My First Keggel

Hello All - A new HBT convert here

I just picked up my first keggel victim that will be used as my brew kettle. I've scoured the forum and gotten a pretty good understanding of what needs to be done to the silver fat man. I'm going to have a 12" hole cut into the top. I'm going to have 3 holes, 7/8" step-drilled, cut into the body and fitted with 1/2" SS couplings welded in. Now I'm left with a couple specific questions that I could not find that I hope people have solved with their own experience. I'll apologize in advance for the length of the list.

1. How many inches from the bottom skirt should the center of the holes be?
2. Should the drain valve be positioned directly in the center between the keg handles; with the sight tube and temp probe holes offset to either side?
3. Does the siphon tube connect to the coupling with a compression fitting?
4. How far from the bottom of the keg should the end of the siphon tube be?
5. Other than keeping the keg clean and dry inbetween uses, is there anything I can due to help prevent rusting (mine has a few rust sports that I will knock off with some sanding)?
6. I am looking for a competent welder to plasma cut the top, drill the holes, and weld in the couplings. I am a bit of a loss as to who I can turn to for the job. Should I put in some calls to various body shops? Should I pick up a welder from craigslist? Does anyone have a recommendation for a welder in the Atlanta GA area?

1. just above the radius area so that your fittings are mounted to a flat surface.
2. the drain should be between the handles, the temp and sight tube can be where convenient.
3. The siphon tube on my valve is connected with a compression fitting, but the nut also holds the valve in place because the fitting is not welded.
4. My siphon tube is 1/4" or so from the bottom.
5. Rusting? Your keg should be s.s. but you will get some discoloration that can be cleaned easily with a green scrubby, Scotchbright.
6. I can't recommend a welder but I will recommend that when you have the work done, have them weld over the 3 holes that are located at the curb/body at the bottom. This will prevent any overflows from running down under the keg and onto the burner.
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Thanks so much for advice MBird. I've just started calling around looking for a welder so hopefully I'll be able to put your advice to use.

No problem, happy brewing!
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Beer Diary...

If you are going to have it professionally welded, vice installing weldless fittings I'd take a good look at the large holes in the bottom skirt. If the hole is anywhere near the valve handle, you might want to have them weld something over it so your valve handle doesn't get too hot. (I'm cheap and did weldless, so I just shove aluminum foil in there to block the heat).

View attachment keggle.bmp

What part of ATL are you in? I got a guy that did my kegs he did a great job and only charged $65 for 6 fittings. He's in Jefferson. Are you shure you want to hook up a sight tube and thermometer in your boil kettle?

I'm on the West side of the city, but I don't mind a little bit of a travel if the welding comes recommended.

I planned on making this vessel pretty flexible since it is the first of its kind in my equipment. Are there significant downsides to having a sight tube and a thermometer in a brew kettle?

The down site to a site tube in the brew kettle is that it will eventually get dark from the malt. Some are concerned that there is a sanitation problem with a site tube because the wort doesn't circulate through it thus sanitizing it when you boil. I personally wouldn't put one in. I have one on my HLT only.
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I used weldless, and really you can put together these things a lot of ways, just hold up all the parts and see what you think before cutting anything.

Also, if you can't get the bottom skirt holes filled, you can do what I do and shove a small wad of foil in there. Works just fine.

mbird said:

The down site to a site tube in the brew kettle is that it will eventually get dark from the malt. Some are concerned that there is a sanitation problem with a site tube because the wort doesn't circulate through it thus sanitizing it when you boil. I personally wouldn't put one in. I have one on my HLT only.
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That's wierd. Mine is as clear as the day I installed it after 10 batches and I never had sanitation issues. I know a few people who have 50 batches on their sight glasses with no discoloration.

While the liquid in the tube might not reach 212F (probably more like 150F), it stays at that elevated temp long enough, and later encounters 212F wort as it drains out. I think this particular concern is imaginary.

At what temperature does wort pasteurize? I would think that the small volume of liquid in the tube would reach a high enough temperature when it integrates back into the main body of liquid. The only potential problem that was floating in the back of my mind was whether or not the sight tube ever gets clogged with trub. Has any one ran into this problem or does the tube remain clear because it fills with liquid before the trub precipitates?

Bobby_M, what material are you using for your sight tube? I was thinking either pyrex if I can get my hands on it or polycarbonate tubing.

gun_shy said:

Thanks so much for advice MBird. I've just started calling around looking for a welder so hopefully I'll be able to put your advice to use.

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Get yourself a large racking cane, an angle grinder and a 4" cutoff blade and you can be brewing tonight. No need to weld in spigots and site tubes. I've never understood the need for a site tube. It's not like this is a closed vessel, or even has a lid on it. It's just a big opened mouth pot...look inside to see how much wort you have.

Of course, I'm kind of a simple simon when it comes to the brew gear.

mine are plastic and still clear. I use a an autosiphon and some heat stretched tubing to manually pump some cleanser through them when I'm cleaning everything.

BM, I like my site glasses because it makes it easy for me to see the fluid level precisely. My hlt I can drain a specific amount of water from (or prepare that amount for brewing) without measuring as I go. In the Mash Tun, I can watch the fluid level while fly sparging without lifting the lid, and on my BK I can tell how much starting wort I have, how much finishing, and know my boiloff rates at a glance. Sure they aren't necessary, but they are pretty nice!