keggle question

I'm constructing a new homebrewery and want to convert some old kegs into my hlt, mash tun and brew kettle.
Is there a standard height up from the bottom of the keg to drill my holes for the drain, thermometer and sight glass? Do I want the holes large enough to slide a coupling through it or just butt the coupling to the outside and weld it?
Any advise whether to use a false bottom or a screen set up in my mash tun? This will be a rims unit. Thanks in advance.

I am in the same boat. Great questions, I am curious about these myself.

Low as possible, all three. Ditto for an electric element if you ever go that way.

BTW, check the vendor pages (bobby_m) for a thermometer / site glass combo (1 hole!)

Someone else said 1" above the bottom weld for drain and sight tube and 3" or 4" above for the thermo. I wonder if it makes sense to keep the thermo probe a couple inches higher in the wort?
Thanks for the input!

well, there you go, conflicting info. Guess you will need to make a decision.

Sounds like good advice. I imagine you would need at least the drain to be as low as possible. I'm just not sure how a strainer or false bottom/pick up tube would come into play in height considerations. Also, seems that the thermometer shouldn't be too close to the heat source or it may read incorrectly. I may be way off though.

I-Hop said:

Also, seems that the thermometer shouldn't be too close to the heat source or it may read incorrectly. I may be way off though.

Click to expand...

I placed my thermometer right about where the 4.5 gallon mark would be. Still had to build a heat shield as the pretty plastic on the face of the gauge started to melt the first time it was used.

I drilled mine 3 3/4" (height of center punch mark) from the very bottom. That's about as low as you can go and still have a flat surface to seal weldless fittings to.

Make sure you don't put a hole directly above one of those vent ports on the bottom collar either. Sometimes the flame can shoot through there and it will melt your handle, thermometer, etc. You can make a dip tube any length to get all of the liquid out so just make it low enough to have straight sides to work with for a good seal.

I used stainless half couplings on my HLT. I drilled the hole aproximately the ID of the coupling and soldered the fitting to the outside of the keg. I combined the inlet/outlet and stir pump pickup into one fitting on the bottom of the keg. A bottom drain is nice if you can make it work, especially if your system wil be clean in place. A dip tube will not get everything out.

**edit** for electric of course

You want them as low as possible and still fit the washer on the "flat" part of the sidewall. I have a all in one thermo/site tube on mine. At that height I have no problems with temp readings being off. Also, if it were any higher there would be a problem with the IC not being able to go far enough into the keggle (because the probe sticks in towards the middle). Right now with the drain and sight/thermo at the same height, it all works fantastic.

Cool. Thanks everyone. All good info. Hey BrewNinja, any chance you could post a closeup pic of your keggle?
Now that I have my fitting heights out of the way, I'm looking for a little input regarding false bottoms for my mashtun. Anyone?

What type of solder did you use, lead free? How has it held up?

rdkngjoe said:

What type of solder did you use, lead free? How has it held up?

Click to expand...

I used a lead free solder with some percentage of silver (low temp). Can't remember exactly. You need a good liquid flux as well. I soldered seven fittings to my HLT keg most stainless and a few copper. It took a little practice as the procedure is a little different from sweating copper but the joints are very strong and haven't leaked a drop.

Here is a good source for more info:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/soldering-stainless-steel-155782/

When I get home tonight Ill try and grab a pic or two for you.

I think I'll try a silver bearing lead free solder and a silver solder/brazing rod on the tops I cut off before i touch my kegs and see how that works. I spoke with the local welder, who is recommended by 2 homebrew shops, but his prices are more than my budget allows. Thanks.

Here are a couple of pics. The second one is from the inside...its kind of hard to see anything in it but thought I would post it anyways. The bottom curve stops about 1/4" under the fittings on the inside.

rdkngjoe said:

I think I'll try a silver bearing lead free solder and a silver solder/brazing rod on the tops I cut off before i touch my kegs and see how that works. I spoke with the local welder, who is recommended by 2 homebrew shops, but his prices are more than my budget allows. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I agree. I looked into welding and wanted to find a cheaper way.

I did the same thing...some practice on the tops. I never did try brazing. Soldering was much easier for me to do so I tried it first and it worked well. With my limited skills, I was worried about overheating as I read somewhere that stainless will crystalize and get brittle above a certain temp.

I used a knockout punch (slug buster) with an oversided punch to indent the area around the fitting a bit. This worked as sort of a well to hold the solder plus flattened the curved wall for a better fit with the coupling. This is my practice run...the final product looks much better and I used much more solder.



I found proper amount of heat to be key...Just enough to melt the solder and not enough to burn off the flux.

That looks great. I found a bottle of Harris Stay Clean flux today and I'll try it tonight. Tried a different flux yesterday with no joy. Did you butt solder your fittings to the outside or did you drill the hole large enough to slide the fitting into the keg? I think I'll have more surface to solder if I butt it to the outside.

rdkngjoe said:

That looks great. I found a bottle of Harris Stay Clean flux today and I'll try it tonight. Tried a different flux yesterday with no joy. Did you butt solder your fittings to the outside or did you drill the hole large enough to slide the fitting into the keg? I think I'll have more surface to solder if I butt it to the outside.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I missed your post. Yes the fittings are butted to the outside. I drilled the hole aproximately the ID of the fitting.

How is it working for you?

I also butted my fitting to the outside, but I'm not getting a very strong solder joint. I'm able to break it apart fairly easy. I haven't given up yet though. I may have to consider weldless fittings.

Are you using a false bottom in your keggle? Any problems with it?

rdkngjoe said:

I also butted my fitting to the outside, but I'm not getting a very strong solder joint. I'm able to break it apart fairly easy. I haven't given up yet though. I may have to consider weldless fittings.

Are you using a false bottom in your keggle? Any problems with it?

Click to expand...

Actually, the soldering was done on my HLT. I do use a false bottom in my igloo MLT and nothing in the boil kettle.

I got the best results if I "tinned" the coupling and keg before trying to solder together. Cleaning really well is also very important. I used a wire brush, sandpaper and Muriatic acid to clean before soldering. I tried three fluxes before I found one that worked well. Too much heat is also your enemy. Once the flux burns off the solder wont stick. It took some practice to get acceptable results for me but once you get it down it is very easy.

This is the flux I use from Grainger: