Brew Kettle Question

I got a nice new 8 gallon Megapot for Xmas. It has a drain valve on the bottom that is about two inces above the bottom of the kettle. Should I have anything attached to the inside? It seems like I'm gonna lose about a gallon of wort because of how high the valve is.

My goal is to start with 6.5 gallons preboil and I figure I'll lose a gallon to evaporation. But with the valve I'm also gonna lose a gallon sitting in the bottom of the pot. Do I need to raise my preboil volume or attach something to the valve on the inside of the pot? I'm hoping to end up with 5.5 gallons in the carboy.

Thanks.

Many of us make a dip tube or siphon that reaches the bottom of the kettle and lets you drain out all the wort. Do a search or wait patiently and someone will post a photo of one for you. If you have a coupling or a weldless fitting you can get an adaptor to thread into the coupling and either solder (lead free solder please) or compression fitting connect to a 3/8 or 1/2" OD copper tube you can bend into a curve that ends closer to the kettle bottom. As long as the connections are water-tight the last wort will siphon out of your kettle.

Just tip the kettle sideways and you'll be able to get 80% of what is still on the bottom. If you want to get that last little bit pick up the kettle and pour it out.

abracadabra said:

Just tip the kettle sideways and you'll be able to get 80% of what is still on the bottom. If you want to get that last little bit pick up the kettle and pour it out.

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I thought about that but then I started reading about whirlpool immersion chillers and pyramids of cold break in the bottom of my kettle adn figured if I'm trying to leave that stuff behind, disturbing it by tipping the kettle wouldn't be a good idea.

this is what you will need. You can get them from www.Morebeer.com and others.

Drunkagain said:

I thought about that but then I started reading about whirlpool immersion chillers and pyramids of cold break in the bottom of my kettle adn figured if I'm trying to leave that stuff behind, disturbing it by tipping the kettle wouldn't be a good idea.

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A good whirlpool article; http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php

Your pickup method depends on how concerned you are with cold break and hop matter in your fermentor. From what most brewers agree the cold break matter in an ale does not have any large negative affects, but the hop matter will impart flavor. If you lager, you should find a method to keep this out of the fermentor for many off flavor reasons.
Depedning on the bulkhead in your kettle you can buy or make your own pickup tube to collect wort from the side of the kettle a small distance from the bottom leaveing all of the boil matter in your kettle and out of the fermentor.

Drunkagain said:

My goal is to start with 6.5 gallons preboil and I figure I'll lose a gallon to evaporation. But with the valve I'm also gonna lose a gallon sitting in the bottom of the pot. Do I need to raise my preboil volume or attach something to the valve on the inside of the pot? I'm hoping to end up with 5.5 gallons in the carboy.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I have the same kettle and I loose almost 2 gallons to evaporation. I have a roiling boil with the lid off and start with 7.5 to end up with 5.5.You'll find out after the first time using it how much you loose.

Drunkagain said:

I thought about that but then I started reading about whirlpool immersion chillers and pyramids of cold break in the bottom of my kettle adn figured if I'm trying to leave that stuff behind, disturbing it by tipping the kettle wouldn't be a good idea.

Click to expand...

It seems to me that if you have a dip tube that reaches the bottom of the kettle you'll be pulling the cold break out anyway.

That false bottom may prevent some of the loose hops from coming out but it won't stop the cold break.

I have a pot with a similar spigot placement. I've tried all sorts of methods/hardware for trying to get every last drop of wort out. After all said and done the RDWHAHB technique is formulate your recipes to leave that gallon behind. Then it doesn't matter if you use whole hops and a bag, pellets or making a lager and chilling it to the 40's you end up with 5gal of crystal clear wort with a gallon of (mostly) trub left behind. I do admit to taking an extra 0.5 g if it is an ale with whole hops...

GT