Reddit reviews 5 Gallon Stainless Steel Stock Pot with Lid, 12.5 x 12.5 x 11.5

For my own recommendation I would say do an extract beer can kit. You'll get about 40 bottles of beer out of it.

Almost everything below you can get at your local homebrew shop. In fact, many of these items might be part of a "beer starter kit" etc. I do recommend getting the 5 gallon carboy instead of a kit with pails. You'll thank me later. pails can get messy.

1. Coopers Brew Can Kit ($15) *comes with yeast you need
   
2. A 5 gallon carboy (I recommend a big mouth plastic one) ($20)
   
3. An Airlock for your carboy ($5)
   
4. A 4 foot blowoff tube to attach to the airlock center column ($5)
   
5. An empty 2L pop bottle to use as the blowoff container. (free)
   
6. 1KG of sugar *and some more for bottling later ($2)
   
7. A Hydrometer to take your Specific Gravity readings and a container for the hydrometer $25
   
8. A 5 Gallon pot $30 (I highly recommend you follow the kit or use 3 gallons of water during the heating/boiling as I have done...dont try to boil 5 gallons in a 5 gallon pot)
   
9. An Auto-Siphon for siphoning the beer. $13
   
10. A Wine Thief for stealing the samples from your beer (which you read with the hydrometer and then drink) without disturbing the beer too much and risking infection. $13
    
    Total $128 by my guestimates, but you do get 2 cases of beer out of it and $113 worth of brew equipment. Hell, in Ontario the two cases of beer can easily be more expensive than $128 lol... Not cheap, but everything here you will use over and over and over again (except of course the sugar and the brew kit)
    
    ---------------------------------
    
    The Coopers Can Kit comes with instructions to make your beer, a hopped extract and yeast.
    
    After you make your beer it'll be a few weeks before the fermentation is done (which you'll know by hydrometer readings)
    
    In that time you can start getting your stuff together for bottling and carbonating them.
    
    You'll also need (for bottling) 48 empty clean bottles (cleaned and then sanitized with star-san solution) NON TWIST OFF TYPE
    A handheld Beer capper
    Bottle caps (box)
    
    
    I gotta run, but this was fun to type out. If you need any help, glad to help ya.

It won't get the same effect but you can. You just want to invest in a large metal stock pot, it's about the same price as a crock pot and allows you to make massively oversized crockpot meals. I love these, I just scale the recipe up as big as I can go into the pot, low on a crockpot is 190 and high is 250. I go to 200 which is about as low as my oven goes and just simulate a slow cooker on a bigger scale. Hope that helps and if you have any questions DM me or something.

I think that's excessive for extract brewing.

Ritebrew's starter kit is $75 plus shipping. And a 5 gallon kettle (plenty for partial boils) on amazon is $30.

Bottles you can save over the next month by drinking craft beer. If you have to buy them, yea, another $25. Otherwise it covers everything for extract at least. If you want the torpedo screen, paddle, ball valve, and other all-grain supplies, it will go up from there.

And if you are going with the 8 gallon for full boils, you'll also want an immersion chiller for cooling it off.

Purchase a 5.5 gallon pot you want but without anything added to it.

https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Stainless-Steel-Stock-Pot/dp/B000FRJJSM/ref=pd_sim_79_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B000FRJJSM&pd_rd_r=6PQ2AMFEHC2QZZ0F78MZ&pd_rd_w=34FEi&pd_rd_wg=um6x3&psc=1&refRID=6PQ2AMFEHC2QZZ0F78MZ

Then purchase a weld less ball valve. https://www.amazon.com/Weldless-Stainless-Steel-Valve-Spigot/dp/B0028ZLEE6

and a weld less thermometer
https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-800-770-Brew-Thermometer/dp/B008FEPE18/ref=pd_bxgy_328_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B008FEPE18&pd_rd_r=222Q1R1CKYW4HFP57VT9&pd_rd_w=m7gkT&pd_rd_wg=pyRcb&psc=1&refRID=222Q1R1CKYW4HFP57VT9

Then purchase a step bit: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dlawngarden&field-keywords=step+bit

Make sure it has the correct size.

Then purchase this bit for drilling pilot holes in metal: https://www.amazon.com/Century-Drill-Tool-26208-Cobalt/dp/B004UUFAYW/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1481229448&sr=1-1&keywords=1%2F8+stainless+steel+cutting+bit

Drill the pilot holes where you want the ball valve and thermometer, then use the step bit to widen the hole to the correct size.

I have been using this exact setup with an 8 gallon pot for 5+ years and it doesn't leak one little bit. Also you can choose whatever size pot you want, just remember that you should probably leave the thermometer at least an inch or so from the bottom and keep in mind the bottom water will be hotter than the top.

I like to use a mix of stuff, simply because some things hold water, or produce steam, better than others.

• 5 gallon stock pot (cooks large amounts of pasta, potatoes, cauliflower, etc.)
  
• 4 quart steamer (great for steaming vegetables)
  
• Set of pots and pans, with lids (heat up, or cook, just about anything, and multiple things at once)
  
• Portable casserole dishes, with lids (bake'n'go)
  
• Set of cooking utensils
  
• Set of measuring utensils
  
• 2x Locking, freezable, storage/transport containers, large
  
• 2x [Locking, freezable, storage/transport containers, small] (http://smile.amazon.com/Popit-Little-Big-Box-Container/dp/B00CMTDVD0)
  
  Everything I linked is made from metal, and rates highly on Amazon.

I highly suggest one of these if your stove can fit it http://amzn.com/B000FRJJSM

I should also mention that one of the downsides of boiling your driftwood is that you remove most of the tannins. If you're in it for the tannins (blackwater aquarium), this might not be the best method.

I've been using this one for the past two years and it has served me very well. I was even able to mark the sides with a punch to tell me how many gallons. I would also get a spray bottle for your sanitizer because it's so much easier. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FRJJSM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've thought about this for sometime because i want to build out a van so i can do ski touring, and theirs not always a shower available. Anyways, I've thought maybe a 5 gallon pot with a thermometer, being heated on a burner might work. I don't think it would take long to heat up considering that it only needs to be heated to 39C / 102F or so. You could at this point poor that into a pump sprayer, or use a portable shower head and put the pump right into the pot. As to how to do it in the van, i've thought maybe if you sat on a small bench in a portable plastic tub, or built your own wooden tub to your own dimensions. Then just either pour out the water, or pour into a greywater jug. If you built your own tub, you could even install a little drain into it with a rubber stopper.

I use a cheap $20 stainless steel 5 gallon (actually I use 2 of them to get a full boil now).

http://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Stainless-Steel-Stock-Pot/dp/B000FRJJSM

Looks like 7.5 gallon pots get you above $50. Mine are that thin stainless steel material (not the super thick you find in $200 pots) and my first one has held up for 5 years so far.