Brew pot size?

[OlRed]

After getting my feet wet with four MB brews, I have just purchased all of the equipment needed to go to 5 gallon batches (gonna be making a Hefeweizen). I was planning on using the aluminum pot that came with my turkey fryer but according to the owner of my LHBS he said that this could lead to a metalic taste to the beer and stated that a SS pot was the only way to go. From what I've seen on here, many people brew with aluminum brew pots with no ill effects so i'm not sure I agree that stainless is the ONLY way to go. Looks like I can get a 16 qt. SS pot for about $12 but I thought this may be too small. But all this aside, my question is what size brew pot should I get IF I decide to get a SS pot?

Thanks for the help!

 

[SpottedDogBrewing]

As big as you can afford

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[Seven]

I'd suggest a 10 to 15 gallon kettle.

10 gallon will allow you to brew 5 gallon batches.

15 gallon will allow you to brew 5 to 10 gallon batches.

 

[SpottedDogBrewing]

15 gallon!! Find a sanky keg and modify it!!

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[stevo155]

When will these LHBS people stop spreading the aluminum fear?

10 gallon SS kettle for 5 gallon recipes is the best bet. You can do it with the 30 quart kettles that run about $50 but the SS is not the best and you really have to watch it for boilovers ( and use anti-foam agent like Fermcap-S ).

I got my 10 gallon kettle from Northern Brewer, with a ball valve and Brewometer. The cost is steep but worth every penny. The bottom actually has a layer of aluminum sandiwched between SS to provide better heat dispersion.

 

[Shaneoco1981]

Aluminum can give you metallic off flavors in your beer if you are not careful. With that being said, they can be used with relative ease without any ill effect. There is post here at home brew talk at the top called This vs. That a pro/con analysis. Here is the link.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/vs-pro-con-analysis-109318/

The part about the stock pots are at the bottom. Enjoy.

 

[sgillespie]

John Palmer gave some pointers on aluminum pots in the 2nd brew strong episode ("Metals that affect your beer"). Its fine, I wouldn't worry about it. I've got a 9G kettle for 5G batches. I find that for 90 minute boils I need about 7.3 Gallons preboil.

 

[ArcaneXor]

The minimum viable pot size for a full wort boil is about 32 quarts. Aluminum is perfectly fine to use and doesn't cause any off-flavors in my experience, but stainless is more durable and compatible with more types of cleaners (some alkaline cleaners will pit the hell out of alumimum).

 

[ErieShores]

I use my turkey fryer and 2ml fermcap. No problems with a full boil at all in over 30 boils.

 

[Chrisl77]

I just picked up one of these a couple weeks ago. http://cgi.ebay.com/Thunder-Group-ALSKSP007-40-qt-Aluminum-Stock-Pot-/250756324335?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a623ddbef#ht_500wt_838 The pot is nice and thick i would need to hit it with a hammer to dent it. My 5 gallon ss pot that i paid almost twice as much for i can make dents in with my finger pressure. As long as you get the oxidation layer on the aluminum they are more then safe to brew with.

 

[Fatcougar]

The 36 quart stainless Bayou Classic pots on Amazon are about 75 bucks with free shipping. I have one and it works very well. I would recommend this pot to my friends without any hesitation. It isn't anything extravagant but the fit and finish on mine is really nice. I have heard some people say they may leak through the rivets on the handles, but mine doesn't , so maybe that was an intermittant problem they took care of. This size pot seems to be perfect for 5 gallon full boils. Hope this helps, FC.