Ss Pot (kettle)

[alien13]

Hi,

I'm slowly gathering the parts to get started in AG (BIAB) and have got 2 19L SS pots from BigW ($11.98ea), fermenter + accessories, digital stick thermometer, whirlfloc, and the grain, hops, hop/grain bag, etc are on the way now.

My question is actually to do with the pot(s) I'm going to be using as the boil/mash kettle. Is it possible to use an engraver to mark out the litres on the inside of the pot? Would doing this affect the pot in anyway? I'm not too worried about ruining one of the pots as they were cheap, but I would prefer not to do that. I've thought of adding a sight gauge, but seeing as my dad already has an engraver, it might be easier to just add the lines for each litre, and then add say, 5, 10, 15 at the appropriate marks.

Thanks,
Nathan

 

[Carboy]

When I was doing K&K back in 2009 I used my Dremel tool with cutting disc to mark 2lt lines in my Big-W pots.

To find the marks I tipped 2 litres in marked with a permanent marker, then another two litres "marked" and so on. Then I used the Dremel to put a line were the text mark was.

Good luck.

Cheers
Carboy :icon_cheers:

 

[brando]

I've heard of some guys using a metal ruler to check volume. You would need to do a bit of maths and testing to work out the calibrations.

 

[jotaigna]

I've heard of some guys using a metal ruler to check volume. You would need to do a bit of maths and testing to work out the calibrations.

I notched a retired bottling tube using the 2 l method above
the notches may harbor bacteria so do not use for bottling

 

[RdeVjun]

Its a bit of work Nathan, but its your own time to do with as you please.
I just dip a rule, the end needs a tiny bit of work to bring it down level with 0.0cm and I need to know how many L/cm (in this case, its the ubiquitous 19L big double ewe stockpot- 0.76L/cm).

 

[peaky]

I just got a short length of 2 inch plastic pipe and marked the volume on it with permanent marker.

Tip 5 litres of water in the kettle, then mark the stick at the waterline, tip in another 5 litres and mark it again. Keep going until you reach the top of your kettle. I have marked at 2.5 litre intervals up around my usual pre-boil volume level.

Now once my sparge is finished I just dunk the stick in and read my volume. It's close enough for me :icon_cheers:

Don't use the same stick for pots that have different diameters though, you'll get a false reading

I only use mine for the kettle to read pre-boil volume.

 

[alien13]

Thanks for all of the replies, I really appreciate it!

I might grab myself a metal ruler and do as a couple of you suggested and use that to measure the amount of liquid in the pot. It seems like less work than trying to use an engraver to mark it on the pot itself.

Thanks again for the replies, I can't wait til the rest of my gear gets here (hopefully this week), then I can finally get started on it!
Nathan

Oh, and another quick question, are the Hahn Super Dry bottles okay to be re-used, or are they a little too weak to be re-capping (twist caps).

 

[Nevalicious]

Thanks for all of the replies, I really appreciate it!

I might grab myself a metal ruler and do as a couple of you suggested and use that to measure the amount of liquid in the pot. It seems like less work than trying to use an engraver to mark it on the pot itself.

Thanks again for the replies, I can't wait til the rest of my gear gets here (hopefully this week), then I can finally get started on it!
Nathan

Oh, and another quick question, are the Hahn Super Dry bottles okay to be re-used, or are they a little too weak to be re-capping (twist caps).

They should be fine, but seeing as how you're local, why not try getting hold of some Coopers Longies to bottle in. They are heavy glass and are perfect for homebrewing. But again, to answer your question, they should be fine. Infact, one of my buddies in Melb bottles all his beer in commercial stubbie twist tops.

Good work on the move to Biab mate! Its a great step forward!!

Tyler

 

[alien13]

...Coopers Longies to bottle in....

Cheers for the answer. I've got one at the moment which was left from Christmas, but the rest are all Hahn unfortunately. I'm hoping to get my hands on some of these at some point, but sadly, the local recycling doesn't like keeping bottles around (or so they say) so there's no luck trying to get some from there. I might ask around family/friends if they have any on hand that they don't mind me taking. Hell, I'd even offer to pay what they'd be getting for recycling them or even more. Seems a better deal then buying PET or new glass.

I think for the first brew I'll go with the stubbies I have on hand as I'm not really expecting anything too great from the first run, just something to play around with and learn how to do it all, and if it works out great, then I won't be complaining that's for sure.

Thanks, hopefully it will be something I'll stick with. I really like the idea of being able to play around with flavours and styles.
Nathan