Got a keg today - what would you do?

OK - so I just scored a 1/2 bbl keg from a guy for $10. Which I knew would happen as soon as I bought my 15 gal SS pot from Cabela's -- So my question to the more experienced equipment makers out there is what would you do in this situation.

1) Pot as HLT, cooler as MLT, and make a keggle
2) Keg as HLT, cooler as MLT, and keep using the pot for the boil
3) Continue using two small pots as HLT, cooler as MLT, pot for the boil and make the keg a 10 gal fermenter.

I have one weldless fitting so far that I was about to put into my Cabela's, and I think I will still do that. If I need fittings on the keg I will probably get someone to weld them in.

My opinion is option 1... or maybe 2 as a second choice

That is kind of what I was leaning towards, but after reading all the stuff about people do keggles because they are cheap, not because they are good, it makes me wonder if my pot isn't better in some respects (definitely not in the durability department)

Now, if only I could find 3-4 more people with old kegs next to their garage then I wouldn't have this problem

Whatever you do just ensure that if that keg comes under ANY sort of heat, you have those pilot holes drilled into the rim of it. I remember reading the posts of peoples keggles going 'boom' as a result of this not being done.
-Me

Just because kegs are cheap doesn't mean they don't work very well and that people only use them for the cost savings. They are very tough to beat I think, unless looks are a real strong point for you. When it comes to that, nothing looks better than one of those megabucks SS pots.

A couple of years ago when I got two kegs I didn't know about the possibility of the bottom ring being sealed, and lucked out because they never went boom on me so I assume they had vents. Those have since been sold, but this year I got two more, and the first thing I did was check for those holes, having now read the thread about it here on HBT.

yup, I checked that as I loaded them into the truck too...that would be a nightmare of a day

I would turn it into a Digital (Electric) HLT. Best investment I think you can do.

I don't know if I'm an experienced equipment builder....I've built 2 rigs and some other stuff...does that count?

I think the bigger question is do you have a false bottom yet? If you're starting from scratch, here's how I'd do it with the stuff you have:

1. Cooler as MLT, hands down. I assume it's 10 gallons? The FB for this will be much cheaper than for a keg.

2. Keggle as HLT. It's got good thermal mass, it will lose less heat, and will hold the most liquid. Later, you should put a sight glass and therm in there. Put the therm lower than you think....you may still want to know the temp of 3-4 gallons....which isn't very high up.

3. Kettle as BK. Probably has a laminated bottom to evenly disperse heat and prevent scorching. It's also got a flat bottom which will enable you to form a better trub cone when you whirlpool. You can put your weldless fitting in there with a diptube and you're golden.

The beauty of it is you can choose. You're not buying a pre-modified piece of equipment.

Let us know what you choose to do....and post pics!!!

Thanks for all the responses so far, definately getting the gears turning

No false bottoms yet, just picked up the keg today

Jay, an electric HLT interests me, but I can't get pas the thought that a cooler would be better suited for this with all of the extra insulation. What's your thoughts?

ScubaSteve - Currently I have a 5 gal cooler, but I already have the parts to convert a bigger cooler so I can move up to 10 gal batches. That is why I was thinking I might need a bigger fermenter, but for now 2 better bottles/buckets/carboys will work, and give me the ability to do yeast experiments.

Here is the kettle I got https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/59-dollars-really-91225/
It is fairly cheap, but apparently has worked well with weldless fittings.

PS - I really need to thank the wife on this, she is the one that said something one day as we were cruising down the road at 60 mph - hey, have you noticed that guy has a keg sitting outside of his garage?

Being as easily persuaded as I am by a few valid points I'm changing my "vote" to the setup outlined by ScubaSteve. His points why the keg would make a better HLT are very good.

I would first give it a hug as it's a new member of the family.
I have one 16" diameter by 18" tall stainless pot that looks like new my friend gave me. Has a 1/2" hole with chrome spigot 1 3/4" up from the bottom, must weigh 6-7 pounds. Holds 15.66 gallons to the brim. I like the mass of a 33 pound 15.5 keg vs that 6-7 pound pot at most for better heat retention due to mass alone before insulating. Also a lot more dent free should you bang them around. How many Blichmann owners havecried from adding a dent? I may just coil up 75' of 1/2 refrigeration tubing with spacers and run well water thru this pot as a cooler. Free is cheap enough and save the kegs for holding more stable temps besides thicker to weld fittings on.

The keg definitely takes me longer to heat up that my old aluminum kettle. If I had a large thin wall SS or AL kettle, I would use it for the HLT. Bringing 10 gallons of water up from 50F-175F takes more propane with a keggle that with a kettle. Use the keg for a boil kettle, existing kettle for the HLT, and a ice chest/cooler for the MLT. My 2 copper anyways...

Jonnio said:

Jay, an electric HLT interests me, but I can't get pas the thought that a cooler would be better suited for this with all of the extra insulation. What's your thoughts?

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I have one, and I can’t even think about brewing without it, at this point. With the amount of stainless and the thermal mass that you have available w/ a keg I don't see the thermal loss as a big deal. It won’t be direct fired so you can insulate the he!! Out of the thing.
It's just my take on it. And I have found my Electric HLT heats faster than my old gas one EVER did.
Cheers
JJ

Jay - how many watts would you recommend for the element?

I switched from pots to keggles due to the curve of the bottom. Yah some break material is sucked up from the boil kettle but instead of 3/4 gallon of wasted wort at the bottom of a pot I now leave about 3/4 cup. If you use whirlafloc in the boil the break is pretty stiff and if you use a hop bag it makes a great strainer for the pickup tube. Any break that does make it to the fermenter sits below the settling yeast anyway.

Jonnio said:

Jay - how many watts would you recommend for the element?

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I use 2. Both run 220 VAC, both on their own relay, both controled by the same digital controler. 1 is 1500 watts the other is 5500 watts.
I don't like to wait for water to heat up!

I have the same stuff as the OP. My SS pot has a valve already welded on it and it sounds like yours is naked at this point, but that probably doesn't change the set up. I have found that the SS pot boils faster than my keggle so I use it as the boiler. As long as I remember to preheat my HLT I don't need to heat it up really quick.

I just thought of another consideration. Do you have a lid for the keggle? You'll need one for the HLT to keep the heat in. I use a pizza pan that I found laying around the house.