Thoughts on this brew kettle

[gratefulgolfer14]

Looking at upgrading, thoughts on these kettles? Just returning to brewing, last time I brewed was 1-gal wort, looking to improve and would like to hear thoughts on these two kettles.
Thanks!

http://www.homebrewstuff.com/clearance-kettle-welded.html

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007TV9LSU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[vinylrooster]

Both look legit to me for that price range. I care very littleabout cosmetics, so I would go with the cheaper one. I also suggest at least an 8 gallon for 5 gallon fermentation.

 

[disney7]

You want the first one since it has a triclad bottom. The Bayou Classic kettles are fine, but they have a thin bottom and will scorch more easily.

 

[d3track]

I have a 10 gal bayou, I liked the dimensions better.
The homebrewstuff bot looks to be thicker though. That price for 15 gallons is intriguing

 

[gratefulgolfer14]

A good brewing friend of mine had to go and ask what about expansion in the future? So now I have to ask, if I want to get into all grain batches, what's the smallest size brew pot I should get?

 

[j1n]

Id say a 10 gallon pot if you plan on doing 5-6 gallon batches.

need that extra space for the increased preboil volume and boil overs.

 

[MindenMan]

In my experience, doing a full boil 5 gallon batch of 1.080 beer, put me right on the edge of boil over for 30 minutes or so in my 10 gallon pot. I too, would purchase the first pot (15 gallon)
because it has a tri clad bottom. If you ever want to go induction heating, you already have the proper pot. And that is a great price, too.

 

[gratefulgolfer14]

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like I'm now searching for a 15 gallon pot...

 

[SpikeBrewing]

For a 5gal all grain batch a 10 gallon is fine. If you want the flexibility of doing a 10 and 5 gallon batch then you'll want a 15 gallon kettle. However most 15 gallon kettles out there have the thermometer too high to read at both 5&10gal. We have a fee options available to be able to do both batch sizes and keep the thermo submerged, www.spikebrewing.com

Also tri-clad is only useful if you plan on doing induction. Read on the FAQs on our website or Blichmann's or Bayou Classic for that matter on why the "benefits" of tri-clad is just marketing fluff.