adding a sight glass to my AIO

[fluketamer]

hello
i hate that i cant see the level in my aio on the outside. especially when sparging. i have to completely lift the basket out and put it aside to read the level in my kettle.

does anyone see a problem with adding one of these to the tap on the outside, or has anyone done this
thanks

 

[philjohnwilliams]

As long as the threads match I don't see a problem, but I've never used an all in one system so my experience is limited.

 

[day_trippr]

What happens when you actually use the valve to draw wort out of the kettle? Does it empty the sight glass and then pull air instead of wort?

Cheers!

 

[fluketamer]

yeah its 1/2 npt which seems to be the standard for kettle taps.
i was worried about it sticking out to much and being a breaking hazard. also concerned a bout the liqud in the tube not boiling but i have been reassured by a few posts.
also wondering if anyone has done it or found other soultions.

i know there is the option of just attaching food grade heat resistant silicon tubing to the tap as an egyptian level ( i think i saw it called that)

What happens when you actually use the valve to draw wort out of the kettle? Does it empty the sight glass and then pull air instead of wort?

Cheers!

i have no idea thats why i asked. but i see alot of them on the web and assumed that kind of thing was pretested prior to manufacture and sale.

i see that ithat could be an issue. i imagine that capping the top would stop that or that the weight of the liquid would thanks for the tip

 

[whoaru99]

What happens when you actually use the valve to draw wort out of the kettle? Does it empty the sight glass and then pull air instead of wort?

Cheers!

I'd think the level in the sight gauge would tend to match the liquid level in the kettle all the way down. Maybe even lag it a bit if there is restriction to dampen the reading. But, I don't have one to verify.

 

[Red over White]

The only concern with this arrangement is unboiled wort in it, making it's way into the fermenter. If your arrangement will allow for recirculating through it before cooling, your good to go.

 

[fluketamer]

The only concern with this arrangement is unboiled wort in it, making it's way into the fermenter. If your arrangement will allow for recirculating through it before cooling, your good to go.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/sight-glass-a-risk.300760/
although the above thread is old its seems to say theres no problem with wort in the glass. i especially trust bobby m's responce "If sight glasses caused infections, I'd be out of business."

this sold me .
im going to try it its not a big investment to tweak my aio

im going to put it between my aio and the tap

 

[fluketamer]

this worked well

 

[hungupdown]

View attachment 841598

this worked well

Not convinced.
Having seen in a few grain store sheds, with any birds raiding the grain and crapping on it, I want to be sure that every drop is sanitised by a long boil.
Standpipe like pictured, is holding a tepid water&wort mix that's never boiled, is just a bug breeding ground. Might as well ferment in an unwashed chamber pot.

 

[day_trippr]

My 20g Blichmann G1 kettles all sport their type of protected sight gauge as did the 10g G1 kettles I used prior, and I've never had an evidently infected batch of beer in all my years of brewing. But I brew with propane, and given one can pasteurize milk with temperatures as low as 135°F given enough time (30 minutes) at least in my case I suspect the kettle's radiant heat from the boil alone would raise the liquid temperature in the sight glass high enough to kill any wee beasties, never mind the rising thermal energy from the burners that bathe those gauges the whole time they're on.

In the case of an e-kettle with insulation between the kettle and sight gauge I guess one would be dependent on the heat at the base of that gauge providing sufficient rising thermal energy to bring the whole column of wort above 135°F long enough to do the job. I suppose it might be worth verifying that is the case or not...

Cheers!

 

[Deadalus]

Not convinced.
Having seen in a few grain store sheds, with any birds raiding the grain and crapping on it, I want to be sure that every drop is sanitised by a long boil.
Standpipe like pictured, is holding a tepid water&wort mix that's never boiled, is just a bug breeding ground. Might as well ferment in an unwashed chamber pot.

I nearly always mash out at 170F for 10 minutes so not tepid before transfer to the BK. My MT does not have a sight glass, the BK does. My electric BK is 240V so the boil is vigorous, so much so that I have to turn the power down to read the volume correctly as the liquid is ebbing and flowing into the sight glass. And boils are typically 60 minutes. Water only needs to be brought to a boil to treat it for drinking, plus I think I have read that it can be done without boiling by staying at a lower temp for several minutes. I also CIP afterwards at 150-160 for about 30 minutes and I use a sight glass brush and make sure to blast the sight glass from the top and bottom with a hose sprayer.

The one you are referring to is an AIO so I don't know how vigorously it boils. I think your characterization is a bit over the top however.

 

[fluketamer]

so far so good . i kegged the helles yesterday it had no off flavors. it looks great fermented like all the rest of my brews. tastes great going into the keg.

i read a fair amount of threads on here, the sister thread and redit before doing this. a very trusted member here didnt shy me away either on the liquid being a problem in the sight glass. its very easy to disassemble and clean . i aint afraid
the sight glass made my day easier especially the sparge. i wont brew without it now.

also i didint intend for this but when the pump is running too high it drains the dead space faster than the wort can drain back through the grain bed in the pipe. i know this cause the wort in the sight glass drains out. thats how i know to slow down the pump. a member on the uk sister site says he likes this function of the sight glass specificially.

i dont think its an issue but i guess if you wanted you could cycle the wort a few times in the sight glass this way especially at mashout to get it really hot in there. but like i sad its not necessary .

 

[day_trippr]

I totally rely on my MLTs sight gauge to dial-in the recirculation - and later the run-off rate - to avoid compacting the grain bed which causes bad things to happen. I don't think there's a substitute for that function and I expect I'd have a lot of bad brew days without it...

Cheers!