Sight glass in boil kettle?

Hell Brew talk
This is only my second post so bear with me.
I am an extract mini mash brewer and am about to purchase my first upgrade kettle. 15gallon for sure. My question is sight or no sight glass? Since this is for a one pot operation for now I would like to be able to see my beginning and ending volume. I will be doing 5 and 10 gallon batches.

Associates at MoreBeer and Austin Home Brewing say no sight glass.

I used my pot for years without a sight glass. I'm all grain and I simply measured pre-boil volume with buckets. I measured final volume by how high the wort was on my immersion chiller. I've since moved to a larger system that uses a RIMS and a pump. No more buckets so I just purchased a sight glass kit form Bobby M. Beats using a knotched spoon. Bottom line you don't need one, but you may fine it will be handy in the future. Remember...you can always add one later.

http://www.brewhardware.com/index.p...ss-sight-glass-kit&catid=36:weldess&Itemid=60

They are handy.

Sight glass, thermometer and ball valve.

BendBrewer said:

They are handy.

Sight glass, thermometer and ball valve.

Click to expand...

Thermometer?

On a Boil Kettle?

Cpt_Kirks said:

Thermometer?

On a Boil Kettle?

Click to expand...

It is also used for cooling. Yes.

I say do it. What if you are trying to boil down to a specific volume/gravity? What if you are trying to reach a certain preboil volume? If you drain from the mashtun, you have no idea how much is coming out.

I like a thermometer and sight glass on my BK, the thermometer for cooling with an immersion chiller and the sight glass for pre and post boil volumes. I built my own but by the time I sourced everything, it would have been cheaper to go with the link above. Mine is marked with electrical tape, again not as nice as above

Ok what about boil in to the sight glass? I know a brewer that has the Blichmann 15 and his sight glass will bubble during the boil so he has to adjust down his temp.

BendBrewer said:

It is also used for cooling. Yes.

Click to expand...

OK, I can see that. I have the thermometer mounted on my plate chiller.

so the one above wony work on a normal keg then cause all kegs i get are with crrved out sides and it seems that wont work? i trying to get everythink thought over 10 times before i even start thinking of buying then i research a little more probably another 6 months before i get any equipment

FYI that the brew hardware link above has options for Sanke kegs as well as straight pots. The sight glass is tapped on an angle to account for the curve at the bottom of the keg.

After years of using my mash paddle to measure my pre boil volume,I installed a sight glass. wish I would have done it sooner.

Speaking for Spike Brewing I would say the sight glass is a luxury item. It is nice to have but not necessary for brewing. You can always get a kettle without it and if you feel you want one later on you can buy one from Bobby_M for like $25.

-Ben

Trooper1 said:

Ok what about boil in to the sight glass? I know a brewer that has the Blichmann 15 and his sight glass will bubble during the boil so he has to adjust down his temp.

Click to expand...

He must have lost the piece of stainless steel sheet Blichmann provides to shield the ball valve and sight glass from burner blow-by. I use those sheets and never have bubbling sight glasses - or melted ball valve handle covers, for that matter...

Cheers!

If you want to make consistent beer, you need to accurately measure your runnings. The easiest way to do this with a site glass in a boil kettle. My old boil kettle turned into a hot liquor tank, and I miss knowing what my exact running are.