Help with Brew Kettle dilemma

[TylerDurden]

I am about to brew my first batch from extract but I am in a dilemma about which kettle to purchase. My local Homebrew Shop has a 6 gallon stainless steel Bayou Classic for $60 but after looking online I found a Winware 10 gallon aluminum kettle on Amazon for the same price.

I have read enough to know most of the pros and cons of aluminum vs stainless but weighing the pros and cons is tough without the experience to see what will work best. Do I purchase a good quality 6 gallon pot and stick with 3 gallon boils till I can make the jump to an AG system and then utilize this 6 gallon as my secondary pot for sparge water or do I buy the 10 gallon which will allow me to do full 5 gallon boils and give me the option to use it for AG if I decide to?

It seems that the 10 gal Aluminum pot would be the better choice but I will have to borrow a propane burner and get a propane tank which will be more money spent. I also wonder if the build quality is good enough. Another concern is that it will be harder to cool because I don't think it will fit in my sink. Lastly, I wonder if this pot would be a good asset to a quality AG system seeing as how I would want to make alterations to it.

So my questions are:

Is being able to achieve a full 5 gallon boil on extract kits worth the above concerns I have about the 10 gallon pot?

Would it be better to get the 6 gallon stainless and brew 3 gallon boils until I save the money to purchase the proper equipment to move to AG after which I would utilize the 6 gallon pot for sparging?

Or should I get the 10 gal aluminum and do 5 gallon boils from the start and then purchase my AG equip and use the 10 gal pot for sparging?

 

[steveoc]

I have the exact same aluminum brew pot. It is very heavy duty and it is handy to have the 10 gallon capacity. It allows me to start with 6.5 gallon boils (yielding a little over 5 gallons) with good clearance for boil over. If you brew outside, you'll want to buy the lid. It is separate (as is usually the case with commercial cookware).

I use an immersion wort chiller. It allows me to turn off the burner and cool in place without maneuvering a bucket of hot wort to a sink.

I really prefer full boil. An added advantage is that I can just place the hydrometer directly in the pot to check the gravity once the wort has cooled.

 

[kh54s10]

Because of your concerns about spending for the propane burner and tank and that you say you might be sticking with extract for a while leans me toward the 6 gallon pot. That said, you can get an aluminum 20 qt pot at the supermarket for about $20. I did 4 extract and 4 partial mash in mine before I got two 10 gallon stainless pots off Craigslist for $100.

This will also allow you time to decide on your all grain setup. There is a lot more to consider in your all grain system besides the pots.

 

[FreddyMar3]

My two cents...
If you are even considering AG in the future, you must be pretty serious about getting into this hobby. If I were you, I would save up for a 10 gallon SS brew pot (I don't like aluminum) and try to find a stand alone burner on craigslist. You are right that you'll have trouble chilling this and will need a wort chiller to go along with it. You could DIY that for $60 or again, try to find one on Craigslist.

If all that seems like too much too fast and you want to stick to condensed boils, then yes, you could go the 6 gallon route until you inevitably get hooked on the hobby and want to upgrade.

Do you happen to have a big pasta pot or steaming pot in your kitchen? You could even start with a 16 qt pot if you wanted to. I used to use my parent's cookware 5 years ago. Then I upgraded to a 9 gal SS kettle with ball valve and thermo a year later. Two weeks ago I bought a morebeer 1550 deluxe digital. It's the natural progression of things, I suppose...

 

[J187]

If you are willing to spend $60, just kick in $20 extra and get the concord stainless 10 gallon pot from ebay. Then you'll have the best of both worlds... add a burner as your next piece of equipment and that way, before you get to AG with a mash tun and HLT and all that, at least you'll be able to do full boil extracts which will hugely beneficial to you. Then you can slowly add equipment but keep the same kettle and burner to go AG.

 

[mbach72]

At the advice of another forum member, I just got a 32 qt (8 gal) Thunder Group stock pot off the bay for $28 plus shipping. It's surprisingly good quality for the price. I mostly do 2.5-3.5 gallon batches but if you are careful you could pull off a 5 gallon full boil. Fermcap-s would help a ton with that.

After a quick purchase on Bargain Fittings, I have a 32 qt aluminum pot with a ball valve. Total cost after shipping for both items still came in around $70.

Just my two cents, but it seems like something that might be a nice compromise for you.

 

[flars]

In my case it was the question of how to cool the wort and how much volume I could easily and safely move around. I kept it simple.

 

[petey401]

I am about to brew my first batch from extract but I am in a dilemma about which kettle to purchase. My local Homebrew Shop has a 6 gallon stainless steel Bayou Classic for $60 but after looking online I found a Winware 10 gallon aluminum kettle on Amazon for the same price.

I have read enough to know most of the pros and cons of aluminum vs stainless but weighing the pros and cons is tough without the experience to see what will work best. Do I purchase a good quality 6 gallon pot and stick with 3 gallon boils till I can make the jump to an AG system and then utilize this 6 gallon as my secondary pot for sparge water or do I buy the 10 gallon which will allow me to do full 5 gallon boils and give me the option to use it for AG if I decide to?

It seems that the 10 gal Aluminum pot would be the better choice but I will have to borrow a propane burner and get a propane tank which will be more money spent. I also wonder if the build quality is good enough. Another concern is that it will be harder to cool because I don't think it will fit in my sink. Lastly, I wonder if this pot would be a good asset to a quality AG system seeing as how I would want to make alterations to it.

So my questions are:

Is being able to achieve a full 5 gallon boil on extract kits worth the above concerns I have about the 10 gallon pot?

Would it be better to get the 6 gallon stainless and brew 3 gallon boils until I save the money to purchase the proper equipment to move to AG after which I would utilize the 6 gallon pot for sparging?

Or should I get the 10 gal aluminum and do 5 gallon boils from the start and then purchase my AG equip and use the 10 gal pot for sparging?

For starters I would stick with the 6 gal ss pot. It'll be easy to cool your wort in the sink,easier to handle. Then build up from there.i will come in handy in the future and you can slowly build up to your AG goals..a little $ at a time

 

[TylerDurden]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[mbach72]

Go with the pot you can afford and save a few bucks for an immersion chiller. That was a great upgrade for me when I was at that point. It'll cut a ton of time off your brew day

 

[steveoc]

Go with the pot you can afford and save a few bucks for an immersion chiller. That was a great upgrade for me when I was at that point. It'll cut a ton of time off your brew day

I agree. You can get the aluminum kettle on Amazon for just under $50. You can get a good stainless steel immersion wort cooler for $50, and an outdoor propane cooker for $50 all on Amazon.

Whatever you choose specifically, keep the next step in mind.

Once I had these three items in place, brewing became much easier and I cut the time significantly.