putting a spigot in a 30-qt aluminum pot

Well it finally happened, SWMBO kicked me out of the kitchen for scrotching the stove top one too many times (2 times to be exact). Damn, I'm in the garage now. Such a tragedy So I went out and bought a "turkey fryer" kit so I could use propane to boil wort. I was planning on making that move anyway. The kit I bought came with a 30 quart aluminum pot. I've been using my 30 quart stainless steel pot so I don't really need the other. But I got to thinking, it sure would be nice to have a brew pot with a spigot in the bottom. How easy is it to install a spigot in an aluminum pot without having something that constantly leaks afterwards? I've just never tried tapping a hole in something like that before, so I didn't want to go off ruining a perfectly good pot if it's not advisable.

Thanks for the help,

Jeff

use a step bit. youll need at least the 3/4" one. i put one on my stainless and works great. oh and it was the weldless.

If you have access to a power drill, and a step bit, that's all you need. Aluminum is a lot easier to drill than stainless. I've heard of people using hole saws, but they always seem to wobble a bit and the hole ends up slightly bigger than I had intended.

After that, a weldless bulkhead and you are all set. Just make sure you drill the hole high enough off the bottom for your the washer and manifold to fit.

If it is a cheap, thin pot I'm not sure if I would bother. If it is thin, i would try and use some washers to provide rigid connection at the valve.

All of the advice here is good. I would use a step bit, and drill to no more than 13/16 if you use a 1/2" size weld less set. It is always easier to file or grind the hole a little bigger then to have to try to shore up a hole that is too big.

I actually attempt to get the nipple to thread into the hole so its a very tight fit. (insert jokes here)

I've got a guide on my site here that show the steps to install a weldless set.

Weld less Fitting installation guide.

I drilled a 1/8" pilot hole, then went to a 1/2". I hogged it out using a carbide bit in a high speed (15,000rpm) rotary. No problems at all. My kettle is almost 1/4" thick.

If it was me, I'd pick up a 10 gallon pot from Austin Homebrew ($70). Put your spigot in the aluminum one along with the stainless steel braid manifold used in the MLT cooler conversion, and go all grain.

Sorry if this was asked already. I can't find it so I'll ask here.

I'm going to add a spigot to my brew-pot and am wondering what the difference is between the Brass and SS spigots. I have two spicific questions, and would welcome general comments as well.

Do they react differently to the heat generated in a brew-pot over a propane burner?
Do they react differently to the acidity of the wort?

Thanks in advance.

Just something that delayed me installing a spigot, if you have to move your kettle to an ice bath the spigot will have to be sanitized before draining into your fermenter anyway. I've got a wort chiller now so I don't have to move the kettle so I installed a brass spigot. Got my from Bargain Fittings, best price I found. If you do install on a thin aluminum pot I would use stainless steel washers around it, which my spigot came with anyway.

I put a bargainfittings.com SS fitting on my 40QT, 1/4" thick Aluminum brew kettle last weekend and it worked great. Like everyone else said, the step bit makes a nice clean hole. I made my hole the same size as the washers that came with the fitting set, and had to actually thread the nipple through the kettle, so it was a very good fit. My kettle was so thick, that the nipple was almost too short for me to be able to thread the valve and other side on, but I did... I think for a thick pot you could use one of the cooler fittings maybe.

Bottom line is I got a really nice, heavy, 10 gallon brew with spigot for just over $100 ($65 + tax for the pot at Ace Restarant Supply + $32 + $10 shipping for the fitting). Now I want to add a thermometer fitting or thermo/sight glass combo fitting.

One word of caution - at least in my case - remove the cool rubber cover off of the spigot before you start heating water in the kettle on your burner, or you'll end up with a stinky melted rubber mess.

I wouldn't put anything on a 30qt pot. It's still light enough to pick up and pour.

Bobby_M said:

I wouldn't put anything on a 30qt pot. It's still light enough to pick up and pour.

Click to expand...

But flicking open a ball valve is still so much easier. Especially if the user ever wants to go through a CFC or plate chiller. Or even to recirc. Plus, picking up a pot of boiling wort is never the best of ideas.

When I used my pot for the first time last week, it was much easier and faster to drain than previously using an autosiphon, plus, with whirlpooling I think I left more trub in the pot than with my autosiphon and still got almost every drop of usable wort out of the pot. I think it makes brew day easier regardless of the size of your pot.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm getting a wort-chiller and a kegging system for my birthday this year, so chilling won't be an issue. I think I'll go ahead with the brass spigot and I'll also get a sight glass. I currently use a dip-stick to determine how much I have in the pot.

I'm getting back into brewing after a 5 year break so I may be back with more questions, especially since this is my first venture into the world of kegging.

Bobby_M said:

I wouldn't put anything on a 30qt pot. It's still light enough to pick up and pour.

Click to expand...

Never know if he has issues that prevent over a certain amount of weight being lifted. a family member cannot lift anything over 10Lbs without causing her back pain.

I am thinking about adding the spigot from bargainfittings.com to my kettle. I see the the above post talks about removing the rubber from the spigot before heating. That is easy to do, but before i buy and install, I would like to know if anybody has had issues with one of these spigots while using a propane burner. Are the silicone o-rings really resistant to that heat? thanks

smatson said:

Are the silicone o-rings really resistant to that heat? thanks

Click to expand...

Yes.

+1 - yes, heat resistant.

I've had no problems at all with mine. I have the spigot centered 2 inches from the bottom of the pot. I don't know how close to the bottom you can go, but with a copper tube from the spigot to the bottom I can get almost everything out.

Perfect, thanks for the help. I will definitely be buying that spigot now.

I just installed this on my 40qt kettle and works great. Not to mention that it was so easy. So far, I have just tested how it holds water (no problems there). My question is: Will I need some sort of filter when draining after whirlpooling? Or will this be adequate by itself. My worry is the spigot getting clogged with the hotbreak. Thanks!

I don't have a filter on the drain and it hasn't clogged up yet. Whirlpooling moves most everything to the center.
However I have not done a batch with whole leaf hops yet either.
I drain into my carboy through two mesh strainers, which takes out most of the trub.

Cool, thanks for the help. I don't brew with whole hop leaves either, just pellets. So have you found that just using a strainer at the other end takes care of most of the hot break? What about the cold. Do you whirlpool after you cool or before?

15 minutes before the boil ends, I put my IC in the kettle.
After flame out, I use my paddle to get a good whirlpool going, then turn on the water flow to my chiller.
I find that having the whirlpool going at the same time as my chiller help with cooling the wort.

If you don't have a really fine mesh strainer (I couldn't find mine last time I brewed) put a couple layers of cheese cloth in a metal mesh strainer from the kitchen, that works too.

Also, I don't always use bags for my hop pellets. When I do have them in bags I use nylon knee high stocking. In my area they are cheaper than 'hop bags' and do the same thing.

Cheers