How to get into 10 gallon batches

[SwampassJ]

+1
keep an eye out I paid $20 for two empty kegs.

Got a college campus nearby, I live 5 mins from Rutgers. Take a drive on Thursday night (yes Thursday night, Seasoned college kids don't schedule classes on Fridays) Look for the biggest loudest party around. Almost a guarantee you'll be back Friday AFTERNOON to pick it up. If ya go by in the am hours on party night the keg may be already empty..

Instead of stealing from the Frat parties ask a distributor or brewery for decomissioned kegs.

 

[twanger1994]

Instead of stealing from the Frat parties ask a distributor or brewery for decomissioned kegs.

im not saying steal them college kids love extra money..

 

[magnj]

Do we really need to start another keggle debate? Buy a damn stock pot or a brew kettle.

 

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

So if a guy gets his hands on a 10+ gallon boiler, how do you move the wort from boiler to fermenters?

I can lift 5 gallon batches, but 10 gallons would be a tad too much.

Now that I think of it, would 10 gallons be too heavy for those cast-iron propane burners?

I'm afraid that getting into 10 gallon batches may mean more than simply getting a bigger boiler.

 

[Malticulous]

I have to tip mine on the burner to pour to the bucket, or siphon it. I could use a ball valve but I don't need it. Some need a pump.

If you have a 10 psi regulator you can boil it.

 

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

If you have a 10 psi regulator you can boil it.

Is this the answer to my question about whether 10 gallons would be too heavy for the cast iron burner?

I have an adjustable regulator so I should be able to get the BTUs to boil 10 gallons. I'm just worried the burner wouldn't hold the weight.

 

[Malticulous]

Hot wort is a whole lot safer than a frying turkey. Think of the fire if the frame collapsed and the oil lit up and/or got on you. It has to be much stronger than needed.

 

[onthekeg]

So if a guy gets his hands on a 10+ gallon boiler, how do you move the wort from boiler to fermenters?

I can lift 5 gallon batches, but 10 gallons would be a tad too much.

Now that I think of it, would 10 gallons be too heavy for those cast-iron propane burners?

I'm afraid that getting into 10 gallon batches may mean more than simply getting a bigger boiler.

There is a misconception with people on here that to brew 10 gallons of beer they need to lift 10 gallons at once. Why would you think that? Reason being, what if you ran off what you can lift into a 5 gal pail and then transferred to the other tank? Of course you can pump, but I think cleaning my pump and getting set up takes more time than I want to expend.
Put 3 gallons at a time in a 5 gal pail and move the liquid. That is only a few trips. I do 20 gallon batches and leave my pump clean and on the shelf. Its pretty easy over the course of 4 hours.

As far as burner strength, my weakest burner when I used propane was an sq-14 and it didn't buckle under 18 gallons of boiling wort. Plus the weight of the 25 gallon SS kettle.

 

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

So what would a reasonable price be for a 44 or 62 qt stock pot? Would 44 qts work for 10 gallon batches?

Would I be insane to make a pot out of regular steel? I think I could lay my hands on a short section of 16-inch pipe and weld a bottom on it.

 

[BBKing]

I got my 16 gallon SS kettle from Austin HomeBrew. About $100.

More than I wanted to pay, but I was ready for AG.

As others have said, theres plenty of ways to get equipment much cheaper.

 

[ArrowheadAles]

One if the problems with moving to 10 gallon batches is now that you want to make more beer at once there is also more work involved. I make ten gallon batches all grain. Boil in a 20 gallon ss mega pot. I used to need someone there to help me lift things around for gravity feeding but broke down and now use a pump. A little extra time and cleaning but its worth it to create awesome 10 gallon batches. I also ferment in two different vessels.

However, I wouldn't trust any plastic containers used for chemicals to put my beer in. That's just me. Cheers!

 

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

Arrowhead,

Is a 10 gallon batch twice the work of a 5 gallon batch? I would think that there would be more work but not commensurate with the doubling of the product. Of course I'd be grinding twice the grain bill. And perhaps things will take longer to get 10 gallons up to boil. But you still boil 10 gallons for the same 60 minutes that you do 5 gallons. You still steep the grain bill for the same amount of time.

Once the wort is cooled aeration is a good thing so I figure I'll just sterilize a 2-quart saucepan to act as a dipper to transfer the cool wort into the primaries. And probably do the same to lift the hot water to the MLT. Once in the MLT I will gravity drain to the boiler.

What am I missing?

 

[prrriiide]

My issue with the OP buckets is oxygen permeability. I really don't think I'd use anything not food-grade rated. You most likely won't poison yourself, but at the same time an oxygen-permeable bucket might also be permeable to other things...like chlorine. You very well might not EVER be able to get all of the imbedded chlorine out of the plastic.

I do 10s in 2 ale pails, and it works great. For bottling, I just use my boil pot and an auto-siphon. Also, I'm not keen on hernias, so I'm happy with not having to move a full 10 g batch. If you do go that route, a pump is going to be a necessity.

AFA what else to do, you can get BIG aluminum pots (up to 160 qt) on Bayou Classic's web site for $180 or so. 100 qt runs about $135, IIRC. You'd have to use a step-drill to plug in a thermowell and a bulkhead, but that isn't a big deal.

+1 on the large mash tun. Wal-mart has a 160 qt Igloo on their web site for about $80. 40 gallons should get you as big a beer for a 10 gallon batch as you could possibly ferment.

 

[spazzy]

There are 15 gallon glass Demi Johns out there for wine making, thats another option if you have to ferment all 10 gallons in one fermenter

15 Gallon glass Demi-John - Fermentation Equipment - Wine Equipment

 

[ArrowheadAles]

The extra work I came across was things such as extra spent grain removal, extra lifting, extra fermenters to clean, longer time to raise liquids to temp, more propane, larger vessels to clean and if you bottle now you've doubled the amount of bottles to prepare for filling.

To me, its all worth it. I enjoy doing things like making a ten gal batch of stout and splitting 5 gal to be a chocolate coffee stout and the other 5 gal an oak aged bourbon stout. And I can keg half and bottle half.

Back to the op, if I went with a ten gallon fermenter, I'd have to go stainless to trust it with a batch so big. For now, my 6 gal better bottles and glass carboys are great for my needs.

 

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

Arrowhead,

OK it sounds like I'm on track then. I'm expecting a little more hassle, but not twice as much. If it takes me 6 hours to brew a 5 gallon batch it shouldn't take 12 hours to do a 10 gallon batch. For a little more hassle on brew day you get twice as much beer and therefor only have to brew half as often. Not that I dislike brewday - just that it's tough to carve out that 6 hour block often enough to do 5 gallon batches.

 

[stevea1210]

I rack all my beer into kegs using CO2. If I used a 10 gallon fermenter I wouldn't need to lift it full.

Hell, another 10' of silicone tubing and I can pump straight from the brew rig into the fermentation chamber.