Author: Marshall Schott
An absolutely essential component for making beer, the brew kettle is a piece of gear many homebrewers spend hours pondering over before purchasing. My first kettle was a 4 gallon pot I bought for about $16. Barely big enough to contain the concentrated extract wort that ended up being combined with cold water in the fermentor, and long before discovering the magic that is Fermcap-S, many boilovers occurred. It worked, but it was a pain in the ass. As the brewing obsession took hold, I began to consider future steps and decided to transition directly to all grain, a method that demands a larger kettle in order to perform full volume boils. To the web I went to search for my best option. Anyone who has embarked on such a mission can likely relate to my experience– damn, there are so many, which do I get?! I figured it was probably safe to stick with a moderately priced kettle, convincing myself they all perform the same basic function. Stainless was a must, only because I have a tendency to beat shit up, with at least one place to install a valve. I ended up picking out a heavy-duty 10 gallon kettle with a single weldless ball valve fitting. When it arrived, I was impressed by just how heavy-duty it was. It only took a few brews before I was ready to start brewing 10 gallon batches, which would require more space. My newish kettle wouldn’t cut it, so I sold it and went another route, one that had become quite popular among my beer making peers.
I acquired a couple half-barrel kegs from a guy who claimed to have purchased them outright from a brewery (I can only hope he was being truthful), took them home, did some cutting, grinding, and drilling, then after attaching a weldless ball valve and polycarbonate sight gauge, called my keggles done. They looked badass. Following my very first brew session using them, I realized I’d made a mistake, I absolutely hated these things. I know it’s personal opinion and that many brewers love their keggles, cool, but they weren’t for me. The height combined with the smaller opening at the top and my T-Rex arms not only made cleaning a pain, but my favorite immersion chiller wouldn’t fit, something I completely failed to consider. Moreover, the concave bottom resulted in rather large losses of wort. The most annoying thing about these keggles, though, had to do with the sight gauge, which about 10 minutes into the boil became more of a napalm gun, spewing skin searing sticky wort all over the place. Fuuuuuuck that. Two batches later and on Craigslist they went.
I limited my subsequent search to kettles with flat bottoms and without sight gauges, eventually settling on the 14 gallon economy kettles featured in many of my articles. The stainless was pretty thin and fairly easily dented, there were a few spots where the welds weren’t perfect, it wasn’t the prettiest kettle ever, but it did the trick for a good price. I was happy to not have to deal with a volcanic sight gauge anymore, though it’s absence forced to me to come up with a solution for getting proper volumes of water into my kettle. I made a dipstick out of a wooden dowel, it soon warped, so I began relying on an old graduated fermentation bucket. It wasn’t until about 6 months into using these kettles, during a fairly rare full-fledged cleaning session, that I discovered the threads in the couplers were full of gooey old wort, despite being thoroughly rinsed after every brew day with a stream of high-pressure water. I tend not to worry too much about stuff like this on the hot side, but after my buddy Wes’ dirty valve fiasco, my concern increased. Deep kettle cleaning became a bi-monthly ritual involving the removal of all parts and toothbrush-ing the threads with a strong alkaline cleaner. All in all, not a huge deal, but it did take some time.
I recently began chatting with Mitch from Ss Brewtech, inventors of some really innovative brewing gear. I’d heard rave reviews from a bunch of folks about their experiences with Ss Brewtech products and was stoked when Mitch asked if I might review their 15 gallon kettle. I’ll be honest, I’d moved back into exploratory mode and Ss kettles were at the top of my list because they seemed to marry all of the preferences I’d developed over the last few years. The kettles arrived well-packaged and in pristine condition about a week later. Removing them from the box, I first noticed they were light enough to easily move around while maintaining a solid feel, and this is when I recognized something I’d previously overlooked, the rubber grips on the handles of the kettle and lid. A nice touch, indeed.
I immediately placed a kettle on my burner to see how it’d fit and was reminded of the tri-clad bottom, which allows for more even distribution of heat thereby reducing the chances of scorching the boiling wort, particularly when using malt extract.
I proceeded to install the weldless fittings included with each kettle, swapping out the standard 3-piece ball valve with my Quick Clean Take-Apart valves.
Plugs for the upper holes are included as well, I installed them briefly for a leak test- not a drip! I then replaced the plugs with optional bi-metal thermometers that allow me to more easily monitor the temp of my strike and sparge water.
My hands-down favorite thing about this kettle is the graduated gallon markers on the inside.
Concerned about their accuracy, as soon as the fittings were installed, I filled my trusty measuring bucket to 4 gallons and poured the water into the kettle to compare. It was spot on, I was thrilled! Now, filling my kettles is easier than ever.
Another unique aspect of Ss Brew Kettles is what they call the trub dam, a diptube with a high temp silicone blade on the end that easily attaches to the back side of the weldless valve fitting via compression. This isn’t an optional accessory, one is included with every purchase.
While I personally don’t get too concerned with trub being racked to my fermentors, I did use it for a couple batches to test it out and it worked really well, allowing clear wort to flow into the fermentor while holding back nearly all solids. Impressive.
Since I use immersion chillers, I’ve removed the trub dam, but it is a very clever solution for those who prefer counterflow chillers or racking only clear wort to their fermentors, as it seems much less likely to clog than stainless mesh and more convenient than hop bags.
| THE VERDICT |
When it comes to selecting a kettle, there’s quite a few things one might consider, from the material it’s made from to the proprietary gadgets it works with. For my money, stainless is where it’s at for its durability, and other than that I want whatever makes my brew day easier. Add this to my obsession with precision and you’ll understand why I’m such a fan of the Ss Brew Kettle with its internal gallon markers. Not only do these quaint markings make accurately measuring liquor volumes very simple, but they require absolutely no additional work when it comes time to clean and no more wort geysers! Speaking of cleaning, the weldless fittings take literally seconds to disassemble, allowing me to toss them into a bowl of cleaner and walk away rather than scrubbing with a toothbrush. I certainly won’t be removing them between every brew session, but it does make things easier.
It can be argued that a kettle is just a kettle, and for those in a pinch, I have no qualms recommending something with less features and a lower price-point to get you by, beer will still be made. However, Ss Brewtech offers homebrewers a high quality and convenient stainless brew kettle with numerous useful options for customization at a very reasonable price. If you’re in the market for a kettle that will last you a lifetime, I’m happy to recommend that you check out what Ss Brewtech has to offer!
Ss Brewtech kettles and other gear are sold through MoreBeer as well as direct from the Ss Brewtech site.
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26 thoughts on “Product Review | Ss Brewtech Brew Kettles”
Good honest review. I had the same issue with my keggles sightglass erupting, it ended up being too close to a hole in the bottom ring and heat was striking it creating the volcanoe. I had to modify a heat shield to block the hole then all was well.
I made my own graduation markings on my cheap econo kettle. Grab a nail set (punch). Place kettle on level surface. Add gallons one at a time, scratch a line at the water level each time. Dump the water. Lay the kettle on its side on a piece of soft wood with scratch marks down. Get a hammer. Use the nail set and hammer to make small but real dents at each scratch from the inside. 1 dent equals one gallon, 2=2 etc ( although I stated at 4). Voila…
For my 22 gallon cheap kettles I made a dip stick out off a plastic brewing soon. Some day I need to figure out how much wort my IC displaces!
Last comment, maybe I’m just lucky but the last thing I do is recirculate boiling water through all my hoses and the pump for about 10 minutes. When I have opened my pump or valves they are very clean.
Thanks for the kettle review!
This is such a rad trick, I actually considered doing it… I didn’t because of the incredibly high likelihood of fuck up the measurements.
Great review. I love my 10 Gallon SS Brewtech Kettle, well worth every penny.
I have heard that the gallon markings wash off after a few uses. I am interested to see how the markings stand up over time.
If that’s true, I’ll be sure to update the review! I’ve already used mine a few times and they’re still as spear as ever.
Still as spear as ever!
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/4596150/300-javelin-spear-throw-o.gif
It was my understanding that the markings are etched, not painted. I would hope they would be more durable than that.
Same
That’d be heinous if true but Ss Brewtech states their numbers are “etched”.
The website lists them as etched markings, meaning they are not ink and will not wash off.
I’m lazy and cheap. Just use a big dumpling steamer pot insulated with lots and lots of aluminum and the biggest soup pot in my kitchen and boil them both at once. Plenty for a 5 gallon BIAB batch with a sparge by boiling them both at once. Can do a 6 gallon batch or more with top-off water if I’m making a low-gravity English style ale (wife loves milds).
I love Mild too!
Want want want want 😉
I recently purchased two new kettles for doing BIAB style brewing. I bought the Bayou Classic 1140. Attributes that caught my attention were Stainless Steel, Steamer basket, Ball valve drain, Volume markings, 10 gallon volume, and under $150.
I do like how the kettle you reviewed had the clad bottom and a pick up tube.
For kettles without volume marking you can always try electrolytic acid etching. You need an acid (vinegar) and an electrolyte (salt), try 1/4 cup of vinegar to 1 tsp of salt. Next create your etching tool, a Q-tip and a 9V battery with 2 wires will do the trick. Attach the negative terminal of the battery to the cotton portion of the Q-tip and tape the positive terminal to your kettle. Then you just dip the Q-tip into the solution you’ve created and touch the metal of the kettle, etching will ensue.
Make sure you have stencils for your numbers and mark off your volume lines with electrical tape before you begin, it works like a charm. This works on both SS and aluminum.
Credit
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=463099
I contemplated doing this myself but don’t trust myself nearly enough to do things accurately… or straight.
I’ve done it on my kettle, its easier than it sounds. Just filled the kettle with 1 gal increments of water and marked the levels with a Sharpie as I went (switched to 1/2 gal near the top). Empty the kettle and mark off with electrical tape in little rectangles at the proper levels. The etching happens remarkably quick and the result is great.
Thanks for the review. I’m about to pull the trigger on the 15 gal SS kettle but am interested on how to install the quick clean fittings. Is it self explanatory once you get them or do you have any words of wisdom? Are the fittings still weldless?
First you have to acquire the valves, but from there, yeah, it’s super easy.
Nice review! I’m in the market for a new kettle (oddly enough, getting tired of hauling my keggle around, too) – what did you end up doing on the inside, instead of the trub dam? Do you just have an open rear to the valve, or did you add some sort of elbow fitting?
The trub dam easily pops on and off, so yeah, I just keep it off these days and it works perfect. I am loving these kettles.
How did you get the quick clean valve stabilized on the kettle. I tried it on my 20 g ss brewtech. If I wrench it down hard enough the o-ring squishes out too loose the valve wobbles bad. there is no middle ground.dthompson79
I only use the white o-rings, not the red ones.
Geez. just did it. Worked like a charm. Sometimes I overlook the most obvious solutions. Almost as firm as a welded fitting
It’s an old article but I bought the 10 gallon Brewtech kettle based on it and it’s just awesome. I wish the trub dam was a little wider and taller to allow for heavily hopped beers but at least it keeps the hops and most of the trub out. It’s built like a tank, the handles are very nice and the heat appears to be more evenly distributed than with any of my other kettles. Thanks for the write up!