Keggle/Metalurgy Question

Okay Metalheads....

My7.5 gallon stainless steel brew pot was stolen off of my back deck (worthless thieves). I have 2 15 gallon kegs. I figure I now need to convert one to a keggle.

I was thinking about putting a stainless steel ball valve into the keggle to use as a spigot (if there are better ideas, please let me know as well). I do welding on other projects and in the past when welding stainless I've just used my normal welding gas and mild steel wire. It brushes up looks no different than stainless, however does not have stainless properties. This has not been a problem as it was a rust prevention issue only in the past, and it was for items for indoor use.

Making true stainless weldings, you need to use different welding gas and different wire. I was wondering how much if any effect there would be on the wort etc if I essentially had just a small amount of mild steel in the brew kettle from the welds?

Thanks

 

My advice is to have the spigot welded professionally with a TIG welder and gas. It's entirely possible to weld stainless with MIG, but by the time you purchase the stuff to do it, you may as well have just had it welded by a pro, and the TIG weld "should" end up much nicer. What you would want is a sanitary weld; one that is smooth and easy to clean.

I would not want to brew with mild steel in the kettle. I believe there are things in there that can give the beer a metallic flavor. Plus there is the whole rust thing.

 

it will rust pronto! If you want to mig weld it use a Co2, Argon, Helium mixture and 308 stainless wire. Won't be perty but will hold iquid if welded correctly. You could also back purge the weld from the inside of the keggle to reduce sugaring, but if I were you i'd have it tig welded by a proffesional.

 

I took mine last week to a local welder advertised on Craigslist who is also a home brewer. He did a real nice job and went TIG.

Unless you know exactly what you are doing and will do a nice clean weld, I recommend that you have an expert do it. Or another option would be to order a weldless valve assembly. Then you just need to cut a hole in the side of the keg.