Get one or make one the longer the better. 25’ minimum for 5 gallon batches. You won’t be sorry with the ten gallon pot more versatile. You will be able to do all grain or extract recipes
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No advice on a wort chiller. I spent $62 for a 5.5 gallon kettle at Walmart that has a one-half inch clad bottom to prevent scorching for doing partial boils. Most boil kettles are just thin stainless steel. I chill the wort in the kitchen sink with ice. Stove to sink is 4 feet. After chilling just have to carry the kettle down stairs to the brew room. Still haven’t got the hang of not over chilling though.
My boil kettle also does regular kitchen duties for those over sized meals.
I wasn’t trying to convince you to do full boils. To me a full boil does not offer great advantages unless you have the set up to manage the full volume without risk to body and wort.
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Eh, hauling a full kettle from my kitchen downstairs to the garage is my only exercise these days.
Propane in the garage is something I take seriously. Door open, fire extinguisher at hand, no flammable nearby, and have everything there before you light it. No running inside for a beer or a packet of hops. And if you hack your burner to bypass safety features, be extra careful.
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Electric… Sneezles61
Long live internet. And international shipping. Haha. I wish they had. Lowes. Or wall mart. I have to deal with. Chinees hardware stores. Or a store cald kooiman.
Me do like full boil. No need of transfer kettles. Or. Take the risk i burn my self. At home i dont use a wortchiller. Just a big. Concreet. Bucket full of ice. Works perfect.
The first upgrade was a chiller. Home made . Just a cool of copper with plastic tubing clamped on the ends one end has a hose connection clamped to that. All the parts from above mentioned store. I also have one of those cheap drill attachments to circulate ice water. I’ll use the ice bath for small batches but moving 5+ gallons around is just asking for trouble
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If you decide to go the full boil route with an 8 gallon or bigger kettle make sure that you have a way to transfer the wort once its cooled. You will not be able to lift the kettle and dump it so that mean you either have to rack it or have a kettle with a spigot. You will still be able to do partial boils in an 8 gallon kettle if you want to. FYI…I started with an 8 gallon kettle doing partial boils inside and went to full boils outside. You can have boil overs if not careful with an 8 gallon kettle doing full boils. By the time you compensate for boil off and start adding your extract it doesn’t leave a whole lot of room sometimes. Something to think about ref getting a bigger pot.
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To answer your chiller question … A bit of perspective first. As you can tell from the responses here, there are lots of ways to do things. They all have pluses and minuses. A lot of it comes down to how you want to spend your time and money.
I do full boils on a propane burner in an 8 gallon pot. (You still have to watch for boil over.) I normally work outside but use the garage when I have to due to too much rain or snow. I start with 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 gallons, depending on outside temperature, to account for boil off. A wort chiller, and the propane burner, are big time savers for me since I can heat and cool much faster. You can minimize carrying heavy pots by filling, or at least topping off, the pot after its on the burner. You can also play it much safer by cooling the wort with the chiller while the pot is still on the burner. I do lift the full pot to pour the cooled wort, through a strainer and funnel, into the fermenter. A pot with a spigot, or siphoning can avoid this lift.
I set my copper chiller up with garden hose connections so it can be used outside. For winter use, when the outside garden hose would freeze, I added a hose bibb under my kitchen sink - that avoids the need for an aerator adapter. The chiller hose connections, which need to hang outside the pot to avoid leaks dripping into the wort, also avoid the risk of hose damage when the chiller is placed into the still boiling wort. (You need to boil the chiller a few minutes before the end of the boil to avoid wort contamination.)
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I think I am definitely set on getting an 8 gallon kettle just so I have to options to do other brewing when I have some more time and money. Question now is if I want to go ahead and get a burner as well.
Thanks for the reply! That has really helped me out if I decide to do full boil. Just not sure yet which was I want to go. I know I will need a chiller and burner if I go full boil. I really like your set up, I have a big utility sink in my garage that I think I will add a hose bibb to the side. Do you typically have to add any water to your wort to make it to the 5 gallon mark when you start with 5.25 or 5.5 gallons?
It’s impossible to guess the boil off exactly. I don’t want to end up over 5 gallons so I try to end just under and then top off with water in the fermenter. A 5-1/2 gallon start seems to work when its around 20F outside. In the summer, I start with just slightly over 5 gallons. (I live in New England). If you are doing a yeast starter, and don’t decant it, you will be adding volume there, so start with a little less. Don’t get too stressed about perfection. It’s hard to make bad beer (as long as you sanitize well). Every batch is a learning experience. Variation sometimes leads to something even better than expected.
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And, if you don’t hit your target starting gravity, you may need to up the sugar/fermentables a bit to compensate for the added water, that you top off with… I wonder if the big shooters do this so they can dial in their ABV… Sneezles61
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That’s why I am intrigued by home brewing. It’s a great blend of science and art.
Thanks everyone for your help! I went to a local home brew store today and found some awesome stuff and good prices. Guy has a Brewers Best 8 gallon kettle with a drain and thermometer for 100. Great deal! I can tell I will be most equipment local but kit supplies on here!
