Need help finding my first brew pot.

BrewMan_KFGrip

I want to try brewing for the first time. I am having trouble figuring out how to boil in my kitchen. I don't want to spend the money for an outside propane burner just yet.  I have a glass top electric stove with the biggest heating element about 9 inches across. I am trying to find a 5 gallon pot narrow enough to fit on my stove. I figure about 10 inches would fit. Does anyone have suggestions for where I can find a 5 gallon pot about 10 inches wide or could I just boil with the pot off center?

codewritinfool

I don't think you'll get a 5+ gallon volume of liquid boiling in a timely manner on an electric stovetop, if at all.  You might try using a heatstick to augment your single burner and get it over the hump.
Just my thoughts, I could be wrong.code

Andy77

You can also straddle a wider pot over two burners to get more btus.  I brewed many batches using a 10 gallon pot over 2 electric burners.

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Corporal, BN Army Kettle Scrubbing Squad

mattturner

I use a gas stove (all 4 burners on!) to boil 6 gallons of wort. Doesn't take too long to reach the boil and works very well.

BrewQwest

get yourself to a walmart and pick up the 22 quart stainless steel (with a tri-clad bottom for even heating).  $49.95 -- I have a ceramic top stove also.  Put it on one of the big burners and you can boil about 3.25 gallons max.  Still makes damned good beer.  My last batch, I took it outside on the propane burner and boiled 4.5 gallons without a boilover.  This batch tasted scrumptious going into the fermentor.  Supports the thought that the more you can boil the better your beers.  I figured I could always use this pot as a hot water supply when I migrate to all grain.A never ending journey of continually searching for the ultimate beer:

BrewMan_KFGrip

I plan to only boil 3 gallons of water and add the last 2 gallons in the fermenter. I will cool it all down with ice. I need to see if I enjoy brewing beer (or the result) as much as I enjoy drinking beer, before I invest more money.

Andy77

You could also buy a really inexpensive aluminum pot at a Smart 'n Final or other restaurant supply store.  Just remember to 'season' it by boiling water in it first.  That way you don't have to mess around with the partial boil thing.
You could also go over too the classifieds and buy the wort chiller I've got on sale so you don't have to mess around with the ice.   

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   I'm just sayin'

Welcome to the hobby.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Corporal, BN Army Kettle Scrubbing Squad

one_dead_soul

I started with a cheap 4 gallon SS pot from Big Lots($16), and bottled 2.5 gallon batches.  
If you find yourself addicted to the hobby like the rest of us, then upgrade to the outdoor burner and large pot. I found a set for $50, 7.5 gallon aluminum pot and burner stand after thanksgiving.
Also you can insulate the outsides of a pot to increase the boil volume if you are restricted to a stove top.  Place the towel/insulation a couple inches above the burner so it doesn't torch.  
And don't forget the foam control.  Cleaning burned/charred wort off a stove top sucks and smells bad.
Cheers,
The Fool.Non-Motorized Mechanized Division, BN ArmyI brew 3.5 gal all the time on my glass top stove with the large burner that has the ultra high setting. It works very well. I do have a nice pot from Kohls with the thick bottom. I'd get a 20 quart min so you can boil at least 4+ gallons. You can always get into canning salsa if brewing doesn't work out. I've see the 20 to 24 quart around for $50. Kohls, Walfart, Fleetfarm some times.-------------
Blue Loon
Corporal BN Army, MN freeze your nuts off division
R.A.Z.E. homebrew club http://www.razebrewing.com
My recipes: http://hopville.com/brewer/recipes/ryantj
Blog http://brewcoder.blogspot.com/

Nikobrew

i have this pot. its great. i had no problem getting 4 gallons to a boil using just one of the big burners on my old electric rang. i still brew on the stove but also use an electric element out of an old turkey deep fryer to supplament it. when it gets to a boil i usually turn off the stove completely. with that i can boil a full 7 gallons with no real problem. it wont heat up as fast as a gas burner but you'll never need to go fill up a propane tank eather.
tomdrink fight fuck....

one_dead_soul

For just boiling a few gallons getting a cheap stainless steel at walmart or shopko works (shopko's where I got my first). The thing is you want a much bigger pot than the wort youre boiling (at least I do cuz I always boiled over in the kitchen). When I went all grain I just spent $40 for a turkey fryer that came with a 7.5 gallon aluminum pot, stand and burner from home depot.. If you have somewhere to put the burner I guess you could just do that and take the pot out and use that on your stove. If anyone else can confirm if a aluminum pot that big would be bad on direct heat? I don't know why it'd be a problem though since aluminum seems to heat up much faster you'd want to be extra careful to make sure your extract to stir in so it doesn't burn. That way when you decide to go ag or full boil you'll already have some of the equip.-Niko-
BN Army Sergeant
"Samsonite?!?.. I was WAY off!"  - Lloyd Christmas
Come get your hops and more! Low prices and $5 flat rate shipping on hops-only orders

Nikobrew

well you would probably get some scorching. i would just be afraid of all that weight on that glass top. i wouldn't put more then like 4 gallons on it. wile its sitting there it would be fine but if you try to move it full of wort and put it down to fast you can crack the glass. then your cheap pot and $30+ of beer woill cost you an adittional $250. so i wouldn't even try a full boil on a glass top. and you don't want a huge pot for a little bit of beer. it would have a shit load of boil off.. and again.. scorching. so don't get a huge pot.
tomdrink fight fuck....

one_dead_soul

well you would probably get some scorching. i would just be afraid of all that weight on that glass top. i wouldn't put more then like 4 gallons on it. wile its sitting there it would be fine but if you try to move it full of wort and put it down to fast you can crack the glass. then your cheap pot and $30+ of beer woill cost you an adittional $250. so i wouldn't even try a full boil on a glass top. and you don't want a huge pot for a little bit of beer. it would have a shit load of boil off.. and again.. scorching. so don't get a huge pot.
tom
Well just when I thought I could finally some help to someone lol! K I hope the OP didn't run out and buy that setup

yuzxflqwhwb.gif

I think he said he was only doing a few gallons on the stove top so I didn't think weight would be an issue, but scorching with aluminum could be. I've used my stove to heat up sparge water in the same pot while I was doing AG in the garage and my burner was holding my keggle so I needed the kitchen. Didn't crack the stove top but then again I didn't do a boil, just heated up some water. Thanks for setting that straight.-Niko-
BN Army Sergeant
"Samsonite?!?.. I was WAY off!"  - Lloyd Christmas
Come get your hops and more! Low prices and $5 flat rate shipping on hops-only orders

BeerDrinker

yeah the aluminum is thin on those cheep turkey fryer. i know a bunch of people who get holes in them in about a year. he could probably use it on the stove no problem. he would just have to be carefull with it. like once he puts in the extract he would have to turn it down so it was bairly boiling. and like i said. he would have to be careful with the weight. and i know the bigger the pot you use the more water your gonna want to put in it. if thats the way he want to go though (the deep fryer) i would suggest just doing it outside all together.drink fight fuck....

yodalegomaster

Another solution could always to get two 4 gallon pots and boild the two seperatly...
The two pots on separate burners will boil faster, and all you  need to do is put the two together.Brown Ridge Brewing: My homebrew recipe's and brewing exploits.
SmartFoneCases.com: Quality cases at an affordable price.

one_dead_soul

I was just reading this again and saw the holes comment. How does that happen? I was just figuring if you want a big pot and you only boil a few gallons of it (self restraint) that would work but holes..that would suck. A brew pot is not something I'd want a hole in

I know when you add the extract you'd want it taken off the heat anyhow as usual, but you're saying boiling extract in a cheap aluminum pot on the stove would burn or make holes and you wouldn't be able to get a good boil? Wierd. Would there be a difference in this or doing a full boil in one outside with extract? Maybe the heat being a few more inches away from the bottom since it'd be on a burner/stand? Interesting.-Niko-
BN Army Sergeant
"Samsonite?!?.. I was WAY off!"  - Lloyd Christmas
Come get your hops and more! Low prices and $5 flat rate shipping on hops-only orders
I thought about doing that when I was doing extract (sometimes still do extract if I feel like it). Does it get confusing as to boil times? I guess if they're both consistent burners and the same volumes and starting temps they should begin to boil at the same time..-Niko-
BN Army Sergeant
"Samsonite?!?.. I was WAY off!"  - Lloyd Christmas
Come get your hops and more! Low prices and $5 flat rate shipping on hops-only orders

stevedasleeve

If you can wait, right before thanksgiving, the turkey fryers will be on sale, you should be able to get, a narrow 22 quart pot and a propane setup, for 50.00 Bucks. The pot is the right size for your stove top, if you like the beer you make all you will need is a propane tank. If you don't then sell the whole works for 50.00 Bucks on craigs list before christmas.

Kbar

I was just reading this again and saw the holes comment. How does that happen? I was just figuring if you want a big pot and you only boil a few gallons of it (self restraint) that would work but holes..that would suck. A brew pot is not something I'd want a hole in

I know when you add the extract you'd want it taken off the heat anyhow as usual, but you're saying boiling extract in a cheap aluminum pot on the stove would burn or make holes and you wouldn't be able to get a good boil? Wierd. Would there be a difference in this or doing a full boil in one outside with extract? Maybe the heat being a few more inches away from the bottom since it'd be on a burner/stand? Interesting.
honestly i don't know why this happens or if its all that common but it has happened to a number of peaple i work with. so i just avoid those thin pots for that reason.drink fight fuck....

BeerDrinker

I got this pot to use on my electric stove, it is 30 quarts (actually a bit less when I measured,) it has a diameter of 12.5". I can boil 6.5 US gallons in this on my anemic but functional stove on one ring.

All grain works fine as the wort is hot going into the pot so bringing it to a boil is not too time consuming. But if you are doing extract it is still OK: I tested boiling room temperature water, 6.5 gallons on this pot before I used it in earnest. In 35 mins I got a rolling boil.
I tried boiling in two pots before this and the process was messy and made for an unpleasant experience for me! One point to consider is that in the cooling of the two pots, one has to cool later than the other of course and this can be not so good ultimately for the beer. You also have to be cognizant of hops utilization.
FWIW and YMMV and WTF,
Steve da sleeve

BeerDrinker

Forgive me, did not read the whole post, but here is my $0.02. Save up for the equipment you see yoursefl doing the best beers in. Just buying intermediate equipment costs more in the long run. Get the burner (60K+ BTUs), get the 10+ Gallon pot or keg, and keep going. Stove top is hard to pull off. Coolers for mash tuns work very well when moving to AG.
Hang in there. Patience is a brewer's virtue.Conical Fermenter - Amber Lager
Keg#1 Dunkel
Keg#2 Helles
Keg#3 Flanders Red
Keg#4 Star San
Keg#5 Star San
Keg#6 Star San

codewritinfool

You could always look into getting two 20 quart stock pots, on sale for $19 up in Canada, so you should be able to find a deal down in the US...
The just run two simultanious boils to get a full wort boil.  Your boil off amount will be higher, but that just means you need a little more water to start.  Either way, this would allow you to get a more vigorous boil.  Two 3 gallon pots will heat up faster than a 6 gallon pot.
And it will be easier to get to the sink for an ice bath.  You could even stagger the brew's by about 15-30 minutes to allow for 1st pot to chill if you only have one sink available for chilling.Brown Ridge Brewing: My homebrew recipe's and brewing exploits.
SmartFoneCases.com: Quality cases at an affordable price.

Andy77

Wow, I didn't realize how old this thread was... and the fact that back i August I made the exact same recommendation...Brown Ridge Brewing: My homebrew recipe's and brewing exploits.
SmartFoneCases.com: Quality cases at an affordable price.

mattturner

My first batches were on an electric and I split all my ingredients and water into two pots (like the normal spaghetti size pot) had two boiling on the electric stove, combined them in the fermentor after they cooled, added water to bring it up to 5gal and then pitched the yeast.  And guess what?  It made beer!  This is a good really cheap way to toe the brewing waters."People who drink light 'beer' don't like the taste of beer; they just like to pee a lot ~ Capital BreweryGo to a Big Lots, or Gordman's, or even a Goodwill or Salvation Army if your looking for something cheap.  I picked up a 22 qt stainless pot from Big Lots on clearance for $7.00, later that year, I grabbed a 30 qt stainless from Gordman's for $15.00, and I've used these pots for partial mashing for over 4 years, and they are still fine.  You can brew cheap, if you know where to look.My wife used to call me an alcoholic, so I started brewing beer.  Now I have a hobby, and I'm a beer enthusiast, not an alcoholic.I want to try brewing for the first time. I am having trouble figuring out how to boil in my kitchen. I don't want to spend the money for an outside propane burner just yet.  I have a glass top electric stove with the biggest heating element about 9 inches across. I am trying to find a 5 gallon pot narrow enough to fit on my stove. I figure about 10 inches would fit. Does anyone have suggestions for where I can find a 5 gallon pot about 10 inches wide or could I just boil with the pot off center?

BrewQwest

I don't think you'll get a 5+ gallon volume of liquid boiling in a timely manner on an electric stovetop, if at all.  You might try using a heatstick to augment your single burner and get it over the hump.
Just my thoughts, I could be wrong.code

BrewMan_KFGrip

You can also straddle a wider pot over two burners to get more btus.  I brewed many batches using a 10 gallon pot over 2 electric burners.

Corporal, BN Army Kettle Scrubbing Squad

Andy77

I use a gas stove (all 4 burners on!) to boil 6 gallons of wort. Doesn't take too long to reach the boil and works very well.

bikefoolery

get yourself to a walmart and pick up the 22 quart stainless steel (with a tri-clad bottom for even heating).  $49.95 -- I have a ceramic top stove also.  Put it on one of the big burners and you can boil about 3.25 gallons max.  Still makes damned good beer.  My last batch, I took it outside on the propane burner and boiled 4.5 gallons without a boilover.  This batch tasted scrumptious going into the fermentor.  Supports the thought that the more you can boil the better your beers.  I figured I could always use this pot as a hot water supply when I migrate to all grain.A never ending journey of continually searching for the ultimate beer:

BrewQwest

I plan to only boil 3 gallons of water and add the last 2 gallons in the fermenter. I will cool it all down with ice. I need to see if I enjoy brewing beer (or the result) as much as I enjoy drinking beer, before I invest more money.

codewritinfool

You could also buy a really inexpensive aluminum pot at a Smart 'n Final or other restaurant supply store.  Just remember to 'season' it by boiling water in it first.  That way you don't have to mess around with the partial boil thing.
You could also go over too the classifieds and buy the wort chiller I've got on sale so you don't have to mess around with the ice.   

  

   I'm just sayin'

Welcome to the hobby.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Corporal, BN Army Kettle Scrubbing Squad

BrewQwest

I started with a cheap 4 gallon SS pot from Big Lots($16), and bottled 2.5 gallon batches.  
If you find yourself addicted to the hobby like the rest of us, then upgrade to the outdoor burner and large pot. I found a set for $50, 7.5 gallon aluminum pot and burner stand after thanksgiving.
Also you can insulate the outsides of a pot to increase the boil volume if you are restricted to a stove top.  Place the towel/insulation a couple inches above the burner so it doesn't torch.  
And don't forget the foam control.  Cleaning burned/charred wort off a stove top sucks and smells bad.
Cheers,
The Fool.Non-Motorized Mechanized Division, BN Army