Homebrewstuff vs MoreBeer Kettles

[Helloworld]

Has anyone purchased a heavy duty kettle from Homebrewstuff.com? They appear to be very similar if not identical to the kettles that B3 sells but are much cheaper. I contacted HBS and they said their kettles are 18 gauge 304 SS. I'm really scratching my head at the price difference. Here are links for comparison:

http://www.homebrewstuff.com/15-gallon-kettle-w-valve-thermometer.html

http://morebeer.com/products/15-gallon-stainless-brew-kettle-heavy-duty.html

On top of it all, the HBS kettle even comes with a thermometer and is still cheaper. Has anyone ordered one from HBS? Any problems?

 

[ryanelsn]

Looks like the more beer ones are welded fittings where the homebrew stuff is weldless

 

[Minbari]

they do look identical. some places have more overhead or just feel they can charge more, because they can

morebeer shipping is free........fedex ground.

HBS that will cost you $45. so it is still $40 cheaper.

 

[Helloworld]

Looks like the more beer ones are welded fittings where the homebrew stuff is weldless

Ah, you are right. I see that now after re-reading the description.

 

[724b]

Also check out the Clearance version of that same kettle... http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2014/0...tainless-kettles-wball-valve-thermometer.html Those have cosmetic issues with the weld, but you save a good amount.

 

[frettfreak]

I have a friend that actually has both the kettles. For as much as we can tell, they are the same kettle.

ALSO... HBS has a flat rate shipping option (though its not advertised). I believe its 7.95 for shipping and my stuff got here within a week (faster than the order i placed with more beer the same day). I am thinking about getting the HBS kettle for a mash tun! They have great deals.

as far as welded vs weldless, i look at it this way... Blichmann is Weldless, so it cant be that bad right?

Good luck

 

[heckels]

I used to have the More Beer kettle prior to upgrading my system. One word of caution with those kettles: They are very wide and shallow.

After adjusting for a higher boil off rate (due to the greater surface area) and dead space, for a 10 gallon net batch I typically had to start with about 13 gallons. This only left about 1.5 inches between the wort and rim of the kettle making it VERY probe to boil overs.

If you're looking at 10 gallon batches I recommend the 20 gallon kettle. You will NOT regret it!


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[chickypad]

I used to have the More Beer kettle prior to upgrading my system. One word of caution with those kettles: They are very wide and shallow.

After adjusting for a higher boil off rate (due to the greater surface area) and dead space, for a 10 gallon net batch I typically had to start with about 13 gallons. This only left about 1.5 inches between the wort and rim of the kettle making it VERY probe to boil overs.

If you're looking at 10 gallon batches I recommend the 20 gallon kettle. You will NOT regret it!

Totally agree. I have those kettles for HLT and MT but went 20 gal for the BK despite assurance I wouldn't need to. For 90 min boils I'm up around 14 gal pre-boil to get a full 10 gal in the kegs, that squat kettle would have been a disaster.

 

[patthebrewer]

Welded fittings are nice....so is the free shipping

 

[frettfreak]

Welded fittings are nice....so is the free shipping

Welded is nice... But blichmann is regarded as some of the nicest kettles you can buy and use weldless. And in this case... That "free" shipping will cost over $100 more.

Also, you will most likely be spending at least another 20 on the more beer one cause it doesn't have a thermometer included.

If you want the in between ground... Do what I did... Get this 14 gal kettle from morebeer. Has welded ports and is narrow (same dimensions as the blichmann and mega pots)...

http://morebeer.com/products/14-gallon-stainless-brew-kettle.html

This is a solid kettle. Nice thick walls and boils nice. Get a little under 1.5g and hour boil off.

 

[normonster]

Here's my $00.02 on the matter.

First, if you already have a system, you should put all that money towards your fermentation setup. It is the most important part of the brewery.

Second, you should think very hard as to whether or not you want to be stuck at 10 gallon batches. I have the Morebeer 15's and they're not suitable for 5 gallon batches because the thermo is not in the wort during boil. If I could go back I'd go with a 5 gallon system just due to the fact that I want to brew more often for recipe development purposes.

Third, if you do go with 15's and the weldless fittings are anywhere near as finicky as the ones on my SS Brewbuckets, avoid them and go with the welded fittings. Also, the welded fittings have female threads on the inside so you can attach a hop screen or like me, a 90 degree elbow, which is a nice feature. The "tun loss" between a MT and BK of that size without using 90 degree fittings on the inside is way too much.

Cheers! I'm sure you'll be both stoked and disappointed with whatever you choose.

 

[Helloworld]

Here's my $00.02 on the matter.

First, if you already have a system, you should put all that money towards your fermentation setup. It is the most important part of the brewery.

Second, you should think very hard as to whether or not you want to be stuck at 10 gallon batches. I have the Morebeer 15's and they're not suitable for 5 gallon batches because the thermo is not in the wort during boil. If I could go back I'd go with a 5 gallon system just due to the fact that I want to brew more often for recipe development purposes.

Third, if you do go with 15's and the weldless fittings are anywhere near as finicky as the ones on my SS Brewbuckets, avoid them and go with the welded fittings. Also, the welded fittings have female threads on the inside so you can attach a hop screen or like me, a 90 degree elbow, which is a nice feature. The "tun loss" between a MT and BK of that size without using 90 degree fittings on the inside is way too much.

Cheers! I'm sure you'll be both stoked and disappointed with whatever you choose.

Thanks for the info and your closing statement could not be any more true, haha! Interesting you should bring up fermentation; I actually invested in fermentation control equipment before a system. I have been using my friend's, but I will be able to brew more if it is all at home so I am trying to build it up little by little. My beers had a remarkable improvement after I started temp controlled fermentation.