Stockpot size for extract brew?

d2ww

Quick question, thinking of doing my first extract brew, and I'm not sure how big the pot needs to be for a typical 23 litre brew.
Also, if anyone can suggest somewhere near south dub/NE wicklow to get a pot of this size, that would be much appreciated.
It would have to be a steel one as, I'm hoping that my kitchen induction nob will do the trick.

BeerNut

As big as you can get. I used to do 23L batches in an 8L stockpot and it was a messy nightmare. I've since got a 17L one which allows for 10L of wort and plenty of headspace, though I've also converted to full boil which is far easier. I bought my big stockpot in Living Island on Talbot Street.

loyatemu

BeerNut wrote: »

As big as you can get. I used to do 23L batches in an 8L stockpot and it was a messy nightmare. I've since got a 17L one which allows for 10L of wort and plenty of headspace, though I've also converted to full boil which is far easier. I bought my big stockpot in Living Island on Talbot Street.

how do you do full boil 23L in a 17L stockpot?

I looked in Living Island recently and the have very light cheap stockpots up to about 15L (they're not very well labelled so not sure of the capacity); and heavier, more expensive ones up to 25L (€50 I think), but the latter are very wide so the boil-off rate would be quite high.

Peco boiler is about €60 so that's another options, though one of the lads in the homebrew club told me a story of how his split open in his kitchen during a brew which didn't sound like a lot of fun :eek:

RasTa

Better off going second hand. This would be handy for all grain, and could easily do extract

http://www.adverts.ie/other-diy-renovation/home-brewing-equipment/10398956

BeerNut

loyatemu wrote: »

how do you do full boil 23L in a 17L stockpot?

I don't. When I went to full boil I got a 30L kettle.

BeardySi

loyatemu wrote: »

how do you do full boil 23L in a 17L stockpot?

Use the amount of extract for the 23L brew with 17L of water and top up to the desired volume afterwards. Works well. I've done extract brews down to 50% of the final volume without any problems.

BeerNut

Treadhead wrote: »

Use the amount of extract for the 23L brew with 17L of water and top up to the desired volume afterwards. Works well. I've done extract brews down to 50% of the final volume without any problems.

Yes, that's partial boil. I used to do that. Awkward and, apparently, the hop utilisation isn't as good. I was advised to only add half the extract at the beginning of the boil and add the rest later.

macnug

+ 1 on half the extract. I use to do partials too and found that not only is the hop utilisation weak but the malt tends to caramelise a little bit which makes it hard for the yeast to process the malt, leaving a sweeter beer. (When adding all the malt at the start)