Are they welded bulkheads or ballvalve I have a few frieds who weld and they might do it but if the choice is between cleaning the valves and a water tight fit I will just change the orings
Not sure what you mean. It’s a welded threaded fitting, not a bulkhead, so no o-rings. You screw your ball valve, pickup tube, thermometer, whirlpool fitting, etc. directly into the kettle.
If you want to get your feet wet then by all means get an 8 gal pot from one of the supply houses. If, on the other hand, you’re serious about brewing get a sanke keg, cut a 12 inch hole in the top (Dremel Tool), and add a weldless fitting and a ball valve. You can find them on Craigslist for $35.00 to $45.00 (and I wouldn’t pay more than that for one).
I wasted a lot of money on Blichmann and Polarware pots, and then I found that 5 gallon batches were just too small for me and my collection of friends. Switching to keggles and 10 gal batches was the best decision I ever made!
Charlie
That’s what I’ve done. I bought a 8gal pot when starting, worked fine. Then I brewed with someone, saw their keggels. Upgraded. I’ve come across 4 and never bought 1. I do delivery and some guy had 2 shells on his porch “what you doin with these” turned out his bbq plan wasn’t gonna work and he basically begged my to take them because his wife was all mad at him.
It’s definately the cheap route and easy route if you plan on getting up to Brewing 10 gallons.
Ball locks, a thermometer, and maximizer are all I’ve added to mine. Total cost $60 or so. 15.5 gal hot liquor tank. Plenty of h2o.
Someone will probably do it, so… please buy your keg shells legally.
If your talking about stealing it I dont do that
Or is there codes for keg sizes
How fast would 5 gallons go and how many drinking i got a few friends but not all of I feel like 5 would be a lot
5 gallons is roughly equivalent to 2 cases of beer.
If you can find one within a reasonable distance from where you live, I strongly suggest visiting a brick & mortar homebrew supply shop. See and touch and feel the goods, and talk through the best way to get started with whatever physical/space limitations you have.
If you like to brew alot and different styles, go with a nice 10 gal pot, a kegerator that will hold 4 corny kegs, 4 or 5 six gal fermenters and you can brew 5 gal batches up to once a week depending on how fast you are drinking.
check craigslist for a dope kettle. Get the kettle you will use for a long time. My boil kettle has thermometer, valve, sight glass. i wish I had a few more ports for recirc.
I do 5 gallon batches using BIAB, so I need a 10 gallon kettle to hold 8 gallons of water plus grain. I got this one:
Adventures in Homebrewing - Homebrewing Winemaking & Beverage Supplies on sale at Christmas a couple of years ago. Not the highest quality, but perfectly adequate for me and I am happy with it. I added a Blichman electric coil to it myself, which was easier than I thought it would be. Now I can brew inside, right next to the sink, in any weather.
I’d strongly recommend getting a 12 to 15 gallon kettle if you plan to BIAB. I bought a 10 gallon and immediately realized I underestimated the size. I max it out for anything bigger than a session brew. I ended up getting a 20 gallon and have plenty of room to brew 7+ gallon batches of just about any recipe and could do a 5+ gallon batch of a big a$$ beer!
Yup. For 5-7 gallon batches!
I have 2 15s. If I used a bag I’d only need 1. Great size for no sparge 6 gallon batches from session to 1.070 ish. And if you double mash, you can go skys the limit. 1.110 is my biggest yet.
Yes, a 10-gallon kettle is a bit limiting for 5 gallon BIAB batches, but not too bad. I can handle 13 lbs of grain and can get OGs in the range 1.050 - 1.060, so not exactly session beers. For stronger beers I either add some extract after the mash or I mash with less than the full volume of water and top up the kettle after pulling the grains.
5 Gallons is approx 53 bottles of brew. In the real world you’ll get more like 48 or 50. So if you and your buddies drink 10 bottles per night it will last 5 days.
That’s why I upgraded to keggles. I like my beer better than almost anything I can buy, and I didn’t want to have to brew every weekend. So I brew a 10 gal batch every other week, and have a small surplus to carry over when the next brew comes on-line.
Charlie
Some random thoughts:
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Look for a restaurant supply shop near you. They’ll have all sorts of sauce/soup pots, many in stainless, in lots of sizes. And usually at very good prices. They won’t have valves, etc., but that’s what power tools are for.
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Don’t get any glass carboys. Ever. They are seriously dangerous; heavy, slippery when wet, likely to cause stitch-worthy wounds when they do break. Notice I said “when”; many people like carboys, but that’s usually because they haven’t had their accident yet. My alternative is the plastic “Ale Pail”; been using the same two for years with zero issues.
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I control fermentation temperature by putting my ale pail in a plastic tub of cold water, cover with a wet towel and add frozen water bottles as needed. it’s not quite as precise as a fermentation chamber, but there’s enough thermal mass to maintain temps within a few degrees. I brew only ales, so I rarely ferment below about 60F, though; if you intend to do lagers, you might need something that maintains colder temps.
Except sours…
I love my Speidels for anything clean but gotta have the glass (or stainless, but that’s not cheap) for long term aging to prevent too much O2 ingress/ oxidation and to have a surface that can be sanitized.
I hear ya, and understand where you’re coming from. I don’t doubt that you’ve assessed the potential for harm against the effectiveness, convenience and cost. But I still recommend against glass for anyone just starting out.
Fair enough. I am VERY careful and the truly horrific stories about shattered carboys and the gruesome injuries they can cause should give anyone pause [emoji51]
But we digress, back to your regularly scheduled programming! Restaurant supply stores, Craigslist, yard sales are all great options. Also check with brew clubs. Members always have extra stuff to sell as they progress in the hobby and adapt/ change/ upgrade their systems. I recently moved, joined my first club, and another member has given my retired keggle new life!
Here’s a prime example of what you could find on craigslist.
https://flagstaff.craigslist.org/for/d/homebrew-supplies-and/6647248165.html
My search was actually for “chest freezer” but they have freezer in the title. Everything you need to brew and keg beer is there though. Here’s a search for “homebrew”
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/for/d/home-brew-equipment/6640524979.html