Lawrence Brewers Guild

Looking for a good used boil kettle that is suitable for ten gallon batches. If anyone could point me in the right direction I would be forever grateful.

A great many of us homebrewers including myself opt to use 15.5 gal sankey kegs converted for use as "keggles". Many can be scored on the cheap and the conversion can be done in an afternoon. These are what I use for my 10 gal batches. Others, especially those who do 15-20 gal batches buy big SS kettles from various sources. The advantages being better kettle dimensions for boiling, a "sandwich" of ferrous metals clad on the bottom which help conduct heat evenly, and avoidance of the moral/legal gray area in which sankey kegs can be acquired. Swagman does great welding and other modifications to keggles, he would be a good resource if you go in that direction.

I am currently using a converted keg for a mash tun but a keg won't sit securely on my burner so I was hoping to find something with a flat bottom. Mabey I should just invest in one of those fancy burners like andy has. Where do you find those any way?

I had this same problem. JJensen suggested getting a round grill grate replacement from the hardware store. This is placed on top of the burner then the keg on top of the grate.
This works nicely and is a lower cost than the alternative.

Sweet. Thanks for the suggestion. Ill try out the grate. I'm wondering though if in the long term ill save money by upgrading burners, due to decreased time from 70 to 212 degrees. Or am I off base and the increased volume of gas will offset the time factor? Delimas, delimas

Start out with hot water from your house water heater. Whatever the heat source, it will be cheaper than propane.

I have a plasma cutter and can "chop" the top off a 15 gal keg in about 5 mins if you need just a boil pot (swagman has one as well AND can weld SS...it is amazing what this guy can do with a tig welder).

shoot a pm if you need help cutting kegs

Jason

klickcue wrote:Start out with hot water from your house water heater. Whatever the heat source, it will be cheaper than propane.

This may not be the best option for everybody. Water heaters (especially older ones) can contain mineral deposits, bacteria, and other impurities. Older homes may also have pipes with lead solder. Hot water more easily/rapidly dissolves lead and other metals carrying those deposits with it. It isn't to say that using hot water from your water heater is guaranteed to be a problem, but it is likely to be of a poorer quality than your cold tap. The few minutes it saves may not be worth it.

I suggest getting w/Jason. For the long haul and it sounds like you are in one, trying to figure out something that will last is best. The BBQ grates work very well, for awhile, then the heat will cause failure at some point. You may get with Brick and look at his nifty portable design that's strong as hell and cheap to build.

+10000 on keggles!!

I'm also all about not using water from a hot water heater for reasons John noted. One of those heat on demand systems would work well.

Jdl973 wrote:I have a plasma cutter and can "chop" the top off a 15 gal keg in about 5 mins if you need just a boil pot (swagman has one as well AND can weld SS...it is amazing what this guy can do with a tig welder).

shoot a pm if you need help cutting kegs

Jason

FIVE MINUTES!!!! ROOKIE


Swagman