Best Kettle for the Money (10-15 gal size)

[Wooden]

Looking to get into a fairly fully featured brew kettle. Have other 5 gal pots.

Will be brewing mostly 5 gal batches, some extract, and moving into AG. (Have cooler MT but not used it yet).

Size: 10 or 15 gal (undecided)
Features: Thermometer and ball valve.
Also: want horizontal couplers as smaller batches might be done.

Will be using propane. 50k BTU burner.

-is the Blichmann worth it?
-how about Spike Brewing, or SS brewtech?
-(are the above really better than the megapots?)
-what about scorching risk when using propane?

Let me know. Would be willing to buy the Blichmann if it REALLY is worth it, but I would like to know why first, and if I can make just as good of beer with a cheaper kettle then why not!

Cheers,
Wooden

 

[Drumminguy81]

Spike brewing all the way. Amazing kettles some of the nicest welds I have seen! Welded fittings, customizable, high quality kettles.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

You cant really beat the kettle prices at homebrewing.org

While i like Spike and the like, honestly i think unless your doing something custom they are a bit overkill.

1-2 welds is pretty standard on a pot from any shop now adays.

They all use 18 gauge stainless, so its not like they have some proprietary thing..all their stainless comes from China anyways

You can get a 15 gallon 2 weld pot from Homebrewing.org for $120 , after ball valve, nipple, and thermometer your probably at $160-170 well below the $270 of a spike 15 gallon. Before i went electric i used my 10 gallon 1 weld pot from them for a long time, and sold it to a friend who has used it for years now as well.

http://www.homebrewing.org/2-Weld-15-gallon-SS-Brew-Pot_p_2756.html

I mean Spikes are triclad, but unless your using a induction burner or just really bad at pouring in LME and keep the burner going full blast and scorch your sugar to the bottom i dont see the point.

 

[Jwin]

Or just grab a concord pot off eBay and add weldless fittings.

My .02 is only that if you think you will ever go to 10g batches, get a 20g kettle. Boiling 14.5g in a 15 to end with two full kegs sucks.

 

[aprichman]

I have kettles from AMCYL, Spike Brewing, and AIH.

The AMCYL and Spike Brewing (gen 1) kettles are both durable kettles that will never dent with normal use. The Spike Brewing kettle also has welded connections which I prefer over the AMCYL's weldless design.

The AIH kettle is very thin. I could easily dent the kettle if I turned it on it's side and put some weight on it.

The AIH are no where close to the same quality level as the AMCYL or Spike Brewing kettles. If I was building a system from the ground up I would go with the Gen 3 Spike Brewing kettle. To me having a good kettle is well worth the extra money, but they will both make good beer and I'm a sucker for bling.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I have kettles from AMCYL, Spike Brewing, and AIH.

The AMCYL and Spike Brewing (gen 1) kettles are both durable kettles that will never dent with normal use. The Spike Brewing kettle also has welded connections which I prefer over the AMCYL's weldless design.

The AIH kettle is very thin. I could easily dent the kettle if I turned it on it's side and put some weight on it.

The AIH are no where close to the same quality level as the AMCYL or Spike Brewing kettles. If I was building a system from the ground up I would go with the Gen 3 Spike Brewing kettle. To me having a good kettle is well worth the extra money, but they will both make good beer and I'm a sucker for bling.

Their all 18 gauge, gauge = thickness. Their all 1.25mm thick. While i do think generally overall yes a Spike is better "constructed" than a AIH pot, i dont think "i can put weight on it" is really a valid test case for a pot that sits on a burner with liquid on it. if im buying a stainless pot for cooking in the kitchen i dont think, well this is **** i cant throw it across the room without it denting. The only thing that matters is the handles, and you shouldnt be moving 10+ gallons of wort anyways, thats the whole point of the valve.

 

[dmcman73]

Second here for Spike kettles. I had their 10 gallon then upgraded up to their 20 gallon kettles. Welds are top notch and they have standard "off the shelf" kettles and they will also custom make any type of kettle you want and weld any fittings on them.

Their new kettles have a bottom that is perfect for whirlpooling. The bottom of the kettle is recessed down a bit and has sort of a lip. You can install the dip tube in your brew kettle to go from the valve to the top of that lip so when it comes down to whirlpooling and then draining, all of that sediment will sit in the recessed part of the bottom of the pot, sort of like a conical.

 

[Phischy]

To answer the 1st question, you want a 15 gallon kettle. Esp if you do long boils, like 90-120 minute for wee heavy etc... 10 gallon is a waste of time.

I have more beer megapots, they're good, love them. Just get a notched lid for your immersion chiller if you go that route.

 

[SpikeBrewing]

Thanks for the recommendations guys, means a lot coming from the community!!

Their all 18 gauge, gauge = thickness. Their all 1.25mm thick. While i do think generally overall yes a Spike is better "constructed" than a AIH pot, i dont think "i can put weight on it" is really a valid test case for a pot that sits on a burner with liquid on it. if im buying a stainless pot for cooking in the kitchen i dont think, well this is **** i cant throw it across the room without it denting. The only thing that matters is the handles, and you shouldnt be moving 10+ gallons of wort anyways, thats the whole point of the valve.

Actually not all kettles are 18 gauge. Most companies say their kettles are 18ga (1.2mm) however almost every company (including the big name ones) are using only 1.0mm stainless. We're the only company that offers the true thickness that we advertise. That's 20% thicker and obviously costs us more to produce but we don't think it's right to advertise 18ga when our product isn't so (novel idea we know ). Go ahead and use a micrometer and test for yourself!

-Tim

 

[wilserbrewer]

Best kettle for the money IMO is the Concord, but you will have to add weldless fittings...how bad can weldless be....Blichmann uses them lol

Beyond that it's your taste and your money.
Jmo

Concord does have a 50 qt., which is a nice b/w the 10 and 15 gal sizes.

 

[Sconnie12]

Concord does make a cheap kettle but do be aware they are not 304 stainless steel so when comparing to Blichmann, Spike and SS know they are not apples to apples. (see HERE)

All the above mentioned kettles also have a bunch of great accessories which will greatly help you during brewing.