Carrying full brew pot by handles?

[borealis]

I am going to start doing full boils for 5 gallon batches and am in the market for a new brew pot. I am planning on brewing outdoors and then carrying the pot inside the house to chill. Do I need to be concerned about the weight of the 5 gallons when carrying the kettle? And if so, are there some pots that are better than others without being outrageously expensive?

 

[Bernie Brewer]

If I can carry ten gallons of hot wort, you can carry five.

I don't do that anymore, though. Too much of a PITA. Why not chill in the garage?

 

[Chris_Dog]

I know from experience that 5 gals of hot liquid is nothing to mess around with.

 

[borealis]

I know from experience that 5 gals of hot liquid is nothing to mess around with.

Is that due to the handles breaking? The wieght doesn;t seem too bad to carry and move, I am just concerned about the strength of the handles.

Do most people just chill in the garage/outdoors? I could hook my wort chiller up to a hose, but it just didn;t seem as clean of an enviroment as my kitchen.

 

[TyTanium]

Do a test run with cold water first, see how the weight holds up.

 

[gunner65]

make an immersion chiller and chill it where it sits.

 

[Rob_B]

I chill in the garage, but I also use a keggle. I don't think the potential risk of carrying it to the kitchen is worth it. Bringing a hot kettle filled with 5 gallons of hot sticky wort through the hose sounds like a recipe for disaster. Besides there are nasties floating in the kitchen too.

 

[H-ost]

The weight might not be much for you but that pot will be HOT so if you are planning one walking with it you would need to be able to carry it out from your body... its not something you want to hold against your torso.

 

[JonM]

The weight might not be much for you but that pot will be HOT so if you are planning one walking with it you would need to be able to carry it out from your body... its not something you want to hold against your torso.

Plus, you'll probably need to carry it with hotpads or those heat resistant gloves - not a very secure grip.

 

[samc]

If you are going to do the 5 gallon carry - buy a bigger pot so that you are carrying 5 gallons in a 10 or 15 gallon kettle. Safer and will allow you to upgrade to larger batches without having to curse the fact that you bought too small a pot. Kettles are rarely designed to be lifted with full loads.

The Slosh factor!

 

[LedZeppelin]

I chill in the garage, but I also use a keggle. I don't think the potential risk of carrying it to the kitchen is worth it. Bringing a hot kettle filled with 5 gallons of hot sticky wort through the hose sounds like a recipe for disaster. Besides there are nasties floating in the kitchen too.

This.

 

[borealis]

So do you guys usually just chill in the garage or wherever you are brewing. My immersion chiller has garden hose attachments so I could do that. I just didn't like the idea of having to chill the wort out there and then transfer into my fermenter in the garage rather than the kitchen. The kitchen just seemed cleaner, but maybe not really.

 

[Tinga]

I think most stainless brewing kettles would be sturdy enough to carry a full 5 gallon batch. 5 gallons of wort weighs about 40 pounds and those pots by themselves can easily weigh more than 10 pounds. so you're carrying over 50 pounds of hot liquid. like said above you will probably be using hot pads and you will need to carry it out in front of you instead of against you and you will need to walk slowly to keep the hot liquid from sloshing up onto you which means you will be carrying it for longer than you would think. You should know your own person fitness level so the decision is yours.

 

[JonM]

212* is way beyond the threshold to instantly cause full-thickness burns to the skin. A little bit on your foot or hand could cause you to drop the whole thing.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

So do you guys usually just chill in the garage or wherever you are brewing. My immersion chiller has garden hose attachments so I could do that. I just didn't like the idea of having to chill the wort out there and then transfer into my fermenter in the garage rather than the kitchen. The kitchen just seemed cleaner, but maybe not really.

Won't be a problem. I do it that way all the time. Make sure you put your hose indoors in winter so it doesn't freeze.

 

[Shockerengr]

So do you guys usually just chill in the garage or wherever you are brewing. My immersion chiller has garden hose attachments so I could do that. I just didn't like the idea of having to chill the wort out there and then transfer into my fermenter in the garage rather than the kitchen. The kitchen just seemed cleaner, but maybe not really.

Not a problem. I brew, ferment, and serve all from the garage, and have for years now.