I picked up this kettle a few months back for roughly $180. This kettle is a weld-less setup (meaning the spigot and thermometer are not welded directly onto the kettle) and does require some careful construction to insure no leakage. Both the spigot and the thermometer come with two silicone o-rings for the inside and outside of the kettle. The key is to tighten the nuts enough that they are secure, but not too tight as this can actually cause some leaking. On the first brew day I had a few drips leak from the thermometer as I was heating up the water, but it stopped within 3 minutes.

The stainless-steel false bottom works very well for my setup, but if you are hoping to use it as a lauter tun, I would recommend attaching the bazooka screen at the same time in case any grain falls below it (there is a trick to this, there is a very specific angle the false bottom can be turned to to fit both in at the same time.

For reference, I have been using this for a Brew in the Bag setup in which this is my kettle for boiling the water, my mash tun, and my wort boiler. It can easily fit a 5 gallon batch with around 10-11 pounds of grain. If you are looking for higher gravity beers, I would recommend doing a 4.5 gallon or smaller batch or rinse sparging to add more water to the wort for a 5-gallon batch.

As a whole, I am thrilled with this kettle and it has become the center piece of my brew days.

The o-rings for the spigot were attached to a small piece of cardboard in my packaging. I originally thought they were missing, so be careful to look for them! It came with two extra o-rings, and I do recommend that you check the ones you are using for time to time and replace them if any leaking starts to occur.

Stainless appears to be good quality. Heavy bottom and good fitting lid. The side walls are thin and this is realized when (slowly) opening and closing spigot valve. Horrible instructions for mounting valve and I went to Youtube search “Ball lock valve for Brew Kettle” to mimic installation- key is to ‘only hand tighten’ with o-rings on inside and outside of kettle wall, teflon tape on outside- no leaks. I filled with 5 gallons and brought temp to 200F and there was an odor that smelled like solvent when I discharged water from spigot. I filled and drained water 3-times to rid the odor/contaminents and its still present. > I strongly caution to clean, check and recheck for solvent residue before ruining a batch of Beer. Good item but poor quality control (residue) and lack of assembly instructions. Updated 12/86/15
I bought a 3pc Stainless Spigot from a brew supply because I cannot get the spigot supplied with the Bayou Classic CLEAN OF SOLVENT/OIL/LUBRICANT- why would a company include a ball valve that leeches solvent smell into the liquid/beer? Read all the 1,2 and 3 Star reviews on the various sizes/versions of this kettle and all ball valves smell of solvent. I emailed the company at Barbour International (www.thebayou.com) [email protected] and their reply was that the oil used was “Food Safe” and left it at that. I tried.