My Brew Build - Elm Street Brewery - Part 4 - The HLT and Keggle

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Part 4.

The previous posts are:

Part 1 - Introduction
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-brew-build-elm-street-brewery-part-1-introduction-129652/

Part 2 - The Grain Mill
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-brew-build-elm-street-brewery-part-2-grain-mill-129770/

Part 3 - The Mash/LauterTun
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-brew-build-elm-street-brewery-part-3-mash-lautertun-129913/


So I used 2 50L kegs to make both the HLT and the kettle. I was frustrated at first by the difficulty trying to obtain used kegs. Finally I contacted a craft brewer who was happy to help. The SS valves and fittings were purchased from Bargain Fittings, along with the sight glass on the HLT.

Now to cut the opening on the top of the kegs, I followed BobbyM's post where he makes a custom jig to hold and use an angle grinder to cut open the top of the keg. It took no more then 15 minutes to cut the openings for both kegs. Here's the YouTube video:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LthGdMk_avk&feature=channel_page]YouTube - Keg to Brew Kettle Conversion[/ame]

I used the angle grinder with a sanding wheel to dull down the edges of the opening after all the cutting was done.

To drill the holes for the valves I used a step drill bit with drilling oil (highly recommended to use oil). The hole for the temperature probe was much bigger then my step bit, so I had to use a bi-metal hole saw. Both bits worked very well. I must say though that the bi-metal bit was faster at drilling trough the keg.

Once the holes were drilled everything was straight forward. It was just a matter of attaching everything to the HLT and Kettle.

Here's the HLT:



And here's the Keggle:

You are a building maniac, now brew up a batch and tell us how great it all is so I can feel good about hating you.
Looking really great, and it looks like your having a great time putting it all together.

Kauai_Kahuna said:

You are a building maniac, now brew up a batch and tell us how great it all is so I can feel good about hating you.
Looking really great, and it looks like your having a great time putting it all together.

Click to expand...

I had been dragging my feet to get it done. We have been doing a lot of landscaping work in our backyard, so it kinda took up most of my time. But yes, last week was building crazy.

I have made a batch. I called it Inaugural Ale to honor the first batch made. I will keep you posted.

How far up from the bottom did you drill your hole for the bulkhead? I just cut my keggles and need to do the holes next. I would like to be able to use one of these later:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/abt-false-bottom-w-stainless-elbow.html

How far up should I drill? Everyone else I read said 3.75" from the bottom, but that barely makes it above the bottom contour of the interior. Please help!

I made my keggle about 3 months ago and drilled the hole for the bulkhead at 3 3/4". Worked well.

serum67 said:

How far up from the bottom did you drill your hole for the bulkhead? I just cut my keggles and need to do the holes next. I would like to be able to use one of these later:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/abt-false-bottom-w-stainless-elbow.html

How far up should I drill? Everyone else I read said 3.75" from the bottom, but that barely makes it above the bottom contour of the interior. Please help!

Click to expand...

My holes are about 2 inches from the bottom, but only cause i had diptubes. If I didn't use the diptubes, I probably would have put them lower.