Kettle Help for Full Boils

[Munich_Mouser]

Greetings,

I realize there are a large number of threads on kettle sizes and features here but I haven't found one that specifically addresses beginners just looking to move to full boils. I thought it would be helpful to start a discussion for those in this situation, if I'm mistaken please feel free to point me in the right direction.

As background I have a five gallon aluminum kettle in which I've been doing partial boils on the stove. I started with extract kits and have moved on to partial mashes from my LHBS. I will likely stay with partial mashes due to time / small kids (and the fact that I'm making decent beer with them finally!). However I would like to do some higher gravity kits, a few of which have 13 lb grain bills according to my shop.

I'm suffering a little from information overload as far as what kettle features I need. Any thoughts you guys could provide on the categories below would be fantastic, I've lurked here for sometime and have found this forum tremendously helpful.

Size: is 10 gal necessary, or can I get away with 8 / 8.5 gal?

Ball valve: is one necessary? from my research I gather this is an emphatic "yes".

Filter: false bottom or bazooka screen?

Thermometer: this seems to be a matter of personal preference, I have a big daddy that seems to do fine.

I'd like to keep things simple without sacrificing much functionality (another way to say that is I'm probably looking to spend a few hundred bucks). Thanks in advance!

 

[duboman]

Greetings,

I realize there are a large number of threads on kettle sizes and features here but I haven't found one that specifically addresses beginners just looking to move to full boils. I thought it would be helpful to start a discussion for those in this situation, if I'm mistaken please feel free to point me in the right direction.

As background I have a five gallon aluminum kettle in which I've been doing partial boils on the stove. I started with extract kits and have moved on to partial mashes from my LHBS. I will likely stay with partial mashes due to time / small kids (and the fact that I'm making decent beer with them finally!). However I would like to do some higher gravity kits, a few of which have 13 lb grain bills according to my shop.

I'm suffering a little from information overload as far as what kettle features I need. Any thoughts you guys could provide on the categories below would be fantastic, I've lurked here for sometime and have found this forum tremendously helpful.

Size: is 10 gal necessary, or can I get away with 8 / 8.5 gal?

Ball valve: is one necessary? from my research I gather this is an emphatic "yes".

Filter: false bottom or bazooka screen?

Thermometer: this seems to be a matter of personal preference, I have a big daddy that seems to do fine.

I'd like to keep things simple without sacrificing much functionality (another way to say that is I'm probably looking to spend a few hundred bucks). Thanks in advance!

For AG brewing I recommend a minimum of 10 gallon kettles, 15 preferred but you really need to determine your batch size and boil off, I need 8.5 gallons pre-boil to get my 6.25 in primary to finish with a full 6 gallons of beer.

A ball valve is a nice thing to have as you don't have to lift hot heavy volumes of wort and IMO, it's easier than racking. It also allows you to use pumps or gravity for counterflow chillers or plate chillers

For a boil kettle a bazooka screen is fine, for a mash tun kettle a false bottom is preferred

A good thermometer is essential for mash temps and strike water to ensure proper temps, once the boil starts there is no need to monitor a temp, boiling is boiling A mounted thermometer in a mash kettle is a nice feature but not necessary IMO

In all, do not skimp on your kettle, if you get a bit larger than you need and buy a good quality product it will last you forever!

 

[sputnam]

I just ordered my fifth brew pot due to unintended growth. I wish I had just gone big the first time. You can boil 3 gallons in a 8 gallon pot but you can't even boil 4 in a 4 gallon pot.....

 

[govner1]

^^^this. I started w/ 3 gal AG batches & found an 8 gal BK was best. When I moved to 6 gal batches I went w/ a 15gal BK.
You can easily put 6-8 gal of wort pre-boil in a 15 gal but a 10 will be a push & require constant attention. Also you'll be prepared for the occasional BIG beer. I had a ten gal boil for a 6 gal batch this weekend.
Also, go ahead and spend the few extra $$'s on a good SS pot. The Update International line is great!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[helibrewer]

Greetings,

I realize there are a large number of threads on kettle sizes and features here but I haven't found one that specifically addresses beginners just looking to move to full boils. I thought it would be helpful to start a discussion for those in this situation, if I'm mistaken please feel free to point me in the right direction.

As background I have a five gallon aluminum kettle in which I've been doing partial boils on the stove. I started with extract kits and have moved on to partial mashes from my LHBS. I will likely stay with partial mashes due to time / small kids (and the fact that I'm making decent beer with them finally!). However I would like to do some higher gravity kits, a few of which have 13 lb grain bills according to my shop.

I'm suffering a little from information overload as far as what kettle features I need. Any thoughts you guys could provide on the categories below would be fantastic, I've lurked here for sometime and have found this forum tremendously helpful.

Size: is 10 gal necessary, or can I get away with 8 / 8.5 gal?

Ball valve: is one necessary? from my research I gather this is an emphatic "yes".

Filter: false bottom or bazooka screen?

Thermometer: this seems to be a matter of personal preference, I have a big daddy that seems to do fine.

I'd like to keep things simple without sacrificing much functionality (another way to say that is I'm probably looking to spend a few hundred bucks). Thanks in advance!

Go with a 15 gallon, aluminum if budget is an issue. You can easily put a weldless valve in an aluminum pot yourself, but it should be easy to find one with the valve already installed.

 

[Pappers_]

Size: is 10 gal necessary, or can I get away with 8 / 8.5 gal?

To brew 5 gallon batches you'll need 7 gallons in the boil - go with at least 10 gallons

Ball valve: is one necessary? from my research I gather this is an emphatic "yes".

I don't think its necessary. You can chill in the brew kettle and rack out with a siphon into your fermenter, easy-peasy.

Filter: false bottom or bazooka screen?

Neither for a brew kettle, this would be for a mash tun. Either works just fine.

Thermometer: this seems to be a matter of personal preference, I have a big daddy that seems to do fine.

I've use a plain old floating thermometer and its been fine

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Another less gear intensive (i.e. less expensive) method is to do BIAB (brew in a bag). I do full boil all-grain brews in a 9 gal pot with a fryer basket. Traditional BIAB uses all the water in the pot at once. I do a modified version and reserve a couple of gallons for a sparge. After the mash, I raise the grain bag (in the basket) and sparge through the bag. I have done brews (5.5 gal in the fermenter) with 15 lbs of grain and 1080 OG with no problem. That said, a 10 gal pot would be better. I use the 9 gal because it is tall and narrow and allows me to brew on my stove. If I had found a similarly narrow 10 gal pot I would have gone with that.

 

[dkevinb]

I can do full boil 5-gallon extract/steeping grain batches with my 8-gallon kettle and a couple of pounds of specialty grains. 4.5 gallons is about the biggest BIAB batch I can do with that kettle and a 10 pound grain bill, and that's close to the lip of the kettle during the mash. I'd go with at least a 10-gallon, for sure, bigger if you can afford it.

 

[Munich_Mouser]

Thanks for all the replies. Dumb question but for BIAB is the false bottom and ball valve a must?

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

No. With BIAB the bag is your filter. You only need the one pot to mash and boil. No stuck sparges either so you can mill the grains very fine, get better efficiency and reduce your grain bill. I get 80% efficiency. Some here get more.

 

[dkevinb]

Thanks for all the replies. Dumb question but for BIAB is the false bottom and ball valve a must?

What he said. I don't have a ball valve. I just use an autosiphon to transfer. I do have a "false bottom" since I use an 8-gallon tamale steamer as a brew kettle and it has a nice steamer rack. It keeps the bag off the bottom of the pot so there's less chance of scorching if you heat with the bag in. It's nice to have, but not a requirement. It's not used in lautering in any way at all. You do that by just picking up the bag and letting it drain. Many people improvise with a cake rack, vegetable steamer, etc.

 

[Munich_Mouser]

Sweet. I may just get a 15 gal Bayou Classic with a steamer basket and call it a day. That would allow me to do BIAB which is probably as far as I'd ever go (famous last words). Thanks for all the help.

 

[Beernik]

If you are doing 5 gallon BIAB mashes, get a 15 gallon pot. You need enough volume for ~7 gallons of wort plus +10lbs of grain.

if you are using a seperate mash tun, you can use a 10 gallon pot.

You don't need a ball valve. I brewed in a 10 gallon pot for a long time without one. I siphoned out of it.

I just converted to a keggle with BIAB. If someone had told me I could cut the top off a keg, buy a 15 gallon bag, and a 55,000 BTU burner all for $140 I never would have converted a cooler into a mash tun, bought a turkey fryer, and a seperate 10 gallon kettle for the about the same price.

The only problem with that bare bones set up is checking the mash temp.

I just added a ball valve and a thermometer to my keggle. I'm going to have to add a dip tube to the ball valve. Otherwise I'll leave about 2 gallons of wort behind. And I figured if I'm doing that, I might as well add one of NorCal's false bottoms or screens for keeping hops out of my fermenter.

 

[doug293cz]

Sweet. I may just get a 15 gal Bayou Classic with a steamer basket and call it a day. That would allow me to do BIAB which is probably as far as I'd ever go (famous last words). Thanks for all the help.

That's what I did when I realized my 8 gal pot was too small. I also don't have a valve (yet) so use my autosiphon. Works fine.

Brew on

 

[HB_in_Subic]

I agree about the 8 gal kettle. I have an 8 gal Bayou Classic kettle with ball valve. 7 gallons of wort is about the max that I can have in it. I use the ball valve to pour the wort into the fermenter. I added a 3/8" spout, so it comes out in a fine stream and builds up a nice froth in the cooled wort (about 3-4" head).

 

[MaxStout]

Sweet. I may just get a 15 gal Bayou Classic with a steamer basket and call it a day. That would allow me to do BIAB which is probably as far as I'd ever go (famous last words). Thanks for all the help.

Smart idea opting for the 15 gallon BK. You can do 5 gallon BIAB batches in a 10 gallon kettle, but it can be tight, especially with higher gravity beers. With a 15, you never have to worry. Buy the right kettle the first time and you won't have to trade up later.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

If you go BIAB make your life easier and figure out a pulley setup to raise the grain bag. Some people just tie to the bag and raise it. I use a ratcheting pulley to raise the entire fryer basket with my grain bag in it. Once it is raised and locked above the pot, I have the bottom third of a Home Depot bucket that has small holes drilled in the bottom. It rests perfectly in the top of the basket. I add my sparge water and it trickles down over the grain bag for a sort of modified fly sparge. Improved my efficiency about 5 points.

Wilserbrewer sells custom BIAB bags that a lot of folks here swear by. He also sells the ratcheting pulleys (mine came from my kayak rack).