Question on fittings

Bought a weldless fitting kit and I was wondering what fittings work best for the inside of a kettle?

I usually see the following three options

1) Bazooka Bag or Generic Hop Strainer.
2) Elbow
3) Tee fitting with barb

Any ideas on what would work best? I heard that option #1 doesn't work to well with pellet hops because they usually just clog it up. Opinions?

Thanks

You could go with a hop spider or some hop bag and then a simple elbow or dip tube would work in the kettle. If the hops are free range, you should use some type of filtering system. I just started using a hop strainer/taco/stopper and it works really good. You want a large surface area and need to monitor flow. Check out the link in my sig for a part list. It is fairly cheap to build and can be done in a few hours.

Are elbows or dip tubes the norm? Are they even necessary?

FYI I added a 1/2 external barb with silicon tubing for the fastest transfer of wort to fermenter so not sure if it would make sense to get a really thin dip tube.. not sure if they come in 1/2

You do not need an elbow or dip tube, but your fitting location will be around the 1 gallon mark(maybe more), so without it, you will have to tip the kettle. If you whirlpool, tipping is a bad idea. The elbow or dip tube lets siphon/suction do this for you. You want a large diameter dip tube(as large as your hose's ID is optimal), especially if you will add a pump someday.

It sounds like you are use gravity and you are using an immersion chiller. So I would suggest an elbow to your fitting and run a dip tube to the bottom edge of your kettle. You could get a 1/2 elbow compression fitting and use some 1/2 soft copper and make a dip tube real easily. I am not sure if 3/8 rigid copper fits in 1/2 compression fittings or not. After you chill, take a large spoon, and give the kettle a real good stir or whirlpool. This should pull the hops and trub into a cone in the middle. This will limit the amount you need to strain, so something like a bazooka tube, stainless mesh from a water hose line(like a line to hook up a sink to the water in the wall or a toilet water to the wall, just remove the hose inside and use the stainless outer liner), or a stainless scrubby at the end of the tube might suffice.

I use a 5/8 compression fitting x 1/2 NPT. This allows me to use 1/2 rigid copper or 5/8 soft copper for my dip tubes. This gives me a 1/2 ID in my dip tube and all the way to my pump. I recently built the hop stopper around the dip tube, but with the hop spider, I used the stainless mesh from a water line to help clear some of the trub, but it was not really required.

Does this make sense?

Here is something to give you an idea. This is a straight compression fitting, but the tube is bent. Check the pics at the bottom, they explain it well.

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=151

Here is one from Bobby too
http://www.brewhardware.com/valves/116-12diptubes

milldoggy said:

Here is something to give you an idea. This is a straight compression fitting, but the tube is bent. Check the pics at the bottom, they explain it well.

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=151

Here is one from Bobby too
http://www.brewhardware.com/valves/116-12diptubes

Click to expand...

Thanks for the url's they gave me a good idea on my options. Since I do not have a domed bottom it seems like a 45 or 90 elbow would work best with this dip tube. As I mentioned in the above post I have a 1/2 barb http://morebeer.com/view_product/17421/102353/Stainless_-_1_2%22_mpt_x_1_2%22_Barb with a 1/2 silicon tube. These dip tube look really thin.. are they? Will It be a waste to use these small dip tube with 1/2 tubing?

Thanks

Doubt it will really matter with gravity systems or even with a pump. You will see get plenty of flow. Like I said, if you want full 1/2 ID, look for a 5/8 compression fitting and get some 1/2 copper from Lowes or HD. Rigid copper is 1/2 ID, the soft stuff is 1/2 OD.

You could try a copper 1/2 npt to 1/2 solder fitting and get a copper elbow and a copper 1/2 ID pipe for HD. You will screw the 1/2 NPT fitting into your weldless bulkhead. Then just slip the elbow with the tube on it. It might make a good enough seal for you. Test with water first. For under 10$, it might be worth a try. You could solder the pieces together, you will just have to screw the weldless fitting with the dip tube all together at the same time, not a big deal actually.

If you never sweated copper before, this is a good project to learn on it. I learned to do it making brew hardware and save my self a ton of money fixing my house recently when I had to replace a hose, sink, etc.

HomeDepot fittings( these may not be the exact ones, some have shoulders, but give you an idea)
Screw this into weldless fittings, if you have a thread end in the kettle, use the second option.
opt 1: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...copper 1/2&storeId=10051&superSkuId=202904880

opt 2: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...copper 1/2&storeId=10051&superSkuId=202905001

Solder or slip this onto the fitting above(you will need a small piece of 1/2 copper pipe or get a street elbow that is designed to fit inside the above fitting)
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...copper 1/2&storeId=10051&superSkuId=202904973

1/2 copper pipe into the elbow above going straight down
Leave some gap from the kettle bottle to the fitting, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

Now I'm wondering if a simple elbow would work considering it looks my kettle has the whole cut out real low. Have you ever seen that setup?

Also newb question but a lot of these say for use with a whirpool. Is this just swirling around the wort so hops settle in the center?

MrSmug said:

Now I'm wondering if a simple elbow would work considering it looks my kettle has the whole cut out real low. Have you ever seen that setup?

Click to expand...

It might. Get some home depot fittings and play around, return the ones that you do not use.

Whirlpool is just what you said. Ever get coffee grounds or tea leaves in your cup? Stir it and watch what happens, the stuff builds up in the center.

milldoggy said:

It might. Get some home depot fittings and play around, return the ones that you do not use.

Whirlpool is just what you said. Ever get coffee grounds or tea leaves in your cup? Stir it and watch what happens, the stuff builds up in the center.

Click to expand...

Thanks.