Anvil Brew Kettle or Not

[bearrocco]

Hi I'm new to the forum , and to the hobby . I have a chance to get an Anvil brew kettle for a good price it's 5.5 gallons . I brew kits , but some of the kits u have to steep grains , so I like the thermometer in the kettle . Now here is were the question comes in . Most of the kits you use 2.5 gallons of water , but u need 3 gallons to submerge the thermostat in the anvil kettle . Will it effect the beer to use more water to steep the grain and finish the boil. Thank Vince

 

[PADave]

Short answer, no.

 

[bearrocco]

Thanks u think those anvil kettles are good ?

 

[Jim_Holmes]

the 5.5 gallon kettle is pretty small you might want to get a bigger one i went with an 8 gallon for my full boil 5 gallon BIAB batches and when the boil gets rolling its pretty close to being undersized. your choice but if you spend money on that small kettle youll just be spending it over in a short time to upgrade

 

[RM-MN]

I think you will stick with this hobby for quite a while and will probably want to make all grain batches in the future (HEY! Tomorrow is in the future so think about that) and with that I think your pot will be too small. Spend a bit more money and get a big enough pot so you don't have to buy 2 pots. Skip the thermometer in the pot. You'll find it to be more bother than it is worth. Get a relatively cheap digital thermometer and just use that. You don't need to continuously monitor the temperature, it won't be changing that fast unless you decide you have to add heat. If you decide to add heat while the grain is steeping or during the mash if you go partial mash or all grain, think again. You only need to watch the heat while getting to the temp you want to steep or mash at and perhaps as it nears boil so you are ready to turn down the heat to avoid boilover. I've made a hole in the lid of my pot that I can slip the stem of the thermometer through so I can monitor the temp and that lets me have the option of easily replacing the thermometer if it should break or lose calibration. That has kept me from dropping the thermometer into the wort while measuring the temp.

 

[bearrocco]

Thanks , your right I've been thinking about making a mash ton out of an 8.5 gallons water cooler .

 

[kh54s10]

Thanks , your right I've been thinking about making a mash ton out of an 8.5 gallons water cooler .

I suggest at least a 10 gallon water cooler, bigger if you ever want to do 10 gallon batches.

I have done a couple of big beer five gallon batches in my 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler and filled it to within 2 inches of the top.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks , your right I've been thinking about making a mash ton out of an 8.5 gallons water cooler .

Before you spend the money on that mash tun give BIAB a try for a batch or 2. Some who have done so have never bought the mash tun because BIAB is so easy and has great efficiency. There is a sub-section in the all grain that is all about BIAB.

 

[AkBrew907]

I purchased an Anvil 10 gallon Kettle and absolutely love it. I agree with the others that the 5.5 is pretty small and I would guess you would wish you got a larger one if you bought that.

Id spring for a 10 gallon. Even if you don't go full all grain immediately it's a great pot and give you room to grow.

 

[aprichman]

A 5.5 gallon kettle is too small if you're planning on doing 5 gallon batches. On the other hand if you're planning on doing 2.5 gallon batches (i.e. half batches) a 5.5 gallon kettle would be fantastic. It all depends on what you're looking to do.

From what I've seen the Anvil kettles look like they are built well and having a ball valve on a kettle is awesome.

If you're looking to do 5 gallon batches (either full boil extract or all grain) a 10 gallon kettle will serve you well. IMO a 10 gallon kettle is the sweet spot for a 5-6 gallon batch size.

As far as your mash tun goes, I currently run a 7.8 gallon cooler as my mash tun. If I had to do it over again I would probably go with a 10 gallon mash tun. I can do 5 gallon beers around 1.07 - 1.08 but anything bigger would overflow my mash tun. In the future I plan to use a 10 gallon stainless steel kettle for a mash tun. Why? I want to be able to recirculate hot water -> alkaline wash -> hot water -> acid wash through the whole system with a pump. Cleaning out a cooler mash tun is a PITA

 

[aprichman]

Also how good of a deal are you talking about? If it's a really good deal I might be interested in using it as a wort grant if you don't want it.

 

[PADave]

Before you spend the money on that mash tun give BIAB a try for a batch or 2. Some who have done so have never bought the mash tun because BIAB is so easy and has great efficiency. There is a sub-section in the all grain that is all about BIAB.

I second that. Get a 10 gallon and do BIAB. Simple and room to do 2.5 gallon or 5 gallon brews. Just use a big kitchen pot, if you got one for 1 gallon batches.

 

[BrandonMH]

I have been looking at the anvil kettles as well. I was thinking of the 10 possibly the 15 gal for future expansion purposes. That way I would be set for 5 and 10 gal batches.