Ally Pot Size 60 Or 80l?

[Bizier]

Hey guys,

I am going AG and moving my brewday to the apartment carpark...

I am tossing up between either an 60 or 80L aluminium Robinox stockpot.

I am doing 23L batches, but would like to do doubles.

Is this ridiculous and overkill?

 

[devo]

80lt

 

[Bizier]

Cool, my instinct tells me that bigger causes no probs other than extra evaporation from diameter, but I can adust for that with extra vol if I dial it in.

Are there any other downsides to using a proportionally large pot?

 

[devo]

no, none really. I use a 98lt pot and still manage to get kettle foaming up near the top when doing a 60lt brew.

 

[Bizier]

So do you think a 100L is laughable if I am doing single batches then?

The price is so similar between these, that I would prefer to have insurance that I can go bigger.

I like your blurb
"...Crazy motherf***er called Devo"

reminds me of CB4

 

[raven19]

My vote is for a bigger pot.

Then double batches will become more regular!

 

[boingk]

From what I can gather theres not much downside (if any) to going bigger.

I'm also looking at getting a large kettle, and was considering 80L as a good single and double batch size. Kind of a catch-all category. 60L would be a good 'large single' size from what I can gather, and if there is minimal price difference the 80 and 100L then its pretty much up to you. The 100L will provide more leeway than the 80L, of course.

Just remember that you'll need a way of heating all that wort...so factor a good burner/element setup in as well as the cost of the kettle.

By no means take what I say as 100% on the money - I'm just getting into this myself.

Cheers - boingk

 

[Bizier]

I ordered the Italian with a 3m hose and med adjustable reg yesterday from Beerbelly... have to use those BTUs for something.

 

[RetsamHsam]

When I bought mine I was tossing up between a 50L or a 60L, ended up with the 60L and wish I had of gone bigger again.. If I were you I would go with the 100L..

 

[Bizier]

I am going 100L

Gives a lot of room for movement.

 

[Pumpy]

I am going 100L

Gives a lot of room for movement.

How much is a 100 litre pot Bizier?

Pumpy

 

[rich_lamb]

OK, I'll be the devils advocate then...

If it were me, I'd buy the 50L, cos it takes up less space and is far more manageable for a 23L batch. Plus I can't say that I will EVER want to do a double batch - 40L of the same beer? Wot would I do with all that? Far better to do more smaller batches with more variety (even if it's the same style) IMHO.
100L pot is just insane to me.

But that makes me a whole lot different to the norm here. More concerned with using the minimum amount of space and resources to achieve what I need rather than just the biggest darn thing I can find h34r:
Guess it's also a question of style - I brew to experiment more than for stock.

 

[boingk]

Plus I can't say that I will EVER want to do a double batch - 40L of the same beer? Wot would I do with all that?

Interesting point. Thats where I'm a bit hung up - do I want a freakin' massive pot to do double batches [which I may or may not do] with? Or shall a 50L pot be fine for just doing singles. As you said, 40L+ of the same beer may get somewhat monotonous...especially if you, God forbid, stuff it up horribly somehow.

Too many things to think about... :S

- boingk

 

[enoch]

Interesting point. Thats where I'm a bit hung up - do I want a freakin' massive pot to do double batches [which I may or may not do] with? Or shall a 50L pot be fine for just doing singles. As you said, 40L+ of the same beer may get somewhat monotonous...especially if you, God forbid, stuff it up horribly somehow.

If you want double, as in 2x23=46 litres then 60 is going to be tight so go the 80.
The thing to think about with bigger (like a 100) is how you are cooling. If you want to use in immersion chiller you will need to work out if your chiller will be fully submerged. With my 100 litre I can't do less than 40 lires with my current chiller. Of course if I was a no chiller that wouldn't be an issue.

40 litres of one batch is fine if you have multiple 45 litre kegs or swap kegs with fellow brewers. I went large because I wanted to be able to do triple brews and split 20 litres off for a friend to ferment and bottle.

 

[matt white]

I got a 50 litre ss pot when I first went ag, and regret it, as a double batch (40 litres for me) is very sketchy in this size pot. Invest now in a bigger pot is my advice - you will end up doing double batches, especially if you have kegs and thirsty friends.

 

[sam]

Allquip have free shipping on stockpots during February, so there are some good deals there on Robinox SS and Aluminium pots. Thinking of getting 2 ally 80l or 100l.

No association etc.

 

[Bizier]

That is exactly what I will be doing Sam.

ED:
P.S. Awesome avatar!!!

 

[real_beer]

Hey guys,

I am going AG and moving my brewday to the apartment carpark...

I am tossing up between either an 60 or 80L aluminium Robinox stockpot.

I am doing 23L batches, but would like to do doubles.

Is this ridiculous and overkill?

Hi Bizier,

I don't know if there are any restrictions in the apartments where you live, but a while ago on Basic Brewing Radio a brewer emailed in that the apartment manager almost knocked his door down and ordered him to stop brewing. Apparently no one was allowed to use over a certain size gas cylinder within x distance of the building. He was brewing on his patio at the time. I don't know what rules apply in Australia but if there is you can bet someone will let you know sooner than later, as you'll be brewing in the carpark area you'd have to have someone watching the system all day so no one gets burned.

I don't want to be a killjoy, just thought you might want to check this angle out (of course you might of already) before you commit to a giant system you couldn't use indoors if someone did complain. Also another good point about a big pot is it's great to store a lot of your gear in it between brews, keeping it all in one place.

 

[clean brewer]

OK, I'll be the devils advocate then...

If it were me, I'd buy the 50L, cos it takes up less space and is far more manageable for a 23L batch. Plus I can't say that I will EVER want to do a double batch - 40L of the same beer? Wot would I do with all that? Far better to do more smaller batches with more variety (even if it's the same style) IMHO.
100L pot is just insane to me.

But that makes me a whole lot different to the norm here. More concerned with using the minimum amount of space and resources to achieve what I need rather than just the biggest darn thing I can find h34r:
Guess it's also a question of style - I brew to experiment more than for stock.

Im the same, its only me drinking it and a keg lasts me about 2 weeks, so if I did double batches id only be brewing once a month.. And that would only be 12 Brews a year.. Id rather brew once every 2 weeks and do 26(different brews, so much variety) a year..

 

[Gulpa]

I ordered the Italian with a 3m hose and med adjustable reg yesterday from Beerbelly... have to use those BTUs for something.

My 2cents.

Go the 100L. I got the 100L one because there little $ difference. I use the above burner setup and it will boil 80L so you should be good to go.

I normally do double batches as my time is limited. I normally do 2 x 25L and use a different yeast in each to get two different beers. You would be surprised how different the beers can be.

Also, the worst thing is to go into one of the 28 bottle XMAS swaps, have everyone say how awesome your beer was and only get 1 bottle to drink for yourself.

And you can still do single batches (as mentioned above you will need to get your evap and trub losses nailed)

Edit: Down side to a big pot is that you WILL need a pump and a big mash tun.

Cheers
Andrew.