We finished our conversion to start brewing all grain.[/size]Mash tun built with all stainless steel and a picnic cooler, passed a leak test.Wort chiller built, with 60’ of 1/2" copper tubing.A couple of questions, where may I find an inexpensive larger brew kettle? Is a ball valve on it more highly recommended?Opinion on our first brew: should we do a clone of a beer that we are familiar with when it comes to taste?Thanks!
For large batches, a valve is a great add. Without it, you will be doing some heavy lifting. I think brewing something you have done before can help troubleshoot but is not imperative
restaurant supplies sell inexpensive pots, yes get a ball valve it keeps things safer and less chance of wearing hot wort or pulling your back out, i would brew dead ringer from northern brewer, its a good beer and simple, supposed to be a 2 hearted clone
Congrats for the conversion to all-grain* brewing!
How large a brew kettle? MoreBeer has some great, fairly inexpensive SS kettles. I have several of them of various sizes, no complaints. Ball valve: yes. Clone beer not a bad idea to dip your toes in, unless you have experience developing AG recipes.
*Certain people on this forum will, for whatever reason, find it insulting or somehow denigrating to extract brewing that you’re converting to all-grain brewing. I am not one of those people. I do plenty of both (AG and extract) but take no offense to folks who want to “upgrade” to AG.
Two more points on kettles. How big? Absolutely, 10 gallons for a 5-6 gallon brew. Can’t stress this enough, 8 gallons will not do. Ball valve? I’ve never had one, but I don’t use a pump, just use an immersion chiller and drain with an autosiphon; depends on how you’re configuring your whole system, or think you might adapt it in the future. As others have noted, you can add one later, as well as whirlpool ports and other accessories, and doing so with a kettle acquired cheaply from a restaurant supply will be cheaper if not more convenient than buying a ready made unit from a brewing retailer. Starting with a restaurant supply kettle could pay for the mods with money left over, at the cost of convenience but with the opportunity for the satisfaction of some DIY adventures.