Cant decide on a kettle looking for advice

[ehpower2]

I swear i have searched google way too many times on this subject myself.
I am looking to purchase a new kettle for my self and i want to do it right the first time. I am stuck between a 10 gallon and a 15 gallon spike kettle but just cant decide. Spike suggested that i get a 15 but i am curious what you guys think.

My situation is that i do extract brewing sometimes with partial mash. I can always do the partial mash in a smaller pot and add to my kettle if i have to. Soon i will be transferring to biab and all grain brewing so i want to buy a pot that grows with me. Some times i do big beers for aging so i want that and i also sometimes like to do 90 minute boils. I like the 10 gallon one but also realize the benefits of the 15 gallon on. I only ever do 5 gallon batches and really do not see any point where one might do a 10 gallon batch but i do know the 15 gallon can do that.

I figure that my pre boil volume will be in the neighborhood of 7 to 10 gallons depending on the boil time and the recipe i am brewing for those who have spikes kettles and doing 5 gallon batches is this a problem.

What do you guys think?

 

[popgunandy]

if you'll stick with five gallon batches get the 10 gallon kettle and spend the difference on other stuff or save it. You can always sell the pot later if you change your mind.

You don't need a pot that's triple the size of your batch.

 

[eric19312]

get the 15 and don't look back

 

[thekraken]

For what it's worth I just picked up this 12.5 gallon pot for 5 gallon biab batches. http://www.ebay.com/itm/CONCORD-Pol...hash=item20fd189049:m:mtYUd2_nVrPUbPevtVpFT6w

I just got it in the mail and it looks good, I haven't used it yet so can't really vouch for it yet. I am going to be installing a 5500w heating element in the pot so things like thickest walls on the market, triple clad bottoms, etc aren't important to me.

 

[hezagenius]

I do 5 gallon batches and I am glad I bought the 15 gallon Spike. When you are boiling 7.5 gallons and dump in some hops, there's a chance you will have a boilover with a 10 gallon kettle. I've had hops push close to the top of my 15 gallon.

 

[WestMichBrewer]

Might the boil-off be higher with such an oversized pot?

 

[mongoose33]

If your pre-boil volumes range from 7-10 gallons, a 10-gallon pot won't work.

I have the Spike 10-gallon pot, it's a beast.

 

[thekraken]

Might the boil-off be higher with such an oversized pot?

That's more of a function of the surface area than just the volume of the pot. That said, yes the spike 15 gallon has about a 30% larger surface area than the 10 gallon... only something like 0.3 to 0.4 more gallons per hour.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I have the Spike 10 and do 5.5 in the fermenter without any problems. I use Fermcap S to control boil over and keep a spray bottle nearby. I like the smaller kettle to store and carry and the limited headspace gives me better temperature retention during my BIAB mash.

If you have a huge grain bill and/or a long boil you can also do a sparge. I have held back a gallon of water and slowly poured over my grain bag, for example.

As a reference point, I have a 15G kettle in my garage that goes unused in favor of my 10G Spike.

 

[stevehaun]

15 gal

 

[ehpower2]

Just out of curiosity i like the biab method to make 5 gallon batches would that push me toward the 15 gallon kettle as you sometimes need lot more water in there?

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

For what it's worth I just picked up this 12.5 gallon pot for 5 gallon biab batches. http://www.ebay.com/itm/CONCORD-Pol...hash=item20fd189049:m:mtYUd2_nVrPUbPevtVpFT6w

I just got it in the mail and it looks good, I haven't used it yet so can't really vouch for it yet. I am going to be installing a 5500w heating element in the pot so things like thickest walls on the market, triple clad bottoms, etc aren't important to me.

I have a 20 gallon Concord pot...Will last a lifetime and priced right. The link shows a flat lid that sits inside the lip. Is that the one you got? Mine has "rings" around the lid and sits over the lip. Curious if there still making both types. I was told by Concord to get the one that sits over the lip. The other one might not sit right if there is any warping in the pot.

 

[thekraken]

What is the typical original gravity range you brew?

If you're the kind of person that likes to see this for yourself and if you're a beersmith user you can set up an equipment profile for full volume biab and check it againts your recipes. For example I have this recipe for 5 gallon batch, 1.078 OG, 13.5 lbs of grain, beersmith estimates I only need a mash tun volume of 8.47 gallons to handle the grains and liquor (full volume mash)...

 

[ehpower2]

I like to typically brew things around 1.050 to 1.080 but i like to get into barleywine styles and those can easily get around 1.080+

 

[thekraken]

I have a 20 gallon Concord pot...Will last a lifetime and priced right. The link shows a flat lid that sits inside the lip. Is that the one you got? Mine has "rings" around the lid and sits over the lip. Curious if there still making both types. I was told by Concord to get the one that sits over the lip. The other one might not sit right if there is any warping in the pot.

Yeah I got the one that's pictured. I'm not sure I follow exactly the issue you're describing. The lid fits in there, it wobbles a little bit, doesn't *seal* any more than any other standard kitchen pot. But I was expecting to recirculate and/or make some sort of insulating jacket for the whole thing anyway.

 

[thekraken]

I like to typically brew things around 1.050 to 1.080 but i like to get into barleywine styles and those can easily get around 1.080+

For giggles I plugged some numbers into beersmith and got the following:
Batch size: 5 gallons
BH Efficiency: 60%
Grain weight: 22.50 lb
Est. OG: 1.098
Mash Volume Needed: 10.08 gal

So that's a theoretical max full volume mash in a 10 gal pot and would make a mess. This is just for an idea... take it with a grain of salt, everyone's system is different. I suppose in the instances when your mash volume approaches 8.5 to 9 gal you'd start thinking about sparging instead of full volume mash... Or get a bigger pot.

 

[ehpower2]

sure seems like people like the 15 gallon pot. If i had spike do a custom kettle anyone have feedback to what they would suggest to get port location wise?

 

[oujens]

For giggles I plugged some numbers into beersmith and got the following:
Batch size: 5 gallons
BH Efficiency: 60%
Grain weight: 22.50 lb
Est. OG: 1.098
Mash Volume Needed: 10.08 gal

So that's a theoretical max full volume mash in a 10 gal pot and would make a mess. This is just for an idea... take it with a grain of salt, everyone's system is different. I suppose in the instances when your mash volume approaches 8.5 to 9 gal you'd start thinking about sparging instead of full volume mash... Or get a bigger pot.

Spike kettles appear to be more than 10 gallon full capacity. My SS Brewtech is actually 10.7 gallons which gives more room. targeting 8-10% boil off can get you quite a large grain bill in there. Probably more than most of us will ever need for 5.5 gallon batch.

 

[Cincybeer]

I had the same problem about 6 months ago.. I went with the 10 option and used the rest of the money for other upgrades.. I figured if I went to 10 gallon batches I would want to get pumps and the rest of the equipment to go with it. Here is a link with 10 and 15 gallon options Not sure if you were looking to go with Spike only or not .
https://www.txbrewing.com/equipment/home-beer-brewing-equipment/kettles.html

 

[ehpower2]

I had the same problem about 6 months ago.. I went with the 10 option and used the rest of the money for other upgrades.. I figured if I went to 10 gallon batches I would want to get pumps and the rest of the equipment to go with it. Here is a link with 10 and 15 gallon options Not sure if you were looking to go with Spike only or not .
https://www.txbrewing.com/equipment/home-beer-brewing-equipment/kettles.html

Definally a good point my problem is i have the cfc and pumps for a brewing rig just no pot to brew in currently. I have the cash for either pot also.

 

[mongoose33]

sure seems like people like the 15 gallon pot. If i had spike do a custom kettle anyone have feedback to what they would suggest to get port location wise?

Mine has the two horizontal ports down at the bottom. The only thing I wish was different is I wish the handles would be front and back instead of on the sides. THat's due to where i store the kettle.

One of my ports is the ball valve, the other is a thermometer. I use the thermometer where the face is articulated so I can tilt it up so it's easy to see.

I wanted the low thermometer port so it would allow me to do BIAB. If the ports are vertical and the thermometer sticks into the kettle much at all, it's a problem.

I like how they turned out. They're about 70 degrees offset which keeps them both protected by the Hellfire heat shield on the front of the burner.

 

[KennyPowers55]

I ended up getting both. I hope to use the 15 gallon to eventually brew 10 gallon batches outside, and the 10 gallon works well for brewing five gallon batches inside. If I were to do it again, I probably would have gotten the 10 first, and then a 20 down the road. They make really nice kettles, so I am not complaining.

 

[Sailingeric]

I have the 15 gallon SS Brewtech pot and have been very happy. My preboil is 7 gallons and the extra space is good to avoid boil over when doing 5 gallon batches.

 

[ehpower2]

is there any tricks to having a 15 gallon kettle but only using it to make 5 gallon batches? i think that is why i cant decide. I like having the bigger pot but with only using 1/3 of the pot the liquid level is awful low in compairison to using the 10 gallon kettle that is around 1/2 full

 

[Sailingeric]

is there any tricks to having a 15 gallon kettle but only using it to make 5 gallon batches? i think that is why i cant decide. I like having the bigger pot but with only using 1/3 of the pot the liquid level is awful low in compairison to using the 10 gallon kettle that is around 1/2 full

Your preboil will be about 1/2 pot and if you go bigger batches you don't need to buy a bigger pot. Plus a bigger pot is not that much more cost wise.

 

[augiedoggy]

is there any tricks to having a 15 gallon kettle but only using it to make 5 gallon batches? i think that is why i cant decide. I like having the bigger pot but with only using 1/3 of the pot the liquid level is awful low in compairison to using the 10 gallon kettle that is around 1/2 full

Yes get the kettles that are taller and more narrow and that way you will have more headspace with the same amount of liquid but at the same time you will have a higher amount of liquid in the kettle and more even heating with the same boiloff as a smaller kettle the same width... This is more important with electric setups were having enough wort to cover the element well is important. With propane or gas boilovers are a lot harder to control so the extra headspace comes in handy.

I use a 15 gallon electric BK and make 11 gallon and 6 gallon brews on it at about 75% to 25% ratio.