Any thoughts on this 8 gallon kettle?

[Box of Rocks]

turning to the vast wisdom of my fellow brewers prior to sending dollars into the abyss… Am interested in brewing 4 gallon all grain batches, and my 5 gallon kettle won’t handle the volume. I may eventually using induction, so it needs to be magnetic or induction ready. Thinking of getting this 8 gallon from AMYCL. They make tons of kegs, so how bad could they be? Price seems right. https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Brew-...PJNQ/ref=dp_prsubs_1?pd_rd_i=B01B6OPJNQ&psc=1

 

[soccerdad]

No doubt sufficient for 4 gallons. I often do 3G BIAB in an 8G kettle and have spare room for both mashing and boiling. Are you ok with no thermometer port and no kettle drain?

 

[Box of Rocks]

No doubt sufficient for 4 gallons. I often do 3G BIAB in an 8G kettle and have spare room for both mashing and boiling. Are you ok with no thermometer port and no kettle drain?

Would like both eventually, but also don’t want to sink too much in since I might eventually go with another system, such as Anvil foundry or digiboil, in the future. Been looking at the 6.5 foundry, but it is a bit too small if I want to brew a bigger beer, and the larger unit is out of stock (as is the 9.5 gallon digiboil). In the meantime, I need to get brewing!
The 5 gallon kettle on the stovetop is a pain. Alternatives are reworking my Weber to get kettle close to the flames (short term solution perhaps), or induction cooktop, perhaps from WalMart with their service plan.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

AMCYL makes sturdy kettles.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

A first guess for a span of nominal mid-range OG beers in conjunction with no sparge BIAB (with no squeezing):

Target final beer volume* divided by 0.555... = Absolute minimum kettle size to consider

4 Gal./0.555..... = 7.2 Gallon kettle
5 Gal./0.555..... = 9.0 Gallon kettle
6 Gal./0.555..... = 10.8 Gallon kettle
7 Gal./0.555..... = 12.6 Gallon kettle
8 Gal./0.555..... = 14.4 Gallon kettle
9 Gal./0.555..... = 16.2 Gallon kettle
10 Gal./0.555... = 18.0 Gallon kettle
11 Gal./0.555... = 19.8 Gallon kettle

Where * = volume that actually makes it into kegs or bottles

Not a lot of thought or time went into this. Improvement in honing down the divisor is requested.

 

[Sunfire96]

$21 for shipping, did I read that right? Other than that looks good to me. Good brand, tri clad bottom, volume that you're looking for

 

[SabreSteve]

Not familiar with that one but this is what I use:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MIA5OQK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_936SVQ0XXEWD55NHRN1S
I've done about 4 batches with it and so far so good. Works great for my 5 gallon BIAB and I actually personally because of my setup on a kitchen stovetop prefer the shorter, wider kettle to the tall, skinny one. Also if you're definitely buying from Amazon it ships free with Prime

 

[Box of Rocks]

$21 for shipping, did I read that right? Other than that looks good to me. Good brand, tri clad bottom, volume that you're looking for

I know, the shipping is high, but even with that included the price seems attractive. Unless folks have found these to be poorly manufactured.

 

[Box of Rocks]

Not familiar with that one but this is what I use:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MIA5OQK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_936SVQ0XXEWD55NHRN1S
I've done about 4 batches with it and so far so good. Works great for my 5 gallon BIAB and I actually personally because of my setup on a kitchen stovetop prefer the shorter, wider kettle to the tall, skinny one. Also if you're definitely buying from Amazon it ships free with Prime

That looks good too, but is it magnetic?

 

[soccerdad]

I like that. (What Silver posted) And if you do a "big beer" you can always go down to 3.5G or figure out the old dunk sparge thing using your 5G kettle for dunking.

 

[SabreSteve]

That looks good too, but is it magnetic?

I don't believe it is but someone in the questions did say they use it with an induction cooktop

 

[naDinMN]

Bayou is a really good company, but...

I usually recommend against 8 gallon kettles though. As @Silver_Is_Money showed, the volume is limited. The second you want to move to 5 gallon batches so you can keg, that kettle looses a lot of it's usage.

I'm a fan of Megapots, but I'd consider this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classi...teel/dp/B000VXHKMC?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

PS. Stainless pots are generally magnetic and can be used on induction.

 

[Box of Rocks]

I like that. (What Silver posted) And if you do a "big beer" you can always go down to 3.5G or figure out the old dunk sparge thing using your 5G kettle for dunking.

Thinking the same thing. Silver’s numbers align with my experience in trying to get 3 gallons out of a 5 gallon kettle. As they say in Maine, “Can’t get there from heeyah”.

 

[SabreSteve]

Bayou is a really good company, but...

I usually recommend against 8 gallon kettles though. As @Silver_Is_Money showed, the volume is limited. The second you want to move to 5 gallon batches so you can keg, that kettle looses a lot of it's usage.

I'm a fan of Megapots, but I'd consider this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classi...teel/dp/B000VXHKMC?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

PS. Stainless pots are generally magnetic and can be used on induction.

Yeah give yourself room to grow.
Now I've successfully done 5 gallon BIAB batches in a 7 gallon kettle by shooting for an end kettle volume of 4 gallons and by topping up the fermenter like with an extract batch. I got great results too. So the lesson there is where there is a will there's a way and it can be done, but it's just easier to have the proper sized kettle. I would look at 10 gallons as your minimum size for a new kettle

 

[SabreSteve]

Also that Bayou kettle is 40qts, same as mine, so that's 10 gallons

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I believe the AMCYL is 1.2 mm thick. Budget kettles are likely to be on the order of 0.8 mm to 1 mm thick. And they are often of inferior stainless steel.

Mind you, I'm not knocking the budget kettles. I have budget kettles of 8 gallon and 19 gallon. No tri-ply bottoms. Very thin. And potentially even capable of corroding to even rusting or developing leaks longer term....

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

I believe the AMCYL is 1.2 mm thick. Budget kettles are likely to be on the order of 0.8 mm to 1 mm thick. And they are often of inferior stainless steel.

Mind you, I'm not knocking the budget kettles. I have budget kettles of 8 gallon and 19 gallon. No tri-ply bottoms. Very thin. And potentially even capable of corroding to even rusting or developing leaks longer term....

304 and 304L are the most common stainless for food. It has to meet requirements in regard to nickel and chrome content. Minimum of 18% chromium and 8% nickel and unless they out right lie about the steel quality it will work just fine. 304 can rust if it losses its layer of chromium oxide. Heating it to a dull red color is enough to loss it or exposing it to chloride, like bleach or long term exposure to table salt in high concentrations.

To restore this layer you need to passivate the steel by removing any free iron from the surface and expose the dried stainless to air. This can be done by treating it with citric acid or scrubbing it with Bar Keepers friend, drying it and let it set for up to 3 days.

The first pot listed was 304 stainless and should work just fine.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

One of my two budget kettles (the large one) is 201 SS. As to the other one, I have no idea.

 

[naDinMN]

Also that Bayou kettle is 40qts, same as mine, so that's 10 gallons

lesson there is where there is a will there's a way and it can be done, but it's just easier to have the proper sized kettle. I would look at 10 gallons as your minimum size for a new kettle[/QUOTE]

Ten gallons to the brim. Most 10 Gallon kettles are actually 44qt+ to the brim. Don't want a boil over.

 

[Minbari]

I do 5 gallon batches in a 7 gallon kettle. I see no need to have double the capacity of the batch.