[mabrungard]

Keggles have to be one of the worst options for homebrewing and moving to a more appropriate kettle configuration is a good idea. The tall, skinny configuration of a keggle presents a number of problems. First, the small bottom area exposed to the heat source reduces the amount of heat transferred to the wort. Secondly, the stainless steel material is also a poor heat conductor. Thirdly, the narrow interior diameter means that the trub is more likely to cover more of the bottom of the keggle and make it more difficult to get all the wort out of the vessel without sucking up trub.

I recommend that you consider a big aluminum pot for use as a kettle. The aluminum has a much better heat transfer coefficient. If you get a BIG pot, then the diameter is more likely to enable more of that trub to stay in the middle of the kettle after whirlpooling and that can allow the brewer to get more of their valuable wort out cleanly.

Let's look at kettle configurations in most pro-breweries. They almost always have a MUCH larger diameter in comparison to the depth of wort they contain. For instance, 6- to 12-foot diameters and only 2 or 3 feet of wort depth. Compare that to a keggle with a 1- to 1.5-foot diameter and a 1.5- to 2-foot wort depth. Homebrewers should consider that in selecting kettles. When a homebrewer opens up their kettle material to include aluminum, then real cost savings can be produced and that can be converted to purchasing a larger diameter kettle that moves their brewing configuration closer to what the big boys already know. Employing a 15- to 20-gallon, large diameter kettle is a good idea...even for 5 gallon batches.

Enjoy!   

[narvin]

I'm really not following your logic, Martin.  I've never seen a keggle fail to boil well.  In fact, I've had more problems with wide pots, both with heat loss and excessive boil off.  Most burners don't produce a flame any wider than the keggle bottom, and the skirt is a good wind shield.  Even wider pots have problems with whirlpooling at the homebrew batch size, so a filter or hop stopper of some kind can be helpful.

Also don't agree that the pro kettles are wider than they are tall.  Many of them are actually two stories so you're only seeing the very top of it from the top floor.  And if you want to be closer to what the pros use, you would have a stainless kettle.

[hopfenundmalz]

The chimes on the Keggle hold some heat under the kettle, get darned hot, and transfer some heat up the sides.

[chumley]

I think Martin makes some good points about the use of keggles as BKs, but I do believe they make an excellent choice as a mash/lauter tun.  For the same reasons he describes, their geometry.

[S. cerevisiae]

My first kettle was a keggle (that was long before keg theft was a problem).  I used my keggle for exactly five batches before giving it away. I would quit brewing before going back to using a keggle.   

[yso191]

My first kettle was a keggle (that was long before keg theft was a problem).  I used my keggle for exactly five batches before giving it away. I would quit brewing before going back to using a keggle.

What do you use now?

[narvin]

My first kettle was a keggle (that was long before keg theft was a problem).  I used my keggle for exactly five batches before giving it away. I would quit brewing before going back to using a keggle.

Well, that sounds dramatic.  I hope all of your brewing endeavors aren't so precarious.

I currently use a 20 gallon stock pot, stainless, with an aluminum core bottom.  It's fine. 

Except:

-The fatter the kettle, the more wort loss when siphoning off the break/hop trub.  Especially with a flat bottom.

-Even with the clad bottom, a bayou classic burner can be undersized when there's wind (without a screen).

-Once I get a rolling boil going, boil off pushes 20% due the the large open surface area which is high unless you don't care about your final volume.


I'm actually considering going back to a keggle, especially since it would weigh less, boil faster without the BS clas bottom, and fit better in my upstairs closet that has to hold my brewing equipment.  The only reason I have a 20 gallon pot for 10 gallon batches is the above failings.

[klickitat jim]

I must admit, I love how S Cerv writes. Ultimatum equals ultimatum

[AmandaK]

I have keggles on the Sabco. In my world, they work great and produce repeatable beer. It is likely that I will never replace them.

[hopfenundmalz]

My first kettle was a keggle (that was long before keg theft was a problem).  I used my keggle for exactly five batches before giving it away. I would quit brewing before going back to using a keggle.

Well, that sounds dramatic.  I hope all of your brewing endeavors aren't so precarious.

I currently use a 20 gallon stock pot, stainless, with an aluminum core bottom.  It's fine. 

Except:

-The fatter the kettle, the more wort loss when siphoning off the break/hop trub.  Especially with a flat bottom.

-Even with the clad bottom, a bayou classic burner can be undersized when there's wind (without a screen).

-Once I get a rolling boil going, boil off pushes 20% due the the large open surface area which is high unless you don't care about your final volume.


I'm actually considering going back to a keggle, especially since it would weigh less, boil faster without the BS clas bottom, and fit better in my upstairs closet that has to hold my brewing equipment.  The only reason I have a 20 gallon pot for 10 gallon batches is the above failings.

What does a clad bottom have to do with the situation you describe?

[narvin]

What does a clad bottom have to do with the situation you describe?

Mainly it means I have to crank up the burner to the max to get a good boil.  And it makes the pot heavy.  Clad bottoms are great for not burning stew, but for brewing it just makes thing inefficient.  I'm semi-serious, though, when I say that I'd rather quit brewing than pay the price for a Blichmann kettle 

[theDarkSide]

I use megapots (the older ones, not the v1.2s) for my HLT and boil kettle. 

The build quality on those things is seriously impressive.  I have no doubt I could brew with them for the next 30 years.

I don't mash in them though, so I can't comment on their performance for that application.

I've been using to 10 gallon megapot for about 3 years and love it.  I recently just picked up a 15 gallon pot when they were on closeout from Midwest Supply.  I'm hoping to retrofit them to use with a Blichmann boilcoil and the BrewEasy lid.  I just need to check on the dimensions to make sure they fit.

[S. cerevisiae]

What do you use now?

I use a 10-gallon Polar Ware 361BP brew kettle for 5.5-gallon batches (the 361BP is from the made in the U.S.A with factory welded fittings line, not the imported economy line that is sold in most home brew stores).  I use the custom brew kettle shown immediately below that I made from a 27-quart Vollrath Optio stockpot for my 3.5-gallon batches (I use a false bottom with whole hops in both kettles).  I am in the process of replacing this kettle with one made from a 24-quart Vollrath Tri-Ply stockpot.  I am using both of the smaller kettles with an induction range because they are both induction ready.   The American-made Vollrath Tri-Ply stockpot beats the Chinese-made Vollrath Optio by a long shot when it comes to heating efficiency on an induction range.  The Tri-Ply heats better on the induction range without a jacket than the Optio does with a jacket.  I may turn the Optio into an insulated mash tun.

Custom 27-Quart Vollrath Optio stockpot-based kettle







Polar Ware Tri-Ply stock pot on an induction range

[S. cerevisiae]

Well, that sounds dramatic.  I hope all of your brewing endeavors aren't so precarious.

It must be the engineering mindset, but I find keggles to be horribly inefficient in terms of heating and cooling.  I gave my keggle away because I blew through 4 gallons of propane (20lb tank) in five batches.  Switching to a St. Pat's 38.5 quart Vollrath stockpot-based kettle allowed me to use a Superb PC-100 stove, which extended 4 gallons of propane to 12 batches with 90-minute boils. 

[narvin]

The induction range is a great idea, and I've considered it but currently brewing outside the propane burner is more convenient.  Maybe in the future when I have room for an indoor brew rig.