pick up tube for bargainfittings ball valve

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TacoGuthrie

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I recently bought a weldless fitting from bargainfittings for my brew kettle.

instructions.jpg


I've got the fitting installed on the brew pot but I'd like to get a diptube in there to pick up as much wort as possible.

Is there a thread on this (a search came up empty)? Does someone have experience?

thanks in advance
 
It has been my experience that anything below the coupler is typically junk you don't need in your fermentor. If there is any actual quality wort below that point you can tip the brew kettle a small amount to get the rest. If you had a dip tube it'd be pointed directly into the hops and precipitated proteins. Not that draining 100 percent of the stuff in the kettle into the carboy is going to really hurt your beer, but honestly if you can leave it in the kettle it makes it easier to have clearer, better looking beer.

My advice is to scale you recipes up 1 gallon above you desired final volume. I keg in 5 gallon kegs to I always brew 6 gallons of beer. I use 6 gallons carboys. I end up with exactly 6 gallons post boil and when I rack over to the carboy I leave roughly a half gallon behind that is full of hops and other junk. Then when I rack from primary to secondary, or primary straight to keg or bottling bucket I find I leave behind about a half gallon to avoid the trub in the bottom of the fermentor. It's a marginal cost increase to brew an extra gallon, but you'll be sure you are racking super clean and clear beer to your keg/bottles.
 
It isn't hard to fashion a pick up out of copper fittings. I made one out of a 1/2" threaded to sweat adapter, 2 short lengths of 1/2" pipe and a 90 degree elbow. Solder it all together and screw into the fitting that you bought.

This does stick into the kettle by a few inches and does pick up some of the break & hop material, but I whirlpool and most of the junk gets left behind. I haven't felt the need to try using any of the chore boy type scrubbers around the end of the pickup tube with my setup.

You could also use the same threaded adapter with some pipe that you bend into shape so that it rests next to the wall of the kettle.

I end up leaving somewhere in the neighborhood of just over a quart of liquid in my 60 qt kettle with my setup.

HTH
Nate
 
I will respectfully disagree with the above statement (cvstrat's), depending on your brewing kettle. The typical spot for a bulkhead on a keggle, for example, is near the 3 gallon mark. I wouldn't suggest anybody increase their recipes to make up for a 3 gallon loss. Also, you can terminator your pick up tube off to the side of your kettle and whirlpool so your solids will be in the center of your kettle. Numerous other methods, but that wasn't the original question.

Take your coupler with you to HD, Lowes Etc and get some copper fittings with male ends and copper tubing and you can put together a p/u tube pretty quick, easy, and cheap.
 
I tried to put my bulkhead on my HLT as low as I could while still having a good surface for the washers to mount against. This is indeed at about 3 gallons, maybe a bit less. I fabbed a quick 90 degree elbow out of 1/2" copper pipe and a 1/2" NPT fitting to connect with the bulkhead. Here is the result:

DSCF0078.JPG


This works fantastic, and picks up all but 2 ounces of fluid. On my boil kettle I've used a Bazooka T-Screen to keep out the hop junk and again sweated together a copper fitting. Also works very well, but this sits a little higher off the bottom of the kettle and leaves about 6 ounces of wort behind.

DSCF0142.JPG


Installed:
DSCF0156.JPG
 
Lots of options. Thanks for all the posts so far.

I was able to install the fitting near the bottom of my brewpot - a 10 Gal stainless steel pot. I think I will step slowly into this. I plan on brewing this weekend so I'll see how it works without any kind of dip tube. I doubt I would leave much wort behind but i'll still plan for a 6G batch.

Once I see the results I'll take the next baby step of heading down to the hardware store and building something out of the parts suggested.

Oh and I can see myself investing in a bazooka screen but for this weekend does anyone have a short term workaround for a screen to filter whole hops?

Thanks!

and thanks to bargainfittings for the great no-hassle fitting. it would've cost me twice as much to put it together here and twice the hassle. cheers!
 
Oh and I can see myself investing in a bazooka screen but for this weekend does anyone have a short term workaround for a screen to filter whole hops?

Thanks!

and thanks to bargainfittings for the great no-hassle fitting. it would've cost me twice as much to put it together here and twice the hassle. cheers!

Get a copper "chore boy" scrubber found with the dish detergents at the grocery store! and stuff it snug, but not tight, into the inner bulkhead.
 
Leaving a full gallon of wort in the kettle is pretty wasteful, all that trub will settle out in the fermenter leaving you with almost the extra gallon.
 
I ordered a straight copper tube from Bargain Fittings with my ball valve and just curved it gently down and its maybe 1/4" off the bottom of the keg. Works perfect and I didn't have to fab anything up. I was initially worried about creasing it but as long as I curved it gradually along the whole length it worked great. One thing to keep in mind is that you'll want a hose connected to the barbed fitting to siphon any wort below the level of the ball valve.

keggle%20pickup%20tube.jpg
 
Blast from the past!!!

I see a lot of people using that same cylindrical fitting, but all I can find at Home Depot or Lowes is This
 
Blast from the past!!!

I see a lot of people using that same cylindrical fitting, but all I can find at Home Depot or Lowes is This

It'll work, but you can find that exact part at places like bargain fittings. When you shop at the "all things to all people" stores, you are bound to come up empty sooner or later.
 
I ordered a straight copper tube from Bargain Fittings with my ball valve and just curved it gently down and its maybe 1/4" off the bottom of the keg. Works perfect and I didn't have to fab anything up. I was initially worried about creasing it but as long as I curved it gradually along the whole length it worked great. One thing to keep in mind is that you'll want a hose connected to the barbed fitting to siphon any wort below the level of the ball valve.

keggle%20pickup%20tube.jpg

did basically the same on mine. The pipe sit on the bottom. nearly all liquid drains out.

CAM00443.jpg
 
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