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Help Choosing a stainless steel mash tun and brew pot

Vetsch Brew

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I have been brewing since I got my beginner kit last Christmas.  I have been mostly brewing extract but I moving to all- grain.  I brewed with the BIAB methods twice and they were my best batches yet.  I am trying to choose a brew Pot for a mash tun and boil kettle to start.  My main consideration is that I want to buy equip that I can continue to grow my brewing system on which is why I am not going with a converted cooler for a mash tun.  I understand they are just fine but I am working towards building a 3 pot 15 gallon Hermes system.  I'm  considering three brands and would appreciate anyone's opinion on which way to go.

Bayou Classic.  It's the least expensive and the mash tune kit comes with everything including false bottom.  The specs and quality seem everbit as good as The others I am considering.  The guy at the home brew shop didn't see to like the fact that the false bottom sat high above the bottom of the pot.  Does this matter?  I like the way this one looks the least.  Any other thoughts or considerations on Bayou Classic?

Megapot - I like the way it looks and specs are great.  The false bottom sits much lower in the pot.  Does this matter?  Also, folks have complained that ithe false bottom needs a converter kit to fit the 15 gallon pot properly.  Any thoughts on the Megapot?

Anvil - I also like the way it looks and ... well it's made by Blickman.  That speaks for its quality and they will have some of the innovations that Blackman develops (i.e. The ferment in the brew pot conversion kit). The false bottom also sits a little high but I have not seen one in person so I am not sure how high.  Any thoughts on Anvil?

I want to get brewing with a new Mash tun soon so any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

 
I have used a number of kettles.  I currently have one with weldless fitting and one with welded.  I much prefer welded over weldless.  I deal with small leaks and valves that rotate with the weldless. 

Tri-clad bottoms don't scorch like single ply.  I have scorched my single thickness Bayou Classic a few times.  Also, I can use my inductive burner to preheat strike water with Tri-Clad.

My suggestion is to test the look and feel of them if you can.  Fellow brewers, local homebrew shops, etc.

My club uses a MoreBeer 15G kettle with weldless fitting for a mash tun on our club brew sculpture.  We have 15G Blichmann HLT and a 20G Blichmann boil kettle.  All three perform fine.  We crank out 30 - 60 gallons a month on this system on our club brew days (we don't have meetings, we brew beer).

My home system has a cheap Bayou Classic this stainless kettle, a 48QT cooler as a mashtun and a aluminum HLT.  I just picked up a MoreBeer welded fitting kettle with will replace my brew kettle and I will use the cheap stainless as my HLT. 

As you scale, consider cooling.  Both systems use a Blichmann plate chiller.  The club pre-chills cooling water in a 10G cooler and a immersion chiller.  My home system can cool 6G batches OK without prechilling.



 
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