Help on All Grain Equipment

I want to move to all grain brewing for the new year. Need help converting a cooler and adding a ball valve to a brew pot.

I found the post by FlyGuy with the step by step for the cooler mash tun, can I use that same ball valve setup to add to my kettle (without the braided hose)?
Is brass ok to come in contact with wort?

Any DIY sight glass builds of parts from local hardware stores?

Thanks

I don't actually see the utility of a sight glass on an MLT. With the grain in there, absorbing water, you won't be able to get an accurate reading from it anyway. I use a brass valve, as do many other people, so I think you're fine there.

Check Bobby_M sig for site glass build. Many people use brass but pickle it before use to remove surface lead. Use the site glass on the HLT to determine what goes into the MLT.

The sight glass was for my kettle, not the MLT(that wouldn't be smart). I checked Bobby's web site and right now he is out of sight glasses.

Is the set up for the ball valve on FlyGuy's MLT ok to also use on my kettle?
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/
Edit: I would not use the braided hose in the HLT/BK.

Make sure you use silicone orings and it should be fine. silicone is food safe and very heat resistant.

Thanks. I will see if home depot has the silicone ones.

Doh... not sure why I thought it was for your MLT. Carry on...

To add a valve to a brew pot, you can buy a kit w/ all the necessary parts from places like:
http://www.greatbargain.net/order/shop1.html
http://www.northernbrewer.com
http://www.midwestsupplies.com

I did contact Bargain Fittings (the 1st link) with a question and they responded quickly, and the guy that owns it is an HBT member, but I ended up splurging and buying a Blichmann kettle. I use 2 x 10 gallon Rubbermaid coolers for HLT and MLT. I converted the coolers using FlyGuys' instructions. Just be sure to tighten but not overtighten everything, then be sure to test it filled with water to make sure it doesn't leak before actually using it.

Cheers

Dave258 said:

Thanks. I will see if home depot has the silicone ones.

Click to expand...

They dont. I had to order mine from Grainger.com. You cant get them one at a time either, but they were fairly cheap. Or search for McMaster Carr.

One suggestion? Dont use the same size ball valve that Flyguy used on his MLT for your kettle. Get a 3/4" valve for the kettle. The blue one. Saves you some time draining water from the kettle.

To be honest, I dont ven use my ball valve on the kettle anymore. I siphon cooled wort into the primary. And when I mash, I use a pitcher to scoop heated water out of the kettle one quart at a time. Much fast than using the ball valve to drain heated water for mashing from the kettle... But thats just me

KingKegII said:

To add a valve to a brew pot, you can buy a kit w/ all the necessary parts from places like:
http://www.greatbargain.net/order/shop1.html
http://www.northernbrewer.com
http://www.midwestsupplies.com

I did contact Bargain Fittings (the 1st link) with a question and they responded quickly, and the guy that owns it is an HBT member, but I ended up splurging and buying a Blichmann kettle. I use 2 x 10 gallon Rubbermaid coolers for HLT and MLT. I converted the coolers using FlyGuys' instructions. Just be sure to tighten but not overtighten everything, then be sure to test it filled with water to make sure it doesn't leak before actually using it.

Cheers

Click to expand...

thanks for the links, I am going to go with Bargain Fittings. They have the sight glass and everything else I was looking for.
Thanks again!

jackson_d said:

And when I mash, I use a pitcher to scoop heated water out of the kettle one quart at a time. Much fast than using the ball valve to drain heated water for mashing from the kettle... But thats just me

Click to expand...

Not just you...I recently reconfigured my stand to put the HLT at the same level as the MLT...much easier w/ a large plastic pitcher, I bought a 1 gallon and I can move the sparge water in about 15 seconds easily.

wilserbrewer said:

Not just you...I recently reconfigured my stand to put the HLT at the same level as the MLT...much easier w/ a large plastic pitcher, I bought a 1 gallon and I can move the sparge water in about 15 seconds easily.

Click to expand...

awesome. for some reason, i was just satisfied with my process. never thought of something as easy as getting a bigger pitcher. 1 gal makes soo much sense... duh. i'll be getting one before the weekend... got a barleywine on deck for saturday..

:rockin:

Yea man...I refer to the one gallon pitcher as my manual pump Put a few volume marks on the pitcher and ya got a sight glass replacement...KISS