Stout Brew Kettles

[ljforster701]

Just wondering if the Stout Brew Kettles are worth the money. Currently do extract but will be moving to AG. Looking for equipment that's going to last. Am I better off buying equipment that will do 10 gal batches from the start meaning 10 gallons worth or beer or buy something that results in 5 gallons worth of beer. Don't really want to spend the money twice. Thanks in advance

 

[rico567]

I don't know anything about Stout kettles, but I think from reading various threads on HBT that there are lots of good brands out there- Polarware, Blichmann, Brewhemoth's Penrose Kettle, etc. Me, I just use a cheap 30 qt SS Proctor-Silex pot. It was my starter pot 4 years ago, and has made the transition from extract to AG just fine.

The other question here, which you seem ambivalent about, is going to 10 gallons. I thought about it at one point, but decided against it. You brew 10 gallons, you have to drink (or have someone else drink) 10 gallons. In the meantime, storage space is tied up. A normal person can handle 5 gallons of beer in a pot or fermenter without resorting to pumps, lines, valves, etc......I can continue to apply the KISS principle. And, as the brewer at a local brewpub remarked to me, "You learn more brewing 100 5 gallon batches than you do brewing 50 10 gallon batches."

 

[TwoGunz]

I have that same proctor-silex pot and recently tried to buy a second to do side by side 5 gallon batches. I started kegging and supplying my family with kegs so needed more output but wanted to stay lifting and pouring without having to go too pumps.

 

[oakbarn]

I have ordered a 45 gallon Kettle from Stout. I have two of their Conical fermenters (14.5 and 27 gallon) and I love them. One comment I would make is to stay away from weldless fittings. I have two Blickman pots (10 and 20 Gallon) and they both give me fits over the weldless fitting as it always leaks. I discovered this the hard way when I had filled my 10 gallon with distilled water the night before a lager brew. I came in and all my distilled water was on the floor. I have replaced the O rings, tightened the nuts, and generally cussed them out. Stout is weldless and also has ball valves that are easy to clean.

 

[Coldies]

Im not sure how much stout kettles cost, but there probably more expensive than a bayou classic SS pot, and in regards to the weldless fittings you can always have a coupler welded onto the bayou pot. BUT there is something sexy about those Stout kettles, I really dig the tall and small (in diameter) look of them. OP I think Rico567 nailed it on batch sizes, I am the only beer drinker at my house and space is limited. I have 2 5 gallon cornys plus a 2.5 gallon corny on tap and that is plenty for me, even with friends drinking it. Just means I have to brew more, but I wont get sick of the beer.

 

[bdjohns1]

Stout's tanks are the only "off-the-shelf" solution I'd consider. Anything that involves threaded fittings (whether a weldless system, or welded on NPT fittings) is going to simply be harder to effectively keep sanitary than tri-clamp fittings.

 

[Guess42]

Stout's tanks are the only "off-the-shelf" solution I'd consider. Anything that involves threaded fittings (whether a weldless system, or welded on NPT fittings) is going to simply be harder to effectively keep sanitary than tri-clamp fittings.

Why do you need your boil kettle sanitary? When you boil the wort in it you will effectively sanitize the pot to the same degree as the wort.

 

[bdjohns1]

Why do you need your boil kettle sanitary? When you boil the wort in it you will effectively sanitize the pot to the same degree as the wort.

Because there are various microorganisms out there which can do nasty things even after being exposed to boiling conditions.

Botulism is one such thing - C. bot spores can survive boiling conditions, and until there's enough alcohol developing in the wort, they could grow.

There's another nasty little fellow out there called Bacillus cereus - it can produce a neurotoxin that can even survive a sterilization process, even if the bacteria are killed off. Suppose you get a little bit of trub or something caught against a weldless bulkhead's gasket and you miss it when you clean after making a batch. A spore of B. cereus ends up there. It starts growing, eating what it can, cranking out its toxins, and then runs out of food and new spores go dormant. If you hit it with some Star-San before you brew, it might kill the spores, but the toxins could be left behind, and make it into your next batch.

Effective sanitation requires a few elements:

1) Sufficient time exposure to temperature and/or chemicals.
2) All surfaces must be free of visible product residue before you even start chemical sanitation.
3) Mechanical agitation (whether sprayballs in a tank, scrubbing by hand, or by high-velocity fluid flow)
4) All equipment must be designed with no points that can harbor contaminants. That means surfaces must be smooth (generally, equivalent to a 180-220 grit finish or better), with no sharp corners or crevices that are difficult to clean. By default, that excludes threaded fittings or weldless assemblies unless you tear them down and manually clean everything. Hose barbs too, unless you take the hose off the barb. When you buy sanitary hoses (and you pay big $$$), you get something with tri-clamp ends that has the hose material joined with a stainless insert that has a very smooth, flush transition.

Plate heat exchangers can be sanitized effectively with a CIP system, provided that you're filtering out your trub pretty well, and you've got a lot of flow. A March 809 with minimal head loss would be marginal for the plates we all use. The "throw-it-in-the-oven" method would be OK - 350F for long enough would be enough to even destroy spores and heat-stable neurotoxins.

At work, we've got a milk pasteurizer (basically, a plate heat exchanger that's 2x6x6 feet) that runs about 120 gallons/minute during production. At the end of the day when we CIP, there's a booster pump that takes the flow up to more like 300+ GPM to get the mechanical agitation in the plate needed to clean effectively.

Sorry for the brain dump - food safety is something that is a very serious subject at work.

 

[Guess42]

Right. I do take apart the valves and clean between each batch. Meaning they get just as "sterile" as my wort as they see the same temp for the same time. Also, if your only welding a bulkhead into the kettle and and screwing a valve on you still need to disassemble an clean.

Edit: I apologize I realise this is incredibly off topic. Stopping now.

 

[orangehero]

Has anyone had bad welds on their stout equipment? What was wrong and how did you have it repaired?

I was excited about my shiny kettle, but all of the fitting welds leak.

 

[bethebrew]

Has anyone had bad welds on their stout equipment? What was wrong and how did you have it repaired?

I was excited about my shiny kettle, but all of the fitting welds leak.

Have you called the shop and/or company?

 

[heckels]

Has anyone had bad welds on their stout equipment? What was wrong and how did you have it repaired?

I was excited about my shiny kettle, but all of the fitting welds leak.

I got my Stout kettles a month or so ago. All the welds looked great and were nicely polished.

 

[Crito]

I got their 19.8 gal mashtun with bottom outlet. Only a few spots that have black temp marks on welds. A few dents on it too. (Not from ups).

Its really nice packaging for ups. Double boxed. The inside box and a few punctures but the outside box didn't. The mashtun itself had thinner walls then I would of liked. (1 mm) my megapot has thicker side walls

Overall its a good Chinese product. Works great. Just clean everything several times before use. It was covered with residue (the lube used during manufacturing).

Stout is about the only company that sells small mashtuns with bottom outlets. Really pretty mirror finish. Welds are nice too.

 

[orangehero]

All three fittings at the bottom of the kettle leak at the welds on mine. I was told I have to start looking for a stainless steel welder to do repairs. I will add that besides this issue the service at stout has been great.

 

[Crito]

All three fittings at the bottom of the kettle leak at the welds on mine. I was told I have to start looking for a stainless steel welder to do repairs. I will add that besides this issue the service at stout has been great.

Was this within the one year warranty? If so, would stout pay for the repairs?

 

[DragonHartBrewing]

I also just received my new 19.8 gallon mash tun with the bottom dump. One of the nice things is that if your brew stand is fitted with a 10 gallon Igloo round cooler this will fit right in place of it.
I just sized up from a 5 gallon system to a 10 gallon one so my advise would be go larger its cheaper then buying everything twice. Remember you can always make a 5 gallon batch in a 10 gallon system but you can't fit 10 gallons in a 5 gallon system, Just Saying
See my pictures of the 10 gallon system I posted on the 3rd. Cheers

 

[orangehero]

It's a new kettle. Stout will reimburse the weldor, but I have to find one that does sanitary stainless first and schlep this thing over. At least I have something shiny to look at in the meanwhile. I guess on the new guy's first and only day at the factory he worked on my kettle. Anyone know a good weldor in CT?

 

[Crito]

The area has to be flooded with argon gas. The cheap welding tape will not work.

Call a dairy farm. (Edit: they deal with stainless welders and sanitary issues) Make sure you ask the welder on how he will weld it. How to avoid the oxygen.

Hell. Stout is being cheap.

Welder will charge a premium. Its not a everyday weld due this thin metal.

Also tell the welder to use a new buffing bit too.

 

[orangehero]

It's a real problem finding a weldor here in CT. I've probably sent an e-mail to every brewery, winery, and dairy in the state. The closest recommendation I got is an hour drive away. Some places even asked me to let them know if I found one.

 

[bethebrew]

I think I would push Stout to ship me a new tank, and send yours back. What is freight that much on these?

Frankly, that bottom weld looks like a really crappy uneven, rough weld, let alone the leaky ones.

Don't they warranty these tanks?

 

[SpikeBrewing]

I can't see the actual weld where it's leaking. I would bet it's a small pin hole leak caused by the welder stopping short. I do not agree with the above comment of the welds looking rough and uneven; they look fine.

I bet these cost A LOT of money to ship. I know FedEx charges us an extra $50 if the box's 4 corners plus height measure over 130 inches. I'd assume these are under that but I bet it still costs at least $40 to ship each one to you so I see why they would rather have you source a welder.

Sending an email to a brewery, winery or dairy farm isn't always the best. They don't have a welder on staff and all they can do is recommend a company that makes their equipment. More than likely that shop won't want to do such a small job like yours. I think you'll have better luck contact local welding shops. Ask them if they can sanitary weld stainless. If you get the deer in headlights or the "what is that?"; move on. If it's a pinhole leak it'll take 10sec to fix and you don't need to make an elaborate back purge setup. Just tape a hose near the weld and turn up the flow rate.

If you have any questions shoot us a PM and we can help ya out!

 

[bethebrew]

The welds look great, that's why only three of them are leaking!

The bad press a thread like this gets from a vendor not wanting to do the right thing and ship the guy a new tank must cost them more than shipping the guy a new tank.

 

[jsguitar]

orangehero, I have to agree about getting stout to take back the bad kettle. That's a manufacturing defect that's going to be hard to get fixed properly. They should take the issue up with the manufacturers and give you a new kettle, whatever it takes. Sucks for them, but its not fair to you either.

 

[Crito]

They need to inspect the product instead of just shipping them out right after they get it. If its to much time, then stout should suck it up and get it fix. What happens if the welder that YOU choose destroys the weld completely? To many 'what ifs' for my liking. Their products are not cheap, they are expensive. People buy them because of their reputation.

 

[GotPushrods]

They need to send you a new kettle and pay to get their leaky one back. End of story. It shouldn't cost you any more time or money to get what you already paid for. This is a simple solution for most reputable businesses. I second the comment that stuff like this will cost them more in bad PR than just sucking it up and fixing the problem.

 

[oakbarn]

I agree. Stout should make it right. If John does not want to pay for the shipping, he should find the welder and pay them directly.

 

[orangehero]

I don't think it's going to happen. Unfortunately I don't know when I'll be able to get it repaired either. Still can't find anyone local.

I never anticipated that this would ever be an issue, otherwise I would have told them to test it first. I assumed that they did at the factory, but I guess not.

 

[GotPushrods]

I don't think it's going to happen. Unfortunately I don't know when I'll be able to get it repaired either. Still can't find anyone local.

I never anticipated that this would ever be an issue, otherwise I would have told them to test it first. I assumed that they did at the factory, but I guess not.

What did Stout say? Did you contact them? Something doesn't seem right here.

 

[orangehero]

They did send me some links they found on google and yellow pages to help in my search. Taking the kettle back was never offered as an option. Apparently their factory doesn't guarantee anything .

 

[TNugent]

Wish I would have seen this prior to ordering my new fermenter. I would have went with a different option and let them know why. This is no way to treat a customer,I think it's a valid option to offer in a situation like this but definitely shouldn't be the only option.