Northern Brewer - MegaPot Stainless Steel Brew Kettle with Volume Markings (20 Gallon w/Valve and Thermometer)

This kettle is everything I hoped it would be, and much more. The construction feels rock-solid, and all the elements of the pot, including the accessories that came with it (ball valve and thermometer), are first class. This is a pot meant to last a lifetime, and I feel it was money well spent for the long haul. After running my first batch with this pot over yesterday, it passed all my quality tests, and I am delighted with my purchase.On another review for a MegaPot with valves and fittings, I noticed someone complaining about leaks. If everything is properly installed, using the thread tape, and the nuts snugged up to the right tension, there should be no leaks. If you have leaks, there are instructions online, as well as videos, that can be found with a little searching.Up until now, I've always been a 5-gallon batch home brewer, and I just got tired of doing a lot of work for such a small amount of beer. This will allow me to double and triple my volume with about the same amount of work. I like the larger valve on the pot, which uses a larger hose than my old 3/8" lines. I'll be adding a false bottom and possibly a bazooka pipe soon, but this kettle was ready to go within minutes of opening the box and installing the valve and thermometer. If you're looking for a rock-solid product that is built to last a lifetime, look no farther. This baby rocks.

Product does was it claims.I was able to brew a batch with it successfully.I do have a few negatives:1. Assembly. Product needs drain spigot assembled and the instructions are mediocre at best. It’s not a hard assembly once you figure out what direction items go but it also isn’t a solid one. The spigot first leaked for me because I over tighten both inside and outside. Once I loosened both and didn’t stretch the o-rings it held.But, this means that I can basically rotate the whole spigot assembly if too much pressure is applied to the handle. Also the hose required for the size of the spigot is just a little bit bigger than the gauge hose every other piece of brew equipment comes with.2. Spigot location.I ran into two issues with how low the spigot is. First, you have to watch where you position your pot on a gas burner because if it is too close to the heat the rubber on the spigot will melt. I caught it before it got to this but it is a concern. It also causes me to position the pot off center and I doubt I get full even heat. It also limits how much heat you can apply. Don’t think you can turn your burner up to 11 and go because the exposed print could melt and your would have a world of trouble.The other issue with the spigot location is that if you brew a hoppy beer with a decent amount of trub, be prepared to strain a lot of your drain before you get the good liquid. This also takes two people if you don’t have a large strainer that can be sat down while you hold the hose and spigot handle. For a NEIPA we had to drain the strainer 3 times before clean beer really started flowing. I’d say about 2 cups of trub came out when it was all added up.As other reviews stated the numbers for measurements on the inside are a little hard to read at times.Other than that it worked as expected. It was easy to clean. Just watch your burner size and heat. Also don’t over tighten the spigot even though you can still rotate it.

The kettle itself is great. You have to install the ball valve and dip tube assembly yourself. There is no bearing surface for the dip tube rotation except the O-ring that keeps the seal to the outside of the kettle. To get it to even marginally work requires endless tweaking of how tight you put the fittings onto the kettle. This is made a little easier with some silicone lube, but I'm constantly paranoid that I'll spill my wort out if I rotate the dip tube, as it's just too easy for the included O-ring to bind up between the pot and the ball valve. This needs either a different geometry on the O-ring or a complete re-think of the mechanism.

So far so good. Have brewed two 5 gal extract kits. This was an upgrade from a smaller non-brew pot so much better overall. Plenty of volume for the 5gal batches with no concerns for boil overs, easy to clean, and seems well made. Not a big deal to assemble the ball valve, but definitely hand tight is enough...too tight and will leak for sure. Glad skipped the temp gauge option, would just be one more place for leak to occur. Glad I purchased so can have a dedicated brew kettle. time will tell if the ball valve is worth it or not, transferring still a pain to keep sludge out of primary. If on the fence like I was...would go for it.

UPDATE: ONE THING IT DEFINITELY NEEDS IS MORE VISIBLE GALLON MARKERS. EVEN WITHOUT STEAM AND ROLLING BOILING WORT, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE THE GALLON INDICATORS ON THE SIDE OF THE POT.I am very pleased with this pot; it is a bit more expensive than some of the other ones I considered. the heavy duty stainless and thick clad bottom help distribute heat and I got a very good even boil. I easily boil 7 gallons with plenty of room for boil ups; I think you could manage an 11 gallon boil session. I wish that the calibrations on the side were a bit larger and visible on the outside of the pot because they are very hard to see inside when the pot is boiling and putting off steam.the siphon downspout for draining allows getting all of the liquid out of the pot. I learned about whirlpooling which is perfect for this pot to take of the wort and leave the spent hops behind. you can make great beer with the lesser expensive pots available provided you keep your eye out for hot spots and stir well. however, if your budget affords for the difference, this is a good investment pot.