Hey all,
Well, between a tax refund, birthday, work bonus, and the "economy stimulator" cash coming next month, I am sitting with a fat wallet right now. I've been wanting to do some equipment upgrades to prepare myself for all grain brewing, but I have been holding off due to limited storage space. But, that will be resolved as I will be getting a nice, 75 sq ft shed this weekend. So, needless to say, I am now very seriously looking into my next upgrades. So far I have been doing partial boil extract brewing with specialty grains. My first incremental step will be to start doing full boils. Basically what I need for this is a larger brew kettle (stuck with a 4 gallon one right now) and a burner. I have been told that the bayou classics at home depot are all that I need for a burner, so that leaves me with kettle choices. Here are my basic decisions to make:
1. What size? I plan on doing 5 gallon batches only. I rather do two different styles of 5 gallons rather than one 10 gallon batch.
2. Do I need a valve? If not "needed", is it at least highly beneficial once I get into all grain? How about the built in thermometers - awesome or not really worth the expense?
3. Tall and narrow or wide and short? The two big comparisons would be Northern Brewer's wide Megapots versus the narrow Polarware varieties.
4. Tradional kettle or go for the keggle? I noticed on sabco's website that they will sell a keggle that has it's top cut open, deburred and ready to fit their lids for $99 (no drilled holes for valves or thermometers though). In comparison, the 15 Megapot costs $160 and the 15 gal Polarware $276 (albeit with a ball valve). Sabco also sells a burner that is built to specifically hold their keggle, which is cool, but also costs $73.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Well, between a tax refund, birthday, work bonus, and the "economy stimulator" cash coming next month, I am sitting with a fat wallet right now. I've been wanting to do some equipment upgrades to prepare myself for all grain brewing, but I have been holding off due to limited storage space. But, that will be resolved as I will be getting a nice, 75 sq ft shed this weekend. So, needless to say, I am now very seriously looking into my next upgrades. So far I have been doing partial boil extract brewing with specialty grains. My first incremental step will be to start doing full boils. Basically what I need for this is a larger brew kettle (stuck with a 4 gallon one right now) and a burner. I have been told that the bayou classics at home depot are all that I need for a burner, so that leaves me with kettle choices. Here are my basic decisions to make:
1. What size? I plan on doing 5 gallon batches only. I rather do two different styles of 5 gallons rather than one 10 gallon batch.
2. Do I need a valve? If not "needed", is it at least highly beneficial once I get into all grain? How about the built in thermometers - awesome or not really worth the expense?
3. Tall and narrow or wide and short? The two big comparisons would be Northern Brewer's wide Megapots versus the narrow Polarware varieties.
4. Tradional kettle or go for the keggle? I noticed on sabco's website that they will sell a keggle that has it's top cut open, deburred and ready to fit their lids for $99 (no drilled holes for valves or thermometers though). In comparison, the 15 Megapot costs $160 and the 15 gal Polarware $276 (albeit with a ball valve). Sabco also sells a burner that is built to specifically hold their keggle, which is cool, but also costs $73.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!