AHBS Econo Brew Pot Failure

[Mr. Nice Guy]

In case you are in the market for a stainless stock pot I thought I'd post this since I bought one and it didn't work out.

The pot is the 28 quart economy stock pot sold by Austin Homebrew supply. I bought it as an "upgrade" to my AHBS brew kit at the start of this year.

The handles aren't meant to support the weight of even 5 gallons in the 7 gallon pot. One of my handles was cracked and fell off when I picked up a hot pot of near boiling wort to cool it. I was lucky enough to save my beer and not get burnt but dealing with stuff like this is no fun.

This is really dangerous as well as a waste of money to buy the econo pot. I should have saved up for something better but I thought with proper care ss would last a lifetime.

I'm not trying to badmouth AHBS, they do a great job and I will continue to buy from them. I just don't want to see anyone wasting their money on junk.

 

[david_42]

More likely, you got a defective pot. The main problem with cheaper equipment: there's no margin for poor workmanship or flawed materials.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Maybe so, the other handle still looks ok and this one cracked after a month or two.

 

[petep1980]

Dang, broken handles do not sound like fun.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Yeah, for now I just hold the rim of the pot with a potholder which I'm sure will eventually lead to infection. Time for a keggle or something...

 

[JesseRC]

why don't you return it?

 

[Saccharomyces]

Why not take up your issue with the vendor, and get the problem resolved, rather than complaining about it? Complaining doesn't solve anything.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Why not take up your issue with the vendor, and get the problem resolved, rather than complaining about it? Complaining doesn't solve anything.

I'm not trying to concentrate on complaining, the other 85 things I have bought from AHBS are awesome, I just thought I'd warn people who might buy this pot.

AHBS is one of the places a lot of people buy their first beer making supply kits from and this is the default pot you can add on to the package.

I have talked to AHBS about the problem, the pot had a 1 month return policy. It cracked after a couple of months so I'm out of luck there. I was told I could get a replacement for 1/2 price but I don't wan't another one like that for obvious reasons.

It is no big deal, it was an inexpensive pot and AHBS was cool about it. I just posted this because I'm trying to share information (good and bad) about brewing.

 

[MR2Aaron]

Having been in their store, I was actually warned against buying those by the AHS guy. Apparently, having them fail is not unheard-of, although he said they usually leak through the rivet holes for the handles, rather than shedding the handles completely.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Having been in their store, I was actually warned against buying those by the AHS guy. Apparently, having them fail is not unheard-of, although he said they usually leak through the rivet holes for the handles, rather than shedding the handles completely.

LOL...
Wow, I wish I had known.

 

[Edcculus]

Why not take up your issue with the vendor, and get the problem resolved, rather than complaining about it? Complaining doesn't solve anything.

I see this as more of a off site equipment review than complaining. He's not badmouthing the company about customer service etc.

 

[isleofman]

I have the 8g size econo pot from AHS. I've done 5 AG batches with it with no issues. However, when I am carrying my 6g of boiling wort to the sink for chilling, I can definitely feel the handles being stressed. Not really complaining here. I too have had nothing but good experiences with AHS.

 

[corvax13]

Seems to me there is a reason why they specify ECONO pot in the name.. cheap equipment does not usually equal good equipment.

Thanks for the heads up, I was looking at this for an upgrade but I guess Ill save up and get the good stuff.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Seems to me there is a reason why they specify ECONO pot in the name.. cheap equipment does not usually equal good equipment.

Thanks for the heads up, I was looking at this for an upgrade but I guess Ill save up and get the good stuff.

I'm glad to help!

 

[RC0032]

now you make me want to shop around for a new pot