DIY Bazooka T

After many builds from how-to's on this site, it is time for me to contribute something. Lets make a Bazooka T.
First the parts list:
1- water heater supply line- 18"
3- Stainless Steel hose clamps. 2- 1" and 1- 1/2"
1- Copper T 1" with a 1/2" leg
1- 1/2 " 90 degree elbow
1- 1/2" threaded fitting



Lets cut the ends off of the hose and then pull the center out by PUSHING the braid off of the hose.

Cut the braid in half,


and clamp it to the Copper T

Crimp the ends and you are done with the T

Now for the elbow


Solder it. I did this on the stove. It's a little ugly but works.


Cut a slit in the T for compression onto the elbow.

Screw in the elbow.


and clamp on the T

How many times have you used the one you made? I'm interested in knowing about long-term performance. What kind of hops did you use? Why did you make your so short?

I built it last night and will be brewing with it on Sunday. I will also be using a hop bag that sits on top of the keggle to contain pellet hops. I think long term use will be fine based on the amount of mashes you can get with the smaller half inch braid used for toilets. I know that this looks small but from end to end it is almost a foot long. The braid is about an inch wide.

I made a bazooka screen for my keggle and used pellet hops. Just about the same total length as what you have, maybe a bit longer.

Uh, nope. I got *maybe* a half-cup of wort out before it plugged. I ended up lifting the keg and dumping it into the bucket.

It looks good but the only thing I would say is if it's not at the lowest part of the kettle then you'll loose wort.

If all else fails then there is always the good old scrubby.

orfy said:

If all lse fails then there is always the good old scrubby.

Click to expand...

I bought some scrubbys this weekend on your recommendation. Figured that the scrubby and the Lil' Sparky HopSock would give me the filtering I need.

the_bird said:

I made a bazooka screen for my keggle and used pellet hops. Just about the same total length as what you have, maybe a bit longer.

Uh, nope. I got *maybe* a half-cup of wort out before it plugged. I ended up lifting the keg and dumping it into the bucket.

Click to expand...

And if you've ever seen a picture of Bird's arms, you'd know why I'm LOL'ing.

Orf, you use whole or pellet hops with the scrubby?

Cheesefood said:

And if you've ever seen a picture of Bird's arms, you'd know why I'm LOL'ing.

Click to expand...

Hey, I'm wirey, but I can throw these things!

I'm going to use the T for the cold break and the bit of hops that always gets out of the strainer bag and contain most of the hops in one of these:

the_bird said:

Orf, you use whole or pellet hops with the scrubby?

Click to expand...

It may work with plugs but probably not pellet.
I use vacuum packed whole leaf.






The hops act as a nice filter bed.

Can anyone attest to the durability and efficiency of this design? I use whole hops so I'm not too worried about it clogging... I wasn't sure if time revealed any latent design defects. Thanks!

ps. Sorry to bring the thread back from the dead!

*bump*

Anyone have feedback on this design in conjunction with the Lil' Sparky hop bag?

I'd like to know how this will work with just whole hops. I made one using a 1" diameter, 12" long SS braid (not using a T junction). I brewed a batch of beer using a combo of pellets and whole leaf hops. Like a previous post, I got about a cup of wort out before it completely clogged. Ended up having to pour the wort into the fermenter through a funnel with a ss strainer. Messy.

So if I just used whole hops, how would it work?

Thanks.

2ndstorey said:

Solder it. I did this on the stove. It's a little ugly but works.

Click to expand...

Do you mean you just used the open flame of the stove instead of a torch to sweat the pipe? Amazing I never thought of that before...