Kettle discussion

[xCSx]

I have an 8 gallon megapot 1.2 now - doing 3 gallon biab... thinking I want to upgrade to 5 gallon biab in the short term, and in the long term I will do a 3 tier all grain system..

That being said... - for 5 gallon biab, should i get a 15 gallon kettle? I don't think I ever want to go over 5 gallons. And if I do get a 15 gallon kettle, can I use my 8 gallon I have currently as a either a HLT or a boiling kettle if I do 5 gallon all grain?

or has my 8 gallon gone to waste if I upgrade!

Please advise.

 

[sleepspeaking]

I don't do biab but I went from a 8g kettle to 15g kettle and then got rid of the 8g kettle, and I wish I had kept it. The 15g is great, I don't think i could boil over a 5g batch if I tried. But the 8g would have come in handy for future upgrades.

So if you aren't cash strapped, I'd say go for the 15g
(you could get away with less, but if you ever plan to up-size the batches, you don't have to buy another kettle)

And if you have the room for it in the brew closet, keep the 8g.

 

[xCSx]

I don't do biab but I went from a 8g kettle to 15g kettle and then got rid of the 8g kettle, and I wish I had kept it. The 15g is great, I don't think i could boil over a 5g batch if I tried. But the 8g would have come in handy for future upgrades.

So if you aren't cash strapped, I'd say go for the 15g
(you could get away with less, but if you ever plan to up-size the batches, you don't have to buy another kettle)

And if you have the room for it in the brew closet, keep the 8g.

What would you use the 8G for in your current setup?

 

[sleepspeaking]

1) I'm doing all grain, and I'd like to add another burner and a HLT.
2) I've also played at the idea of kettle fermenting in a pinch. (currently I'm out of fermenters... all full)
3) Or just a smaller vessel when doing a extract kit on a whim.

I guess if you could get a good amount back out of the 8g, and you are cash/space limited then it's worth it to sell it.
But if your long term goal is a 3 tier system, then you'd be getting rid of a good pot just to purchase something similar down the road.

 

[Sparge]

I went from an 8 gallon kettle (mega pot) to a 15 gallon (mega pot) to a 20 gallon kettle (SS BrewTech). I still have all three. It is nice to have options, but if I had to do it over and only could get one, I'd just get the 20 gallon.

 

[Morrey]

Obviously it would be nice to have a full lineup of kettles and just grab one off the shelf that fits your whim that brew day. Not the case in my brew cave.

Its hard to project how your short term plans will merge into your long term plans. But, we got to take our best guess. Since I keg into 5G soda kegs, I think in terms of multiples of 5 gallon batches.

I BIAB too so this is a factor. When I do a 5.5G batch, I typically have 7.5G of strike water in the kettle with a 10#-12# grain bill. This all fits perfectly in my 10G Blichmann kettle.

If I want an 11G batch, my ratios are doubled and I reach for my 20G Blichmann. I have two kettles and find my needs are met nicely.

Sure, you can squeeze too much into too little of a kettle, but boilovers are no darn fun to clean up. I like a bit of breathing room. A 15G kettle is going to offer you tons of headroom in a 5.5G batch. And in my opinion, it is too small for an 11G batch. In your case, a 10G is ideal but a 15G allows flexibility. Either is a good choice.

 

[jerbrew]

I still have my 5 gallon I started with, my first upgrade 8 gallon ( turning my it into an eHLT) and my 15 gallon kettle. I use my 5 gallon a lot for oh s$&! Moments when I need to heat extra sparge or strike water cuz I missed a temp. I also like it for my smaller 2 gallon batches. And they all fit inside of each other no space lost.

 

[TorMag]

I got my original 5, 12 and now 15. I made chili in my 5 gallon last night......

 

[Jimbodaman]

I did exactly what you had in mind. I started with an 8g kettle and upgraded to a 15.5 gal keggle for BIAB. I eventually acquired the pieces for a 3 tier system, but more often than not I just BIAB in the keggle since it's just as effective to my taste buds.

 

[xCSx]

so is an 8 gallon HLT enough for 5 gallon all grain batches?

 

[Jimbodaman]

so is an 8 gallon HLT enough for 5 gallon all grain batches?

Yep it works just fine

 

[petrolSpice]

so is an 8 gallon HLT enough for 5 gallon all grain batches?

Do you plan on doing full volume mashes? If so 8 gallons probably won't be enough for most beers. For reference I was going 5.5 gal batches in an 11 gallon kettle and would overflow the kettle on beers with an OG >1.070 approx.

You could do a thicker mash (less water) and then sparge. However you will have a very thick mash which may harm efficiency.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I have a 15 gallon in my storage and use a 10 gallon pretty much exclusively now. I felt the 15 was too big for my 5.5 gallon batches (had trouble with covering my IC was one problem). I made a batch last weekend that had 13.5 pounds of grain and a 90 min boil so I had to sparge 1 gallon after the mash. It was easy and actually like pouring the water over the grain bag anyway.

That said, I do like having a 15 gallon available should I want to make a larger batch.

 

[xCSx]

Thanks all!

 

[Jinkies]

I have an 8 gallon megapot 1.2 now - doing 3 gallon biab... thinking I want to upgrade to 5 gallon biab in the short term, and in the long term I will do a 3 tier all grain system..

That being said... - for 5 gallon biab, should i get a 15 gallon kettle? I don't think I ever want to go over 5 gallons. And if I do get a 15 gallon kettle, can I use my 8 gallon I have currently as a either a HLT or a boiling kettle if I do 5 gallon all grain?

or has my 8 gallon gone to waste if I upgrade!

Please advise.

I started a vaguely similar thread a few days ago. It's largely a matter of opinion. However it looked to me like most preferred 15 gallons for the versatility. They can do pretty high OG 5 gallon batches and can even squeeze in a low OG 10 Gallon batch. A few people have no problems with 5 gallons in a 20 gallon kettle, and a few people preferred 10 Gallons.

Can I ask why you want to go 3 tier? Is it just the toys and tinkering? Which is a 110% valid reason.

If you look at CO Brewing Systems, They are building multi-barrel Brew In A Basket systems. I used to lust after and plan for a 3 tier. However, now my time is at such a crunch, I want the least amount of effort and equipment involved for cleaning. I can't really think of anything that a 3 tier can do that you can't BIAB.

 

[xCSx]

I started a vaguely similar thread a few days ago. It's largely a matter of opinion. However it looked to me like most preferred 15 gallons for the versatility. They do just about any OG 5 gallon batch and could even squeeze in a low OG 10 Gallon batch. A few people have no problems with 5 gallons in a 20 gallon kettle, and few people preferred 10 Gallons.

Can I ask why you want to go 3 tier? Is it just the toys and tinkering? Which is a 110% valid reason.

If you look at CO Brewing Systems, They are building multi-barrel Brew In A Basket systems. I used to lust after and plan for a 3 tier. However, now my time is at such a crunch, I want the least amount of effort and equipment involved for cleaning. I can't really think of anything that a 3 tier can do that you can't BIAB.

Ah very good - I just thought of something...
If i have an 8 gallon and a 10-15 gallon, I can do 2 batches at the same time of BIAB and save a lot of time!!

 

[Jinkies]

Ah very good - I just thought of something...
If i have an 8 gallon and a 10-15 gallon, I can do 2 batches at the same time of BIAB and save a lot of time!!

Yeah that thought occured to me as well. Not as much on the time front. But you could do two comparison batches. Different hops, different hop schedules, same hops different malts etc. If you wanted you could do two of the same for one 10G batch. Have a friend over to brew, etc. Very versatile. Kind of a Brulosophy approach. Need dual heat sources, you could use the same chiller if they were staggered by a half hour. Not sure I'm that "with it" though. End up putting the wrong hop additions in the wrong barrel or having something go wrong with equipment on batch A and then be out in the weeds on batch B as something is missed. Also I'm looking for a new kettle from aluminum, so two new 10G kettles isn't that much more than one 20G, but then even if you are going single 5G, if your OG get's high you will probably have to sparge in one of your kettles. Not the end of the world though. It's kind of tempting.

 

[lawrenjl]

20 gallon and use a counter chiller!