BIAB Kettle Build - Sight Glass and Spigot Combined?

I am getting one of these Bayou Classic 44qt steamer kettles with the basket and a spigot for a BIAB setup.


I would like to add a sight glass and a better spigot to the existing weld like this:


I don't foresee any problems with this but wanted to bounce the idea around here to see what you other brewers thought? My goal is to not drill any more holes since it already has a welded fitting.

Wayne at Bargain Fittings mentioned that with this configuration the wort in the sight glass would of course drain as soon as I open the valve. I also thought about aeration of the wort with a sort of a venturi effect? With BIAB style brewing I think this may be a benefit as long as the wort is cooled in the kettle before draining.

While you folks were pondering my question about the combo sight glass/spigot I took some pics of my mesh bag.

Here is the mesh bag I am using. This is a paint strainer bag from my local hardware store. I got two of these in a pack for about $4.00.


The stitch on these bags looks quite sturdy with two rows and a zig-zag pattern on the outside edge. The size is about 16 in wide x 21 in tall.

The problem with having the sight glass in-line with the spigot is as soon as you open the spigot, our liquid level will drop ad you'll lose the ability to read your sight glass. If you have any intention of controlling your liquid level, it won't work.

The paint bag looks good. I use an el cheapo five-gallon paint bag for mine (just a hop bag as I mash in a cooler, but the same concept) and it works fine. That one looks quality.

The paint strainer bags are ok IMO, but the Voile material is far superior. It will leave you with a much clearer wort as the pores are much finer. Worth the effort to find someone to stitch up a bag for you.

I have a sight glass on my single tier HLT keggle, but I am not bothering to put one into my BIAB set-up. A measuring stick is really all I need for a one pot potion.

The measuring stick is a good idea. I thought about using a steel ruler I have in the tool shed. I think it is aluminum and should be fairly clean.

I guess I will have to get the SWMBO to stitch up some of the Swiss Voile for me. She may actually enjoy contributing to my brewing hobby.

JetSmooth said:

The problem with having the sight glass in-line with the spigot is as soon as you open the spigot, our liquid level will drop ad you'll lose the ability to read your sight glass. If you have any intention of controlling your liquid level, it won't work.

Click to expand...

JetSmooth,
Thank you for the comments. With BIAB I am thinking the only time I will need to measure water levels is before I dough in and after the boil? This will allow me to set my mash volume and then take a post boil reading. The only time I can think I will really be opening the spigot is to drain the wort into the fermenter.

If for some reason I do open the spigot for a moment before I am filling the fermenter, for instance to take a hydrometer reading, wouldn't the sight glass fill back up?

Ditch the small paint strainer bag and go with a voile panel. You can pickup a 59x84 panel (curtain) for $4.75 at Wal-Mart. Voile is far superior to those paint strainer bags.

Keep the 1g and 5g bags for hops; anything besided 12+ pounds of grain.

I have a similar pot from Bass Pro. I removed the spigot and installed a weldless bulkhead and ball valve. Much cleaner than the spigot.

sammy33 said:

JetSmooth,
Thank you for the comments. With BIAB I am thinking the only time I will need to measure water levels is before I dough in and after the boil? This will allow me to set my mash volume and then take a post boil reading. The only time I can think I will really be opening the spigot is to drain the wort into the fermenter.

If for some reason I do open the spigot for a moment before I am filling the fermenter, for instance to take a hydrometer reading, wouldn't the sight glass fill back up?

Click to expand...

I don't do BIAB, so I can't comment on that. It may not be a problem for you. But do you want to start out with what may be a potential problem down the road? What if you change your brewing style or want to only drian off half the liquid volume at some point? It may come back to bite you.

Yes, the sightglass will fill back up. So it'll work for you. But you may fine yourself needing to separate the fittings, requiring another hole later on.

Not trying to discourage you. But this was something I considered when I made my first pot and this line of logic steered me away from it.

Best of luck!

Your sight-glass/ball valve combo won't drain below the level of the sight-glass because you won't be able to create a siphon. Unless of course you use your thumb to create an airtight seal on the top of the sight-glass when you drain below that level.

Finally got my Bayou Classic 44qt kettle in today with the steamer basket. Here are some pics.

This should work well for most all the brews I want to do up to 5 gallon batches.


The steamer basket gives me about a 3" gap above the bottom of the kettle to protect the bag from burning.


The welded port seems to be a 1" FPT. The spigot is easy to remove btw.

1" to 1/2" bushing -> 1/2" Close Nipple -> 1/2" Ball Valve

FTW!!!

Less about brewing and more about the achilles tang I think I see!


Actually, you could put a small rubber stopper/cap on the top of your site glass and seal it when you drain. you could probably find the right sized cork at a hobby shop or hardware store.

B

wyzazz said:

Your sight-glass/ball valve combo won't drain below the level of the sight-glass because you won't be able to create a siphon. Unless of course you use your thumb to create an airtight seal on the top of the sight-glass when you drain below that level.

Click to expand...

Are you saying that if the kettle is full with wort no liquid will come out if I open the valve? Won't gravity take over and force the liquid out creating a sort of venturi effect (wort aeration bonus)? The sight glass will be on the outside of the kettle so the siphon on the inside (sealed) will still function...I think.

bad coffee said:

Less about brewing and more about the achilles tang I think I see!

Actually, you could put a small rubber stopper/cap on the top of your site glass and seal it when you drain. you could probably find the right sized cork at a hobby shop or hardware store.
B

Click to expand...

Aquarium keeping is my other insidious hobby.

I think I am still going try the inline sight glass and cork it for draining if necessary. I was hoping not to have to poke another hole in the kettle so if it doesn't work I will use the dip stick as a back up plan. :cross:

sammy33 said:

Are you saying that if the kettle is full with wort no liquid will come out if I open the valve? Won't gravity take over and force the liquid out creating a sort of venturi effect (wort aeration bonus)? The sight glass will be on the outside of the kettle so the siphon on the inside (sealed) will still function...I think.

Click to expand...

No, I'm saying it will drain until the level of the liquid comes down to the height of the "T" fitting & Ball Valve, then it will stop. Doesn't matter if you think it will still function, it won't. Unless of course you plug the top of the sight glass with something while you're draining the kettle.

Well, it will drain to the BOTTOM of the bulkhead, but in the case of bushing the 1" NPT hole down to 1/2", that puts the max drain to somewhere like 1" above the bottom of the pot. If you attempt to put a dip/siphon tube in, even something like an elbow inside, it will NOT pull a siphon with an open top sight glass. Without adding all kinds of new fittings and have the ball valve sitting 4" away from the pot, just grab the WLSL kit off my website and drill a separate 9/16" hole.

Bobby_M - I have browsed brewhardware.com a few times already.

Looks like the second hole is the way to go if want a sight glass. I would probably prefer the WLST250 but looks like you are sold out for a while? Are these weeks away?

wyzazz said:

1" to 1/2" bushing -> 1/2" Close Nipple -> 1/2" Ball Valve

FTW!!!

Click to expand...

1" to 1/2" bushing -> 1/2" Close Nipple -> 1/2" Ball Valve -> 1/2" Hose Barb
Gotta think about the future pump upgrade. :rockin:

wyzazz said:

No, I'm saying it will drain until the level of the liquid comes down to the height of the "T" fitting & Ball Valve, then it will stop. Doesn't matter if you think it will still function, it won't. Unless of course you plug the top of the sight glass with something while you're draining the kettle.

Click to expand...

Ok...I have seen the light. I appreciate the feedback. Thanks for steering me in the right direction.

sammy33 said:

Bobby_M - I have browsed brewhardware.com a few times already.

Looks like the second hole is the way to go if want a sight glass. I would probably prefer the WLST250 but looks like you are sold out for a while? Are these weeks away?

Click to expand...

Supplier promises 4/15 ship date on the thermometers. Of course, suppliers love jerking their customers around quite a bit so we'll see. I've been building the WLST assemblies big time just waiting for the thermos.

sammy33 said:

Bobby_M - I have browsed brewhardware.com a few times already.

Looks like the second hole is the way to go if want a sight glass. I would probably prefer the WLST250 but looks like you are sold out for a while? Are these weeks away?

Click to expand...

I ordered today from them:
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=45&product_id=90

I gonna have the thermomether conncted to it too.

Make sure you use the 6" probe otherwise it won't read properly.

I'd use that 1" hole thats already there for a sight glass and add a new weldless or soldered 1/2" coupling for your ball valve.



-=Jason=-

Sorry about the off topic hit.

That's a beautiful reef. Well done.

Beermagic said:

I ordered today from them:
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=45&product_id=90
I gonna have the thermomether conncted to it too.

Click to expand...

Looks like bargainfittings.com has all the valves, adapters, dip tubes I need. Already emailed them, but it seems they don't have a secure/encrypted checkout on their site?

Flomaster said:

I'd use that 1" hole thats already there for a sight glass and add a new weldless or soldered 1/2" coupling for your ball valve.
-=Jason=-

Click to expand...

I am thinking of skipping the sight glass for now and possibly installing one later in another spot like you describe. I am going to try calibrating my pot to use the dip stick method mentioned here with "The BIAB Calculator" on biabrewer.info.

GreenMonti said:

Sorry about the off topic hit.
That's a beautiful reef. Well done.

Click to expand...

I enjoy my reef tank(s) every day. I just hope I don't spend as much on beer brewing as I did on my aquariums.

Here is the stainless valve and accessories I ended up ordering from bargainfittings.com today. Wayne was a huge help. Thanks to all for your input on this.



I decided to not worry about the sight glass for now and am simply going to use a dip stick instead to save money for other things like a Blichmann Burner.

great thread, led me to the weldless sight glass, i've been looking for a similar product for my bk/HLT. Do you think the sight glass would work on a 5g rubbermaid cooler HLT? I'd probably use a 1-2" coupler through the side of the cooler, with a large rubber washer on the inside to secure/seal it.

OT: seems beer and reefs go hand in hand, i have a 52g flat back hex housing 2 oscars that is begging for an SPS reef conversion, but SWMBO says not until I finish my degree but it's probably better that way

o4_srt - I think it would work great as long as you don't do anything crazy like combining it with a spigot.

You will likely need the longer coupler like you describe. Just measure the thickness on your cooler and make sure you leave room for the sight glass connection and the o-rings/locknut. Bargainfittings.com has a neat sight glass kit for coolers.

OT: I have so much crossover equipment between my reef tank and beer brewing. Refractometer, Ranco temperature controller, water test kits, digital thermometers and probably a few other things that have not dawned on me yet. My dorm fridge used to hold my DT's phtyo, Roti-feast and some fish food but has been "borrowed", along with my Ranco temp controller, for beer fermentation.

sammy33 said:

Here is the stainless valve and accessories I ended up ordering from bargainfittings.com today. Wayne was a huge help. Thanks to all for your input on this.



I decided to not worry about the sight glass for now and am simply going to use a dip stick instead to save money for other things like a Blichmann Burner.

Click to expand...

How did it turn out for you ? I am looking at the bayou 44qt pot as well, and I do not know if I should get the ported one, or make a hole myself later on when/if I want to add a ball valve.

Thank you!

The only issue I had with this setup is the dip tube is a bit long to siphon correctly from the side of the kettle (for whirpooling). I am going to have to cut about an 1.25" or so off with a hacksaw and clean it up with a dremel to fit.

I am still going to end up getting a hole punch or a step bit but this was easy to get started since I am short on tools.

Thank you for sharing all of the details on this pot, and the fittings you used to modify it. I'm in the process of gearing up for all grain BIAB (waiting for the garage to be built before going to a full brutus style rig), and the details you shared here helped me decide to purchase this pot. I think it'll be perfect for my needs (5 gallon BIAB batches), and will continue to be handy as a HLT once I get the full rig built.

How did you guys get a new ball valve on this? I took off the spigot and went to the hardware store but it is apparently not regular pipe fitting. Does anyone know what the threading is and where I can find a coupling/ball valve combination that will work?

I too would like to hear if the spigot setup is still working fine.