Next Noobie question about Brew Kettles

I have a 15 gallon kettle that I use for both 5 and 10 gallon batches. I also have a 7.5 gallon pot that I use for indoor brewing for 5 gallon batches and 2.5 gallon batches. I usually only brew ten gallons if I’m doing it with someone else and splitting. 5 gallons is considered the standard in which most people grew. A ten gallon kettle with a valve and thermometer is really the best option unless you want to do 10 gallon batches in which case you will need a 15.

 

Although I have never done a survey, it is pretty rare to be making double batches. This forum attracts the fanatics, so our user base it probably not representative of homebrewers as a whole. There are more than a few around here but they are the minority.

For one, when you go to 10 gallons you have to manage moving the hot side and the cold side. You need pumps. And the equipment is semi-permanent. And you need a much bigger burner. Finally, you end up with 10 gallons of beer. That's a lot of beer. So bigger equipment requiring a bigger space to brew requiring kegs and a kegerator (because nobody really wants to fill and store 100 bottles) and of course the kegs.

If you decide to go to 10 gallons later it is likely you have decided to go all in, and at that point you'll probably have tons of equipment anyway, getting the required 15 gallon pot is just one more thing.

You do not need to brew 10 gallons if you do all-grain. Virtually all homebrew recipes are based on a standard 5 gallon batch. Once you get some experience and figure out what to do you can begin to design your own recipes with the help of online software.

Cheers

 

I usually brew 5 gallon batches, sometimes a bit more but 5 gallon is my standard.
I started with extract brewing and changed to all grain. 8 gallon or 10 will fit the bill nicely.

 

I will provide one 'data point'. I have been homebrewing for over 25 years (my latest brew is batch number 463) and the largest I have brewed is 5 gallons and over the past few years I have made a number of smaller batches (e.g., 3/4 gallons).

Do you really want to drink 10 gallons of the same 'brand' of beer? Needless to say but my answer to this question is no.

Bill (@billandsuz) discussed that is you do want to brew 10 gallon batches you will need a lot of other stuff beyond just a bigger kettle. How much are you willing to invest in your homebrewing hobby?

Cheers!

 

A guess would be that most stick with 5-gallons. Some move up to 10-, 15- and larger. Others step down (3-, 2.5- and even 1-gallon). All-grain batches can be made in any amount. When/if you move to all-grain you’ll notice that the grain bill for many recipes are shown as %’s instead of pounds. That makes it easier to convert the recipe to the quantity you want to brew (5, 10, 20, 2.5-gallons, etc.). Side note: I don’t remember reading here of anyone making a 10-gallon extract batch….not that it hasn’t been written about on BA, just sayin’.

A 5-gallon batch will yield the equivalent of about fifty 12 oz bottles of beer.
When your brew is in the fermentor, figure 2 – 3 weeks for fermenting plus another 2 weeks for bottle conditioning.
That’s roughly +/- 5 weeks from brew day to drinking. I usually crack one open after a week just to see how it’s coming along, but none of my homebrews have been good ‘n ready before 2 weeks.

Your ideal batch size will ultimately depend on how much beer you drink and/or give away, how often you’ll want to brew, and whether or not you want to start experimenting with brewing different styles in order to have a variety.

When you decide on a kettle size get the best one you can that's within your budget. A clad bottom is better than a 3-ply bottom, and a 3-ply bottom is better than the bottom thickness being same as wall thickness. A thicker bottom transfers heat more evenly and is better suited for a propane setup, if you think you might eventually go that route.
Treat it with respect and it will likely last longer than you do.

 

Let me both echo what was said above and also offer a semi-noob's perspective. I started with a kit and a 5 gallon kettle. I did two batches of extract and then switched to all grain. Due to efficiency issues, I then upgraded to a ten gallon kettle. I am currently on batch number 11 (wow Jack Horzempa, 463!), and I have found that half-batches (2.5 gallons) have two distinct advantages for me: I don't have to drink 48 of the same beers and neither does my wife (we have very different tastes). A hoppy beer, therefore, does not sit for 4 months while I drink 3-4 per week. I like a good mix of styles, and this way I don't need 200 bottles.
I also find half-batches easier to work with when it comes to mashing and sparging - I do BIAB.

Good luck!

 

I was at batch number 11 in the 90's. Give it time (and continued interest) and you too will be at batch number 463 some day.

There is an old joke of:

"Give a man a beer and waste a half hour, teach a man to brew and 'waste' a lifetime."

Needless to say but I don't agree with the terminology of waste above.

Cheers!

P.S. Of late many of the batches are beer types that I can't readily purchase. My latest batch (# 463) is an Altbier (Sticke version) which is a beer I can't buy. My previous batch (# 462) is my version of a Pliny the Elder; I can at times find Pliny the Elder available on draft but bottles are not available to me. And the previous batch is what I 'brand' as a Smoky & Spicy Brown Ale (an English Brown Ale with some smoked malt and rye malt as part of the grain bill).

 

One plus of going with a bigger kettle is that if you move to all grain brewing, you can do full volume Brew in a Bag (google that). It is a great way to jump into all grain brewing, but sometimes it helps to have some extra space for that (all of your grain and all of your water goes into one vessel). BIAB is great because you don't need to buy a mash tun.

my BIAB setup involves a propane burner, a 15 gal kettle with ball valve, a bag, and a hoist, and it is a very easy way to make 5 gallons of all grain beer.

cheers !

 

Batch size depend on how much of a single style of beer you want to consume and how much investment you want to make for increasing the volume.

I do all grain, use a 9 gallon kettle on a gas stove, boil 8 gallons and get a finished batch yield of 5-6 gallons depending on style and amount of trub. I like to have a variety of brews on hand and the convenience of being able to bring brews to social gatherings (when we were able to), so I brew/bottle multiple batches. This has worked for me for 30 years.

 

Agreed with much of the nave posters. It's fun to go down celler where I can choose from 6 or more different beers I have made.
Variety is the spice of life and for me and mine there will always be a lot of Irish stout and pale ales/IPAs, but having different brews at the ready is great.

And agreed with @JackHorzempa , I second his dissent of the term waste when it comes to beer. Hahahahahahahaha

 

Don’t know how much you’re willing to shell out for a starter setup, but the kit linked below looks to have nearly everything needed to brew and ferment a 5-gallon batch. If you plan on bottling, you’ll of course need some of those.
The kettle is sized okay at 8.5 gallons, comes with a ball valve, and has a port where a thermometer (not included) can be installed. My only reservations about that kettle is that it’s pretty thin (1mm) and is made from 201 stainless steel instead of 304, but that wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me if just starting out. (If your stove is induction, this pot won’t work.)

https://www.morebeer.com/products/premium-home-brewing-kit.html
$199.99 including shipping.
Even if you don't get that kit it'll give you an idea of what equipment to look for.

Here's more info about the kettle that comes with the kit:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/85-gallon-brewmaster-stainless-steel-brew-kettle.html

 

For what it’s worth, my brother and I brew 10 gallon, partial extract batches in a 14 gallon pot that doubles as our fermenter. I can’t find the link, but the pot has a silicon gasket and five clamps to keep the lid sealed. The lid has a hole (I think 1.25”) for the bung/ airlock. We then split the batch into two kegs. There are lots of products out there to meet almost any needs. The kettle/fermenter we use was not a high-end brand, but it’s served us well for many batches.

For the OP, don’t move up from 5 gallon batches until you’ve got a several good batches under your belt. Bottling more than 5 gallons is a lot and the risk of losing a batch to early-in-your-brewing-career mistakes is too great.

 

Personally I reduced production from 5g to 2.5g. 5g just proved to be too much beer for me to go through in a reasonable amount of time. Plus I'm more interested in brewing a variety if styles vs having 5g of some IPA on tap for a month.

 

The key is to drink that keg in 2 weeks.

 

Agreed. I've been doing 3.5-4 gallons but I'm going to scale it back even more this year.

 

I started using a 10 Gal Cooler for a mash tun and a 7.5 gallon brew pot with a 5 gallon (probably a little under) batch size. I then bought a 1/2 bbl keg and turned it into a keggle, changed my original kettle into a HLT, and increased my batch size to 10 gallons. I usually tried to vary the batches in each 5 gallon fermenter so I didn't end up with 10 gallons of the exact same beer. Still, the beer ended up being similar, and in too much quantity. So, I recently traded all that in so to speak and went with 2 electric digiboil kettles for my brew day. I am capped at a 5 gallon batch size, but it's so easy to brew on I am brewing more often and end up with more variety in my kegerator.

All that to say: You can always repurpose equipment as your goals/needs change. Just because you start with one batch size in mind doesn't mean you can't reconfigure later on if you realize it is too much/too little beer.

 

For sure, repurposing eq is what I do. Once I started brewing, I used 2 pots for boiling maybe 2 gallons each, I bought a used 5 gallon pot at a yard sale. It was better, but after a while and meeting more Brewers settled on a 10 gal pot.
Now, the 5 gallon pot is used for tomatoe sauce production as well as other veg processing for the winter months.

 

I'm fairly new (51 batches under my belt, brewing for a little over a year) but I've always done 5 gal batches. Sometimes I daydream about going 10 gal, but I'd rather brew more often and be able to change it up rather than be stuck with 10 gallons of something and need to have all new gear.

 

I brew 5 gallon batches and am perfectly happy with that and have been brewing over 10 years. I would say maybe 1 to 2 times per year I find myself wishing I could brew a 10 gallon batch of something, but that's mostly for when I host a party or family gathering. Otherwise I much prefer the flexibility of mixing up the beers I have on tap.

5 gallons is roughly 2 cases of beer. I don't want to wind up resenting what is available to drink because I need to kill it off to get to my next keg. In some instances, 2 cases worth of a single beer is close to hitting that for me.