Please advise on equipment

[fender1983]

I am about to move into a new house with hardwood floors in the kitchen. So it is pretty much means I won't be able to use it for brewing.

I have no problems boiling outside or in garage, but the main problem would be wort cooling.

I was thinking about buying one of the economy or megapots with built in ball valve from northern brewing together with plate chiller in order to go with full 5 gallon boil.

I have a water spigot outside of my house which I can use to feed the chiller. The main problem is what to do with hot water discharge? If i put in into the ground it will kill my grass.

The other solution is to use laundry sink, but walking from garage to a laundry with 5 gallons of boiling wort seems a little too risky.

What would your recommend?

P.S. What size brew pot do i need to do 5 gallon full boils? How many btu's propane burner should I get? I am thinking to upgrade to kegging and all grain in the future and I want to make sure I am investing in something I will be able to use in the future.

Are these "cheap" kettles any good?
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...-10-5-gallon-economy-kettle-w-ball-valve.html

 

[Yooper]

I have hardwood floors in my whole house. They are perfect for brewing- easy clean up for sure.

Anyway, if you want to go outside you can drain the boiling hot water from the chiller into metal containers to use for cleaning. It's only boiling hot a few minutes, then it changes to warm.

A 8-10 gallon sized pot is ideal for 5 gallon batches, and you'd start with about 6.5 gallons of wort for the boil.

 

[Cyclman]

I water my lawn with water from my chiller, no issues.

 

[fender1983]

Since I am planning to grow big in the future, i was also thinking about getting 15 gallon aluminum kettle off ebay with BIAB bag. Any downsides going so big from the beginning?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110618697180?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[brew_ny]

here is a 16 gallon one

http://www.wayfair.com/Bayou-Classic-Stock-Pot-with-Lid-BAY1160-BAY1160.html

no built in thermometer but you are going to want to stick one in the grain bed to be sure of the temp

the one on ebay looks fine also

good luck

S_M

 

[fender1983]

here is a 16 gallon one
S_M

This looks much better - it's cheaper and it is stainless

 

[duboman]

The discharge water will not kill your lawn, I've been running this water into my lawn for every batch regardless of the season and have never had a dead spot anywhere, BTW, I also happen to be a landscape contractor and certified lawn technician

 

[Ramitt]

A 8-10 gallon sized pot is ideal for 5 gallon batches, and you'd start with about 6.5 gallons of wort for the boil.

I have not found that to be true with my 9 gallon pot, I constantly fight boil overs. I do aim for closer to 6 gallons for loss to trub and what not for 5 gallons packaged. I would recommend 10+ Gallons.

 

[whattheschmidt]

The discharge water will not kill your lawn, I've been running this water into my lawn for every batch regardless of the season and have never had a dead spot anywhere, BTW, I also happen to be a landscape contractor and certified lawn technician

And even if boiling water did all you would have to do is put the first gallon or so in a bucket and after that it's cooled down enough and would be fine.

 

[fender1983]

Guys, i think you mistaken immersible wort chiller with the plate chiller. In case of immersible chiller the cooling water temperature goes down as the wort chills, however, with plate chiller the wort-in temperature is constant, therefore the cooling water-out temperature is also constat= boiling hot

 

[Paps]

with plate chiller the wort-in temperature is constant

That is a physical impossiblity.If any part of the wort is being cooled and recycled back into the kettle the mass as a whole becomes cooler....if it did not do this then there would be no point in using the chiller in the first place.
If you are going from brew kettle to chiller to fermentor direct,then i can see it but not in a recycling system.

You can still water the grass with it just might have to use a storage bucket first to allow it to cool or perhaps turn off you houses water heater on brew day and fill it up with the hot water from your plate chiller.

 

[Puddlethumper]

P.S. What size brew pot do i need to do 5 gallon full boils? How many btu's propane burner should I get? I am thinking to upgrade to kegging and all grain in the future and I want to make sure I am investing in something I will be able to use in the future.

Are these "cheap" kettles any good?
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Every time I've tried to take a shortcut and bought a cheap tool I invariably regretted it later. I'd cuss the darned thing every time I used it. And all too often, would end up replacing it with what I should have bought in the first place. Ultimately the cheap tool turned out to be more expensive in the long run.

If you can afford it, I'd suggest you invest in a good quality boil kettle. Stainless with a good laminated bottom for heat transfer. I started doing AG last winter and went with an 8 gal SS boil kettle from one of the mail order houses and have always been glad I dropped the hundred bucks it cost me.

You can use 8 gal. kettle for 5 gal. batches just fine, but you do have to keep a close eye on the boil at the beginning. When you see the foam get solid and cracks in the top of the foam it's time to dial the heat back and let it "sneak up" on the boil. This is especially true when you goof up and overshoot the sparge water and have to boil some off. Once it has settled down and has been boiling for a while the 8 gal. kettle works great.

If you're sticking with 5-10 gal. batches the Bayou Classic SQ-14 burner is a good one for the money. (I have one and like it.) They also make another, stronger model a lot of guys like and Blichman makes an even better one for more money.

 

[fender1983]

If you are going from brew kettle to chiller to fermentor direct,then i can see it but not in a recycling system.

That's what I was trying to do, go from the kettle to fermentor through chiller by using gravity