I’m looking into the benefits/limitations of utilizing a Keggle for my brew pot needs. Currently using a 10 gallon steel pot that is very difficult to lift and mobilize when full. I’d appreciate any information on the benefits or limits of this apparatus and recommendations on how to acquire or make one. Thanks all
Live long and propagate.
Nothing with 80 lbs of liquid is easy or safe to move when full. The better solution is to make changes so you don’t have to move it.
With boiling hot liquid, more so.
To address the original question, use a tiered stand and gravity to transfer the liquid. The more costly solution is a pump(s) to move the liquid on a single level set up.
+1
Before I had a tiered stand, I would drain my mash tun into buckets and pour them into the kettle to break it into smaller volumes.
i know some that do that. I am a little more lazy. 
Definately not a great solution.
Yeah, arrange your kettle so that you don’t have to move It. I have a three tiered deck, mash on top run off to boil kettle then run off to fermentor. Before that I used a pick nic table and cinder blocks.
And, I know it always gets a lot of controversy stirred up, but I don’t mind: make sure if you get a keg it is a keg that has been junked by brewery. If you use any other keg - even if you pay the deposit - you are steeling the keg. Deposit does not pay for keg.
+1 (…but haven’t we discussed this before, lol)
Yes. But many people still don’t realize that acquiring a keg through a deposit is not legit. We need a PSA on NBC about it. The more you know…
Seems like with ubiquitous credit cards, the industry could switch to a $0 deposit, but we charge your card full price if not returned within 6 months. I guess market forces might prevent that though.
It’s not a bad idea. But the problem is many states can’t self distribute. So that would be up to the beer store to charge the amount then that goes through the distributor then back to the brewery. The logistics are challenging.
Yeah, and I doubt the industry would want to cut off cash sales. So you’d still need deposits for cash.
Also, depending on how your burners are mounted (meaning how much air is available), a keggle is better than a flat bottom kettle because of the concave bottom. I just built a stand out of unistrut and flat bottom pots won’t work with my setup because of the lack of airflow to the burners. I tried using a flat bottom pot and the flame just smothered. Of course I could modify my setup to accommodate, but I already had some keggles fabricated from defunct kegs, so that’s the route I chose. All in all you end up spending close to the same amount if money for kettles as for repurposing and fabricating the keggles. It may be a tad cheaper to go the keggle route.
I’ve used both keggle and 14 gallon flat bottom kettle and they both work the same on my burner. My 14 gallon kettle came with ball valve, sight glass and diverter plate and (importantly) tight fitting lid. much prefer brewing on the latter. Maybe a little more expensive but has lasted 10 years thus far.
Agree keggle route is cheaper, just be sure you find a decommissioned one.
I was out of sequence in having enough homebrew on hand last weekend for a Navy reunion at my house, so I went to Bale Breaker Brewing Co., here in Yakima to pick up a 1/6th bbl. of a Rye IPA. I was shocked when they told me the deposit was $100! You better believe that’s not going to sit in my garage when its empty!
Dogfish started charging a $100 dollar deposit several years ago.
Is the $100 deposit not normal in those parts of the country??
Ever since college, I’ve been paying $100 deposits on everything from Natty Light to Schlafly 1/2 barrels to Boulevard 1/6 barrels.
The last time I bought a keg, the deposit was $50. That was 25 years ago so $100 now would not surprise me too much.
Paul
Not in liquor stores around here at least, but then they don’t care as much if they get it back.