15-gallon brew kettle advice

[christyle]

AIH is having a scratch and dent sale right now. They have 15 gallon two weld pots for $89!!! Talk about a bargain.

AIH scratch and dent sale link.

Whats the story on these, or even the full price ones? Just really thin gauge? I was set on a Bayou Classic when I get my larger pot. Why no mention in here?

 

[christyle]

Or these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085ZODVO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[WI_Wino]

Whats the story on these, or even the full price ones? Just really thin gauge? I was set on a Bayou Classic when I get my larger pot. Why no mention in here?

I have the 15 gallon and had a 9 gallon from aih. Bottom is not clad but I have not had any scorching issues with my sq14 burner. I thought it was 18 gauge so on par with most other brew kettles on the market. Handles are spot welded on, I would not pick up the pot when it is full. I have not had any pinhole issues where the welds are.

 

[Justdrumin]

Whats the story on these, or even the full price ones? Just really thin gauge? I was set on a Bayou Classic when I get my larger pot. Why no mention in here?

It's probably not triclad bottom and it may be thinner. I haven't fully looked into it. I bought a 17.5 gallon pot for $70 shipped off eBay brand new. It's ss with a lid. It may not be the best in the world, but it works great!!

 

[gstojk]

I picked up the same 15 gal. 2 weld scratch/dent around Christmas and it's great. Thick gauge, heavy bottom. dents dont detract at all. Had them include the therm. and ball valve for another $30. Shipping was reasonable too. Made a BIAB SMASH and it worked perfect. DO IT you wont regret.

 

[christyle]

I'm just not understanding what can make a pot 3x better than another? we're talking $100 vs $300+ It's a pot!

 

[ulnpiper]

I love my BC 16 gal kettle. Great for 5 gal batches, and have been considering doing a 10 gal batch which is why I went with this size. I figure it'll be tight with 13-14 gals of wort, but will just have to be careful about boil over.

Has gallon markings indented into the ss.

Doesn't have a thermometer, but you can get a kit to add it or do like I do and hang one over the side.

I ordered it one day and it was by my front door by noon the next day.

http://www.provantage.com/bayou-classic-1064~7BAYC001.htm

 

[ndinh]

I'm just not understanding what can make a pot 3x better than another? we're talking $100 vs $300+ It's a pot!

When you see an 'economy kettle' vs a heavy duty one, you'll understand. I started off years ago with cheap SS kettles that were paper thin (early Spike kettles) and now have heavy duty ones and they're so much better with boiling and distributing heat. The water also keeps temp longer in my HLT. Now I can't understand $500+ kettles though.

 

[augiedoggy]

When you see an 'economy kettle' vs a heavy duty one, you'll understand. I started off years ago with cheap SS kettles that were paper thin (early Spike kettles) and now have heavy duty ones and they're so much better with boiling and distributing heat. The water also keeps temp longer in my HLT. Now I can't understand $500+ kettles though.

For gas I would completely agree but for electric I'm not sure why would anyone need a thick walled kettle the 1mm ones like the Concords or ballington are plenty heavy duty enough...Bayou classics dent very easy if your not careful though and they are the thinnest I have seen yet (I use two with no issues as well as a ballington.)

 

[augiedoggy]

I love my BC 16 gal kettle. Great for 5 gal batches, and have been considering doing a 10 gal batch which is why I went with this size. I figure it'll be tight with 13-14 gals of wort, but will just have to be careful about boil over.

Has gallon markings indented into the ss.

Doesn't have a thermometer, but you can get a kit to add it or do like I do and hang one over the side.

I ordered it one day and it was by my front door by noon the next day.

http://www.provantage.com/bayou-classic-1064~7BAYC001.htm

These are the same as I use... They dent very easily compared to all my other cheap pots but are otherwise very nice as far as size and design.... I noticed two new dings and have no idea how they got there... I have had my 13 gallon ballington ($70 shipped on ebay) for over a year and and its held up perfectly and its much heavier duty...

 

[khawk95]

Just ordered a 15 gallon from Spike with horizontal ports. I like the idea of welded fittings. no worries about a melting gasket with a no-weld fitting.

It should last for a lifetime of brewing with proper care.

 

[Wreck99]

Just ordered a 15 gallon from Spike with horizontal ports. I like the idea of welded fittings. no worries about a melting gasket with a no-weld fitting.

It should last for a lifetime of brewing with proper care.

Send us a picture and review when you get it all together and use. I'm still a couple weeks away from making my purchase. Sounds like the way I'll go too.

 

[Nagorg]

My newest Spike Kettle.

 

[Wreck99]

That's pretty. What's the 2nd higher valve for?

 

[Nagorg]

That's for whirlpooling. And the layout is a custom one from Spike. It's a 30G kettle so that I can brew 15G+ batches. BUT... I wanted to also brew 10G at times so Ben@SpikeBrewing worked up the location of the thermometer and whirlpool port to be low enough that they would still be submerged with those lesser volumes.

I cant say enough good about their customer service and quality of their stuff these days.

 

[khawk95]

Send us a picture and review when you get it all together and use. I'm still a couple weeks away from making my purchase. Sounds like the way I'll go too.

Just got it in the mail. Here are pics.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421411415.186037.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421411431.451453.jpg

 

[augiedoggy]

Just ordered a 15 gallon from Spike with horizontal ports. I like the idea of welded fittings. no worries about a melting gasket with a no-weld fitting.

It should last for a lifetime of brewing with proper care.

The gaskets are high temp silicone..... if you melt them you have much bigger problems to worry about... For those considering them, keep the direct flame away from them and you'll be fine...

those spike pots look nice... those are the ideal dimensions to go bigger and still brew smaller batches since they are much taller than they are wide..

 

[Grannyknot]

Those Spike kettles are nicer than anything blingman offers IMO.
Makes you wonder why blichman wants twice as much.

 

[cyberbrew]

I got my new Spike (15gal) a couple weeks ago, looking forward to my first batch with it tomorrow...IPA!!

 

[Reaver]

Got a bonus at work. As soon as the $ transfers, I'm getting one.
I am going to try the 15gal for boil first, if I need to go 20, that's fine becuase I'll just transition it to the HLT.

 

[Wreck99]

Just got it in the mail. Here are pics.
View attachment 249102View attachment 249103

Nice Kettle! I'd imagine those horizontal fittings vs vertical makes it easier to do smaller batches if need be.

 

[khawk95]

Yup. Got a 15 gallon to use primarily with 5 gallon batches. No boil over risk. I can use fermcap if need be with a 10 gal batch.

 

[Wreck99]

Finally pulled the trigger on a new kettle. Looking forward to a new Spike kettle! The "old" one has served me well, though I'll keep it around for something.

 

[normonster]

Expensive hobby this is. If you ever stop though you'll have one sweet crab cooker!

 

[hezagenius]

I got a 15g from Spike last week. I went with the horizontal couplers as well since I do extract recipes on occasion that only require 3 gallon boils.

I think the biggest selling points for why I went with Spike are:
1) welded coupler connections (no disassembly required to clean)
2) horizontal coupler configuration (so I can monitor temps for small batches)

The welds on mine are quite nice. Very clean. Plus the flush mount on the inside is really nice.

I'm waiting on the dip tube assembly I ordered from Bargain Fittings and then I'll be off to the races.

I plan on using some sheet metal or some other piece of metal to act as a heat shield to protect the valve and thermometer.

 

[khawk95]

Used my kettle for the first time a few weeks ago. I did have a little rust pop up after heating mash water, but that cleaned up quickly with some bar keepers friend. No issues since. Best part was no worry about a boil over since I was doing a 5 gallon batch! Priceless!!

 

[Wreck99]

Just arrived. Can't wait to test this baby out!

 

[Scriv]

Question to the Spike owners: when you put the kettle together do you wrench the fittings down or are you going hand tight only? I would guess they get wrenched down.

 

[hezagenius]

Use teflon tape and then wrench them. The teflon helps them seal so you don't have to wrench them super tight.

 

[SpikeBrewing]

You only need to hand tighten all connections