Cut keg top for false bottom?

[Catt22]

It is really lame to come onto a DIY forum and rip on people for wasting time on DIY.

Well, IMO it would be retarded to interpret my comment as ripping on someone. I did not say that it is a waste of time. I only said that I do not understand why one would go to all that trouble and expense when the store bought ones are not terribly costly. It's just a point of view thing; nothing more.

 

[chefmike]

Well, IMO it would be retarded to interpret my comment as ripping on someone. I did not say that it is a waste of time. I only said that I do not understand why one would go to all that trouble and expense when the store bought ones are not terribly costly. It's just a point of view thing; nothing more.

I may be "retarded" then.

You equated time spent working into dollars minimum wage. Than compared that to buying a piece of equipment. The reasoning behind that line of thought appeared to be that your time is worth more money. Thus I concluded that you thought it was a waste of time.

If you apply the same logic you stated to homebrewing beer, the conclusion would be similiar: you would not understand why someone would spend $20 in supplies and 6 to 8 hours (at your rate) to brew beer. As you could buy store bought that is not very costly in comparison.

The logic does not fly in a community that is about DIY. Time does not equal money directly here. There are other factors, including satisfaction and involvement in process.

That is my point of view.

Again, come drink a brew, we can chat about it.

 

[Catt22]

Again, come drink a brew, we can chat about it.

No thanks. It would likely just be a wast of time.

 

[Duckfoot]

If i added up the time / money I invested in this hobby vs my hourly rate, I promise you I would be in the red... Almost enough to qualify for a government bailout!!!

I may be "retarded" then.

Well yeah, you are from North Georgia!!!
How ya been?

 

[benbradford]

There goes my first fun little diy thread...

 

[Duckfoot]

There goes my first fun little diy thread...

Am I a thread killer?

 

[bucfanmike]

Thanks for this diy, i will be doing this to put a fb in boil kettle to help keep some of the hops/break out of the fermenter. As for the negative comments from some, well yea I could buy this, but hell i could buy beer for that matter. Plus diy is very wife friendly as it doesnt generate receipts.

 

[mb2696]

great use for an otherwise useless part!

 

[benbradford]

Am I a thread killer?

It kind of looks like this thread strayed from it's original idea of cross utilizing leftover stainless from a keggle build.

Seems pretty simple, cut top off, make holes in top, connect to bulk-head, enjoy

 

[Duckfoot]

Haha... Sorry man...

I applaud your effort to figure out what to do with a Sanke top... I also wondered what could be done, but alas, I was lazy...

Cudos to you sir...

 

[Zamial]

1st the "time/cost" folks...REALLY? Waste of time? Isn't that the heart of a DIY, Time>cost? I seriously NEVER add my time in. This is a hobby. Do any of you hunt or fish? Do you average your time into the #'s of meat to determine you are eating a $500.00 bluegill/game bird dinner for 1???

As for the cost. Should someone who is about to make a keggle see this, they can get the cut off wheels I mentioned in my previous post, so the actual cost of this mighty fine DIY is under $10 with the bung...

My other "after thought" on this project was it would be REALLY easy to make the holes in a neat/artistic pattern for a truly personalized piece of equipment. That is the only hind sight I can add in other than make the original "cut top" as big as a hole as possible.

 

[broadbill]

Thanks for this diy, i will be doing this to put a fb in boil kettle to help keep some of the hops/break out of the fermenter. As for the negative comments from some, well yea I could buy this, but hell i could buy beer for that matter. Plus diy is very wife friendly as it doesnt generate receipts.

I'm also interested in doing this....I'm assuming you are using a burner on the boil kettle-what do you plan to use in place of the rubber bung in this build?

 

[klyph]

If I factored in my time as an expense, I should've just given sabco and blichmann my credit card and said "One of everything please".

 

[chefmike]

If I factored in my time as an expense, I should've just given sabco and blichmann my credit card and said "One of everything please".

ROTHFLMAO

No doubt.

I think this project should be stickied and rec'd

The idea of using it in the boil kettle is AWESOME.

I have to drill mine for a drain. Even if I just drill a hole in the cut out lid for a pickup tube and stuff a steel scrubbie in the sanke dipstick hole, BAM.

Great DIY. Great thread. Really cant believe this isnt in use.

Totally the spirit of DIY! :fro::rockin:

 

[nspaldi0]

Anyone go with the triclamp method with a cap with drilled hole for pick up tube? I was just wondering what size triclamp to use and if it worked well.

 

[BargainFittings]

Nothing I can add to this but I really think the customized hole pattern would be awesome!

You could trace a pattern on there and start drilling. After awhile it will be a Zen experience interspersed with gratuitous swearing when the drill bits snap!

 

[Duckfoot]

Anyone go with the triclamp method with a cap with drilled hole for pick up tube? I was just wondering what size triclamp to use and if it worked well.

The flange on a Sanke requires a 2" tri-clamp... I have them on my bottom drain E-HLT and my soon-to-be bottom drain MLT

 

[Homercidal]

I wonder where is the best place to buy the dip tube assembly. I have a boil kettle that I want to put a dip tube in, and I've been looking for the SS type like that but haven't found it for a reasonable price (It's SS so there may not be any reasonable price!)

Or should I just go with copper since it's cheaper and just as easy if not easier?

 

[Zamial]

I wonder where is the best place to buy the dip tube assembly. I have a boil kettle that I want to put a dip tube in, and I've been looking for the SS type like that but haven't found it for a reasonable price (It's SS so there may not be any reasonable price!)

Or should I just go with copper since it's cheaper and just as easy if not easier?

Ok, I will now, again, shamelessly plug barginfittings.com here. They sell all the SS parts for this as reasonably priced as I could track down and shipping is $5 if you choose the USPS flat rate. You can even order the stainless dip tube custom bent the way you need it...

I am a stainless steel whore. I love SS and with an all SS setup you never need to worry about it...ever.

I dislike copper/brass because I have seen mixed metals cause corrosion but this is really only a concern if aluminum is involved...IMO it is better to just go SS and never need to replace the part again...

 

[Homercidal]

Oh, I forgot about them! I'll have to head over and start deciding on how I want to build this stuff. I'm not terribly concerned about using copper for the MLT or BK. I may also be able to get some stuff from the scrapyard if they haven't sold it all yet. I think they had some stuff that would be good for fluid transfer and RIMS tubes. Just have to decide on fittings.

 

[PDawg]

I have been working on a False Bottom from sheetmetal, I came up with a simple jig to allow the holes to be aligned and a design pattern to be left behind. I will do a writeup on it in the next few days. It should work on this application, only problem would be that a keg top isn't exactly flat. Anyway this was a great idea maybe the jig would help.

 

[Atl300zx]

I don't understand how you can lose a half gallon and still get 92% efficiency. Isn't dead space factored into efficiency?

This is a MLT false bottom. Assuming fly sparging, you could leave a ton of water in the MLT system, as long as you stop collecting runnings before the mash pH gets out of the range and tannins start releasing. This shouldnt have an effect on efficiency.

 

[dannedry]

Awesome idea! I am in the process of switching to all grain, and have started collecting materials (slowly, as to not anger SWMBO) to build a BRUTUS like stand... Do you think it would it work as effectively if you sunk the cutting disk in further, to make longer slits????

 

[benbradford]

i think that a bunch of small slits is the way to go. i noticed that a few grains husks made their way through at the beginning, but after the grain bed was set, it was great. the flow is so good through the pattern that I used, that a flow rate, was not an issue.

 

[The_Dtrain]

I trimmed teh old sanke coupler fitting off of the top of the keg top, and grinded it down smooth, so that I am left with essentially a concave disc, that is twelve inches around.

So why cut off the coupler fitting? Why couldn't you just keep it on and put your plug in there? Or would your dip tube have an upward direction on it?

 

[benbradford]

I guess it depends on the height of your bulkhead fitting. Mine didn't fit unless it was cut down, and i thought that it looked cleaner.

 

[KCBrewer]

I made a false bottom today based on your idea. I left the coupler on and used the top piece of the shank as well. I brazed a 1-1/4" to 3/4" copper reducer onto it, then plumbed it to the drain. The most time consuming part was drilling the holes, 500-600 I estimate. A couple solid hours with a drill press anyway.

I ended up with this. It fits a 10 gallon cooler very well.

Below are all of the pieces that make up the keg coupler (except the copper reducer). I used the 3 pieces shown on the left in this pic.

I set the keg coupler on top of the copper reducer and brazed them together, then sweated the rest of the copper tubing to the drain. With nothing added to the bottom of the copper reducer, it came out about 1/4" from the bottom of the cooler. Close enough for me.

I'm planning to do my first 10 gallon batch next weekend, so I'll see how it works then. It has a tight fit to the bottom, and can't be raised/moved by stirring, so I have high hopes for it.

and thanks for the great idea!

 

[Atl300zx]

awesome job man. that looks great. let us all know how it ends up working out. have you done some dry runs with water yet?

 

[Zamial]

Just thought I would update. I have done about 6 12 gallon batches since I made mine. I have had no stuck sparges or failures of any kind. Works great.

 

[benbradford]

used two that I have made so far, and without rice hulls, and doing a recirculating mash, I had two stuck sparges... Rice huls solved the problem just fine, and did a 12 gallon batch and a high grain bill trippel batch, without a problem at all!