10 gal kettle - thoughts?

[Sadu]

I use the cheapest nastiest 10 gallon kettle I could find. Steel is thin, no thermowells or sight guages or any of that stuff - just a cheap kettle with a lid. The one thing I was conscious of when buying was whether the welds on the handles were decent - don't want a handle breaking off when it's full of boiling wort.

And it makes good beer. If I was a bit richer I would invest in a nice thick quality kettle that will last a lifetime, maybe with a thermowell, but to be honest this cheap kettle works great and I'm really happy with it.

 

[ChelisHubby]

I am with Sadu , I have a Cheap alumininin kettle no frills or ports or nothing but a lid. You can make very nice beer with it. you might work a little bit harder and have to pay attention but the darn thing makes good beer CHEAP. If money is not a issue I would buy a spike kettle!

 

[stouttanksandkettles]

If you live in a college town, go pull a keg out of a dumpster. I know it's technically illegal but AB (that is AB/InBev/Sab/Miller/coors now)has enough money as far as I'm concerned.

Please don't steal kegs from any brewery, large or small. As a former brewery owner, I can attest that kegs are a huge expense and keg losses quickly sap profits. If you want to support the beer industry, then please procure your kegs legally. And avoid the risk of legal hassles if you are caught.

We sell new kegs for a reasonable cost, or you might go to a brewery and ask if they have any kegs destined for the scrap heap that they would sell for cheap.

Regards,

John Watt
Stout Tanks and Kettles
stouttanks.com
Portland, Oregon

 

[wilserbrewer]

If you live in a college town, go pull a keg out of a dumpster. I know it's technically illegal but AB (that is AB/InBev/Sab/Miller/coors now)has enough money as far as I'm concerned.

JMO, and apologies to all the keggle lovers out there. JMO, and strictly my opinion, kegs make lousy boil kettles. I also have a hunch they take more fuel to heat, making them more costly to use.....

Heavy as hell, tough to clean with a narrow top opening, a bottom rim that gets dangerously hot while heating, etc etc...

My advice would be to pull two kegs out of a dumpster, return them to the store and buy a shiny new concord 15 gallon kettle with lid for $90 shipped and hopefully have money left over.

Kegs are designed for serving beer, not boiling it JMO cheers!

 

[ryanryates]

If you want a long term kettle that replicates a commercial brew kettle design, with a tangential inlet and dish bottom, Stout Tanks and Kettles has some great options that are in the 10 or 16 gallon range.

Here's a 9.8 gallon kettle http://conical-fermenter.com/BK9TI-9-Gallon-Brew-Kettle.html

Before I scaled up, I used this 9.8 gallon size to make 6 gallon batches all the time.

I have 20 gallon HLT, MLT, and BK from stout. I have been very pleased.

 

[Homercidal]

If you live in a college town, go pull a keg out of a dumpster. I know it's technically illegal but AB (that is AB/InBev/Sab/Miller/coors now)has enough money as far as I'm concerned.

I think the important part to notice is that it's TECHNICALLY ILLEGAL, meaning it's ILLEGAL.

I cannot condone this practice, and I believe HBT would not either.

I personally own 2 keggles purchased used from a reseller. I actually don't care for them either. If I had to do it all over again I'd spring for a nice flat-walled kettle. At the time I bought them I was just looking for the cheapest usable kettle I could find, and they do work.

Now, I'd love to replace them, and still might once I get all of the other brewing needs procured.

And with the price of keg deposits these days, I don't know if there many sitting around in college dumpsters like there used to be.

 

[govner1]

If you live in a college town, go pull a keg out of a dumpster. I know it's technically illegal but AB (that is AB/InBev/Sab/Miller/coors now)has enough money as far as I'm concerned.

Illegal is illegal. If you or your family had "enough" money would it be ok to steal their car?

 

[MizzouFermentationScience]

In some states the attach little tags to the side of the keg so it can be traced back to purchaser. Underage kids get caught, that tag gets ripped off. At that point the keg cannot be returned easily (I never figured out how because the stores wouldn't take them back after the tag was removed). I saw two kegs poking out of the top of a dumpster, neither had tags (one of which had been drilled into, looks like the kids had a broken tap or something, not the work of a homebrewer) and tried to return them to two different stores and could not. So maybe I'm just dumpster diving criminal with a fluid sense of right and wrong, or maybe the landfill is a worse place for kegs than a homebrewer's garage. If someone knows if AB sends people out to pick up kegs at the landfill, I stand corrected and apologize.

 

[DrBuzz]

I use an aluminum kettle. I like it and it works. I bought it used for cheap. Oxidation is not a worry and heat distribution is great. It doesn't burn. My concern every time I use it, though, is the link of aluminum to Alzheimer's. They haven't proven anything yet, but if I could lower my chances of any health risk I would. I want a stainless kettle. And eventually I will buy one. So if your anything like me, go for the best off the bat and save up your money so that down the road you never have to re-invest an anything. Changing out something over time is not efficient and not cost effective. Go for the best. Get stainless and get the bells and whistles.