Are Brew-Boss Kettles Decent Options?

[gmmoran]

I'm planning a DIY 10gal eBIAB setup and I'm looking at kettle options. I've been eyeing a custom 10gal Spike kettle (https://spikebrewing.com/pages/custom-kettles) since the start but I came across the 10gal Brew-Boss (https://www.brew-boss.com/product-p/kettle10.htm) and it is very similar to what I've been thinking about for what seems a really good price (half that of Spike!). It is about $200 cheaper than an equivalent Spike kettle with the same port configurations. What am I missing here? Is the Spike kettle that much better, or to flip it around is the Brew-Boss kettle that much worse? Everything I've read about Spike has been positive and I figure maybe you pay a bit of a premium for the name, but this price difference is a lot. Any insight ya'll can give is always appreciated.

 

[augiedoggy]

my 2 cents...
Its a soup kettle with ports welded on not an airplane... Part of it is the cost spike adds to pay for its marketing/ advertising. Part of it is due to said marketing and advertising they can still sell them at higher prices because many people are driven to purchase now by brand recognition.
I'm not sure if its still the business practice they follow but last time I heard, spike used to import the accesories along with the kettles and tanks and weld the fittings onto them here in the states so they could market them as american made.

Brewboss likley imports the kettles with the ports already added. This allows the cost to be much less. also its very possible the thickness of the kettle walls are thinner on the brewboss.(notice theres no shared spacs on this). This should not make one bit of practical difference for those of us using these kettles with an electric heating element unless you are rough with banging them around.

Judging by the looks of it , These kettles are likely either made by the folks who make bayou classic, brau supply or concord/ballington kettles. all of which work very well but just may not earn you status symbol points with your homebrewing peers. also be sure to check that the accesories you may want like a good false bottom exist for the brewboss kettles.. I believe brewboss's complete system uses a malt basket setup they might have even invented.

BTW I have been using 3 bayou classic kettles now for about 5 years with weldless fittings added and zero problems.. before that I had a ballinton kettle from ebay which was heavier and nice but too short and wide to get a good boil with a decent amount of headspace. The ratio on this kettle is ideal so I would choose it over a concord myself. triclamp stuff it nice though.. and for a biab setup the cost difference isnt as crazy as a 3 vessel setup with it.

 

[gmmoran]

Thanks augiedoggy for the feedback. I've looked into a number of different kettle options and how to get ports on them (Spike, B-B, SsBrewtech, Blichmann, Bayou Classic, Stout, etc.). Given the system I'd like to build with all the potential configurations the prices are pretty similar even with the Spike kettle other than B-B which was noticeably cheaper. Bayou Classic, if you price out everything, is only about $100 cheaper and Stout was about $60 cheaper than Spike for the full system (not just the kettle). I'm not sold on one brand or another and I don't even have homebrewing peers to impress. I'm just trying to piece together (on paper right now) a system that is a good single vessel eBIAB to jump into all-grain without having to sell a kidney and my first born child.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I'm just trying to piece together (on paper right now) a system that is a good single vessel eBIAB to jump into all-grain without having to sell a kidney and my first born child.

Then have I got good news for you.....Skip all the ports and just get a pot and drill 2 holes in it. One for the element and one for the temp probe from the PID.

Beer is simple to make....dont overthink your equipment.

Heat water
Add grain
Not much more to it...doesnt take much equipment

You could just get an induction cooktop and drill NO holes in the pot...THat would probably be the best route to take.

Induction cooktop
Concord pot on Ebay for like $80 and your brewing. Nothing else you need besides a Wilser bag and cheap thermometer

 

[augiedoggy]

concord pot is NOT a good choice for induction. the 15 gallon pot is wider than tall so its too big for most cooktops and it would heat very inefficiently as well as provide less headspace at the top vs a taller narrower kettle... The wider the kettle the more heat that escapes quicker.. This is why all the grainfather and clones with weak heat wattage use such tall narrow kettles.

someone recently shared this kettle which if you dont need triclamp fitting (tri clamps are completely unneccesary on the hot side and are a sure way to at least double your building costs) is a great choice imo and its even made in the USA! which is more than I can say for all the rest...
https://www.amazon.com/Brewers-Best...-15&tag=homebrewtalk_skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[gmmoran]

Thanks all for the feedback! Question on triclamps - I know they’re fancy and easier to clean, but are they worth the extra cost for homebrewing? I don’t have any experience with them or NPT. Is it very difficult to keep NPT sanitary?

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Heres a little info on induction I came across.
Looking at it maybe induction is not the way to go for 10 gallon batches. Seems like it would take forever to get up to temp and then boiling. Plus you need a 220 line anyway so you might as well just build a controller.

https://52brews.com/induction-brewing-guide

Simple to build a controller and pretty cheap

Mypin TD4 with manual mode PID
Large heatsink used on EBAY
Quality SSR NOT Fotek....I found some quality ones Crydom brand on Ebay
Temp probe
5500 watt ripple element
Element housing found at Brewers Hardware
Spa panel or GFI breaker. Whatevers cheaper

If you have a dryer outlet you can plug the controller into that instead of running a new 220 line

 

[kh54s10]

Craigslist or a restaurant supply. (maybe) I got 2 ten gallon pots through Craigslist for $100 (both). I then added weldless fittings for the ball valves and a sight glass to the HLT. In total less than $150 each for everything.....

 

[augiedoggy]

Thanks all for the feedback! Question on triclamps - I know they’re fancy and easier to clean, but are they worth the extra cost for homebrewing? I don’t have any experience with them or NPT. Is it very difficult to keep NPT sanitary?

The hot side (kettles) do not need to be "sanitized" per say.. they can be cleaned without disassembly and if you have your weldless fitting or welded npt fittings assembled right they should be easy to keep clean. besides unsrcrewing the end of the ball valves and cleaning the dead space inside and washing down the kettle with water and maybe pbw or oxyclean theres not much that needs to be done here. The boil sanitizes..

The stuff that sees the beer AFTER the boil like all chiller and pump fittings that might see cooled wort should be Sanitary tri clamp fittings but it seems logic doesnt really apply to the home brewing world in this regard since I dont recall ever seeing them here on these fittings.

 

[gmmoran]

How often do you disassemble your NPT fittings to clean them on the hot side? Or other than the ball valve is that not really needed?

 

[MoonBrewer]

I have a 15 gallon BrewBoss, and it is a solid piece of equipment. Not flimsy in any respect. Welds are clean on the TCs and handles. For the money I would go with the 15 gallon version which has accurate visible volume markings and weldless port for temp gauge. I use it exclusively for 5 gallon batches but it can handle 10 when ready for more. Get the pickup tube as well.

Also very happy with TCs. Yes they are easy to clean. If you can afford them at the start you will not regret having them. It's not about bling, it's about the clean. Every time.