6 gallon pot

[pwndabear]

I have figured out that my girlfriend's father has bought me a 6 gallon pot for homebrewing for christmas (don't worry, i'll still act surprised).

Since i've started brewing, i've only used a 3 gallon pot and done only partial boils.

will i be able to do full boils now or is that one gallon of headroom not enough with a full boil including steeping grains and such???

 

[Daybis]

I think that's a bit too small for full boils. I would plan on doing partial boils in it.

 

[Burtonair01]

I'm a newbie here and was wondering what is the best size pot for a full brew?

 

[HexKrak]

4 gallons for sure, but put 5 gallons of water in there and eye it for yourself. Taller thinner pots might leave you enough head room, shorter ones might be too risky.

 

[pwndabear]

bah i knew it. man, i hate when people get me things cause i always need them so specific. i even asked for 7 gallon minimum or 12 gallon.

oh well. anyone have any suggested uses for a 6 gallon pot?

 

[HexKrak]

I'm a newbie here and was wondering what is the best size pot for a full brew?

Keggles are the preferred pots of choice for many members here for 5 and 10 gallon boils. They're also cost effective if you know someone with the right tools to convert a $30 decommissioned keg into a brew pot at material cost.

 

[HexKrak]

bah i knew it. man, i hate when people get me things cause i always need them so specific. i even asked for 7 gallon minimum or 12 gallon.

oh well. anyone have any suggested uses for a 6 gallon pot?

Hot liqure tank for your future 3 piece setup.

 

[Burtonair01]

Keggles are the preferred pots of choice for many members here for 5 and 10 gallon boils. They're also cost effective if you know someone with the right tools to convert a $30 decommissioned keg into a brew pot at material cost.

So these are homemade? I actually have a couple kegs from back in the day, is this what you use to make them? Any instructions on how to do it?

 

[dshaggy]

You should be able to boil 5.5 gallons in it without a problem (just keep a spray bottle nearby). I boil 6.5 gallons in my 7 gallon pot all the time.

 

[ToastedPenguin]

Problem with a 6 gallon pot is you need close to 6 gallons to allow for boil off doing a full boil to eliminate the need to add water to the fermenter to reach 5 gallons for fermentation. However with the 6 gallon pot you will get better results by having a larger volume of water in your boil kettle at the end of the boil and having to add less water to the fermenter prior to pitching your yeast.

As for a pot, I have found that a shorter but larger diameter pot will yield less boil overs (almost never) then a taller but smaller diameter pot without having to use a spray bottle.

 

[Jaysus]

oh well. anyone have any suggested uses for a 6 gallon pot?

Use it to heat sparge water for batch sparging all grain batches!

 

[dshaggy]

That's true. A larger diameter pot loses more to boil off though, so it's a trade off. When I boil 6.5 gallons, I usually end up bottling about 5.5 gallons depending if I secondary, how many hops I use, etc.

 

[SKMO]

A couple drips of Fermcap-S and boil away. Too simple to be taken seriously I guess.

 

[ToastedPenguin]

That's true. A larger diameter pot loses more to boil off though, so it's a trade off. When I boil 6.5 gallons, I usually end up bottling about 5.5 gallons depending if I secondary, how many hops I use, etc.

Ya that is true, my 10G pot it short and wide and I see about the same amount of boil off that you indicated so I adjusted up a gallon as well. But having a nice hot and rolling boil with no boil overs and no need for chemical or manual intervention is nice so the trade off works for me.

 

[bovineblitz]

It's gonna leave you just a little short for full boils, but you can always top off with just one gallon. Use Fermcap-S and depending on the pot you'll prolly boil off a gallon to a gallon and a half.

Eventually once you get another pot (which I'm in the process of doing now), it'll be perfect for a HLT.

Or... sell it on craigslist and get another one.