Boil Kettle Sizing

[mcgster]

I'm looking at upgrading my boil kettle from my ~15 gal keggle.

The intent was to upgrade to a 20gal (80qt) pot so i could do a full 15 gal batch but i'm looking at the pricing on the pots and the 80qt runs around 105 shipped and the 100qt is only 20$ more.

Would you opt for the larger size or stick with the 80qt.. is there any downside to going larger?

 

[prandlesc]

I am a fan of larger. It seems like I'm always wanting to do something bigger. But for me, I don't have enough friends to drink 20 gallons of beer before it gets stale, or I'm bored of drinking it. The downside comes when you want to do something small. If you're going to keep your smaller stuff so that 3 or 5 gallon batches (specialty or test batches) can easily be brewed, then go bigger. If you are only keeping one brew kettle, stay smaller.

Best of Luck!

 

[mcgster]

I'm thinking that I may stick with the 20 gallon. I also tend to go bigger than required but the only reason i have for bumping up in the first place is I tend to brew with two friends and it would be nice to split the batches in 3 carboys of 5 gallons so we can each take away a full batch.


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[jflongo]

I'm thinking that I may stick with the 20 gallon. I also tend to go bigger than required but the only reason i have for bumping up in the first place is I tend to brew with two friends and it would be nice to split the batches in 3 carboys of 5 gallons so we can each take away a full batch.


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I can't imaging doing 15 gallons in a 20 gallon kettle. I start with about 13 gallons in my keggle for boil off, and that puts it close to the top. With 15 gallon batch, I'm sure you would have to start around 18+ gallons, which would put you quite high in that kettle. I would definitely do 100 quart for that size, especially if you want to end up with more like 16 - 17 gallons going into the fermenters, that way each fermenter can have a little over 5 gallons in it.

 

[mcgster]

I always forget about boil off.. Good point, I was just about to pull the trigger too.


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[Dog House Brew]

I always do 12.5-15 gallon batches. I have 25 gallon BK and HLT. I would not go smaller than the 25 gallon kettle. Who wants to be at the rim of the BK before the boil. You have thermal expansion and you also have to plan for the boil off. Go Big!

 

[mcgster]

Ah 25 is the winner!

It's hard to believe they can build and sell a 25 gal pot for 95$


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[msa8967]

Ah 25 is the winner!

It's hard to believe they can build and sell a 25 gal pot for 95$


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Do you have a link for the 25 gallon pot you are looking into? I was considering buying this one listed below.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006CPXZLI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[mcgster]

Let me know if the link works for you:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200910481540?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649