Help choosing brew kettle

[adkins220]

OK, I am new to brewing and have brewed 6 extract batches at partial boil. Now that i have somewhat of an understanding of how things are suppose to work, i would like to step it up.

From what i have researched, full boils make a significant difference in quality. With that being said, i would like to purchase a kettle and burner big enough to do full boils on 5 gallon batches. I would also like the kettle to be scalable to All Grain setups in the near future.

So, to make a short story long , My question is, should i purchase a 7.5 gallon kettle, 8 gallon, or 10 gallon? I would rather spend the extra money than worry and clean boil overs.

Please help a brewer out!

 

[nymtber]

If you have the heating capacity (IE outdoor propane burner) go with 10 gallon. You will probably never wish you went smaller... That is if cost is not an issue

I think I will end up with an 8 gallon before I know it. I have a 5 gallon now and do partial boils, would like to step up to full boils and maybe try a BIAB all grain for the lighter ales. I just purchased a 2-burner 30,000BTU per burner outdoor camp stove this weekend at cabelas, It should handle all my boiling needs for a LONG time

 

[Bill_in_VA]

I started doing full boils and I'm now 8 batches in and just starting all-grain batches, I wish I had originally gotten the 60qt economy kettle from Midwest with the clad bottom instead of the economy 7.5gal one! Seems to be you can not have enough room but too much room I don't think so... That's my newb to newb opinion

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I personally stepped up by purchasing a new turkey fryer setup from craigslist. Most of them come with 7.5 gallon pots either stainless or aluminum and a propane burner of good BTU rating. This is the cheap option that only cost me $40 and with moderate searching you should find something similiar from a retailer, cragislist, ebay, etc. A 7.5 gallon pot is pushing the limit with a full 5 gallon boil. I was able to do it somewhat easy just by watching it as it came up in temp and turning the heat off when needed. Another solution is to use fermcap-S which is great for preventing boil overs for both the brew kettle and for starters. Would I have liked a larger brewkettle... yes but it really wasn't THAT bad.

If you don't mind spending more a somewhat better setup would be a larger pot or keggle and a seperate burner. This is assuming that you don't want to go into electric brewing or at least yet. You can always make that jump later if you want. If I were buying a seperate brew kettle I would purchase a 15 gallon kettle. This gives you the ability to step up to 10 gallon batches if you choose to. 10 gallons would be best if you never plan on doing anything larger than 5 gallons. Stainless vs aluminum is a topic that has been beat to death. It really dosen't matter which you choose so long as you clean them with compatible chemicals.

Search around HBT. There are many vendors that have great pricing. Also be certain that you have the ability to chill the wort down to pitching temps easily before you jump into full boils. I would recommend a chiller of some sort rather than a water bath.

 

[Hokie_Brewer]

I got a brand new 10gal aluminum pot off eBay for $42 shipped. I'm pretty sure they are still selling them.

Get the 10 gal cause you won't really have to worry about boil overs normally.

 

[adkins220]

Thanks guys for all of your advice and responding so quickly. I think i am going to go with the 10Gallon. Whats the best option for the burner? Learn to brew has a 110,000 BTU that is a "high pressure Jet Burner". Will this (or something in this BTU Range) get a full boil going in a decent time period? What BTU range should i shoot for?

 

[Chris1272]

Check out these http://www.homebrewstuff.com/servlet/the-Brewing-Kettles/Categories They may seem a bit expensive but they are very well made and having a thermometer and valve is makes things very easy. I purchased they 15 gallon one. I currently make 5 gallon batches but If I want to make 10 gallon batches in the future I don't have to upgrade again. Also, It is big enough to do beer in a bag if I want to pursue that method of brewing. A good brew kettle is worth making an investment in get one that you wont have to replace or upgrade in a year.

Edit: As for your question about a burner I got a turkey fryer burner early on and It just didnt put out enough heat. I have a Bayou Classic Banjo burner now and it puts out a ton of heat with good propane efficiency.

 

[adkins220]

I started doing full boils and I'm now 8 batches in and just starting all-grain batches, I wish I had originally gotten the 60qt economy kettle from Midwest with the clad bottom instead of the economy 7.5gal one! Seems to be you can not have enough room but too much room I don't think so... That's my newb to newb opinion

Hey Bill,

Did you see a big improvement in your quality after doing full boils?

 

[cvstrat]

10 Gallon son!

If you want 5 gallons in the keg you need to brew 6 gallon batches to compensate for kettle/trub loss. You're going to boil off 1-1.5gal/hr, which means you could need 7.5gal for a 60 min boil, or over 8 gal for a 90min boil! Even with a 10gal kettle there are times I gotta work the gas to keep from boiling over, so def don't go smaller.

I have a 15gal blichmann I got for christmas. It's too big for 6 gallon batches honestly. Might have to start doing 10s.

 

[Bill_in_VA]

I've never done a partial boil, my first BK was the 7.5gal...

guess I should have said "I started out" instead of "I started"

 

[RugerRedhawk]

You also might want to consider a wort chiller if stepping up to full boils. I got mine on eBay for $53 shipped, or you can make one.

 

[olsond]

You also might want to consider a wort chiller if stepping up to full boils. I got mine on eBay for $53 shipped, or you can make one.

That's a good price. Depending on where you get your copper, you can hardly build one for that price.

 

[Mogref]

+1 to getting a wort chiller, as cooling 5 or more gallons is a lot more difficult and time consuming than 2.5.

Unfortunately going up to full boils requires some investment in gear. You can mitigate the cost by acquiring an old beer keg and converting it to a keggle. Ask around at liquor stores and bars for old or broken kegs. I got lucky and scored 2 of them for $20.

There's also a good propane burner you can buy online from Home Depot for around $45 plus shipping, although people say that one's not ideal for 10 gallon batches.

 

[jackwagon]

This is the burner I got (Bayou Classic SP-10) at Ace Hardware for $49.99.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/...83&kw=bayou&origkw=bayou&searchId=55924687243

Many people on this board recommend that burner. You can get it shipped to the store for free as well.

 

[Rivendell]

I just bought two stainless steel pots off of overstock.com. The first was a 60 qt pot, and the second a 32 qt pot. Both were less than $100 each, which was much cheaper than I've seen elsewhere for stainless.

 

[kanddr]

I've seen aluminum locally but I think I've read somewhere that aluminum isnt recommended. Is that the case?