Mid-range brew kettle

[nuclear_brew]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a brew kettle. Here are my requirements:
10 gal
A valve and thermo are a 'must have'
A sight is a 'would be nice to have'
Stainless steel
Commercial or predrilled

I'm primarily a mead and cider maker who is looking to do some beers. I'm going to use this kettle to heat strike water and to do boils, but will be mashing in another vessel. I think I would like to go commercial. I helped a friend do a conversion from a polarware (or similar) 10 gal pot, and it was a fairly bad experience, the crappy sheet stainless didn't cut very well and was not a lot of fun to deal with leaks etc.

So far, I looked at:
Megapot 1.2 10 gallon
Anvil 10 gallon
Blichmann Engineering BoilerMaker G2 10 gallon

All of these options look good, but I was hoping to get away with something that runs more like between 100 and 200 USD.

I've read though some of the older threads on this but figured I would post my own since I couldn't find something that exactly fit my requirements. Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[BeardedBrews]

If you really want to stay under $200 including the valve and thermometer then you're going to be using weldless fittings. In that price point I would go to brewhardware.com and ask @bobby_m to quote you a 40/44 quart kettle with a bulkhead/diptube/valve and thermometer port. You can get in under $200 I'm sure.

My recommendation would be to save up an extra month or two and spend a bit more for a welded kettle.

http://spikebrewing.com/collections...es/products/10-gallon-brew-kettle-sight-glass

You'd have to include the price of a valve
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=128
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=50&product_id=154

 

[nuclear_brew]

You'd have to include the price of a valve
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=128
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=50&product_id=154

Incidentally, I have an extra valve and dip tube around somewhere. These seems to be pretty in line with the Blichmann offerings once you factor in the cost of the thermo.

 

[oujens]

I'm in a similar boat and the SS Brewtech kettles might be something for you to consider. Seems to come with everything you need to brew out of the box for $180 and free shipping. Would need the thermometer though, and it has gallon markings instead of sight glass. I think it would be a better value over the Megapot. However, I'm finding it difficult to decide between SS Brewtech and Spike. The Brewtech is grabbing my attention because for the price it includes ball valve, diptube and an extra port for a whirlpool already installed. Since you already have a ball valve and diptube it might make it easier to purchase the Spike.

 

[LarMoeCur]

I just built up three 80qt concord kettles using brewhardware.com solder fittings. It was very simple with the right tools. I installed 12 fittings and only had one leak. The key was knock out punches and good step bits (with cutting oil). I would not say the Concord kettles are in the same tier as Blichmann but they worked well for me. I got three so they were only $90 each.

 

[hellesyeah]

I remember an old girlfriend who said she wanted a Harley but was going to buy a Honda Rebel first to get the feel of riding. Long story short, she bought a Harley three months after the Honda purchase and lost darn near 2 grand in the process. I'm not suggesting you'll lose anything, but get what you want to begin with even if you have to wait a few months to save the coins.

I had an aluminum kettle with no add-ons. I added weld less fittings for a valve spigot, sight glass and a thermometer. This all worked fine, but once again, it simply wasn't very professional nor what I wanted to end up with.

So, I bought a 10G Blichmann G2 and happy as a clam. The other kettle, all nice and outfitted but not what I really wanted, would make a nice planter for tomatoes.

I'd go for the best and don't regret haste.

 

[nuclear_brew]

I just built up three 80qt concord kettles using brewhardware.com solder fittings. It was very simple with the right tools. I installed 12 fittings and only had one leak. The key was knock out punches and good step bits (with cutting oil). I would not say the Concord kettles are in the same tier as Blichmann but they worked well for me. I got three so they were only $90 each.

Yeah, if I were gonna do an all stainless brew system (boil, sparge, and mash) this would definitely be the way I'd go. By the time you buy punches and bits and such for only 1 kettle, you might as well have gone with something welded.

I remember an old girlfriend who said she wanted a Harley but was going to buy a Honda Rebel first to get the feel of riding. Long story short, she bought a Harley three months after the Honda purchase and lost darn near 2 grand in the process. I'm not suggesting you'll lose anything, but get what you want to begin with even if you have to wait a few months to save the coins.

I had an aluminum kettle with no add-ons. I added weld less fittings for a valve spigot, sight glass and a thermometer. This all worked fine, but once again, it simply wasn't very professional nor what I wanted to end up with.

So, I bought a 10G Blichmann G2 and happy as a clam. The other kettle, all nice and outfitted but not what I really wanted, would make a nice planter for tomatoes.

I'd go for the best and don't regret haste.

This has been my experience in *cough* other hobbies. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on anything with great value in the 150-250 dollar range.

 

[nuclear_brew]

I just noticed that Spike offers a kettle without the sight glass with two ports for 200. That would be a fair compromise and I can use it later in a three kettle setup for when I graduate and get a full time job...

 

[dmcman73]

Go for a Spike kettle, you won't be sorry and everything is welded. http://spikebrewing.com/collections/10-gallon-stainless-kettles

the thermometer and valve are sold separate though. One suggestion I would make, if you plan on making smaller than 5 gallon batches or want to go BIAB at some point, go for the kettle with both ports horizontal to each other. It will keep the termo inline with the valve so that you could easily do BIAB if you wish (the thermo won't interfere with the bag) and being that it's low in the kettle, you can do smaller than 5 gallon batches if you wanted to.