9 Gal Kettle

[Thehopguy]

I didn't think i'd be moving on to all-grain so quickly but ive been bitten by the brew bug and wanna keep advancing. Well when I bought all my things I purchased a 9 gallon kettle. I see a lot of people mentioning "10 gal kettle" for AG batches but what do u guys think?

Will a 9 gallon kettle and keeping a close eye on it be good enough for some AG??

 

[hops2it]

It'll work great for 5 or 5.5 gallon batches. Most you'll probably end up with in most cases is around 7 gallons to boil. Might have to watch a little close at hot break but after that its smooth sailing.

 

[Changeduser123]

If you want to BIAB, do not forget that both the water and the grain have to fit in there. For this reason, I went for the 62 quart (around 15 gal) bayou pot.

 

[Thehopguy]

It'll just be for the wort. I have 2 coolers as my HLT and MLT

 

[Changeduser123]

It'll just be for the wort. I have 2 coolers as my HLT and MLT

Are you getting a new pot or do you already have the 9gal one ?

 

[ajwillys]

9 is fine.

 

[Zen_Brew]

I brewed all varieties of 5 gallon batches for about 2 years with a SS 9 gallon pot. Works great!

 

[Golddiggie]

9 will do just fine for 5-6 gallon batch sizes (into primary). if you want to do a longer boil, pick up some fermcap-s and add it as the wort is getting up to a boil. You can get very close to the top of the kettle that way (without boil-over). You still need to contain the boiling wort, so keep that in mind. I would plan to keep at least 1 gallon of headspace in the kettle prior to boil (with fermcap, more without).

I used an 8 gallon kettle for several batches. With fermcap, I had zero boil-overs. A brew buddy of mine uses it in every batch and gets within 1" of the pot lip during the boils. No boil-overs there after over a year of use.

I would keep using the 9 gallon until you start making 10 gallon batches. Even then you should be able to use the 9 gallon kettle for part of the process.

BTW, welcome to the all-grain side...

 

[GryphonBrew]

9 will do just fine for 5-6 gallon batch sizes (into primary). if you want to do a longer boil, pick up some fermcap-s and add it as the wort is getting up to a boil. You can get very close to the top of the kettle that way (without boil-over). You still need to contain the boiling wort, so keep that in mind. I would plan to keep at least 1 gallon of headspace in the kettle prior to boil (with fermcap, more without).

I used an 8 gallon kettle for several batches. With fermcap, I had zero boil-overs. A brew buddy of mine uses it in every batch and gets within 1" of the pot lip during the boils. No boil-overs there after over a year of use.

I would keep using the 9 gallon until you start making 10 gallon batches. Even then you should be able to use the 9 gallon kettle for part of the process.

BTW, welcome to the all-grain side...

+1 on the fermcap! I used a 7.5 gallon pot for a while before getting my 15, and fermcap is a life saver.

 

[erikhild59]

I still use a 7.5 so 9 should be great.

 

[jbsg02]

have a 7.5 and want bigger

 

[BrewForMe]

have a 7.5 and want bigger

are we still talking about pots?

 

[Changeduser123]

I see a lot of replies with "9gal is fine, just use some fermcap". I would answer, just get a bigger pot now if you plan on buying a new one, and avoid adding silicon in your brew.

 

[wilserbrewer]

A general rule I like is the optimum kettle size is double the final batch size. 9 is fine, 10 is more optimum.

 

[gtwarren1966]

I have a 9 gallon and don't even use fermcap, I just watch the boil closely at hot break and after its done I have no problems at all after I set my burner to a good boil