Recommendations on Boil Kettle

[Adam0431]

I have been reading through some old posts and haven't quite found the answer so I wanted to ask what people would recommend for a 15 gallon boil kettle?

I recently made the switch from extract/partial grain brewing to all grain and have the following equipment:

• Propane burner (originally from a Turkey fryer kit, works great except the timer shuts the flame off every 60 minutes... Burner is a must as with my wife's gluten allergy I can't brew inside)

• Fermenter’s Favorites Essential All-Grain Brewing Starter Kit - 10 Gallon (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...-all-grain-brewing-starter-kit-10-gallon.html)

• 5.5 gallon stainless steel kettle (http://www.walmart.com/ip/19581118 - This kettle has worked great for my previous batches, but is too small for all grain ESPECIALLY if I jump to 10 gallon)

My goal is to not spend a fortune so I have looked at each of these as strong candidates:

• Spike Brewing 15 gallon - need to buy ball valve separately $190+ (http://spikebrewing.com/collections...products/15-gallon-home-brew-kettle-1-coupler)

• Brewer's edge 60 (or 76) $140/150 (http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWERS-EDGE-60-QUART-BREWKETTLE-P3141.aspx)

• Megapot 1.2 15 gallon - looks solid, by pricey $250 (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...ttle-with-ball-valve-brewing-thermometer.html)

It would seem like the brewer's edge 60 (or 76) are the best value ... but are they good enough quality (I don't want to have to replace the kettle for many years and want to have consistent even heating)

Thanks in advance for any insight or tips!!

 

[Bobcatbrewing42]

I love my keggle setup. My mashtun is a sanke keg that I modified myself with a false bottom made from the cutout piece from the top. Drilling many little holes and filling the top flange with a stainless steel scrubber works great. My boil kettle is just a Sanke keg with the top cut out. I found a stainless lid that fits at a thrift store and cut and it to fit my chiller and a racking cane. I ferment either in carboys or another sanke keg with a blowoff tube. I can ferment over 40 gal at once- total cost for fermenters $150. I bought most everything online from guys selling their stuff for pennies on the dollar. I do recommend accumulating backups of almost everything, especially your cooker, propane tanks, racking canes, thermometer and misc.

 

[wilserbrewer]

ESPECIALLY if I jump to 10 gallon)

If you are going to go to 10 gallon batches, I would advise a 20 gallon kettle.

Both 60 and 80 qt linked below.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CONCORD-Sta...06351809?pt=Cookware&var=&hash=item20da980ec1

My preference is for a kettle over keggle, personal preference really.

 

[Adam0431]

As a quick update I ended up ordering this - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007V493PG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

With the Amazon prime discount I got it seemed the best... Will update in case others have interest

 

[Riot]

Its easy to bypass the timers in those turkey fryer burners. Open up the box the timer is in and run a jumper wire between the two wires going into the timer. That will stop the burner from caring about what the timer is doing