewkettles out there, but this thing really feels solid...

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I just got one today also... you ain't kidding this thing is solid. No seams and a really thick bottom too. It looks great! Its even too big to fit in my sink!

I tried a test boil today and I don't know if my stovetop burner can handle this brewpot.... I let it try to boil for about 35 minutes and it got to somewhat of a boil.... and about 215 degrees.... but it wasn't a huge boil.... it was boiling somewhat... just in the center of the pot.... do you think this is enough of a boil to brew with..???? thanks again....

Jester

Because of the thickness of the bottom and the pot itself, it will take a little longer to get a good boiling going with the same amount of water used in a thin pot. Once the boil is going, it will maintain that amount of boil better than the thin pot.
That said, anything other than a 2 gallon boil on most stovetops will be a challenge. This is why most everyone uses a turkey fryer burner. I saw a burner for $18.00 at our local Sporting Goods store (Academy) Can't imagine you couldn't get one at Wally World or some such for the same or less.
Then all you need is a tank and you might be able to borrow one from someone with a gas grill for the day.

Unfortunatly its 5 degrees out. Kinda makes it hard to brew outside. What the heck do most ppl do in the winter?

well I borrowed the parents turkey fryer burner and did my first brew today.... I noticed after cleaning the pot that there seems to be something that looks like rust in the inner brushed look of the pot...?? has anyone else seen this...??? thanks again...

MrSaLTy said:

What the heck do most ppl do in the winter?

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Sometimes I wear a jacket.

I leave the lid on, open about an inch to let the bad stuff out.
Just watch out for boil overs!

well I borrowed the parents turkey fryer burner and did my first brew today.... I noticed after cleaning the pot that there seems to be something that looks like rust in the inner brushed look of the pot...?? has anyone else seen this...??? thanks again...

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Yes, if you are using a copper wort chiller, if it moves around against the bottom it will leave copper marks. This is what mine did. The pot including the bottom is "brushed" stainless and is somewhat abrasive. This would be normal. If this isn't the reason, I don't know what it could be.

Prowler 13 said:

Yes, if you are using a copper wort chiller, if it moves around against the bottom it will leave copper marks. This is what mine did. The pot including the bottom is "brushed" stainless and is somewhat abrasive. This would be normal. If this isn't the reason, I don't know what it could be.

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I cleaned the pot a second time and most of the stuff came off... maybe it was jsut some stuff from the water... that propane burner is the way to go... that thing had the brewpot boiling in less than 15 minutes...