Acquired a keg, now time to turn it into a brew kettle

[pshankstar]

I recently acquired a keg that I would like to convert into a brew kettle. Right now I am only doing extract brewing, but may (ok I will) look into going all grain down the road at some point. With that being said, I would like to make this into a simple brew kettle for now but with the ability to upgrade this as I progress in my hobby (i.e. sight glass, false bottom, etc...).

So with that being said, I would like to install a ball valve so I can attach a hose to it and drain the wort into my conical fermentor. As I have been researching this I have seen "Bazooka kettle screens" that would attach to the inside of the kettle to the valve to help keep the hops and other sediments out. Would something like this be a good way to start? Below are the two items I was thinking of ordering from Amazon since they qualify for Prime shipping. Although I may need to buy an adapter or other smaller parts (like a barbed nipple for the output hose).

Valve

Bazooka Screen

Or am I better off not having the bazooka screen for now and just run the wort through a 5 gallon paint strainer bag when I transfer it to the fermenter? I do prefer to make IPAs so the amount of hops I use are generally on the high side.

Any thoughts, suggestions or tidbits to offer would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all in advance!

BTW - I will be following these instructions on how to cut the top and transform the keg to a brew pot/keggle.

Home brewing.com insturctions

Instructables instructions

 

[JoshuaW]

Please make sure that your keg is legal and has been decommissioned by the brewery. A deposit is not the same as purchasing a keg!

 

[pshankstar]

Yes, I already did that. It's nice to have some connections in the beverage industry!

 

[BroomVikin]

If it were me, I wouldn't worry about the screen. If you use a pick up tube (http://www.brewinternational.com/pick-up-tube/) to drain from just to the side of the bottom rather than the center you'll leave the majority of your "junk" behind when you empty the keggle. What does make it in to primary can usually be left behind when you rack to secondary/ bottling bucket. (FYI. Looks like both of your links point to the valve.)

 

[LandoLincoln]

Personally, I'd avoid the bazooka screen because I've used them in the past and they clog up a lot. Nowadays, I just don't worry about how much hot break / cold break / hop material gets into my fermentors. It all falls to the bottom and I get no off-flavors or grassy flavors from the hop material being in there. Some people have done experiments and have concluded that there's little to no difference when it comes to dumping all of the stuff into your fermentors.

 

[pshankstar]

That's a great idea! I will look into that!

Thanks for pointing out the link issue, I have made the appropriate change to fix it.

 

[kombat]

I've recently been whirlpooling to get my wort clear, and draining with a side pickup tube. The wort in my fermenter is much clearer, and as an unexpected side benefit, the yeast I collect and re-use is much cleaner, too. Previously, my harvested yeast was lumpy and cloudy in the jars. Now, it's much finer and smoother, and more compact too (owing to the absence of trub).

 

[pshankstar]

I thought I would share with everyone some pictures. I'm excited to brew my next batch with this new pot or keggle (I guess some call it).

I ended up having to make another rubber washer for the ball valve not to leak. As you can tell from the picture, I left it square in shape and made a hole in the center of it and it holds water just fine now! I also went with the Pickup Tube option instead of a bazooka screen!

 

[Brian77095]

looks good!

 

[Skep18]

Personally, I'd avoid the bazooka screen because I've used them in the past and they clog up a lot. Nowadays, I just don't worry about how much hot break / cold break / hop material gets into my fermentors. It all falls to the bottom and I get no off-flavors or grassy flavors from the hop material being in there. Some people have done experiments and have concluded that there's little to no difference when it comes to dumping all of the stuff into your fermentors.

Maybe a side note a this point but I opened and read most of the link provided. The author actually concluded in this rough experiment that there were indeed some perceptible differences between trub and non-trub carboys.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Maybe a side note a this point but I opened and read most of the link provided. The author actually concluded in this rough experiment that there were indeed some perceptible differences between trub and non-trub carboys.

The trub carboy being preferable to the non-trub carboy. So if anything you're making your beer (somewhat) worse by trying to get the trub out.

 

[Skep18]

The trub carboy being preferable to the non-trub carboy. So if anything you're making your beer (somewhat) worse by trying to get the trub out.

Well the notes were definitely subjective. The trub carboy had a sharper, stronger flavor (paraphrasing here) while the trub-free carboy was smoother and less abrasive. It's all preference I think. As the author alluded to in his conclusion, its all about what you, the brewer, is looking for.

Per the link...

Aaron is a Cicerone Certified Beer Server at the House of Pendragon taproom who has also passed the written portion of the BJCP exam and currently serves on the Board of Directors for our local homebrew club

[...]

He reported minimal to no perceptible differences in aroma or mouthfeel, though after closer inspection stated that Truby was slightly more bright than Non-Truby. Flavor-wise, Aaron experienced Truby as being “a little more phenolic with a more biting apple-like flavor, maybe some acetaldehyde.” He was the first to report a preference for Non-Truby, explaining he appreciated its slightly less biting bitterness.

He describes this extra bite as being contributed to off-flavors. This kinda points in the other direction, that leaving the trub in makes (slightly) worse beer.

All this is just to point out it depends on the drinker, the recipe and beer style as to whether the (slight) differences introduced by leaving the trub in the carboy are god/bad/indifferent.