tres kegs

It's been a long time coming but I finally got my kegs welded. I test fitted the valves, thermos, and sight glasses and got all giddy. Look at em, pretty maids all in row.



I know, digital probe thermos are the rage but I'm going old school for a while. Hands on brewing. Note the thermo is well below the first hump meaning they'll read in 5 or 10 gallon batches.


Pyrex glass seals nice with some 1/2" ID Orings instead of a brass ferrule.


Nice cut lets you reuse your tops as lids with a few washers tacked on.


By the way, out in these parts of NJ, that's what $140 will buy you in TIG welding. Strangely enough, no one would take homebrew in trade. "I can buy my own thanks".

Awesome Job!

I am In the Process of looking for some de-commisioned kegs myself.

That is a nice set-up.

Can I just say that I'm having a hard time deciding between you and EdWort as to who I want to be when I grow up, in beer years that is...

Thanks for the props but I have a long way to go. I've been making more toys than beer lately.

Gorgeous! Are those plasma cut?

No sir, they're cut with an electric angle grinder with a thin cutoff wheel installed.

Quite respectable, Bobby. :rockin:

Have you given time to finding the upper supports for the sight glasses?

Gimme an addy so's I can send you bucks for glass....

The weld-in stainless fittings are in the mail, bought extra for versatility, I'm now going searching for the compression fittings.

FWIW, I caught a guy at the corner store who does a mobile welding gig on the side from his regular job and he wanted about 75$ for 6 pieces welded. I would drop them off to him, though. Didn't ask for the HB beer equivalency....

May just go the 9 piece route-can't friggin' just decide once and for all how I want to do this...

Clean those kegs up a bit, would ya? You lazy bast....

Just playin Bobby, looks very good so far!

Nice looking good! I'm jealous.

Hey Bobby, Great looking setup! Perfect timing, as I have my kegs ready and the tops cut and the thermometers (similar to yours) on the way! I did my tops just like you did (re-used as lids with tabs welded on) but I used a plasma cutter. Anyway, my question is....where did you get the great looking valves and the sight glass materials??? I really want to put a sight glass on mine while I am doing the project. I am tired of measuring my srike / sparge / runoff with my ale pale!

Thanks!

Ebay on the valves. I was really patient and snagged three of those for $35 shipped. I know, gloat gloat... they run about $30 EACH at the homebrew joints. If you don't have time to wait, this is a good price: http://www.buyfittingsonline.com/Fittings/item6525.htm
I could argue that the 3-piece is nice but not really necessary.

On the sightglass front, I had to buy quite a bit of pyrex glass to outfit my own kegs so I have some left over that I'm trying to unload. It's a little more pricey than the racking cane solution some people use but I really like the glass. I'm actually shipping a few to superiorbrew today so he can give a little review of the tubes when he receives them. I've been doing $30 for 3 shipped but I might have to adjust a bit depending on distance. They require 1/2" compression fittings with some O-rings shoved in for a ferrule.

Bobby_M said:

On the sightglass front, I had to buy quite a bit of pyrex glass to outfit my own kegs so I have some left over that I'm trying to unload. It's a little more pricey than the racking cane solution some people use but I really like the glass. I'm actually shipping a few to superiorbrew today so he can give a little review of the tubes when he receives them. I've been doing $30 for 3 shipped but I might have to adjust a bit depending on distance. They require 1/2" compression fittings with some O-rings shoved in for a ferrule.

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Did you get my PM?

I sent you a PM about the sight glass. Thanks for the info! Looks like you used a coupling for the valve. Did you use one for the thermo and sight glass too? Can't see the thermo connection in your pic. Almost looks like the angle for the sight glass was welded directly to the kettle in lieu of a coupling?

Yup, coupling on the valve (a short nipple would have been fine as well), a coupling for the thermo, and an elbow direct welded in for the sight. I've seen a few elbows on Ebay that are one piece compression to socket weld which would eliminate even one more fitting for the sight glass.

From left to right, MLT, HLT, BK.





The MLT and BK will be secured to a square frame that is hinged on either edge of the stand so they can tippy dump like this for scraping the stuff out.

Bobby_M said:

From left to right, MLT, HLT, BK.

The MLT and BK will be secured to a square frame that is hinged on either edge of the stand so they can tippy dump like this for scraping the stuff out.

Click to expand...

I like your design, gosh that tippy dump for the MLT and BK is friggin' awesome. I have a single level rig but have to either scoop out the grains or lift that bad boy which gets more difficult as I get older. I may need to retro-fit and do as you have done. Nice design, hope you don't mind if a steal your idea.

Have you got your pumps and plumbing figured out yet? Those kegs and your brewery look sweet......good job. I live vicariously through you guys with all the cool toys!!! - Dirk

Bobby, What size did you cut the top opening in the kegs?

12" I think.

derogg said:

Have you got your pumps and plumbing figured out yet? Those kegs and your brewery look sweet......good job. I live vicariously through you guys with all the cool toys!!! - Dirk

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I posted about that here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=44004

Nice job, Bobby! I've been wanting to revamp my setup, and you're giving me ideas. I have a move coming up, so I'll probably wait until after that to get started. Keep us posted - I'm excited for you!

Only one critique: the tippy-dump system is ingenious, but you ARE going to firmly mount the HLT, right? Otherwise I can foresee some disastrous results...

Yup, the hlt's cradle will be welded down to the frame. I'm not sure the tip frames will be limted by something attached to the HLT like the drawing, I might use cables or chains to the frame or put a retactable "kick stand" on the ends of the frame. I'm just messing around so far.

I know a lot of tippy dumps rely on a pivot closer to the keg's center of gravity to make it easier to tip. Well, that's a good and bad thing if you don't lock it in place securely. The other con is having to leave a lot more horizontal clearance for when the bottom would swing inward towards the HLT. Tipping these will take more effort, but it's certainly nothing like lifting it to hose it out elsewhere.