Best size BK for 5 gallon brew

[bigken462]

For my 5th batch, I wish to move away from the kitchen stove and do my first full boil. To date, I have been using a SS Ball water bath Canner for stove top applications. My flat top range really struggles to keep a 2.5-3 gallon batch boiling w/o a lid on.

At my disposal is a standard size turkey fryer kit and burner with 10psi reg. Seems like it's 28-30 quarts. I also have a 15 and 30 gallon stock pot with another large BTU burner with a 30psi reg for them. I have no problem getting the water to temp quickly which brings another question later.

Should I be concerned about the increase surface area if I use the 15 gallon pot versus the turkey fryer? Is this even a factor? My assumption is the more the merrier since you don't have to worry about boil overs etc. Not sure how it will affect the boil off rates though.

I filled the fryer up with water yesterday to 6 gallons and had about 2.5-3" or so left to the top. Seems like 6 gallons came up to the first bottom rivet for the handle. I would assume a person would still need to be diligent as to not have a boil over with a turkey fryer. Obviously the 15 and 30 gallon pots are plenty big enough, but I was wondering when does going bigger cause problems?

The pictures below are the 15 & 30 gallon pots.

Next question is: When a extract recipe calls to steep some grains for instance until the water reaches 170* then pull and add other ingredients. How much time is needed to do this? With my stove obviously this would be a nice slow steep while waiting on it to reach the proper temp, but with the propane burners, I can have 5-6 gallons of water hitting 170* in just a few minutes. Should this be something I try to lengthen out over a period of time? What are ya'lls thoughts?

Thanks much,

 

[bajaedition]

I use an eight gallon kettle and never have had an issue
I boil from 6.5 gallons down to just over 5
A full size wort boil is a great way to improve your beer

I steep for 20 minutes, that is about what you need, I hold my temp at 150 while steeping

 

[Foosier]

If you are doing extract. The 30 quart pot would be fine for full boil batches. You would need a chiller though and might need to keep an eye on boil overs, but generally there should be enough room if you keep an eye on it.

The larger pots will certainly work for 5 gal batches but they are a bit overkill and your boil off will be a bit higher. You could do a dry run to see how much is boiled off in the larger pot if you wanted to.

I would just stick with the smaller pot. It would be easier to handle.

 

[bigken462]

I would just stick with the smaller pot. It would be easier to handle.

Were you referring to the 28qt turkey fryer or the 60qt (15 gal) stock pot? I agree the bigger 120qt would be a pain to pick up and pour from.

I do have a IC that I made. Sadly, I chose to use only 25' of 3/8 tubing that would fill up a water bath canner. I used a 8" scuba cylinder as a rolling guide and see now the diameter is much too small. After using it a few times, I've found that the small diameter of the coil is a PITA to stir the wort in. If I make another, I'll use a popcorn tin or something bigger. Live and learn I guess.

*EDIT* Lol, I need to learn to read better. Oppsy. I see what you were saying now. My bad.



Ken

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

I'd personally use the 28qt as an HLT and 15g as the BK. Trying to boil in a pot that is too small is a real pain and messy as hell. That's been my experience anyway.

 

[bigken462]

I'm assuming you would be doing AG brewing if using a HLT? So far i've only used extracts. I want to migrate to AG so bad I can taste it. I just don't have the play money yet to go that route. The 15 gallon pot would be ideal to put a ball valve on, but it's a pot my grandfather used well before I was born. It has a 1951 US military stamp of the side and lid. No telling what kind of history that old pot has. Never the less, I'm finding it difficult to be drilling into the side to modify. The other pot I use for crawfish and while I could put a ball valve on it, I think it would cause a problem with my strainer basket that goes inside.

I hope to use some tax money and maybe purchase a 10 gallon cooler and false bottom and see where that carries me. So far I've has good luck with extracts, but there is that growing desire to graduate to all grain. lol

I've been able to use introduce a few new techniques with of the past few boils learning something new from the past brew session each time and changing my process as I learn. I really enjoy the conveniences of brewing in the kitchen, but I guess its finally time to break loose and carry things to the garage. lol

 

[helibrewer]

I think twice the batch size is ideal, especially if you are ever going to attempt high gravity brews...there is a LOT to boil off so the extra headspace is nice. I have a 20 gallon Stout kettle and I many do 5 gallon batches. The pre-boil volume on my 5 gallon batches is 8.5 gallons when doing 90 minute boils.

An average gravity 10 gallon batch starts at about 14 gallons.....I say go with a 10 gallon kettle for 5 gallon batches.

 

[andy6026]

I do 5-6 gallon batches with a 15 gallon kettle. Even with that size I've come very close to boil overs - several times a bit of sticky wort oozef over the side but not enough to hit the ground.

I'm now wishing that I had have bought a 20-25 gallon pot so that I could comfortably do 10-12 gallon batches at a time.

 

[zdbrown1]

I personally would rather have more head space then necessary. I brew 10 gallon batches in a 15 gallon kettle and have indeed still had some minor boil overs.

 

[RM-MN]

I'm assuming you would be doing AG brewing if using a HLT? So far i've only used extracts. I want to migrate to AG so bad I can taste it. I just don't have the play money yet to go that route. The 15 gallon pot would be ideal to put a ball valve on, but it's a pot my grandfather used well before I was born. It has a 1951 US military stamp of the side and lid. No telling what kind of history that old pot has. Never the less, I'm finding it difficult to be drilling into the side to modify. The other pot I use for crawfish and while I could put a ball valve on it, I think it would cause a problem with my strainer basket that goes inside.

I hope to use some tax money and maybe purchase a 10 gallon cooler and false bottom and see where that carries me. So far I've has good luck with extracts, but there is that growing desire to graduate to all grain. lol

I've been able to use introduce a few new techniques with of the past few boils learning something new from the past brew session each time and changing my process as I learn. I really enjoy the conveniences of brewing in the kitchen, but I guess its finally time to break loose and carry things to the garage. lol

Can you spare $5 now for the opportunity to do a half size batch all grain? A pair of paint strainer bags will cost you about that much and you can use the equipment you have for the rest of it. Get your grains double crushed and learn about BIAB. There is even a section on the All Grain brewing section of this forum with lots of people with experience that will help you through any problems.

 

[thesemicullen]

+1 to the paint strainer bags. That 15-gallon pot is perfect for BIAB.

 

[jCOSbrew]

If you have an immersion chiller, than technically you could mash and boil in the 15gal pot, chill, than siphon out of the pot into fermentor w/out a ball valve, but having a ball valve is very convenient.

If you are trying a full extract boil in the smaller kettle, you could use some fermcap-s to help prevent boil overs and watch very closely during the DME/LME/Hop additions.

 

[RM-MN]

+1 to the paint strainer bags. That 15-gallon pot is perfect for BIAB.

The typical 5 gallon pot is perfect for the half size BIAB. I do a lot of them so I can sample a wide range of beers without having lots of beer to have to drink if I don't care for the style. I can rip out a small batch in under 4 hours so my time investment isn't real high either.