Brewers Best 16 gallon

[GreenEnvy22]

Hi all,
I've been distilling in a 50L keg, but I also make beer and I've been doing 5 gallon batches in an 8 gallon boiler. I've decided to start doing some 6-10 gallon batches of beer, so I've been upgrading my equipment. I just have a simple pot still setup, 2" column into a liebig.
I've ordered a 16 gallon 'brewers best' brand pot, it's cheap but the 8 gallon one has served me well.

It would be nice if I could share the equipment, it would cut down on clutter in the garage. My keg for distilling currently electric, and for brewing I've so far done it on gas (stove, but I'm getting a 65000btu burner for outside). For the pot, I'll either cut a hole in the lid and solder/weld on a triclamp, or leave the lid alone and try to find a bowl that fits (15.75"/40cm). I'll likely make the cardboard/ptfe gasket for that. I'd probably switch to gas as least initially for distilling too, until I can get 220v setup in my garage. The two 1500w 120V elements I have will just take too long.



This sound like a good plan, consolidating equipment? or am I better off keeping with the keg for distilling? The main downside to the keg is I haven't added a larger opening, so cleaning is a pain.

Thanks for any input.

[NineInchNails]

If you really intend to modify the lid, there are reasonably priced Tri-Clamp bulkhead fittings available for around $25 each. That would be well worth while in comparison to soldering or welding.

For distilling, I prefer to use a keg for a boiler (and have something larger) with 240V element (2 elements in larger boilers). Wiring a 240V circuit is really very simple. Anyone can do it. Just get the appropriate amp breaker, appropriate diameter wire for the length of circuit (there are charts online), installing & wiring the breaker is simple and so is wiring the receptacle. Just shut the main power off to be safe while you're doing this and you'll be fine. When I did this in my garage, over time I installed three circuits and I use them all. While you're at it, better off also wiring up a GFCI box to plug your controller into just to be safe.

Once you go electric, you'll never want to go back to propane. I've had too many instances occur that could have been real dangerous if I had propane burning below.

[_Merlin_]

If you are worried about time with the 1500x2 consider adding an induction cook top under your boiler. Safe/instant heat.