Ok, I’m moving up to do a brew in a bag, BIAB. I have my 5 gallon pot, but know I need at least an additional 8-10 gallon brew pot for BIAB.
My thought was to buy a 10 gallon brew pot to mash in the BIAB. I can use my 5 gallon pot to sparse/rinse the bag of grains before combining and boiling the wort.
I’m wondering about getting a new pot with or without a spigot. I can see some advantages to both and can certainly add a spigot later?
Am I making sense? Recommendations? To spigot or not to spigot?
You’re going to want a valve whether you put it in or buy it already in. It’s no fun trying to dump big kettles of hot wort but dangerous as well. Having to siphon all the time is a pain.
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Single ported spigot, and go twice the size you want to brew… Thats going to greatly reduce the boil over chance… Or maybe you like the smell of burnt sugar…? I don’t. Sneezles61
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I would go 10 gallon definitely. I’ve been very happy I did. Some of my pre boil volumes for big IPAs, doppelbocks, etc would challenge an 8. I don’t have a spigot/valve because at the time I made the purchase I didn’t see the need with my setup, but if you can afford it, why not? Better to have the option.
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My advice is plan ahead. Where do you see yourself with the hobby a few years down the road. Don’t spend a ton of money on a fancy 10 gal kettle if you think you may want to brew 10 gal batches at some point. Even high ABV 5 gal batches could be tough in a 10 gal kettle.
I used a 9 gallon kettle to BIAB 5 gallon batches for a year or so. It was tight and had to be watched closely when coming to a boil but it worked.
Later, I built a brew cart around my process using 2 16 gal bayou classic kettles (bayou classic 1064 which now appears to have a thermometer. Mine do not.). They came bored out for and included a bulkhead and ball valves. They’re not fancy, some will say they’re too thin, etc, etc, but they’ve met my needs very well and produced a few hundred gallons of good beer with ZERO scorching…
Short answer…YES to the ball valve.
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Spigot for sure but NO to a built in thermometer. I use my kitchen stove so my pot choice is based on the tallest pot I can fit under my overhead microwave (It fits by 1.5 inches)
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Same here got pots. With no valve. Drilled on the end a hole. Went to a welding company. Did weld a sock in there. So i could atach a valve. Still use my syphon. To transfer wort to the fermentor
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