5Gal batch kettle size?

[Nova5]

What size boil kettle is needed for a 5 gallon batch? i've been lookin around and can't seem to find anything useful as to how much is boiled off during that stage.

 

[Catt22]

Typically you would boil off about 1.5 gallons during a 60 minute boil. Allowing another 1/2 gallon for thermal expansion would put you at 7 gallons. Then you want some freeboard so add another gallon or so. That brings it up to 8 gallons minimum. You can get buy with a smaller kettle by topping up near the end of the boil, but a bigger kettle is the better way to go.

 

[samc]

Give serious thought to buying a 15 gallon kettle or making a keggle. At some point if you stick with brewing you might be going to 10 gallon batches. Wish I had taken my own advice.

 

[whalenutz]

Give serious thought to buying a 15 gallon kettle or making a keggle. At some point if you stick with brewing you might be going to 10 gallon batches. Wish I had taken my own advice.

I wish some one had told me this when i purchased my 7.5 gallon pot, but luckly i scored a 1/2 bbl keg for 5 bucks so now i have a 7.5 HLT that just needs a valve....anyway thats my 3 cents

 

[WenValley]

I started with on the stove extract, then went partial mash with a 20 quart stainless steel kettle, then upgraded to a turkey fryer with a 30 quart aluminum pot for full boils. Boil overs were always a problem, a fan blowing over the top of the boiling liquid make a big difference.
Last week I finished my keggle. It's nice not having to worry about boil overs and I can drain the wort without lifting the kettle.
I would suggest that you find a keg, cut off the top and insert a quarter turn 1/2" valve. There's a ton of info. on this forum. Sooner or later, you'll want a bigger pot.
Good Luck.

 

[-Dan-]

I used a regular turkey freyer pot for a while but it really it is too small. After a couple of boil overs later, I decided to go with a 10gal pot. If you want to do full boils, just buy a 1gal pot

 

[Nova5]

Thanks folks. got a 10.5 aluminum from lowes -10%