Recent content by headwall

Other than making home-modification/customization more difficult, I can't really think of any drawbacks to having an insulated kettle. I would definitely prefer something like that, as I am currently debating the best way to insulate several of my vessels.

Yeah with soft water I'm sure the Oxy + TSP works great. With hard water you might start to have issues with mineral deposits.

Yeah I'm not sure what to expect really. When looking for a steal of a bargain, it's hard to be choosy. If I have to I'll look into a VFD to control the flow. But I would like enough power to clean 4 kegs at once ideally so I'd rather be overpowered than underpowered. This is an experiment for...

Spike brewing pushes their products on this forum quite a bit. I use the same kettles that they offer but I installed my own weldless fittings. They are good quality economy kettles. If you want a welded economy kettle I think spike is a fine choice. You can find the same kettles on amazon and...

Oh, we'll the vertical space really won't affect boil-off any. Surface area is the key factor there, so the diameter of the pot is what you should be most concerned with, not the height. They are pretty narrow, so you shouldn't see too much of an increase in loss from boil-off. The 20 gallon...

That picture was taken using a 1/2" barb actually. And yes, of course as the diameter of the tubing decreases, the pressure will increase and the liquid will travel further. A keg spear is cavernous compared with 1/2" tubing. The thread title wasn't meant to be provocative at all. Clearly a...

Sanke kegs are filled through keg couplers usually. That's what I plan to do.

Oh, I see. That would require a keg full of solution which is something I'd like to avoid. But i see how that would work. The benefit of the inverted method is you can clean the keg by circulating a fraction of the total keg volume.

Eh, I'd call it an inch if I was being generous. What the picture doesn't really convey is the way the water exits the spear. By the time it reaches the top there is so little pressure that it doesn't so much shoot or even flow out of the spear so much as "flop" out, if water was capable of...

By dead space in the boil kettle, are you referring to the loss of volume that you won't be able to pick up from the dip tube? I just measured that volume in my 20 gallon Brewers Hardware kettle (you are right, I believe they are the same as the Stout Tanks kettles) and found it to be just under...

One thing I was reading about this homemade clone is that it lacks a chelator, which is important for preventing deposits from hard water. I would try it if not for that. I have extremely hard water.

I'd say it depends on how much you brew and how often. If you are most frequently brewing half barrel batches, then it might make sense to buy two smaller ones. That way you won't always have to wait for a batch to complete before you start the next one. And if you do the occasional 1bbl batch...

Stout Tanks makes a nice looking 40 gallon fermenter and it is cheaper than the Blichmann. It comes with tri clamp fittings and is designed to fit in an upright freezer. Might be worth checking out.

For silicone tubing I'd like to suggest BrewHardware. I just bought some from them and it is very high quality. I purchased from them because it is made in the USA and I appreciate vendors that sell quality American-made products. You can order any length you want. It is listed under...

Yeah, sorry, I should have clarified that point. The spear is from a disassembled keg that I plan to ferment in. I am building a keg washer to clean other sanke kegs that won't be disassembled. Thus, modification of the spear is not an option. I only hooked it up to the spear and took the...