28 replies to this topic

[chuck_d]

Not sure I follow - if they are both pretty big what's the diff?

A converted keg wouldn't work for me because I brew on the stove, so I use a 15 gallon kettle prefab from MB. The keg is too tall to fit underneath the hood on my stove. So that's one logistical issue I can see being a problem.Surprised nobody mentioned morebeer.com as a place to pick up kettles. Their welding is great. And I like the kettles I've gotten from them.

[3rd party JKor]

Also, seeing you are going electric it makes it pretty easy to control the boil over by shutting the element off and then putting it back on.

I'm going to put a float on my kettle that automatically kills the element if it starts to boil over.

[HVB]

I'm going to put a float on my kettle that automatically kills the element if it starts to boil over.

That is a good idea .. since I started with fermcap I have not had anything close to a boil over, but it may be something I look in to just in case

[chuck_d]

Will a float switch be pushed up by the foam?

[djinkc]

That is a good idea .. since I started with fermcap I have not had anything close to a boil over, but it may be something I look in to just in case

Fermcap and a controller make boilovers almost impossible. I've done FWH only brews where I left the boil unattended for over an hour once it reached a full boil. And I would be an unhappy camper if I had one since my brew area is in a tough spot to clean in the basement. Never had one since I started brewing again.

[3rd party JKor]

Will a float switch be pushed up by the foam?

If the density of the float is low enough, yeah. If you search for float switches on McMaster you can see that one of the specifications is the "Minimum Liquid Specific Gravity". I don't know what the SG of the foam is, but they have floats that will handle specific gravities as low as 0.45. I'm sure there are others out there that can handle even lower SGs.

[Sidney Porter]

A converted keg wouldn't work for me because I brew on the stove, so I use a 15 gallon kettle prefab from MB. The keg is too tall to fit underneath the hood on my stove. So that's one logistical issue I can see being a problem.Surprised nobody mentioned morebeer.com as a place to pick up kettles. Their welding is great. And I like the kettles I've gotten from them.

I question if an appartment stove is going to get 13ish gallons to a boil to do a 10g batch.

[3rd party JKor]

Fermcap and a controller make boilovers almost impossible. I've done FWH only brews where I left the boil unattended for over an hour once it reached a full boil. And I would be an unhappy camper if I had one since my brew area is in a tough spot to clean in the basement. Never had one since I started brewing again.

What are you controlling?

[chuck_d]

I question if an appartment stove is going to get 13ish gallons to a boil to do a 10g batch.

I answer yes. I do run two burners, but I do that for 6.5 gallons as well.