Kettles for Extract Brewing

[DBake]

What is the gold standard for kettle size's for extract brewing?

Thanks ahead of time.

 

[jeffmeh]

What is your heat source? If you have sufficient BTUs, you could go with a kettle large enough to do full boils. The advantage of starting with a larger pot is that it may serve useful if you expand your brewing.

I started with a turkey fryer kit (7.5 gal pot and burner), which worked for 5-gallon, full-boil, extract batches, although I had to watch it like a hawk for boilovers. I eventually bought a 15 gal pot that still works on the burner. It permits me to do 10-gallon batches if I desire. I have also started doing all-grain, 5-gallon, BIAB batches in it. I could do a ten-gallon BIAB, as long as it was with a modest grain bill. I may end up moving up to a 20 gallon pot if I choose to undertake any high-gravity, 10-gallon BIAB batches.

That being said, any stainless steel or aluminum pot will work, and you can do partial boils if your heat source confines you to a smaller pot.

 

[user 53515]

I have a 20qt stainless steel pot that came with my kit. I do 3.5 gallon - 4 gallon extract boils on my kitchen stove, but when adding 5 lbs of DME, it gets pretty dang close to the top

I'm still a beginner brewer too, only have 2 batches (both extract+steeping grains) done. I'll hang on to the 20qt SS pot for a while. I figure I can do partial boil extract batches, and some 2.5 gallon AG BIAB / PG batches.

 

[DBake]

The pot size should be double the size batch you are boiling?

 

[tom777]

assuming full boils -- a pot size of 2x the batch size isn't a necessity, but it's nice to have the extra head room. I think some folks do 5g full boils in 30qt kettles, but that doesn't leave much headroon after you account for the extra volume needed for boiloff.
I usually manage to boil about 3 - 3.5 gallons in my 20qt pot.

 

[thedidey]

The reasonings here are these.... more headroom allows for boiloff as tom777 mentioned. If you're doing a full boil and need to end up with 5 gallons you need to boil....6.5 to 7 gallons.

Another reason you would want a larger pot is because you can use less hops if you boil as close to your batch size as possible.

Jeffmeh also has a valid point that most people want to grow their brewery soon after starting. In 2 years I went from a 20 qt pot to a 30 qt to a 15.5 gal keggle. I think you see that succession a lot.

I can't deny that the turkey fryer is a great middle ground. 30 qt kettle would allow you to do everything from extract inside to 5 gallon all-grain outside. And for 60 bucks (not including a propane tank which you might already have) it's reasonable enough to start out with.