Brew kettles with valves question

[tippetsnapper]

I'm thinking of taking some Christmas cash and upgrading my kettle to leave me the option of going from 5 to 10 gallon batches. I like the idea of a valve for transferring, but was wondering if after boiling that you just runoff the first half gallon or so and that rids all of your hot/cold break from the bottom of the pot, then you go into the fermenter? Any other recommendations?

 

[mrlisk]

I just purchased a 62 QT bayou classic kettle from amazon for roughly $120, as well as a 2 piece stainless ball valve setup from bargainfittings (along with some of their QDs and a pickup tube). I plan on using a stainless steel scrubber (got a 2 pack for $1 at the dollar store) over the pickup tube to filter out the cold break from the bottom of the pot after using the inversion cooler in there.

Haven't run a batch through it yet, but will in a few days. Seems to be a fairly common method here on the boards. All $$ accounted for, I'm about $200 into this kettle (so far, including a $15 step drilling bit).

Here's some pictures:

 

[mrlisk]

I should also add that if you don't go the quick disconnect route, you'll need a barb on the end of the ball valve with about 3 ft of hose in order to create a siphon effect when using a pickup tube, otherwise it'll stop picking up liquid when levels go below the valve.

 

[samc]

Whirlpooling
False bottom
Hop Stopper
Scrubbie
Paint strainer or other kind of hop containing bag

I'm sure I missed a few methods. Running the first half gallon off will not get rid of break material.

 

[tippetsnapper]

Thanks for the advice mrlisk. Maybe I'm just a skeptic, but I don't see the scrubber filtering out a bunch of pellet hop sludge, same goes for false bottom. Am I being overly skeptical?

 

[mrlisk]

I was also skeptical, but if you look at the mesh it creates, it appears it would work well. If you want to spend more money, I suggest you get a Hop Stopper. I'll eventually upgrade to one once i have money for it.

Hop stopper:
http://www.ihomebrewsolutions.com/i...e-hop-stopper&catid=25:ihs-projects&Itemid=64

Example of use:
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/boil-kettle?page=3

 

[JuanMoore]

Thanks for the advice mrlisk. Maybe I'm just a skeptic, but I don't see the scrubber filtering out a bunch of pellet hop sludge, same goes for false bottom. Am I being overly skeptical?

A scrubbie has pretty small surface area, and only works with lightly hopped beers, or in conjunction with some other method like a hop bag or whirlpooling. False bottoms and hopstoppers appear to work well from what I've seen, but are pretty pricey. I've been very happy with whirlpooling myself.

 

[mrlisk]

How does one whirlpool? I'll be brewing on sunday and that could help with using the scrubbie.

 

[Flomaster]

ahhh FML... why did I have to find out about the Hopstopper.. now I MUST have it or DIY one myself.

I am off to search for DIY hopstopper threads.

-=Jason=-

 

[JuanMoore]

How does one whirlpool? I'll be brewing on sunday and that could help with using the scrubbie.

There are a few ways to achieve it, but the basic principle is outlined here-
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Whirlpooling