Bayou Classic Stainless Brew Kettle (16 Gallon)

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vinoaddict

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I am considering the 16 Gallon Bayou Classic Stainless Brew Kettle.
I have looked but not seen much online about this kettle. The price point for me is good. Has anyone ever used this kettle? Thanks.
 
I am considering the 16 Gallon Bayou Classic Stainless Brew Kettle.
I have looked but not seen much online about this kettle. The price point for me is good. Has anyone ever used this kettle? Thanks.
I use a Bayou Classic turkey fryer pot for an oil quench tank for blacksmithing. I don't know about the pot that you are looking at, but the one problem that I had was that you had better not plan on filing the pot above the handle because mine leaks around the rivets.
Edit: It looks like some people on here have had similar problems with leaking on the purpose built brewing kettles.
 
Ive Been Using The Bayou Classic 10 Gal With No Problems. I Actually Just Ordered A 16 Gal Today. Not Sure Why My Phone Caps Each Word.
 
Got The Bayou Classic Today. The Handles Are Welded So I Don't Think They Will Be leaking
That is certainly an improvement over the turkey fryer. It was designed to only be filled up like halfway with cooking oil, so they just riveted the handles on. That wasn't a problem with 5 gallons of oil, but when I haas to put 7 in for quenching a long blade, it dribbled pretty badly.
 
i have two of these Bayou classic 16 gal pots. One with the thermometer and one without. Been using them for about a year and they work very well. Zero complaints from me...
 
Not sure if it exactly the same pot you are referring to, but I have a 62QT (15.5 gallon) Bayou Classic. The handles are welded on. I have had it a couple of years now and I think it works great, no issues.
 
I have the 16-gal Bayou brew kettle with thermometer and spigot. I use it as my boil kettle, and it works very well for that. I prefer my Blichmann for mashing, since there is much less dead space under the false bottom compared to the Bayou.
 
I have a the Bayou Classic 10 Gallon Stainless Steel 6 piece Brew Kettle Set, which sells on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009SKU4PE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20) for $225 with free shipping if you have Amazon prime. It's a solid piece of gear, with the following caveats:

(1) The temperature gauge is inferior. It's accurate, but it is apparently not hermetically sealed as heavy condensation collects on the inside of the glass on brew day and persists for several days. Eventually, this will probably affect the internal components and the accuracy. The company replaced mine free of charge, but the replacement had the same problem. Solution: $30 thermometer from morebeer.com.

(2) You will eventually get minor spots of corrosion/discoloration on the kettle – especially around the welded handles. It's not bad, and doesn't appear to get worse beyond a certain point. How bad? You can't really see it from 4-5 feet away.

(3) The "stainless steel" ball valve and/or some of its parts will likely have rust on the inside. Soak it for a week in lime-a-way and it will go away permanently.

(4) the false bottom is useless – too much dead space for a mash tun. This is not a problem for me as I use it for a boil kettle and use an igloo cooler for my MLT.

Lastly, you will see "Bayou Classic 10 Gallon Stock Pots" that look exactly like the brew kettle on various sites for $125-ish with no thermometer, false bottom, and no filter screen. BE AWARE this item does not have a tri-ply bottom. It works fine for boiling wort, but unlike the boil kettle with the tri-ply bottom, the stock pot will scorch higher-gravity worts if you don't stir constantly and heat gently leading into the boil.

I have both the boil kettle and the stock pot. Here's a pic of both after six months of weekly (yes really) use:
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1407803025.464895.jpg
 
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I have a 10 Gallon Bayou - nice kettle. However, do NOT dismiss Spike's kettles. Damn nice!

I have a 45gallon from Spike - I love it.

Price is, as we know, the big decision. But don't skimp if you need the handles. I personally love the big riveted one I got 20 years ago from Cabelas - sorry, they don't sell them anymore.
 
We have a 15gal kettle, 2pc valve and thermometer that runs for $255 shipped. Not sure what the Bayou price is but I know you'll like ours more! ;)

I am indeed in the market for a bigger kettle and yours looks great. I may just order one up in the near future...
 
Not sure if it exactly the same pot you are referring to, but I have a 62QT (15.5 gallon) Bayou Classic. The handles are welded on. I have had it a couple of years now and I think it works great, no issues.

I have this pot too. I see it is on Amazon prime right now for $99, I got mine on a lightening deal last year for $85.

Added a weldless ball valve with street elbow and barb (bargain fittings, $32 shipped). Went back later and added a sight glass from brewershardware ($30?).

This pot doesn't have the tri layer bottom of the other pot but I haven't had any issues with scorching. Maybe if you are a 10 gal extract brewer it would be issue but I just don't see it.

The rim inside is a bc "feature" that I guess is designed to work in combination with the steamer basket. Might be nice if you were doing brew in a bag with that steamer basket but for me it just makes the pot harder to clean than it needs tobe. It also means that to turn this thing into a mash tun you need to figure out how to get your false bottom past it (Jaybird looks to have best idea with his hinged FB). The BC false bottom that fits the BC brew kettle doesn't look like it will work with this kettle as I think its perimeter needs to rest on the rim (now moved to the bottom of the kettle). But as others have noted it leaves way too much dead space in the kettle anyway.
 
Have read nothing but good things about these.


This is the 16-gallon version of the 10-gallon pot I own. If's a good pot; just know that this is their stock pot which differs from the brew kettle in that it does not have a tri-ply bottom.
 
I thought they were a good price and am personally using them as a happy customer. I find all too often people are quicker to write negative reviews over promoting products they like.
 

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