Bayou Classic 800-416 16 Gallon Stainless Steel 6 Piece Brew Kettle

The pot arrived promptly and without any damage to the packaging or the pot itself. assembly was pretty easy as I'm a fairly handy person when it comes to mechanical things, but having read the other postings here it was helpful to know I needed to use the yellow tape. However, I only have the white Teflon tape so I just gave it a few extra wraps and everything seems to be working fine at the valve and the thermometer, with no leaks detected. Overall quality of construction I consider to be very good. While the side walls seemed a little thin compared to my other brew pot, they're more than strong enough to hold a full pot of grains. So far I've done two brews in this pot, a five gallon extract brew and a 10 gallon all grain brew. The 5 gallon brew was exactly what others have posted, absolutely no chance of boi overs.The ten gallon all grain brew was a big IPA with 34 pounds of grain and 11 gallons of strike water. The false bottom had no trouble at all handling that load, even with the pot filled within two inches of the top. I would recommend this system to anyone looking to get into all grain brewing. It is an incredible value especially when you shop around and look at other systems, many of which are much more expensive. Grab one, you won't regret it.

Great pot, looks great with a nice finish. It's not as heavy as I thought it would be. The thermometer is awesome and has various brew related temps on it. The spigot leaked a little around 10 gallons full, not sure why. I used yellow teflon tape as well as the washers. Ended up removing it, applying more tape, tightened it back down and it no longer leaks. Hopefully it won't pop up as an issue again later.False bottom must have been improved over the years. Mine seems extra sturdy and I can't imagine in breaking like in some of the previous review.They also provided a bag of extra washers which was really cool.The instructions aren't very good. They don't even tell you to use tape on the fittings.

Currently in use for the first time. I had a very small leak when I first set it up. Added an extra stopper to it and that's all good now. Only other problem I had was mine has a pretty decent dent in it. It's still doing its job just fine, but it'd be nice to get a discount or something if I'm gonna get a dented kettle.

Overview:I have two of these, one purchased with the accessories included here and one with just the ball valve. At the moment I use one for my brew kettle and the other for my strike/sparge water. They are both worth every penny, I will soon be picking up a third to use as a mash tun to replace my cooler.Part By PartKettle Body: Strong, resilient, easy to clean, tall but not so tall you can't reach the bottom when cleaning. Handles appear a little worrisome but so far have held great. I would be interested to know how the pot does in heat retention when being used as a mash tun. I'll post an update when/if I find out for myself.Ball Valve: functional but one of my the ones that came with my pot did have a dripping problem as if water was getting through the threads. Adding plenty of yellow Teflon tape as you may have read suggested solved the problem. I agree with some of the other reviews that it's location is a little high on the pot for my liking but does not pose a substantial problem.Bulhead Fitting: All stainless steel and comes with high temperature O-rings. In fact they included an extra set. Not sure if the dripping issue was due to the threads on the fitting or the ball valve but it's an easy fix and the drip was very slight.Thermometer: One of the only downsides, doesn't maintain accuracy very well. I've had to calibrate it every time to get it to read properly. It seems to hold it's calibration in use but perhaps loses it during cleaning. After a few uses I noticed this last time that water had gotten into the visual indicator while cleaning it. Left it out to dry, seems OK now but I would keep an eye on it. May be worth it to replace it with a higher quality model.False Bottom: I have yet to use this as a mash tun so I haven't tested it's true durability but based on its construction it seems strong and well built. I've used it in my brew kettle and it did an outstanding job of keeping the great bulk of the trub out of my finished wort.Bazooka Screen: Great stainless steel construction, has served me many different purposes. Be cautious using it in your brew kettle as any trub that develops below the false bottom or gets past it does plug up the screen. Not enough to stop flow but does impede it substantially. I've discovered the false bottom does well enough on its own to reduce the solids that make their way into the fermentation vessel so I've ceased using the screen in the brew kettle.Lid: I wish the lid could hang on the side of the pot when not in use. Although I only use the lid when using the pot for my strike/sparge water it would be nice to not have to put it down somewhere when adding more water to the port. Other than that there's not much to say on it, stainless steel as well, looks nice, the handle doesn't get too hot to the touch.

Use this for brewing, had to add extra plumbing tape to keep it from leaking, but for the price couldn't go wrong. We don't use the false bottom but the screen works very well. It's nice to have the large pot to allow for good rolling boils. After 3 years this pot still looks like new and it gets a lot of use. I have brewed around 40 recipes in this pot. I like that it's so easy to take apart and clean and then put back together.

I was impressed when the quality of this 16 gallon pot was better than expected.The Bottom is nice and thick (a lot thicker than I expected). It makes the pot feel very beefy.All of the accessories make a nice addition to the purchase.I would highly recommend this product to others.At around $230, I felt like it could be a little cheaper, but it seemed to be one of the lower prices when trying to shop for other pots of this size (in stainless) with the Drain & thermometer.If I see the price drop, I would definitely get another.

I was hesitant to buy this after seeing photos of the false bottom all bent up...but then I remembered I don't do all grain brewing! And it worked great! My first batch was a vanilla bourbon imperial stout and it's amazing. My best beer to date! I had a problem with the thermometer from the get go. One of the screws was out and it couldn't be adjusted. I contacted support and they sent me a replacement right away. Very pleased with their service and support AND the product.

El producto se percibe de primera vista de muy buena calidad sin embargo, el embalaje en el que vino es una caja sin protección y posiblemente el transportista no tuvo cuidado y el producto llegó golpeado.

Nice solid kettle, only flaw is the holes for the valve and thermometer are too small for full insertion past the threaded section so that the O-rings seal properly.2 minutes with a dremel tool or round file to open the holes up will fix the issue that others have reported with leaks and not sealing.