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Northern Brewer Mega Pots - 20 Gallon

 
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Walts Malt




Joined: 27 Sep 2013
Posts: 119
Location: Farmington, MN

Drinking: Two Hearted Clone

Working on: Planning my Fall Brewing Schedule


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 1:15 am    Post subject: Northern Brewer Mega Pots - 20 Gallon Reply with quote


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I'm very close to purchasing three of Northern Brewer's 20 Gallon Mega Pots for my build. I'm going with just the pot and having fittings welded in. I have access to a quality welder.

I've provided a link to the false bottom that I plan to buy along with the pots.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/titan-universal-false-bottom-17-diameter

Is there anything that I should be aware of before purchasing these (other than the cost?) or the false bottom?
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ParadiseBrew




Joined: 09 Dec 2014
Posts: 83
Location: paradise, ca


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Walts, i have one of these and wish i had done them for all three! they are really nice and i love the construction of them. it's also nice to have gallon lines on the back. if you do end up buying them and putting your own holes in them make sure the gallon lines are in the back!

you can see my build with the one i used for the BK in this video near the end.


https://youtu.be/NdSrNZIf-tw

ptown
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Vesteroid




Joined: 02 Sep 2015
Posts: 57



PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have the 10 gallon set. Since your welding in the fittings I say they are good pots. The weld less firings that came with them were junk in my opinion. I replaced all mine with ones from Brewers hardware. The bottoms are very stout however.

I use a flask bottom from NorCal in mine....the bottom that came with mine (the same your ordering but I a ten gallon size) was about 3 inches less in diameter than my pot. I did not care for it. Perhaps the 20 gallon is different.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lots of things I don't like about the kettles or the false bottom:

- The false bottom output comes up at the middle of the kettle and needs you to install a hose of some sort to the dip tube, usually a soft hose is used. This means it's more difficult to stir the mash, you have to be careful to not break the hose, and you have to take tools to it to remove/clean it every time. Compare this to how Blichmann does it with a small 2 inch dip tube on the very edge of the kettle so that you don't have to be careful at all, and you don't need tools to remove (just pull and turn): http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/kettles-overview?page=6

- Kettles without sight glasses are more work to use. Having markings on the inside means you're constantly having to lift the lid to see where you're at, loosing heat each time. Sight glasses do not have to be hard to clean either. See how Blichmann does it: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/kettles-overview?page=4

- Heavy clad bottoms on kettles are useless for brewing. They just add weight and cost. Complete details as to why here: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/kettles-overview?page=1

- Hard to tell but I don't believe the kettle bottom is stepped? You may have side wall shunting because of this. More info: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/kettles-overview?page=6

Probably other things... but that's off the top of my head.

Kal

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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a Megapot that I use in propane brewing as I'm working on building the new electric design, and it's pretty nice. That being said, I will definitely be switching to Blichmann for the "real" setup.

Regardless, I'd like to comment on a couple things:

Quote:
- Hard to tell but I don't believe the kettle bottom is stepped? You may have side wall shunting because of this.


The kettle bottom is not stepped. I only use mine for a BK so I can't comment on shunting, but it would make sense if that was an issue.

Quote:
it's also nice to have gallon lines on the back.


These are nice to have if you're comparing the kettle to a different kettle that doesn't have lines OR a sight glass. But, it is extremely difficult to tell how much volume you actually have (in the BK), because wort is past a gallon line, you really have to eyeball it and guess that you have 9.5 gallons, for example. You probably won't see any differences in your final product, but if you want absolute repeatability and exact measurements, those lines won't help.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 9:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll say the other thing I like about my Blichmann kettles is that I can remove the Hop Stopper without using any tools.

There are some other kettles that have external sight glasses that are well made, but I've yet to see ones as easy to clean as what Blichmann does. Others come apart in ~3 pieces and require tools to disassemble/reassemble. With Blichmann it's a quick turn of the allen key to remove the nut at the top, pass the brush, put the nut back in. That's it. See here for pics/details: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/kettles-overview


Some kettle manufacturers making kettles specifically for brewing talk about having a clad bottom for "even heat distribution for gas fired" but that just isn't required. There’s no benefit for heat distribution when gas fired given either that wort is not very thick and won’t scorch as the thin nature keeps it moving through convection. The thousands of gas fired non-clad bottomed Blichmann kettles in use around the world are proof that it’s not an issue. Clad bottoms to avoid scorching make sense when heating thicker liquids like spaghetti sauce that do not move around naturally.

Good thought on the false bottom and having close to zero protrusions on the top like Blichmann makes cleaning/stirring much easier. Your paddle won't get stuck or hit anything.

Some like to think that welded fittings work better than weldless and that's not true when weldless is done properly. I bet most Blichmann owners don't even realize that the sight glass, thermometer, and ball valve are all weldless. They are extremely solid and require zero maintenance and never need to be removed. Doing weldless with the ball valve will often let the valve sit closer to the kettle, so less of a protrusion than if you welded on a fitting first. Less protrusions means the kettle's easier to move around, takes up less space, less likely to snag on things, etc.

More reasons why I like the kettles here: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/kettles-overview

My 2 cents!

Kal

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Last edited by kal on Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:27 am; edited 2 times in total
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Walts Malt




Joined: 27 Sep 2013
Posts: 119
Location: Farmington, MN

Drinking: Two Hearted Clone

Working on: Planning my Fall Brewing Schedule


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dang it, Kal! You are making this tough. I actually love the Blichman pots for all the reasons that you sight. I really like it for a mash tun as I think that's the best false bottom out there. The price is what really scares me away, but as my Dad always says, "it only takes a little more to go first class." So, here I sit with a tough decision.

The points about the NB false bottom are good ones. I don't like the idea of a FB that doesn't cover the whole bottom as its likely that it will move then.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your dad sounds like a smart man. Wink To quote myself from my FAQ:

Quote:
There's an old saying "Only the rich can afford to buy cheap things" (because you end up buying them over and over again). In designing our brewery we did not want to continually replace components because we were not happy with the performance or because the parts were cheap and broke. Buy once, use it a lifetime.


There are certainly many ways to make beer and many ways that will make many people happy. The difficult part is deciding what will make you happy of course. No point in spending more money if you would have been perfectly happy spending less.

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Walts, any reason you'd be against going MegaPot/Boilermaker/MegaPot for your BK/MLT/HLT? You wouldn't have all the same kettle, but it would still be symmetrical, would still save some money and you could get the false bottom you want.
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itsnotrequired




Joined: 15 Sep 2015
Posts: 177
Location: central wi


PostLink    Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 12:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tungsten wrote:
Walts, any reason you'd be against going MegaPot/Boilermaker/MegaPot for your BK/MLT/HLT? You wouldn't have all the same kettle, but it would still be symmetrical, would still save some money and you could get the false bottom you want.


this is an excellent point. there is nothing that says all your pots have to be the same size and/or be from the same manufacturer. i personally am going with a blichmann for my mlt, based on the rave reviews of the false bottom. for my bk and hlt, i am going a bit more 'economical' with kettles from spike brewing.
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