Happy with Spike Brewing 10 Gal Kettle

[CorwinGraves]

I placed an order a few days ago for a 10-gal kettle with sight glass and two welded ports from Spike Brewing and received it today. The kettle was packaged very well and survived the journey from Wisconsin to California without a scratch.

I'm not an expert in welding by any stretch, but the welds look very clean. Got everything teflon taped and installed (thermometer, ball valve, sight glass) and no leaks, so this thing is ready to brew! The only concern I have is that the sight glass may not be calibrated correctly. Either that, or the measuring pitcher I'm using isn't correct. I measured out 2 gallons of water and it comes in just under the 2 gallon indicator mark on the sight glass. Not a huge deal, but will have to correct for this going forward. I'll try another measuring device later to see if I get a similar result.

Anyhow, I'd highly recommend this product for anyone looking for a quality kettle at a reasonable price. Good stuff...

 

[yohoe]

Sounds great. I'm looking to switch to all-grain after a year of extract but I have yet to decide which kettle to buy. It's the hardest decision I've had to make yet!

With the slight glass, try buying a number of 1 gallon jugs of water and dump them in to true see if it's accurate or not. I used this method for my fermenter.

 

[JoshuaW]

Post some pictures!

 

[rowan57]

Weigh your water to calibrate. For our purposes 1L Water = 1KG. If weighing using a measuring jug or similar, remember to zero the scale when the measuring jug is on it before adding water to the jug. No need to faff about buying different jugs and trying them out.

 

[Reaver]

I spent a bunch of time looking at Kettles, and I've decided to go with the Spike Kettles. Not sure if I will get the $ together this year or next. I'm going 15Gal and getting all 3 to match. Good to hear positive feedback to backup my choice.

 

[how1]

I bought a 15 gal kettle from Spike about 2 years ago. Very happy with it and would do it again. Wish I would have gone to a 15 gallon kettle sooner!

 

[Konadog]

The only concern I have is that the sight glass may not be calibrated correctly. Either that, or the measuring pitcher I'm using isn't correct. I measured out 2 gallons of water and it comes in just under the 2 gallon indicator mark on the sight glass.

Hot or Cold water? Hot water expands, so it may be calibrated for hot water.

 

[CorwinGraves]

Cold water.

I used it this morning as an HLT, relying on the sight glass as is, and I hit my numbers spot on, so apparently I have nothing to worry about.

 

[GenIke]

I like mine as well except for one thing... I ordered mine with two side by side ports. They are "too low" so when I screw in a kettle thermometer in one of them the thermometer housing sits lower than the bottom of the kettle by about 1/4". It's not too serious but is pretty annoying.

 

[khawk95]

I like mine as well except for one thing... I ordered mine with two side by side ports. They are "too low" so when I screw in a kettle thermometer in one of them the thermometer housing sits lower than the bottom of the kettle by about 1/4". It's not too serious but is pretty annoying.

I was wondering about this. Are you using an adjustable thermometer, or a straight-in style? I know they advertise the adjustable on their site, and that would seem to correct the issue.

 

[GenIke]

I was wondering about this. Are you using an adjustable thermometer, or a straight-in style? I know they advertise the adjustable on their site, and that would seem to correct the issue.

It's just a regular straight in version. An adjustable would solve the problem, but so would welding the port with enough clearance to accommodate a standard 3" brew thermometer. Not a huge deal, but if I ordered again I wouldn't get the side by side for this reason.