Some questions on about kettle size

[kadozen]

A friend of mine owns a metal recycling yard and say's he'd be more then happy to make me a gravity sculpture for free. I'm trying to be as cost effective as possible and at the moment i only have on 5 gallon brew kettle. would i be able to just convert that to my HLT and use 2 8.5 gallon kettles for mash and boil?

also on that note, how are the econo-pots offered by more beer and the like? they're all SS but are they still thick enough to transfer heat reliably over a few years of brewing?

I know i might be asking some pretty basic questions, but i'd rather ask and look a fool then keep my mouth shut and waste money.

 

[rwinzing]

For a mash tun 8.5 is really going to limit the ABV of your brews. You need a minimum of 10 gallon tun and most wished they had gone to 15. You can get away with 8.5 for boil kettle but you will really need to watch for boil overs

 

[kadozen]

hmm, alright. He also mentioned having a stupid amount of kegs, ill see if he can do a keggle conversion on one or two of them. and my old 5 gallon pot will be fine for sparge water right?

 

[hopmonster2189]

Tough to say, depends again on the gravity of your brews or how much grain you're using. Last night I had to strike in with 5 gals for 16 lbs of grain, so that would be difficult in a 5 gal pot.

 

[Cyclman]

If you can get keggles cheap, that's a deal. I use my HLT to fill with hot water / PBW to wash down my system, so having extra water in there is a great convenience.

 

[meltroha]

I use a 5 gallon converted beverage cooler got hlt, it should be fine, I don't think the more beer economy kettles will last more then a year or two, but it depends on how you take care of them, and if you lift them to dump full of wort, or drain into fermenter.

 

[hogwash]

3 keggles is ideal but you could probably use an 8.5 gallon pot for your HLT.

 

[kadozen]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm just now starting to formulate the while thing with my friend, so it's much appreciated

 

[samorg42]

There are used kettles everywhere and resturant supply wholesalers are a good source. I saw really big kettles on a Cajun cooking website for a great price. I am using converted 15.5 gal kegs and am completely sold on the whole concept. I keep a 30 litre kettle handy for my sparge water and misc. uses. It is much easier to lift.

 

[acidrain]

I would use the 5 gallon kettle for a HLT, get a round cooler for a MT, and get a keggle for the BK.
Make a nice brew stand (offer to help, but realize it may actually be quicker for him if he just does it himself).
I would offer to pay for his time, and hope he refuses the money.

 

[kadozen]

I
I would offer to pay for his time, and hope he refuses the money.

I keep dropping the tried and true "just let me know what I owe ya"line and he keeps saying not to worry about it. He doesn't drink beer so I might try my hand at soda making for him and his kids to enjoy