rate my junk

got my keg half ass cleaned up and built a hop strainer and pick up tube. the hop strainer is a simple variation of the ones i've seen on here, just fewer parts and a bit simpler to me. instead of the 4" coupling, i got a 6" thingy with about a 1 inch raised lip to hold the hose clamp. attached the 5 gallon paint strainer bag with hose clamp. drilled 4 holes in the very top of the pvc coupler and ran 2 lengths of 5/16th rod through it to rest on top of the keggle's opening. i was planning on trimming the rod to fit inside the rim, but i found that with it sliding through the handle cutouts, and the slight angle of the holes, it holds the coupler centered over the boil pretty well so i might just leave it as is.

the only question i have is regarding my pick up tube. just ran a straight pipe to center, connected an elbow, and ran another small length to about 1/4" off the bottom. stuffed a bit of stainless scrubbie in it and installed. the tubing had a pretty tight fit in the fittings. so, i was wondering if it would work without sweating the fittings together. anybody think that would be a problem?

sorry, forgot the pics.

okay, as for the pick up tube fittings not being soldered or sweated, i did a trial run with a few gallons of water and found that the little bit of air that gets sucked in through the fittings seems to introduce a good bit of air bubbles into the water (or wort as it would be). i made a video (see below) of the draining so you can see the air bubbles. would this be a good way to aerate the wort when transferring to primary? anybody do it like this or see a problem with it?

I don't think it will be adequate for an entire batch of beer. You will still need to use an additional method for aeration.

That is a nice clean keg.

I'd worry about it breaking siphon when the scrubby starts getting clogged and flow into the pickup slows down.

so, i should have the fittings soldered up? i will be using the scrubby in tandem with the paint/hop strainer thingamajig. i just figured i'd add the scrubby as a just in case back up. will the scrubby still get clogged when using the paint strainer bag thingy too? is there any way to simulate that scenario to test it? i'm still new to all this stuff and trying to learn as i go. thanks.

Mines just like yours & I have had no problems what ever with it. I dont use a scrubby they never worked for me. I use a SS false bottom with alum. screen over it. Also I haven't had any problems with it sucking air & losing suction.

Some fittings fit tighter than others. I get pissed when I break siphon near the end.

a guy that works for my dad said he could sweat them in just a few minutes for me, but i think i might just get the stuff and try it myself. then, i can build my own CFC after some practice.

sweating copper is very easy just clean it well and use flux







And I have to tell you I was very reluctant to click on the thread ... rate my junk just has a strange ring to it ....

Are you using a CFC? Im not sure why you need the hop strainer AND the scrubbie.

I have a similar set up. I boil now with hop bags and I do not worry about collecting the cold break (read some posts on the subject here somewhere). So, I just ran a 1/2 in hard copper tube from the ball valve to the center of the keg. Instead of sweating an elbow, I just put the tubing in a vice, heated it quite hot and bent it to shape. I did sweat it to a male fitting and attatch this to the ball valve with teflon tape. Never lost a siphon yet and it is easy to diassemble to clean.

I have been thinking on similar lines...straining wort during transfer. I'd love to see how this progresses!

cpbergie said:

Are you using a CFC? Im not sure why you need the hop strainer AND the scrubbie.

Click to expand...

i plan on putting a CFC together this weekend. i haven't actually used this setup yet because i already have more brew than i can drink. i figured a little backup filtering wouldn't hurt anything. i plan on putting the CFC together and then giving this new stuff a test drive.

i also got my dual stage ranco in the mail today and threw my DIPA in the freezer/fermentation cooler.

Tripod said:

I have been thinking on similar lines...straining wort during transfer. I'd love to see how this progresses!

Click to expand...

I don't strain the cold break at all. I wish I could remember where I read it (I thought it was in this forum) but a guy did 3 batches with increasing amounts of trub left in, then had a blind taste test and the unfiltered version won.

Right or wrong? I dunno. But I haven't spent any money on filter gadgets and there is nothing to get plugged up. Beer tastes good too!