Kettles (overview)

 

The heart of our brewery consists of three identical 20 gallon Blichmann BoilerMaker kettles.  

These kettles are primarily designed to be heated by natural gas or propane by a burner placed underneath.

We'll describe why we chose to use these kettles and the extra options you'll need to order.

Then in later articles we'll provide details on modifying them for use in our Electric Brewery to convert them into our Hot Liquor Tank, Mash/Lauter Tun, and Boil Kettle.

 Blichmann BoilerMaker kettles as shipped:

Boilermaker kettles as installed in the brewery (with some extra parts fitted):

 

Our Blichmann Boilermaker kettles are all 20 US gallons in size which allows us to brew up to 10 gallons of beer per batch, regardless of style. If pushed, we can get to 13-14 gallons but most times we typically try and aim for 10 gallons of finished beer per batch. This is enough to fill two 5 gallon kegs. Whether it's a 3% ABV (alcohol by volume) light beer or a 12% barleywine, having 20 gallon kettles allows us the flexibility to brew up about 10 gallons of just about anything we can dream up.

If you only intend on brewing 5 gallon batches consider the smaller 10 gallon kettles. If you're thinking that 15 gallons is more your style consider the larger 30 gallon kettles. Want to brew 20 gallons or a full barrel (31 gallons)? The massive 55 gallon kettles are what you'll need. The optional Blichmann 55 Gallon BoilerMaker Extensions may be added to the 55 gallon kettles to increase capacity to 100 gallons for a 2 barrel nanobrewery.

Not sure what size is right for you? Keep this in mind: The amount of time it takes to brew is (generally speaking) the same regardless of batch size. It takes about 5-8 hours from start to the end of cleanup. Most home brewers look for a good balance between how much work is involved, the amount of beer produced, and how long it's going to take to consume. This means that most home brewers stick to producing approximately 10 gallons of finished product per batch. It's the perfect balance between not having to drink the same beer for months on end and getting the most out of the work involved. Even 10 gallons of beer may seem like a lot at first, but once your friends and family find out what you're up to you'll be surprised how fast it disappears! Most brewers who start with smaller 10 gallon kettles end up upgrading.

For the ultimate in flexibility, we recommend that all three kettles be at least twice the size of the amount of beer you wish to produce. This is to account for the various losses that occur such as evaporation/expansion/foaming during boiling, grain/hop absorption, chilling/fermentation sediment, racking/kettle/hose deadspace, etc.

So why Blichmann kettles? Anyone who's shopped for brew kettles will tell you that there are many options available, from 15 gallon beer kegs (called 'keggles') to standard cooking pots. Blichmann kettles are unique in that they are designed from the ground up specifically for brewing. We find that a lot of thought has gone into these kettles, which results in making brewing easier. To quote the marketing information from Blichmann:
 

The BoilerMaker is the only brew pot on the market designed from the ground up solely for homebrewing. The height to diameter ratio is the ideal 1:2 to minimize boil off and also prevent boil-overs. The sizes are optimized to blend seamlessly from hot liquor tanks, mash tuns, boil kettles, to fermenters for the common batch sizes of 5/10/20 gallons and 1 barrel (31 gallons). Blichmann Engineering is serious about brewing, and their designs reflect this passion for quality. With innovations like the stepped bottom, button louvered false bottoms, and snap-in dip tube; to subtle features like orienting the handles to make carrying easier, and a convenient place to rest the lid, you'll find the BoilerMaker line of brewpots to be a joy to use.

All Blichmann BoilerMaker kettles feature:

  • 18 ga 304 stainless steel construction
  • Adjustable BrewMometer
  • 3-piece stainless ball valve
  • Borosilicate glass level gauge (never clouds or scratches) with rugged stainless guard, laser-etched volume graduations, cleaning brush, and clean-out ports
  • Snap-in dip tube design installs without tools and drains to within 3/8" of bottom
  • Handles oriented to make carrying easier and the lid stores neatly on the pot handle
  • Stepped bottom on pot supports mash screen and virtually eliminates sidewall shunting
  • Button louver false bottom (hybrid of perforated screen and slotted manifold)

One feature not mentioned is that these kettles do not have a heavy clad bottom: The bottom is the same thickness as the side walls (18 ga). Brewers often cite this as a downside to the Blichmann Boilermaker kettles when they are heated with a typical propane or natural gas burner placed underneath. We often hear brewers mention that this thin bottom will lead to scorching the beer as it doesn't disperse the heat evenly. This is not true. 

With typical cooking pots you want a heavy clad bottom to help disperse the heat and avoid scorching as often the liquid you're heating/boiling is much thicker (ex: spaghetti sauce) and does not move through convection. When boiling very thin liquids like wort (the sugary water that eventually becomes beer), this is a non-issue as the wort is in constant movement. In our all electric setup the thinner bottom means that the kettles weigh less which in turn reduces the cost. They are also much easier to move around when cleaning than a typical large cooking pot.

 

Why three kettles?

Three kettles are used in our Electric Brewery. Each performs a unique function:

  • Hot Liquor Tank (HLT): Used to heat water for the brewing session. The water we use is 'strike' water for soaking the grain and 'sparge' water for rinsing the grain.
  • Mash/Lauter Tun (MLT): Used to soak (mash) the grain in the strike water to release malt sugars. The same kettle is then used to filter (lauter) the malt sugar solution from the grain. Like most small scale brewers we use one kettle to perform both mashing and lautering hence the name 'Mash/Lauter Tun'.
  • Boil Kettle (BK): Used to boil the malt sugar solution with hops for seasoning. Before hops are added the malt sugar solution is called 'sweet wort'. After it is simply called 'wort'. (It's not considered 'beer' until later when yeast has been added and has converted the sugars into alcohol).

 

Going weldless

Blichmann kettles are 100% weldless meaning that there are no threaded screw-on fittings and none of the parts are welded on. The BrewMometer, level gauge, and ball valve are all simply held in place with washers, nuts, and high temperature silicone o-rings. Some feel that weldless means you'll end up with poorly fitted, lose, or leaky connections. Not true. When done right weldless connections will be tight fitting, never leak, never require any adjustments, and be perfectly safe. The stigma of weldless likely comes from the fact that most third party weldless add-ons we know of do not create a tight fitting connection and do require special care when installing or they will leak. Figure 2 from the BoilerMaker manual shows how Blichmann was able to achieve tight and leak-free weldless connections using the BrewMometer as an example (see picture below). 

Blichmann weldless BrewMometer:

To seal the kettle from the outside, Blichmann uses a high temperature food grade silicone o-ring fitted inside a stainless steel washer. The washer is the key differentiator between how Blichmann does weldless and how other third party kits do weldless. Most third party weldless kits do not include a washer so the component that is connected to your kettle ends up simply resting against the o-ring and tends to move around when pushed/pulled. These kits always warn about over tightening as it will compress the o-ring and make it bulge, which then causes the setup to leak. Definitely not an ideal solution, especially with items such as ball valves, which tend to get pushed and pulled a fair bit.

Blichmann carefully selected the size of the o-ring and washer such that the o-ring is slightly thicker than the washer. This allows the nut to be tightened down completely, ensuring that the external component does not move at all and still allows the o-ring to create an excellent seal.

Later on in our instructions you'll see how we've applied this same Blichmann weldless principle to attach extra components to our kettles. The result is an extremely tight fit with zero leaks. We'll provide you with all of the washer and o-ring specifications so that you can do the same yourself without having to guess or choose parts by trial and error.

 

 

Parts and tools

Choose your kettle size based on the amount of beer you wish to brew:

Brew up to 5 gallons per batch:

Brew up to 10 gallons per batch (recommended):

Brew up to 15 gallons per batch:

Brew up to 31 gallons (1 barrel) per batch:

Brew up to 62 gallons (2 barrels) per batch:

Note: In late 2014 Blichmann redesigned their kettles calling them the "BoilerMaker G2" and changed the standard ball valve for a proprietary "linear flow" valve. We recommend this be replaced. (Complete details and instructions)

These kettles typically ship directly from the manufacturer regardless of where you order from. Your warranty is also directly with the manufacturer.

The BoilerMaker kettles all come standard with level gauges (including cleaning brush and Allen key), a 3-piece ball valve, a BrewMometer, and a lid. A stainless shield is also provided (for use with propane/gas heated setups). We'll be using that shield later for a different purpose with our pumps.

 You'll also need the following tool to attach the BrewMometer to the kettles:

 

Once you receive your BoilerMaker kettles, follow the included instructions to install the BrewMometer, dip tube, and false bottom. The thermometers should be calibrated (we recommend using a Thermapen). While we won't be using them (we'll be using electronic thermometers) you might as well make them accurate.

The rest of this section describes the various parts and features found on the BoilerMaker kettles and why we chose them over other solutions.

  

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BrewMometer (Thermometer)

Blichmann BoilerMaker kettles come equipped with good analog bimetal thermometers (they call them BrewMometers) that are adjustable so that you don't have to stoop to read them like you do with most kettle thermometers. They are custom made for brewing and various labels show the temperature ranges used in brewing. BrewMometers are also available for sale separately.

In our all electric setup we don't use these thermometers as all temperature measurements and control are done from our control panel. These thermometers simply serve as a backup as the kettles are, unfortunately, not available without thermometers.

If you do find that the BrewMometer gets in the way, you can remove them and fill the hole with a Blichmann BrewMometer hole plug (see picture at right). This plug was originally meant for those who used their kettles to make different sized batches of beer and may require multiples holes for the BrewMometer to accommodate different volumes. (Blichmann purposely places the BrewMometer fairly high up on the kettle to avoid heat from propane and natural gas burners - not an issue for us in our Electric Brewery).

We don't find that the BrewMometers get in the way so we leave them in place. As mentioned previously, they also provide a convenient backup temperature reading.

Adjustable Blichmann BrewMometer:

 

 

Level gauge (Sight glass)

The level gauges found on the Blichmann BoilerMaker kettles are extremely useful throughout the brewing process in all three kettles. We use it to measure the amount of wort collected or boiled-off in the Boil Kettle, strike water added to the Mash/Lauter Tun, and water heated in the Hot Liquor Tank. Being able to see the liquid level at a glance in the Mash/Lauter Tun makes it easy to match flow rates when sparging (more on this later). It's one piece of equipment that's very handy to have on all three kettles if we are to brew beer that is repeatable and consistent from batch to batch. 

The stainless guard on either side helps protect the sight glass. The kettles are large, so having this extra protection is welcome insurance as we've certainly banged into the guard more than once as we clean up the kettles and move them around. We've yet to see a third party sight glass that can be added to pots or keggles that has protection like this, which means you have to be extremely careful when moving or cleaning them.

The laser-etched volume graduations are fairly easy to read and won't wear off. You'll be able to measure to within approximately 1/4 gallon without difficulties which (as mentioned previously) will help with brewing beer that is repeatable and consistent from batch to batch. Third party sight glasses cannot have these volume graduations as every kettle is different. You have to add your own with tape or marker, which wear off or fall off with use.

The sight glass itself is made of heat resistant borosilicate glass, which does not cloud or scratch. Most other sight tubes we've seen become hazy after a few months of use. A sight glass that remains transparent year after year means that it's always quick and easy to see the liquid level - especially true when the liquid you are measuring is clear, like the water in the hot liquor tank.

A brush and Allen key are also included. The Allen key allows for quick removal of the nut from the top of the level gauge for cleaning with the brush. There is no need to remove the sight glass for cleaning. Incidentally, the long brushes are also the perfect size and length for cleaning the insides of corney keg dip tubes.

The level gauge is not available for sale separately, likely because dozens of different lengths and graduations would have to be offered to accommodate the different kettle sizes that exist.

 BoilerMaker level gauge:

 

 

 

Ball valve and dip tube

Blichmann BoilerMaker kettles come equipped with a 3-piece ball valve and dip tube on the output.

The benefit of 3-piece ball valves over regular ball valves is that they can be completely disassembled for cleaning. We find this feature to be of questionable value as even the regular (non 3-piece) ball valves used elsewhere in the brewery can be disassembled adequately for cleaning if required. Keep in mind as well that all of the ball valves you will be using in our brewery design are used on what's called the 'hot side' of the brewing process where everything will be boiled. Sanitation is not critical on the hot side of the brewing process.

Like the rest of Blichmann's products, these 3-piece ball valves are built to extremely high quality standards.

 3-piece ball valve (shown with extra hose disconnect attachment which will be described in later sections):

 3-piece ball valve shown separately:
 

 3-piece ball valve disassembled for cleaning:

 The dip tube snaps in by hand (no tools required) and extends down to the bottom of the kettle:

 

 

 

False bottom

The one piece of optional equipment we purchased with the Blichmann BoilerMaker kettles was a false bottom used in the Mash/Lauter Tun (MLT) to filter liquid from the grain. The false bottom sits on a stepped edge at the bottom of the kettle and uses button louvering to allow liquid to pass through while keeping the grain back. Three small feet are installed underneath, around the center, to ensure that the weight of the grain does not warp or crush the false bottom.

Blichmann marketing literature explains that the stepped edge that the false bottom rests on virtually eliminates 'sidewall shunting and channeling'.  When the grain is rinsed of sugars in the Mash/Lauter Tun during the lautering phase, the liquid will always try to take the path of least resistance. Sidewall shunting happens when the liquid passes between the wall of the kettle and the mass of grain, reducing the amount of sugar removed from the grain. Since in our setup there is no easy path for the liquid to pass through at the kettle/false bottom junction, sidewall shunting is greatly reduced or basically eliminated.

Channeling occurs when the sparge water used to rinse the grains does not pass through the grain bed evenly. In an ideal setup we want the sparge water to pass through evenly from top to bottom, rinsing the sugar off every last bit of grain. In some setups, the liquid will instead create 'channels' from the top of the grain bed to the bottom. This typically happens when the liquid must pass through a smaller area at the bottom of the kettle, as occurs when a mesh hose is used instead of a false bottom. The large perforated false bottom used in the Blichmann BoilerMaker kettles helps ensure that the sparge water passes evenly through the entire grain bed from top to bottom, essentially washing all the sugar out in a piston-like manner.

For more information on how the Mash/Lauter Tun grain filter design affects efficiency, see Appendix F 'Lauter Tun Design for Continuous Sparging' in John Palmer's excellent book 'How to Brew' (pictured at right). John uses fluid dynamics and mathematical models to explain in detail why a design like the Blichmann false bottom is ideal.

Less efficient setups will end up leaving behind a lot of the sugar that was released by the grain, which in turn results in a lower efficiency rating. Within reason, we don't feel that the efficiency rating of a setup is particularly important given that grain is cheap and homebrewers do not brew enormous quantities.  A 10% difference in efficiency at homebrew scales will likely only amount to a few dollars more per batch. What is important however, is achieving a consistent efficiency from batch to batch. If the efficiency is never consistent you'll run into enormous difficulties brewing beer that is repeatable and consistent from batch to batch.

In our Mash/Lauter Tun setup with the Blichmann false bottom not only do we achieve a high efficiency, but we also do it consistently. This means that we always know ahead of time exactly what to expect at the end of the brew day. We've brewed a range of beers from 3% Ordinary Bitters to 7% IPAs and in all cases the efficiency was the same which in turn means that our alcohol percentage and taste was also as expected.

You'll also often hear the dreaded term 'stuck sparge' mentioned by brewers. A stuck sparge occurs if the draining or rinsing of the grain sugars becomes blocked or clogged for any reason. This usually occurs on setups when small or incorrectly designed mesh hose filters are used, and/or the grain is drained too fast. We've never experienced a stuck sparge on our setup, even after dozens of brews of varying size and complexity with fairly fast drain speeds.

Unlike many third party false bottoms, the Blichmann unit does not require a wrench or any other tools in order to remove it for cleaning. As mentioned previously, the dip tube simply snaps into place in by hand. To remove the false bottom for cleaning, simply pull the dip tube towards the center of the kettle and rotate. The false bottom then lifts out easily.

Stirring with our mash paddle is simplified as there are no protrusions such as handles or a dip tube that extends to the center of the kettle (as is done with many third party false bottoms). Solid stainless steel construction means that there is no chance of damage from the mash paddle when the brewer first mixes the grain and water (more information). Many third party false bottom solutions include a fragile silicone hose or stainless steel braided hose, both of which can easily be damaged if the brewer is not careful when stirring. There's an old saying amongst homebrewers that 'you should never let a stranger stir your mash' (due to the fragile unseen components hiding under the surface). This saying doesn't apply here.

 Long story short: We love our Blichmann false bottom!  

 False bottom installed in the Mash/Lauter Tun (MLT):

 Side view of the false bottom showing the button louvering which acts as a mash filter:

 The dip tube extends through the false bottom to pick up the liquid that is allowed to pass through.
The false bottom rests on a stepped edge that extends around the bottom of the kettle:

 

 

Lid

There isn't much to say about the lid other than the fact that some thought has gone in the size and shape of the handle.

It mates perfectly with the handles on the kettle allowing you to store the lid when needed. We use this feature while we wait for the kettles to dry overnight after cleaning is done on brew day.

The lid may be stored on the kettle handle:

 Continue on to Building Your Brewery - Heating Elements.