Stockpot recommendation

[MattHudds]

Hi all.

I'd like to venture and try some AG brews after enjoying a few kits.

I only want to do about 8 - 10l batches as I drink very little and am interested to experiment with a few styles.

So I'd like to boil on my kitchen gas hob. I don't want to spend a fortune, but am wary about the false economy of something too cheap off eBay. The Wilko 12l stockpot that I think had been recommended here a few times seems to have been out of stock (no pun intended) online for ages.

I think decent handles would be good, and a lid to help my not great stove get it up to a boil quicker. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

 

[JonathanMSE]

One from Argos, Only 11 litres, but looks decent for smaller brews, on sale too

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8355238

 

[Surfingobo]

The wilko 12L stockpot is actually about 15L. £20. Done two 8L brews in mine with just under a 2kg grain bill BIAB and it’s great. I don’t think it’s the greatest grade of steel but it works just fine and the handles are strong enough.

 

[MattHudds]

Ah yes, I'd read that it was more like 15l which was one of the reasons I was keen. Maybe I should wait until it's available.

Thanks Jonathan for the Argos link. I might do that if I get impatient!

 

[NPi]

Not too long ago I was in the same position, I ended up buying a 20l stock pot from ebay for £30. ( Deep Stainless Steel Stock Soup Pot Pan Saucepan Cooking Stew Catering Casserole | eBay )

Since then I've upgraded to a 50l pot that I found whilst scouring Facebook marketplace, for a bargain £15!

Might be worth trawling the 2nd hand sites if you can wait or jumping in if you can't.

Regarding size, there's not much more of an investment to get a slightly larger pot that will mean you can (if you choose to) do bigger batches.

 

[Surfingobo]

@NPi how do you find the bigger pot? I’ve got a conventional 5 ring gas hop and use the central “wok” burner. It takes about 20 minutes to bring my 12 ish litres of water to strike temp. What do you use to heat and how long does it take?

 

[An Ankoù]

It's worth checking the other online outlets. Here's one, for example. Avoid those with a single-skin bottom (I suspect the Buckingham pots on Amazon are of that ilk) The steel is crap and the beer easily scorches expecially if you're trying to dissolve thick syrup from kits.

https://groceries.asda.com/product/...-home-stainless-steel-stock-pot/1000002937330

 

[eightbitraptor]

I'm also struggling to find a decent small pot at the moment, everything seems to be out of stock everywhere

Not too long ago I was in the same position, I ended up buying a 20l stock pot from ebay for £30. ( Deep Stainless Steel Stock Soup Pot Pan Saucepan Cooking Stew Catering Casserole | eBay )

How do you find lifting and lugging this about - I've been thinking of one of these but have been hesitant because I'm not sure how well the handles are going to hold up to lifting around that much wort on and off the hop and pouring it into the fermenter.

 

[NPi]

@NPi how do you find the bigger pot? I’ve got a conventional 5 ring gas hop and use the central “wok” burner. It takes about 20 minutes to bring my 12 ish litres of water to strike temp. What do you use to heat and how long does it take?

It takes a lot longer, but it depends on your batch size. My hob is only a 4 burner, with no wok ring, so yours will be quicker. If you know the Kw output then there are lots of calculators online that will tell you. If you are to do the same size batch it will likely take just as long. To speed things up I have used multiple rings at the same time before.

I'm also struggling to find a decent small pot at the moment, everything seems to be out of stock everywhere

How do you find lifting and lugging this about - I've been thinking of one of these but have been hesitant because I'm not sure how well the handles are going to hold up to lifting around that much wort on and off the hop and pouring it into the fermenter.

It okay, not anything I like doing. Once cooled I far prefer to syphon in place, but with how my cooler is set up I need to lift it at least once to get it outside.

I am in the process (if I can be brave enough to) installing a tap to the kettle. You can get a no weld half inch tap for about £20. After this is installed I will likely seal my pot with cling film and no chill till its cool enough to sylon off to a FV for further cooling.

 

[kelper]

If your domestic hot water is a closed or pressurised system, you can save a lot of time by filling your stockpot from the hot tap. I wouldn't try this if your hot-water cylinder is fed from a header tank since that might be harbouring nasties.

 

[eightbitraptor]

It okay, not anything I like doing. Once cooled I far prefer to syphon in place, but with how my cooler is set up I need to lift it at least once to get it outside.

I am in the process (if I can be brave enough to) installing a tap to the kettle. You can get a no weld half inch tap for about £20. After this is installed I will likely seal my pot with cling film and no chill till its cool enough to sylon off to a FV for further cooling.

Thanks. That sounds about what I expected - I think getting one of these and a half inch ball valve is probably the way I'm going to go - and still cheaper than getting anything purpose built.

I'm also looking at going the no-chill route, mostly just for the water saving, that and I do most of my brew's late in the evening once the kids are in bed, so being able to do a mash and boil and then just leave it overnight and pitch in the morning sounds really appealing.

How's the metal on these - is it super thin or does it feel pretty sturdy?

 

[kelper]

If you fit a tap, you'll have to be careful not to melt its innards/seal on the gas hob. You could use some kind of deflector.

 

[AdeDunn]

I do 14litre batches. My advice? Jump right in and get a single vessel system right from the off.... Why? Well it starts with a stock pot, then you get a bigger one. Then you buy a boiler and modify it.... Then you build your own single vessel rig and controller that is a money pit.... Then you get fed up and buy a single vessel system....

Skip the steps, and the expensive mistakes I say, my wife would tell you the same thing. lmao

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I saw the Wilko ones were out of stock online, but went to my local Wilko and they had them. I appreciate that may not be an option for some but thought I'd mention it. Yet to do my first AG as I have no grain or hops yet

 

[MattHudds]

Thanks for all the advice. As usual, after reading the forum endlessly, wanting to do 10 litre BIAB, I'm in two minds:

1) Go to Wilco and see if I can get their 12l pot (if not, get the 12l one on Malt Miller site)
2) Spend a little cash and get an electric boiler (first thought the Peco digital, or maybe can stretch to a Klarstein Fullhorn).

My concerns with option 1 are - lots of condensation in the kitchen, and my gas hob possibly not being good enough (don't have a nice cooker or wok burner). I did think that with a smaller pot like this, I could pop it in the oven on low heat to keep the mash temperature though which might be a plus? With this size, i can also fit in the kitchen sink to try and cool.

Concerns with option 2 - with the Peco, I've read a bit about slightly questionable build quality, and with either option, do I need to worry about not holding mash temp? Also, is this option an overkill given I'm just starting and pretty sure I won't do more than 10l brews (23l kits have been lasting 5/6 months even giving some away!)

I realise it's my decision, but any advice on my above thoughts would be really welcome.

 

[Surfingobo]

With the wilko 12L pot and the central wok burner ring on my 5 ring hob it took
approx 20 minutes to reach strike temp today from tap temp. Wrapped in 2 towels it lost 1.5 degrees and I got the the same efficiency (65%) with the one stir at 30 minutes as I did on the last mash with a stir every 10 mins, for. 4 degree total heat loss. It then takes a further 20-30 minutes to reach a boil and held a vigorous boil with the lid half on.

 

[stan.distortion]

Look up the kw figures for your hob, the large ring on mine (regular ring, not wok) is 2.7kw iirc and I turn it down a little for the boil (14l in a 15l pot). I've no accurate figure for the kw used during the boil, at a guess 2.2-2.4kw would be adequate.