Spike brewing or SS Brewtech kettle

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Nikeirons

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Looking for feedback on Spike Brewing kettles and SS Brewtech kettles 15 gallon.
I've narrowed my search down to these 2 brands and looking for input to help me come to a decision.
 
I haven't had a chance to use mine yet. But my Spike 15 is a great kettle and a great pricepoint. I plan to upgrade my HLT eventually.
 
Thanks Reaver!! Are you planning on using a dip tube in it? If so where did you get it from? The Spike seems to be a couple dollars cheaper than SS Brewtech.
 
I love my ssbrewtech. It's more expensive because it's tri-ply so you an use it on induction
 
I got a Spike 15gal with the horizontal couplers for my boil kettle and it is awesome. Really nice quality. I do some extract boils so I like to have the thermometer low enough to pick up just a few gallons. I'm sure the Ss kettles are really great but the welded fittings are what pushed me towards Spike.

I bought a dip tube assembly from Bargain Fittings.
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=46&product_id=151

I can take a picture so you can see it hooked up if you want.
 
hezagenius said:
I got a Spike 15gal with the horizontal couplers for my boil kettle and it is awesome. Really nice quality. I do some extract boils so I like to have the thermometer low enough to pick up just a few gallons. I'm sure the Ss kettles are really great but the welded fittings are what pushed me towards Spike.

I bought a dip tube assembly from Bargain Fittings.
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=46&product_id=151

I can take a picture so you can see it hooked up if you want.
Click to expand...

Hezagenius if you could post or PM a pic of the inside with the dip tube installed I'd appreciate that!! I would like to see how the dip tube sits in there. Thanks
 
The first pic is looking down at the assembly. The second is from the bottom of the kettle straight at the assembly. The tube lays flat in the pic but it can be tweaked to rest at an angle if you want. What works for me is to 1) whirlpool and let it rest for awhile, then 2) open the valve to start draining, and then 3) as the liquid is almost gone, tilt the kettle toward the pick up tube just a little bit to get almost all the liquid while leaving the trub in the center of the kettle.

20150329_132849.jpg


20150329_132823.jpg
 
The elbow is called a "street elbow" and was also purchased from Bargain Fittings. A normal elbow has female threading on both ends but the street elbow has male threading on one end and female on the other. The pickup tube assembly comes with the compression fitting and the tube itself.
 
Thanks Hezagenius!! That's exactly what I was wanting to know. I was wondering if you used an elbow. That a 1/2 in street elbiw right?

Looks like I may be leaning towards the Spike

Thanks again for your help!!
 
hezagenius said:
The first pic is looking down at the assembly. The second is from the bottom of the kettle straight at the assembly. The tube lays flat in the pic but it can be tweaked to rest at an angle if you want. What works for me is to 1) whirlpool and let it rest for awhile, then 2) open the valve to start draining, and then 3) as the liquid is almost gone, tilt the kettle toward the pick up tube just a little bit to get almost all the liquid while leaving the trub in the center of the kettle.
Click to expand...

That is a really friggin nice weld.
 
I also bought a hex nipple and 45 elbow just in case. Bargain Fittings shows a few different configurations for the pick up tube so I wanted to cover all my options in one order.

Another thing I like about Spike is that their couplers are flush mounted on the inside of the kettles. Gives you a little more room for pickup tubes, chillers and whatnot.
 
Yeah I saw the different configurations on bargain fittings site.
Did you ever try the other way with the 45?
Or are you satisfied with the way in the pic?
 
At this point I just threaded a 1/2" NPT to 1/4barb 90* elbow fitting. I think I got from Morebeer. I threaded that in and it sits just above the bottom. I got 2, the 2nd I use for whirlpool. I bought the 2 vertical coupler. But the top coupler is intended for a thermometer, so it is a shorter coupler. I had to tap the threads on the inside to use a fitting inside. You can have the larger coupling added in on top custom.
 
Yeah Reaver. I've seen that option too with the elbow and hise barb for dip tube set up.
So you use the top port for whirlpool?
 
My reply in "What I did for beer today"

I have a couple of Spike Brewing 10Gal kettles, one for brewing and another for a HLT. Really like them both!

That pickup tube I purchased from bargain fittings.com had to be modified just a bit to fit my brew kettle... but I bet it would drop right in your 15gal setup!
 
Nikeirons said:
Yeah I saw the different configurations on bargain fittings site.
Did you ever try the other way with the 45?
Or are you satisfied with the way in the pic?
Click to expand...

I like it the way I have it configured because it gets the tube really close the the edge of the kettle which is nice when you whirlpool. It also has a fairly low profile so it stays out of the way of the immersion chiller.

I haven't tried it with the 45 elbow. It looks like you can probably configure it to get slightly more liquid out with a 45 without tilting the kettle, but when I tilt the kettle using my configuration, I can get out all but an ounce or two of wort and keep almost all the trub in the center.
 
Hezagenius I'm thinking of getting the horizontal setup as well so I can do 5 gallon batches as well as 10g.
Are there any drawbacks of having both ports that low?
If you bought again would you buy horizontal again or would u go vertical?

Thanks for all your help!!
 
You can see in the first picture that the top port is not as deep as the bottom port. It's intended as a thermo port. I whirlpool and plan to use it for that purpose. I just picked up a thread tap and cleaned up the internal threads so I could mount the barbed elbow to the inside. Which you can see in the 2nd picture. I wet tested it a couple weeks ago, but haven't brewed on it yet. When I mentioned the whirlpool port to the Spike guys, they told me to ask for the larger port on top next time.

11081278_10202502961014317_2917961548706315847_n.jpg


The diptube barb fitting is VERY close to the bottom, and I wouldn't care about loosing the little bit left over from that depth!
11070162_10202502961174321_6942124843272289482_n.jpg
 
Morebeer.com
Item Description: Stainless - 1/2 in. mpt X 3/8 in. Barb Elbow
Item Number: H616E

the "barbs" on the valves are actually brass Sharkbite fittings for $2.50 from my local hardware store. They are cheaper than any SS barbed fitting around, and I can brew with them until I want to upgrade to SS.
 
Nikeirons said:
Hezagenius I'm thinking of getting the horizontal setup as well so I can do 5 gallon batches as well as 10g.
Are there any drawbacks of having both ports that low?
If you bought again would you buy horizontal again or would u go vertical?

Thanks for all your help!!
Click to expand...

I went with the horizontal configuration so I could do smaller extract brews and still get a temp reading for steeping grains.

The only downside to the horizontal configuration is that it has a bigger footprint. I disassemble everything after each brew so it's not that big of a deal.

With the horizontal configuration, you will be able to get a reading for pretty much any size boil.

You just have to make sure you have a heat shield to keep the heat from hitting your valve since it might melt the plastic handle wrap. Same goes for the thermometer. I use a little bit of sheet metal and it works great.

If I was buying one to use as a hot liquor tank, I'd probably go vertical.
 
I plan on buying another Spike Kettle as a Mash Tun since I've been super happy with the quality from them. I think one question you need to ask yourself is this:

What other manufacturer is giving you this same level of quality at a better or similar price?

I personally am drawn to shiny objects... what can I say, its the redneck in me. haha. I love the look of Stout Tanks kettles, mash Tuns, etc... However I cannot justify spending in many cased at least 60% more on their products, especially since you can't send the kettle back to them if it is faulty. Blichmann is in a similar boat for me as well. Expensive and shiny, good looking, the Gold-Standard for many e-brewing kettles, but at the end of the day its a weldless fitting that if you want to customize, you have to do it yourself. SS Is a more budget friendly version of a Blichmann Kettle.
 
I know what you mean Bowtie. I did narrow my choices between Spike and SS. I'm 99% sure I'm going with Spike. With a dip tube from bargin fitting or brew hardware. Probably going with horizontal ports so I can brew smaller batches and still utilize the thermometer. Just worried about the thermo being so low near the flame. Although I can modify my burner with a shield to prevent anything from happening.
 
I went with a spike 15 gallon and it's been great. I got a 90 degree elbow and a 1/2" hose barb from brewhardware for my pickup. I've used the kettle for 3 brews so far (10 gallon batches) and it has worked really well.
 
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted replies to this thread.
I ended up going with the Spike 15 Gallon with just one port. Since it will be my boil kettle I opted for no thermo and will check my wort temps while cooling the old fashion way. Thanks again everybody!!
 
Resurrecting an old thread for my first post here is probably bad form, but...

I'm transitioning from extract to all-grain soon, been using a bargain basement kettle for that. I'm looking at the SS BrewTech 15 gallon for AG, and stumbled upon a couple of threads here in my searches that brought the Spike into the mix. Several posts seem to imply that the Spike was cheaper...that does not seem to be the case, maybe it was in 2015 but is not in June 2016.

* SS 15, including ball valve and dip tube, is $230
* Spike, with neither of those, is $240. Adding Spike's ball valve and the dip tube setup mentioned earlier in this thread adds roughly another $45-50 to the total, so it's looking more like $285-290.

So given this pricing, is the Spike really $55-60 better than the SS? Do the welded fittings make it that much "better"? Do the weldless fittings always eventually leak or something?

Thanks.
 
Welded fitting are very nice to have. You don't have to take them apart and you don't have to worry about leaks.

I also source my valves from other places. You can get very nice 3 piece valves for around $11 online.
 
I can't speak for SS BT but Spike does custom fitting locations if that's a need. And they currentLy have a little sale going on their kettles.

I've got the 15g kettle with 2 horizontal couplers and I use them to whirlpool and drain. Works great for me.

If you are going to spend this kind of money, just make sure to get what will work best for your process.
 
I bought a custom 20 gal from spike, very easy to work with. Especially like the somewhat lower profile site glass set up they have. I wanted a 1 1/2 in triclover port (for the element), a RTD threaded port.

tim
 
I can't speak to having a Spike, but I've been extremely happy with my 10 gallon SS BT kettle. I looked at the Spike briefly, but went with SS BT as I already had one of their fermenters and the extra $$ saved when towards buying a pump.
 
hezagenius said:
I can't speak for SS BT but Spike does custom fitting locations if that's a need. And they currentLy have a little sale going on their kettles.

I've got the 15g kettle with 2 horizontal couplers and I use them to whirlpool and drain. Works great for me.

If you are going to spend this kind of money, just make sure to get what will work best for your process.
Click to expand...

How did you set up your whirlpool? Did you raise it above the drain or run it at the same level? I'm thinking about this same setup.
 
Thanks all. There seem to be enough people convinced that welded is better that that's how I went. Just ordered a Spike, and the fittings needed to basically replicate what hezagenius posted earlier in the thread.

Now to decide what my first AG will be...
 
I just bought a SS BT 10 gal. I like welded better, and for some reason I thought I was getting welded fittings. Hmmm Oh well, but not a big deal since I'll be punching another hole for a weldless whirlpool arm anyways. Now I don't have to find a welder to make it match lol.

I have not had any problems with my weldless fittings yet, but welded is better just allot more money.

Actually I haven't had any problems with my modified Bayou Classic either (puched the holes myself not from bayou). So this will still be a small upgrade. I ordered it to work as a HLT.
 
Just a note: the Spike kettle is much thicker 1.2mm vs .8 mm for the SS Brewtech. So for the extra cost you're getting more than just the welded fittings.

My question though is the extra thickness needed? Overall the SS Brewtech is far cheaper (for the 10 gallon size, about $75 cheaper).
 

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