Sight glass hack job

So I ended up deciding to go with a traditional sight glass instead of a pressure gauge as I was originally thinking about doing. I couldn't find a readily available source of clear rigid tubing, so as a temporary solution, so I can brew this weekend, I stuck a length of copper tubing down a piece of flexible tubing and attached that to a barb fitting which is attached to a 90 degree elbow. It isn't pretty but it works and will hold me over until I get something more permanent.

Methinks that tubing will probably melt unless it can stand up to temps around 300F or higher. I know that my sightglass got crazy hot and boiled water in the tube until I put a piece of aluminum flashing under it.

Just another option would be to add some score marks on the inside. Free and easy.

wyzazz said:

Methinks that tubing will probably melt unless it can stand up to temps around 300F or higher. I know that my sightglass got crazy hot and boiled water in the tube until I put a piece of aluminum flashing under it.

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+1
same thing here.

Thanks for the replies and warnings. I opted to order a sight glass kit online and refrain from brewing until it gets here.

nukebrewer said:

Thanks for the replies and warnings. I opted to order a sight glass kit online and refrain from brewing until it gets here.

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Good call.

I got my clear rigid tubing from grainger. It was like $11 for 8 feet

Don't wait to brew....Cap off that elbow, get a dowel, mark your volumes, and get brewing.

E-Mursed said:

Don't wait to brew....Cap off that elbow, get a dowel, mark your volumes, and get brewing.

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Too late. I already committed to other projects and I am going on a couple winery tours with SWMBO on Sunday. It's been painful to skip a planned brew day, but beer heals all wounds. Drinking a Newcastle Werewolf Blood Red Ale to hold me until the homebrew is ready.

Good choice to spend quality time with the SWMBO
Spent a couple hours bottling kegs this morning with mine.


Don't skimp in the future when it comes to your equipment.
Buy quality and you will always have a much better experience.

Yeah, if I feel like I have a shot at making something work with DIY, I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work, then I go the retail route. Probably makes things a lot more than they should be. I'll be sure to make sure I can actually do something before DIYing it in the future. Of all my DIY projects so far, only my stir plat has been successful.

Got my homebrew time in with SWMBO on Friday when we bottled an American Hefe. What did you keg?

Had two left-over kegs of a Kolsch and American Wheat from my grad party last month that we bottled. Also put 2 other full kegs - an English Mild and an American Premium Lager into bottles.

I have a Blichmann Beer Gun that makes the bottling of kegged beer process a lot easier. Took us just over two hours, but I prepped bottles a few days earlier.