All Grain Brew Kettle?

[McLovinBeast57]

Hey guys, I'm planning on slowly making the transition to all grain and I am looking to buy a bigger pot. I was thinking I would get a 50-60 quart aluminum pot...2 questions:

What size do you guys use and do u wish u would have gotten a larger size, in retrospect?

I know the pros and cons of aluminum vs. stainless steel and honestly aluminum sounds a lot better.. Anyone have experience with both?

Thanks!


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[mytommygundont]

Larger is better. I have a keggle (14.5 gallons or so in volume) that I thought would be perfect for my 5 gallon batches. But now I want to do 10 gallon batches. There isn't enough volume. Now I have to upgrade to a larger kettle and reinvest a lot of money (welder) to get it tricked out like the one I have now.

If this is a hobby you see yourself sticking to, then I would go bigger than you think you need and stainless steel. There is no substitute for stainless.

 

[McLovinBeast57]

Okay cool so do you think a 50 quart is good for doing 5 gal batches, or could I go down to 40 quarts?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Okay cool so do you think a 50 quart is good for doing 5 gal batches, or could I go down to 40 quarts?

Typically double batch size is a good size for a boil kettle, so either a 40 or 50 would work well.

The concord stainless kettles on eBay are not much more than aluminum FWIW, I love aluminum, but only at the right price, for 20% more money, stainless is a good value IMO.


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[McLovinBeast57]

Typically double batch size is a good size for a boil kettle, so either a 40 or 50 would work well.

The concord stainless kettles on eBay are not much more than aluminum FWIW, I love aluminum, but only at the right price, for 20% more money, stainless is a good value IMO.


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I currently use an Aluminum pot and it hasn't been a problem for me. I like it because it heats up and cools fairly fast... The whole oxidation thing doesn't seem to be much of an issue... As far as I can tell?


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[Commah2]

I went with a 32 quart stainless kettle to serve 5 gallon batches, works great! I might pony up next time though and get the spigot.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I currently use an Aluminum pot and it hasn't been a problem for me. I like it because it heats up and cools fairly fast... The whole oxidation thing doesn't seem to be much of an issue... As far as I can tell?

I agree, I like aluminum as well!
I guess I like stainless for the fact that even afer a few years use it will clean up like new with a little BKF...cosmetic I guess...opinions vary....cheers!