To keggle or not to keggle

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jbb3

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I bought a 15.5 gal keg from an antique dealer who bought a lot at an auction and the keg happened to be in the lot. So can we put the ethical argument aside??

At some point, I plan to step up and brew 10 gal batches on occasion but will continue to brew 5 gal batches mostly.

My question is with performance of the keggle. I can't help but think about the mass of this thing when heating and cooling wort. I'm wondering if I'd be better off with a 60 or 80 qt kettle??

When I originally bought the keg, I thought about the money I would save over a BK of similar size. But now, I'm beginning to get deep enough (money) into the hobby, that I'm more concerned with performance at this point. I don't mind spending a few more dollars IF it makes a significant difference.

So, for all the folks with keggle experience or an informed opinion (on the performance), please let me know what you think!
 
The energy to heat and water to cool is a good point. I guess you'd have to compare the weight of the keggle vs the same size brew pot to see if the difference in mass would really make a difference to your costs/time.
You also have to add in your time and some parts converting the keggle to a brewpot vs just buying the brewpot.
My 2 cents: If you have the cash and would rather have a brewpot with some of the extras like valve and sight glass, go for it. You can convert the keg to a fermentor if you want to or sell it. Without doing a bunch of calculations, I don't think the energy use is going to be all that different.
Disclaimer: I don't have a keggle so my opinion on this is actually worth less than 2 cents. Good Luck & Cheers!
 
I don't have keggles either, but it seems like after fitting one with valves and w/e else you wanted, you might as well have bought a kettle with an incapsulated base that's designed for hardware installations and save the keg for fermenter/bright tank, or just serve out of it.
 
The energy to heat and water to cool is a good point. I guess you'd have to compare the weight of the keggle vs the same size brew pot to see if the difference in mass would really make a difference to your costs/time.
You also have to add in your time and some parts converting the keggle to a brewpot vs just buying the brewpot.
My 2 cents: If you have the cash and would rather have a brewpot with some of the extras like valve and sight glass, go for it. You can convert the keg to a fermentor if you want to or sell it. Without doing a bunch of calculations, I don't think the energy use is going to be all that different.
Disclaimer: I don't have a keggle so my opinion on this is actually worth less than 2 cents. Good Luck & Cheers!

I'm a DIY'er so the drilling and modifying is a wash regardless of which way I go. Even if I purchase a BK, I'll probably buy the parts separately and set it up how I want it. So I'm looking at a similar set-up time for either.

Heating the keggle up is a lesser concern to cooling it down. I have a DIY 50ft copper IC that I use currently and I'm not sure how the mass of this keggle will increase the cooling time?

And if there are any other draw backs that I'm not thinking of??

Thanks for the input. I'll take every 1-1/2 cents I can get! ;)
 
Heating the keggle up is a lesser concern to cooling it down.

Not that it would take substantially longer to heat wort in a keggle than in a kettle with an incapsulated base, but that the keggle would likely cause more carmelization. I like the flavor, and it's desirable in some styles, so maybe you're not worried about it.

I have a 50' ss immersion chiller with 1/2" ID and it cools half barrel batches to 70*F in 20-30 minutes without a prechiller. I wouldn't think you're 50' copper chiller would struggle with your keggle one bit.
 
Cleaning a keggle should be more of your priority. They are heavy and awkward to mess with. Main reason I sold mine.
 
Cleaning a keggle should be more of your priority. They are heavy and awkward to mess with. Main reason I sold mine.

That kind of depends on how you convert it. Whack the whole top off and it is just like a kettle to clean. Cut the entire domed portion out (not simple) and leave just the handles from the top and it is 95% as easy to clean.

I have no issues cleaning my boil kettle but mash tun is a bit of a pain with only the 12" opening (both keggles).
 
That's good info. Difficulty in cleaning is not an issue I thought about. I have already cut the top out but I cut a 12 inch hole so a lid would fit. And the thing does have some weight to it...

Any other drawbacks to think about??
 
I've got two keggles, one for the boil and an HLT, both with sightglass/thermo/bulkhead kits from Bobby at brewhardware and the only thing I dislike about them over a standard kettle is the weight.
 
Make them bottom drain by removing the bottom and using them upside down so you can CIP and get every drop out. False bottom in the MT and BK and there is almost zero loss
 
Make them bottom drain by removing the bottom and using them upside down so you can CIP and get every drop out. False bottom in the MT and BK and there is almost zero loss

The dip tubes in my keggles were able to suck out all but maybe a 1/2 pint from each vessel, so...dead space is not much of an issue, really. If you were planning on doing CIP I guess it would be a benefit.
 
The dip tubes in my keggles were able to suck out all but maybe a 1/2 pint from each vessel, so...dead space is not much of an issue, really. If you were planning on doing CIP I guess it would be a benefit.

Please don't tell me what CIP is. I don't need to take on another brew project right now... LOL

The concave bottom of the keg is actually one of the things I put in the plus column. If I were to build the keggle, I thought I would position the dip tube about 2/3 the way up the curved bottom so it will get most of the liquid but leave behind some of the crap.
 
My old BK and how it was set up. Worked very well.
smugshot_9143588-XL.jpg
 
My old BK and how it was set up. Worked very well.
smugshot_9143588-XL.jpg

Yeah, like that!

So the only reason you sold it was weight? You didn't notice any difference in the heating or especially cooling performance? No other negatives that you recall??
 
The concave bottom of the keg is actually one of the things I put in the plus column. If I were to build the keggle, I thought I would position the dip tube about 2/3 the way up the curved bottom so it will get most of the liquid but leave behind some of the crap.

I actually have it within an 1/8" of the middle of the dish on mine. I use SS scrubby (like a chore boy) over the end and get all but a couple of tablespoons of wort. That being said, for this system to work, I have to us at least 2 oz of leaf hops in each brew.
 
Yeah, like that!

So the only reason you sold it was weight? You didn't notice any difference in the heating or especially cooling performance? No other negatives that you recall??
I sold it because I had a 3 keggle single tier and it took up too much valuable garage space, I profited $800 on the sale and yes I hated hefting them around and cleaning them. Had I not gotten that much for it I would still have it and looked into selling the kegs and replacing them with standard kettles. or parting them out and using all the fittings on bare kettles.
 
I sold it because I had a 3 keggle single tier and it took up too much valuable garage space, I profited $800 on the sale and yes I hated hefting them around and cleaning them. Had I not gotten that much for it I would still have it and looked into selling the kegs and replacing them with standard kettles. or parting them out and using all the fittings on bare kettles.

Dang! Can't say as I blame you with the nice tidy sum you made.

Thanks All for the input!

Now I'm thinking of completing the keggle BK conversion and use it for the occasional 10 gal batch. For the more frequent 5 gal batches, I think I'm going to purchase another 10 gal pot.

Cheers!

:mug:
 
Dang! Can't say as I blame you with the nice tidy sum you made.

Thanks All for the input!

Now I'm thinking of completing the keggle BK conversion and use it for the occasional 10 gal batch. For the more frequent 5 gal batches, I think I'm going to purchase another 10 gal pot.

Cheers!

:mug:
That's what I am doing now. I have a 70 QT cooler MT and 10 gallon pot. I have access to a keggle if I ever want to do a 10 gallon batch which is rare.
 
I use a keggle for my BK and while I don't hate it, I wish I had straight sided kettles instead. It is heavy, and the ridges make cleaning a bit more cumbersome. Plus the rounded bottom places the heating element a little higher than I'd like.

At this point I don't plan on replacing it, but maybe some day when the rest of the system is finished I'll consider selling it and using a straight sided kettle.
 
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