Getting my parts for the keg to kettle conversion...

I'm going to finish up my keggle in the next month, and I'm going to start getting the parts together. I'm going to use a full false bottom since it seems to be the most efficient manner to strain.

What I want to know is:

Where'd you guys buy your fittings?

and...

What parts did you use?

I have looked through a number of threads and webpages on this subject, however it seems people used a plethora of parts and some people didnt seem to think out their project as much as I'd like to. Thats why I'm here.

I have a good connection to free kegs, however I don't want to waste one. I'm going to have a Stainless steel fitting welded in for easy cleaning, etc. So I guess the biggest thing I need help on is getting a nice spigot for the exterior of the keggle and deciding on my interior manifold.

Thanks Much...

I just got some parts here. Coupling, nipple, ball valve, and barbed nipple. On the interior, I used copper I bought at HD. Compression fitting with nut, pipe, elbow, and a bit more pipe. The pipe after the elbow goes though a hole in my false bottom, which is hinged and and folds in half for easy removal.

Any chance you would want to sell one of those kegs?

where do you live? I can call my buddy if you are in the Boston area.

I'm working on a deal with my machinist and a welder to get the keggles built.

Our machinist would handle the cutting of the keg and drilling the skirt to ensure pressure relief. The welder will install the SS fitting for a seamless keg.

I'm probably going to machine my own false bottom and build the manifold for the inside myself. Once the machining and welding is complete, I will post with pictures as the build comes along.

There's no one size fits all. It depends if you're building an HLT, MLT or kettle as to deciding which internal fittings to use. When you say "machine" your own false bottom, I assume you mean buying a piece of perforated stainless sheet and not drilling all the holes yourself right? www.onlinemetals.com for that.

Buyfittingsonline.com is great for stainless fittings but I also found my local big plumbing supply can order the same parts for a little cheaper.

for this keg, I think we are gonna use it as a boil pot and HLT. Eventually we will run a HERMS in the keggle to heat our MLT. My plan is to have this keggle for just about everything we can use it for...

I am in middletown ny 10940

once all the pieces fall in line, I'll post on a price breakdown for services and parts...

Jfish- can you supply the keg or do you need this from the ground up?

any suggestion on what thickness to get for the perforated sheet?

So I have found my fitting to be welded into the keggle, as well as my ball valve/spigot. Next I need to figure out where to place my fitting and ball valve on the keg... Any experts wanna chime in on this?

Also, on this one I think we are going to install a SS thermocouple that will connect to a digital temp gauge and a controller to regulate the propane to maintain the temperature... Anyone try a setup like this before?

I like to put bulkhead drains as low as possible.

So basically put it as low as the keg allows... Any thoughts on putting the drain on the bottom of the keg and plumbing through the skirt?

make sure you get your temp probe location nice and low also:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=60187

NoClueBrewMaster said:

So basically put it as low as the keg allows... Any thoughts on putting the drain on the bottom of the keg and plumbing through the skirt?

Click to expand...

I'd say go for it on an HLT or a mash tun that will not be directly heated, but not on a kettle. You'll have all kinds of wort scortching in that pipe.