7.75 gal side bung keg kettle?

A friend of mine gave me this 7.75 gal keg he had in his garage forever. Inside was nasty. Anyway I pulled the tube, valve and bung and washed it out. Well I'm thinking I can use it for a brew kettle or at least as a mash tun. I can go ahead and zip the top out with my grinder, but I need some advice on the best way to plug the hole. I like the idea of putting a thermometer there for mashing, but I really just want something that I can put in that is heat (220F) tolerant and not super toxic. Was thinking some kind of compression plug, but they are rubber. Any ideas are helpful. Thanks.

Here's how I did mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56069029@N06/5185824147/in/photostream/

I started with a 15.5gal Hoff-Stevens keg from the a defunct Carling brewery, but the concept is the same.

Good luck!

AWESOME! Thanks so much for the pictures. I just wasn't sure the rubber would hold up, nexty time I get to the home brew store I will pick a stopper and get some SS harware. Now I need an immersion chiller... and $.

Just got done cutting the top off and decided to boil some water in it for the hell of it. Water pours out perfectly. No drips! eventually I'll put a valve on it, but the first priority is a plug.

I use a 15.5 gal for my direct heat, recirculation mash/laughter tun and it seems to works well. I just pluged the bung hole with a wooden bung (poplar I think) and I've had no issues. I put the drain valve on the bottom edge where the little indentation is to avoid the need for a pick-up tube and I used SS braid from a water supply line for the false bottom. Similar to the one starsailor did with the copper tubeing.

What is the diameter of the hole? If its a tight fit a copper cap might be a good idea to hammer in and solder it shut.

I thought about getting a wood bung for it. I think they are .75 cents at the LHBS.

The hole is right around 1 3/4 inch. Might not be a bad idea to see if I can find a copper cap and cram it in there.

mobilecabinworks said:

AWESOME! Thanks so much for the pictures. I just wasn't sure the rubber would hold up, nexty time I get to the home brew store I will pick a stopper and get some SS harware. Now I need an immersion chiller... and $.

Click to expand...

It's real easy to do. The only part of my plug design that should be SS is the bolt that goes thru the hole in the plug because it touches the wort. The rest can be any material, steel or brass for the wing nut, and steel or even wood for the backing plate outside the keg. I'll take my bung and post the measurements for you in another post.

I wonder if you could get a freeze plug for an engine block to fit in the hole tightly. I'm pretty sure you can get SS ones. Don't know if it would work, just and idea I had.

Freeze plugs! That what they are called. I'll see if I can find one of those. An initial search found some bronze ones.

Bronze should work. There's a small amount of lead added to bronze to make it more machineable, but I believe a soak in vinigar will remove any that's on the surface.