Morebeer Tippy Kettle Size???

[acpete]

So after 10 years, 3 of extract and 7 of all grain one kettle (15g keg) and orange coolers I'm ready to make a purchase. Now I'm not sure what size kettles I should choose the 15 gallon or the 30 gallon. Morebeer has it broken down into two sizes of final batch either 10g or 20g.

Is there anyone who has the Tippy Dump that can offer advice on which size kettle? I will likely be doing more five gallon batches with occasional 10 gallon. What concerns me is if I choose to do a high gravity 10 gallon. Am I outta space in the mash tun?

If I get the larger kettles I will likely do some 15 gallon batches. So it will get used but I don't see it as something happening often.

I guess I'm looking for someone to come forward and say something like "In their experience... it's a no-brainer... hands down..." "Go with the larger kettles."

Any advice...

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[Staticsouls]

I used the smaller sized for 10 gallons. I would say if you want to do 5 or 10 you would be good on the small system. We did a pretty high gravity Belgian with an og of 1.081, and the mash tun wasn't even close to being maxed out.

 

[Braufessor]

I don't have the tippy dump.... I have their 3 tier, gravity, (10 gallon kettles for 5 gallon batches)..... I bought the system 20 years ago now and it is the single best purchase I may have ever made.

In regard to size - personally, I think you want to buy the system for what you are going to brew all the time, not the system for the "exception." 30 gallon kettles and 20 gallon batches are really pretty big, and unless you see yourself really going that big on a regular basis, I guess I don't see why you would want to do that.

In regard to high gravity brews you might want to do on occasion..... Here is what I have went to with my own system and it works great. I do a double mash with a single long boil. I can push 20-24 pounds of grain in my 10 gallon pot, but I find the efficiency goes down hill fast. So, what I do now is this:

I do a mash with 16-18 pounds of grain, run it off into the boil kettle/sparge as usual and collect 4 gallons of highly concentrated wort and start a low boil/simmer on this. I drain the other 4 gallons off into a 5 gallon bucket and set it aside. I clean out the mash tun and start a second 16-18 pound mash with identical grain bill. I drain it off the same way.... the first 4 gallons goes into the already boiling wort from the first mash. The last 4 gallons of low gravity wort goes into a five gallon bucket. I now have collected 8 gallons of very high gravity wort in the kettle and I have 8 gallons of low gravity wort in 5 gallon buckets.

I clean out the mash tun, add the low gravity wort back to that kettle and start boiling that. In the end, I have 2 batches of beer going at one time. So, if I am doing a big RIS I have the very high gravity wort going in the boil kettle for RIS, and then the low gravity runnings I turn into something like a Black Lager or Porter/Stout. I monitor the gravity of both and add some DME or some RO water to adjust the gravity of each.

** You could also just do a double mash and long boil and boil down all the runnings of both batches to your desired volume/density.

** You could also just make up some gravity by using a single mash/boil and add enough DME to get you to your desired gravity.

In the end, it is a big day - but, I am really only doing something like this 1-2 times per year. So, I would much rather have my system tailored to 90-95% of my brewing and tweak my process for the rare 5-10% of beers I make.

 

[MrPowers]

I actually bought the MoreBeer LoRider 10 gallon System last year. It comes with the same kettles as the tippy dump. The small size comes with 22 gallon kettles and the large comes with 30.

You should have no problem doing a 10 gallon high gravity batch with the small kettle option. I did a ~1.095 og imperial stout (over 40lbs of grain) with a little room to spare in the mash tun.

The system can be used for 5 gallon batches, but that is actually bordering on too small. The whirlpool port in the boil kettle actually sits at about the 7 gallon mark, so you can’t use it for 5 gallon batches.

Lastly, you actually do have room for standard gravity 15 gallon batches with the 22 gallon kettles if you want. I did a 16.5 gallon batch of 1.050 lager and was no where close to maxing out the mash tun.

 

[acpete]

Wow, You guys provided some good information and a few things I didn't think of. I'm glad I asked. I think the smaller kettles will be exactly what I need.

 

[acpete]

Mr. Powers, have you played around with the whirlpool port? Is there a way to add something or change a part to get it to work for 5 gallon batches? Since I don't have the kettles I don't know exactly how it works or how it is built.

 

[MrPowers]

Mr. Powers, have you played around with the whirlpool port? Is there a way to add something or change a part to get it to work for 5 gallon batches? Since I don't have the kettles I don't know exactly how it works or how it is built.

I haven’t tried to mess with the system much personally, I just don’t do 5 gallon batches anymore.

You could potentially add a dip tube off of the whirlpool draw port... it is a welded port with threads on the inside. Short of adding a threaded attachment, you really can’t move it down. I’m not sure how well that would work with the pump having to draw wort up a tube though.