Pots

[RedBEERd]

I'm looking to move up (trying to keep up with Beerlord and his award winning brews) and I'm wanting to get a 15 gal pot but I'd like to have one that already has installed the valve, sight glass and thermometer. Any recommendations, etc?

I'd like to give my business to my local brew supplier but maybe he can match what I can find online? THis is likely to be my largest expense (unless I decide one day to get a kegarator) and I want to do it right but I don't want to just go top dollar for name only.....I want quantity and something that will outlast me.

I'm basically moving up to 5 gal batches and all grain so I'll be spending quite a bit in the relative short term........fermentation buckets, strainers, etc will be less costly.
Thx in advance for the wonderful advice I know I'll get.

[Brewbirds]

I would suggest trying to check Craig's List every few days and joining the users group of local home brew clubs if you are not in a big hurry while you research quality of different manufacturers.

I try to search CL "home brewing" "beer" etc. every Thursday or Friday as a matter of habit (I don't put in ads just search).

I didn't get to it last week so I peeked in on Monday and a brewer who was moving had listed: 3 SS brew kettles, 3 ale pales. several carboys, a propane burner with attached pot stand and tank and all the smaller gear such as auto-siphons, carboy brushes, hydrometers etc. for $200 and one of the kettles would run about that new.

I have seen a lot of those kinds of listings and you could save big bucks if you find guys who have to get rid of stuff in a hurry.

[Gymrat]

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/heavy-du ... allon.html

This is a larger version of the kettle I use. Midwest will drill it and install whatever you wa t on it. This thing is impressively sturdy.

[RedBEERd]

Thanks guys. And I'm not really in a rush, other than I NEED to brew soon, I got da feva!

I'm looking around both online and locally to see what I can get and also save some money to buy more hops

Cheers.

[haerbob3]

Do not know where you are located. Family got mine at Adventures In Home, last Christmas. They usually have a kettle on sale. Mine are 2 weld stainless, 15 gallon

my little stove top circulation rig

[RedBEERd]

Here's an update....went with beerlord yesterday to our local brew shop to buy some things to get me up to the next step, ie fermentation bucket, bottling bucket, and a few smaller items used in brewing and wanted to 'look' at what they had in 15 gallon pots. Of course they had the Blickmans which are too pricey for me. There was one from Fermentap that was $245 with both holes drilled/welded for use. It had 2 small dings in it so they gave me $20 off for it and I decided to buy it. The guys there told me they have found this to be every bit as good as blickman but without the bells and whistles. It's a nice pot with a 5mm bottom and all stainless steel. I figured why not give my local guys the business when I couldn't get this same unit at that price online even without shipping so I got it. Bought a thermometer to go along with it and for about $250 total, walked out with a new pot. While I wanted a sight glass, this didn't come with one but they told me we're talking about another 100 so I just made a few marks on the side of my pot to estimate the volume based on pouring 1 gal bottles of tap in it at a time (if anyone has some good, easy and cheap ideas on how to get volumes marked accurately, i'm all ears.)

Further, as beerlord suggested, I soaked it over night in PBW, cleaned it well today and boiled for an hour to get an idea of how much water I'll lose when boiling. Now I really am guessing here but I think I started with 8 gals based on my markings from yesterday and after one hour of a gentle, rolling boil I'm down about 6 which seems to be quite a lot to me. In fact, it is just at the thermometer level or only partly covered so 6 gals really doesn't get temped well.

Does this seem like the normal amount, considering I didn't have anything in it other than water?

[haerbob3]

COOL!!! How did you measure the water? Remember to that hot water has a larger volume than cool water. Are you going to use and software?

[Inkleg]

RedBEERd, may I please have your name so I don't have to call you Paul's evil twin (or wait is Paul the evil one, oh I can't remember). I'm Jeff by the way.

What I did was take a cut off aluminum arrow shaft, add a gallon at a time into the pot and make a scratch mark at each gallon. It's not perfect but works pretty well.
I've talked to others who have done it to their mash paddles.

To tell the truth, I measure the water at the beginning. I have a bucket marked on the outside with a sharpie at each gallon. If it says start with 9.5 gallons that's what I put in. I don't measure again till it's in the fermenter bucket and check against the markings on it. It is what it is and I'm usually within 1/2 gallon one side or the other. I use BeerSmith and changed my equipment profile after 3 brews to dial it in. I have it set to an evaporation rate of 12% or about 1.25 gallons.

Congratulations on the new pot. I have made some big beers in my 15 gallon pot BIAB style. 1.093 being the biggest and did 10 gallons of a 1.042 size beer by sparging with 3 gallons after the mash. Your going to like the 15 gallon size as you laugh at the hot break.

[Beer-lord]

Evil twins name is Chuck. I am the good guy with the halo over my head. You might have seen me in some churches.

[Inkleg]

Evil twins name is Chuck. I am the good guy with the halo over my head. You might have seen me in some churches.

Yeah........right.

[RedBEERd]

Sorry guys, I put a post up then go away to watch a saints game and lose my mind and don't come back.

Yep, I'm chuck, the oldest and baldest twin. Used to be the fattest but now we're even (but paul's beers are putting a hurt on us).

Jeff, thanks for the idea. What I did was put water in, a gallon at a time and marked it to the best of my ability on the side, but that's hard to do even with my glasses on so I'm not very confident about the accuracy. I just used a permanent marker for now but when I have time I may go back and do what you suggest...........did you mark the inside or outside of the pot?

I could've sprung for the sight glass but I just felt that for another $100, it wasn't worth it. I'd rather use that on hops

haerbob3, I haven't used the software but I may do that in the future. As for yesterday, I wasn't brewing, just boiling 1) to clean the pot (not really necessary) and 2) to get an idea of how much evaporation I may have in a 60 min boil.

I won't brew until early Oct since I'll be out of town and unable to keep the fermentation cool.

ANd I'll get back once I do and let you know how it goes. I'm trying to move up slowly but learn at the same time. Hopefully one day I'll be sharing beers and feeling proud.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Inkleg]

Hey Chuck,
I didn't mark the pot, just the bucket I use to fill it and marked the outside. It's a white bucket so the water level shows up pretty well.

[RedBEERd]

Sorry I mis understood that. Actually, that's an extremely smart but simple idea. My new fermentation bucket is over 7 gallons so I can use that since it's already calibrated. The only thing I won't be able to tell too good is just how much I lose in an hour boil. What I might do is put in 7, 8 or 9 gallons, boil and hour (again), let it cool then pour it back into the bucket and see what's left. It's not perfect and may not be consistent due to the amount of grains used, boil time etc, but it's better than guessing.

See, since I'm related to paul, it seems only one of us got the brains. I won't bother to explain what the other was left with

[Beer-lord]

You know as a moderator, I could remove that last remark?
Chuck, don't go feeding the animals with kinds words telling them they're smart, it will bite you in the arse.

[Inkleg]

Or...I might like the kind words and find...oh I don't know...another beer laying around to ship to someone's nice brother.

I can't remember where I came across it Chuck, but I remember reading something about shooting for 8-12% boil off per hour. Don't take that as law until I can verify my source again. I find boil off rates seem to change due to temperature and humidity and what my minds eye thinks is the exact same looking boil I had last time.