Spike Brewing Custom Kettle Review

[BigDog007]

Let me start by saying that until now I thought most kettles by and large did about the same thing. Spike Brewing has proved me wrong...

I purchased a custom 15 gallon Spike Brew Kettle to replace my current 15g stainless Kettle I bought at my LHBS. I am an all electric brewer (built it all myself) and for the most part my Kettle has been adequate since I bought it. The first thing I noticed about the new Spike Kettle is that it weighed a lot more and the stainless was easily twice the thickness of my generic pot. The tri-clad bottom of the kettle was very surprising and I fell in love with it immediately. I purchased one of Spike's proprietary elements as well and I can say it's nothing short of amazing. This will be a breeze to clean. The pick-up tubes from Spike were also amazing. So glad I bought them. Makes pick-up and whirlpool a cinch.

The thing I like best about the Kettle is the way it holds the heat. The thicker stainless seems to hold and maintain temp a lot easier.

Pro's-
-welded fittings
-tri-clad bottom and overall thickness
-heat retention

Con's-
-some of the welds appear to have an imperfection but still functional
-cost- sometimes you just gotta pay for quality and this is one of those times
-once you buy one you want more

This was the final piece to get all stainless in my setup. HLT is my original stainless kettle, mash tun is a 15g Chapman insulated tun and brew Kettle is my 15g Spike.

I also have a RIMS but now seems like a herms coil is in order.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1489296396.870392.jpg

Sorry for the dark picture but my lighting isn't so good in my basement brewery, it's a work in progress.

Thanks Spike for such a great product. If anyone wants to donate a herms coil with fittings to me that would be great. LOL

RDWHAHB

 

[JDL]

I am putting together a similar brew system but using gas for the actual boil. I already have the 15 gallon chapman and wanted to get any advice or things you would do differently with your RIMS setup. I already have the controller built with a PID and RTD for the RIMS so just down to getting the hardware piece sorted out.

Thinking of going with brewhardware and adding a site glass to it.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[BigDog007]

I would have spent the money on herms instead of building my own rims. The rims tube (at least mine) is bulky and awkward. Now that I have three vessels it seems kin of pointless to have the rims tube when the only component missing is the herms coil.

I used to do brew in a bag so the rims made a lot of sense then but now the Chapman holds temp I don't even really need the rims to do anything other than recirc if I want. My efficiency has been above 80% without recirc so other than maybe some extra clarity in the wort it doesn't really seem to matter.

 

[grubs43]

Let me start by saying that until now I thought most kettles by and large did about the same thing. Spike Brewing has proved me wrong...

I purchased a custom 15 gallon Spike Brew Kettle to replace my current 15g stainless Kettle I bought at my LHBS. I am an all electric brewer (built it all myself) and for the most part my Kettle has been adequate since I bought it. The first thing I noticed about the new Spike Kettle is that it weighed a lot more and the stainless was easily twice the thickness of my generic pot. The tri-clad bottom of the kettle was very surprising and I fell in love with it immediately. I purchased one of Spike's proprietary elements as well and I can say it's nothing short of amazing. This will be a breeze to clean. The pick-up tubes from Spike were also amazing. So glad I bought them. Makes pick-up and whirlpool a cinch.

The thing I like best about the Kettle is the way it holds the heat. The thicker stainless seems to hold and maintain temp a lot easier.

Pro's-
-welded fittings
-tri-clad bottom and overall thickness
-heat retention

Con's-
-some of the welds appear to have an imperfection but still functional
-cost- sometimes you just gotta pay for quality and this is one of those times
-once you buy one you want more

This was the final piece to get all stainless in my setup. HLT is my original stainless kettle, mash tun is a 15g Chapman insulated tun and brew Kettle is my 15g Spike.

I also have a RIMS but now seems like a herms coil is in order.

View attachment 392369

Sorry for the dark picture but my lighting isn't so good in my basement brewery, it's a work in progress.

Thanks Spike for such a great product. If anyone wants to donate a herms coil with fittings to me that would be great. LOL

RDWHAHB

 

[grubs43]

i was wondering which pick up tubes you have? i just bought myself a 15 gallon spike and have side pickups which assuming you do as well cause you mentioned whirlpool...i have a solid gallon of liquid left over before the clad bottom even starts..now this is just a water leak test and realize true and hop waste are going to be accountable for some of this,buti t sure seems a lot,,and im thinking i will have to sparge with a solid extra gallon,,any though on this or what did you do to compensate? thanks

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

i was wondering which pick up tubes you have? i just bought myself a 15 gallon spike and have side pickups which assuming you do as well cause you mentioned whirlpool...i have a solid gallon of liquid left over before the clad bottom even starts..now this is just a water leak test and realize true and hop waste are going to be accountable for some of this,buti t sure seems a lot,,and im thinking i will have to sparge with a solid extra gallon,,any though on this or what did you do to compensate? thanks

Did you have a hose connected when you drained? If you just drain out the bottom hole with no hose, it'll only drain to the level of the outlet. With a hose attached, it'll drain down to the bottom and leave very little in the kettle. I think mine leaves about a cup and a half.

I don't have a spike kettle, but I use their side pickup tube. It works really well.

 

[grubs43]

Did you have a hose connected when you drained? If you just drain out the bottom hole with no hose, it'll only drain to the level of the outlet. With a hose attached, it'll drain down to the bottom and leave very little in the kettle. I think mine leaves about a cup and a half.

I don't have a spike kettle, but I use their side pickup tube. It works really well.

I did not and my common sense apparently wasn't working that day, waiting on a few fittings and should be brewing this weekend, thank you for the response sir!!

Did you have a hose connected when you drained? If you just drain out the bottom hole with no hose, it'll only drain to the level of the outlet. With a hose attached, it'll drain down to the bottom and leave very little in the kettle. I think mine leaves about a cup and a half.

I don't have a spike kettle, but I use their side pickup tube. It works really well.

 

[seandalton]

i was wondering which pick up tubes you have? i just bought myself a 15 gallon spike and have side pickups which assuming you do as well cause you mentioned whirlpool...i have a solid gallon of liquid left over before the clad bottom even starts..now this is just a water leak test and realize true and hop waste are going to be accountable for some of this,buti t sure seems a lot,,and im thinking i will have to sparge with a solid extra gallon,,any though on this or what did you do to compensate? thanks

Hey Grubs. Did you find the answer to your problem? I just got the Spike kettle and having the same problem. It’s a lot of wort to leave in the brew kettle. I was thinking of using the other end so it’ll sit flat on the bottom of the kettle

 

[SpikeBrewing]

Hey Grubs. Did you find the answer to your problem? I just got the Spike kettle and having the same problem. It’s a lot of wort to leave in the brew kettle. I was thinking of using the other end so it’ll sit flat on the bottom of the kettle

Make sure you have a hose in the outside of the kettle below the valve so a siphon is created. Common mistake during first use.

 

[Redpappy]

I will have to agree.....I love my 10g spike kettle.. since drainage has been brought up, does anyone know how much trub will get into the fermentor without doing a whirlpool?

 

[pinemarten]

Redpappy, that will be more dependant on your hop bill and pump speed than any other factor. I've found with any kettle whirlpool or not, letting everything sit pre-transfer for 15 minutes or so helps reduce trub pickup. I have a Spike 15gal BK that does a great job transferring off the side with lightly kettle hopped beers. With super hopped IPAs, I've had trub well over the step even with a beautiful cone from the whirlpool in the center of the kettle. For what it's worth, I don't get overly concerned about trub pickup since I switched to fermenting in a conical. If you go that route, transfer cooled worth to the conical and let it sit still for 30 min. Then dump trub from the bottom port before pitching. It's magical.