Sight Glass in a Brew Keggle?

A sight glass in my brew keggle would be very useful.

However, would it be more trouble than it's worth?

Are there cleaning issues involved?

I have one in mine, it's going through the boil so I just give it a spray down with the hose before and after every brewday.

wyzazz said:

I have one in mine, it's going through the boil so I just give it a spray down with the hose before and after every brewday.

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No issues with trub or boil scum getting stuck in the site tube?

Not so far, I use the "Lil' Sparky Hop Spider" and haven't had an issue with the sight tube clogging thus far.

The only issue I have is that I had to put a 90 degree fitting in the top so that the wort would not squirt out the top and all over the place. Instead it just goes right back into the kettle.

Another solution to JVD X's issue is to put a heat shield under the sight glass. I use a poor man's version...aluminum foil. Works like a charm. And no, having a sight glass is not more trouble then it's worth. Quite the opposite I'd say.

I too use foil as a heat shield.

I've been thinking about this too. I'm probably going to just use a stainless rod or strip of metal with etchings on it... seems simpler. Allow the rod to rest in the keg the way you want to use it and then mark of the volumes.

I sometimes get some gunk stuck in my sight glass if i don't rinse it right away, but found that a beer line brush works great.

In my brewery redesign I was thinking of adding one. But once I got my new keggle, all nicely shined up with the welded coupling, I couldnt bring myself to drill into it.

As such, I am passing on it. I have other means of measuring

Thanks to the OP for asking the question and to the others for the replies.

A sightglass for my boil kettle is probably my next step and these issues were on my mind. The only thought I have to offer is that I plan to use my autosyphon to pump oxyclean through the sight glass assuming I can make the connection.

Seriously, it's not a big deal to clean. Like I said before I just put the end of my garden hose on it and blow any "stuff" in to the boil kettle.

I think I physically cleaned the inside of my sightglasses one time in two years. It tends to get cleaned up with the oxyclean or PBW soak after the boil. I thought about offering or including a long handled brush for this purpose but I think over time it would do more harm to the polycarbonate than the benefit warranted.

When I'm cleaning my kettle (don't have the keggle yet. That's my next upgrade), I take the garden hose and put it on the bulkhead form the inside of the kettle and turn the water on full blast. That creates a lot of pressure and blows out anything that may be in there. Bonus; it shoots water like fifteen feet in the air and is pretty funny.

Another vote for the blow out using the hose during clean up. Gunk does get in there during the boil, but the hose blow out seems to do the trick.

Also, a vote for Bobby M's sight glass. By far the nicest config I've seen on one. Great piece of equipment.

Bobby_M said:

I think I physically cleaned the inside of my sightglasses one time in two years. It tends to get cleaned up with the oxyclean or PBW soak after the boil. I thought about offering or including a long handled brush for this purpose but I think over time it would do more harm to the polycarbonate than the benefit warranted.

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I was waiting for Bobby to ring in on this one.

I'm not too sure I get the advantage of a sight glass. On my keggle I've dialed in on the volume and get a near perfect 10 gallons after it's all said and done. Just seems like more stuff to screw around with. Especially considering you have to have to take into account wort expansion/contraction, reading 5 or 10 gallons on the sight glass isn't going to guarantee that volume gets to the carboy.

I get that but once you have one, you wonder how you used to do it. It's another tool in the arsenal. A lot of people don't own an autosiphon and I'm just as confused about that. Of course, I'm trying hard not to be a salesman here, but ...

Ohh, thanks for the reminder. I just broke my sight glass off at the compression fitting. I've been wanting to order one from Bobby for awhile, now I have.

Yup. And he's got a PM from me.

I had a bargainfittings sightglass in the kettle I just sold. It came in really handy. I put a few o-rings on it to mark target water levels, pre-boil levels and stuff. This allowed me pretty brainless filling and boil loss calculations.

I broke my auto-siphon a while back and miss it...So easy to sanitize and clean now i use Co2 and a carboy cap to rack my beer into kegs...Bobby's sight glass's work great I have all fittings on my kegs welded "except" for the sight glass and have had no leaks yet...even with 15 gallons in them. Not having to dip a stick with measurements in your wort/water is nice...I use them for everything just open the valve and drain right into my MLT No thinking required If you can add and subtract up to 15 this is the product for you...Period.

Ocassionally I clean my sight glass using a piece of heavy duty fishing line 80-100 lb test with a piece of cheesecloth tied to the end. Works nice after a soak.

I've never even thought about cleaning mine. They certainly never needed it. My keggles already had the holes for a temp sensor, so this is tee'd off of that.

Bobby makes great sight glasses. I feel like a salesman for him, but honestly his product is great and he has earned the accolades.

See for yourself.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/bobby_m-sight-gauge-195031/

I just use one of my silicone hoses as a sight gage on my kettle. I attach it to the ball valve and hang the other end on my brew stand above the kettle. I marked the stand where the hose hangs in 1/2 gallon increments. You could do the same by hanging it on the top of the kettle and marking the side of the kettle. I didn't want to drill another hole in the kettle.

I have been having trouble with the bottom of my sight glass getting too hot. Could you elaborate on how you use aluminum foil as a heat shield. I just melted the lid to my turkey fryer in a heat shield attempt. Aluminum foil seems like a super easy solution, just not sure how use it. Thanks.