You hid that question away well MS - not sure who is going to find it buried away in this thread
,
For a double batch of 18.5 - 19L (5 gal) into packaging, a 70L (18.5 US gal) kettle will do you fine for most cases. I have two 70 L kettles and will often brew beers of 1.055 OG or less. This requires a bit of pre-boil dilution but this pre-boil dilution costs very little in extra grain- you'll see that in the BIABacus. I no-chill the first half of the batch and chill the last half.
For me, the problem of going over 70 L is that the next step up is often 100L (26.5 gal) and, if you buy a kettle with a decent thickness base (which you should), it gets significantly harder to physically manage; you feel and notice the extra dimension and weight especially when cleaning.
The other thing you'll need to consider with the larger kettle is the heat source. I'm not familiar with this thread so am not sure what you have at your disposal. If you are going to rely on your existing heat source, can it handle a 60L boil?
....
Above you say "when I have a recipe I want to double, just switch my gear over to the bigger kettle." I would strongly consider getting a second bit of equipment exactly like you currently have. This means you can double batch, do two single different batches simultaneously, and, side by side experiments. Not many people can claim that ability. I think, in many cases, it would be wiser to go for "two 'single batch'systems" rather than buy one 'double batch' system.
I definitely think the latter is what I should have done. I tend to do one brew day and feel forced to use both kettles and double-batch in each of them and it's too much beer for me - too much of the one beer and not enough time to experiment due to the infrequency of brewing (a few years ago I used to do a lot of brew days and so the volume was important and half the batch would be taken by me and half by fellow brewers). Now, I'm actually very tempted to look into making one or two "half-batch" system/s that I can brew indoors as that has many advantages I've never considered before:
- it can be done indoors with a small extractor fan
- the above means you can do say 'office work' or just watch tv without being constantly distracted
- the mechanics (weights etc) are not a big deal and, therefore, something like draining a bag can be done very quickly
- chilling and the like is much easier (I hate chilling whether it be active or passsive!)
- increased frequency of brewing (and, therefore, experimentation)
Obviously, everyone comes from different needs and angles on this so you'll be the only one that can find the right answer. All we can do is try and spot some advantages or disadvantages where we see them.
PP
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