Brwery sizing question...

[ianw58]

My last two batches were the first I've brewed in 12 years. They were extract and partial mashes (steeps) adapted from older recipes. Both, Southern English Brown Ale and a Best Bitters, met with huge acclaim. Better still, I had a blast brewing again. The Bitters was the first brew I have ever been completely satisfied with.

I still have most of my equipment, which includes three mismatched kettles and a turkey fryer burner, as well as a host of assorted kegging parts (although all but one of my 5 gallon cornies have gone missing).

SWMBO has given the approval to start putting together an electric brew system (Kal clone) that will occupy the 12x14 barn/shed in the yard. I even have permission to hunt for fridges (note plural) for temperature control fermenting!

I always brewed in 5 gallon batches, although the notes that I CAN find indicate I brewed a couple of 10 gallon batches.

So, the question is this:

Do I set up for 20 gallon kettles or do I stick with 15 gallon versions (kettles this time, not keggles)?

The advantage of 20 gallons would be the capacity to brew larger batches. The disadvantage would be the huge head space when brewing 5 gallon batches.

Are there other considerations?

What does the "collective" advise?

 

[ruralbrew]

What I plan on doing is use my large kettle for the majority of my brewing, but install an element in the eight gallon kettle I have now to do five gallon batches. For the cost of another element, a weldless kit and a little wiring it will be easy to swap out kettles to do a smaller batch.