Keggle Suggestions

So I've finally got a half barrel keg that will soon be converted into my new brew kettle. After some research I have a few questions and I'm looking for input. I haven't made the step to all grain yet but this is my starting point. Inside the keg what has worked best for you guys to drain the wort into the fermenter? a false bottom with a pick up tube through it to the bottom center of the keg? A side pick up? In between the two, with a good whirlpool? Im looking at different set ups from bargain fittings.com, just wondering what has/ will work the best. Thanks in advance! Oh just a quick note, I'll be using an immersion chiller, and probably hop pellets for awhile.

Subscribed.

I'm in the exact same boat as you and I'm curious to hear what others have to say.

I'm trying out a 45 degree bend pickup tube in my keggle currently. The fitting goes directly into the 3 piece ball valve. Seems to work better than trying to pick up from the center of the keggle. I use a hop spider so I don't need to whirlpool. I also use a plate chiller. I can post up some pictures tonight if you want to see how mine is set up.

on my kettle (13.5 gallon) I got a whirpool type opf diptube. I notice it picks up 99% of the wort and leaves the crud behind. Sometimes I tilt the kettle at the end.

Wow, that false bottom is kind of high off the bottom. Is that a mash tun? 4 gallons of foundation water? I don't like that my 15" FB sitting right on the turn to the dish, takes 7/8 of a gallon to reach.

Bobby_M said:

Wow, that false bottom is kind of high off the bottom. Is that a mash tun? 4 gallons of foundation water? I don't like that my 15" FB sitting right on the turn to the dish, takes 7/8 of a gallon to reach.

Click to expand...

It's about 2 gallons. Found it at Adventures in Homebrewing. All I know is it works excellent and the customer loves it.

we use a side pickup tube, immersion chiller, whirlpool, and pretty much every thing settles in the center of the keggle due to it's concave bottom anyways. No hop spider, no screens or FB's.

I now have a pipe bending tool so I can custom make my dip tubes (and such). I'm going to try some different configurations until I find one that I really like. Although I suspect it will be hard to beat the simple 45 degree bend dip tube in the boil keggle...

For the mash tun, I use a NorCal/Jaybird false bottom and dip tube setup. Works really, really, really well. Full size false bottom (15" diameter) in the keg mash tun (the false bottom has a handle and is hinged, with the hole for a dip tube too). With the current dip tube, I only leave a couple of quarts (if that) behind in the mash tun. I plan on making the dip tube a bit longer after the bend (going through the false bottom) so that I can leave even less behind.

OneHoppyGuy said:

It's about 2 gallons. Found it at Adventures in Homebrewing. All I know is it works excellent and the customer loves it.

Click to expand...

I have the same false bottom and love it also, very sturdy and allows very little grain thru. Also aids in mash temps due to the extra water volume and allows step mashing without scorching grain.

Nice set ups guys, but I'm looking for the best set up for a Keggle boil kettle.

the first photo is a boil kettle

Just took these shots of my current keggle config... Used the 45 bend dip tube for the past two brew sessions with great results.



So you can see what the inside items connect to...

Golddiggie said:

Just took these shots of my current keggle config... Used the 45 bend dip tube for the past two brew sessions with great results.

So you can see what the inside items connect to...

Click to expand...

What are you getting for trub/coldbreak/gunk loss?

Maybe 1 to 1-1/2 quarts, depending on how I set the dip tube. I know that the cone itself will only hold about 3 quarts of liquid. I've not yet drained the remains from the keggle and measured it. I have BeerSmith set to assume 2 quarts loss from everything. That includes the plate chiller, pump head, hoses and keggle. So far my volumes going into primary have been pretty damned close (as close as I can tell).

I got the same dip tube in my kettle (not mash tun) and it is great. leaves about 90% of the sludge and very little of the wort.

Golddiggie said:

I can post up some pictures tonight if you want to see how mine is set up.

Click to expand...

Please post a pic - I still have to add pick up tubes and false bottoms to my keggles, and would like to see options. Thanks - oops - didn't see the pics when i sent this- I'm on a very slow connection at sea right now. Thanks again.

I don't have a picture of mine but it is similar to OneHoppyGuy's first pic except mine extends about 4 1/2" into the keg It's about a half inch off the bottom. Drains most all of the wort, pulls along some trub but I don't care - that will settle out during fermentation and cold crash. If I was using a plate chiller it might not be the best set-up.

tre9er said:

we use a side pickup tube, immersion chiller, whirlpool, and pretty much every thing settles in the center of the keggle due to it's concave bottom anyways. No hop spider, no screens or FB's.

Click to expand...

Me too, works like a charm