Fellow BAs, Looking for some suggestions on my first brew kettle. Have brewed before with friends that had equipment as well as a few times at a brew on premise establishment. Want to get started brewing at my house and am looking for something that will last as my experience and skill set grows. Not looking to break the bank, but also not afraid to make a smart investment. Thinking about a 16 gallon pot which can grow as I brew larger batches. Would also love some suggestions on any other must have equipment when starting out. I was thinking possibly a propane burner and maybe a wort chiller? Thanks in advance guys, SJL
Love my bayou classic kettle. They are pretty cheap as far as SS kettles with spigots go on overstock.com. Come in a variety of sizes. Mine is a 10 gal as I have zero plans of going bigger than 5.5 gal in the foreseeable future
GO BIG OR GO HOME. This is one that you only want to buy once. Decide how serious you want to get and take the plunge. If you want to do 5 gal batches you'll need an 8 gal kettle. If you want to do 10 gal batches, you'll want a 13 gal kettle. Sloshing and rolling boils take up space too. Also decide if you want to sanitize a pitcher and scoop wort out of the top of your kettle, or if you want a ball valve at the bottom to transfer from kettle to fermenter. I use a scoop for 10 gal batches. I grab a chair and brace the kettle on my knee for 5 gal batches. I just pour over the top and into the fermenter.
I'm still pretty happy with the 32qt Granite Ware pot I picked up a few years ago when I started full boils. Cheap enough - under $40 with coupon at Bed Bath & Beyond, and big enough for anything I'm doing right now. I'm planning on going to an induction burner rig at some point soon, so I may upgrade, but this pot still will work on that burner, and will probably still see use as hot liquor tank, if nothing else.
I still use a 15 g aluminum kettle that I bought from a restaurant supply store years ago. No complaints on my end and while it's heavy for 10 g batches I can still manage to handle it myself
This may be a question for a different thread, but what about siphoning from the kettle to the fermenter? I have a 44-quarter SS Bayou kettle on the way, and while I (mostly) have confidence in my ability to pick up and pour a 5-gallon batch, I'm just thinking of ways to make it easier.
Yes I do this sometimes, no problem. Obviously you need to make sure the syphon and tubing is sanitized. Transferring with a pitcher sounds kinda tedious to me.
For the induction? the Avantco IC3500 will be plenty strong, from everything I've read here and a couple other homebrew forums. Basically, anything over 3000 watts should be enough for a 5-gal batch. I will have to get a 220v line run to my brew area, but that's not a big deal - we have a friend who is an electrician and there's room on the panel. For now, my turkey fryer burner works plenty well.
It's not. I have to build up a cinder block stand and break it down to get a height difference I need to siphon. I've got a Bayou Classic SP-10. Maybe taller legged burners would be ok.
I do this with all my brews. It's easier and allows me to place a strainer on top of my fermenter to weed out a good portion of the hop residue.
