DIY/poor man's floating diptube for clear beer

[yowzers]

I looked at the parts on ebay, thanks @Bigdaddyale. Too bad the lead time is a bit out there, but if you have a number of kegs (I have 10) then it might be worth the wait for a half price solution.

While looking at the ebay parts they suggested to me a topedo keg ready made version for about $18, if you are in hurry it ships from the US.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Torpedo-Keg-Buoy-Floating-Dip-Tube-Clear-Beer-From-Top-of-Corny-Keg-Stainless/283643349314?_trkparms=aid=555018&algo=PL.SIM&ao=2&asc=20160323102634&meid=9b1c1f76a21b4ff791966b9fef25e6a0&pid=100623&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=111960932272&itm=283643349314&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1

You can get them here as well, I recently picked them up for three of my kegs and they are fine. https://www.ballandkeg.com/balls-up-floating-dip-tube.php

 

[AlienVortex]

I just got the parts in to build the MK2 version, but after fussing around with the clamps, I dumped them and used instead standard dip tube washers to keep the metal washers from sliding off.​

 

[Albionwood]

Here is what I did with the Ball type float. The stock setup does not work well because the tubing is forced to point upward as it hangs below the ball. I added a SS Tee and then used wire to keep it a certain distance down from the ball. This keeps the open ends a good bit away from the surface.

One positive I have noticed with this setup is in the process of keg purging. If you set the length of the tubing correctly, one end of the Tee will fall down into the depression at the bottom of the keg. This helps get all of the sanitizer out when pushing with CO2.
View attachment 650435

Brilliant! That should solve my foaming problem too.
If one end of the tee is in the well and the other is above liquid level, does it still push the liquid out? Maybe an elbow would work even better. Experimentation time...

 

[beervoid]

Just transferred a dry hopped batch with the Ball float that can be bought online. I lost about 1.5 liter of beer cause it sucked up some hop debris and got clogged.

The DIY keg float in this thread with filter has always worked great for me. Gonna keep this one. I would say the MK1 or MK2 build is the better version. MK1 works great for me as it keeps the filter nice and close to the surface of the beer, so more beer transferred.

I have modified the MK3 version and bend the stainless around the filter. Not the beginning part where the silicon is stuck into cause it won't stick there.. But wrapping it around the whole filter seems to do the trick. It is however a bit lower below the water level this way.

 

[balrog]

Just transferred a dry hopped batch with the Ball float that can be bought online. I lost about 1.5 liter of beer cause it sucked up some hop debris and got clogged.

The DIY keg float in this thread with filter has always worked great for me. Gonna keep this one. I would say the MK1 or MK2 build is the better version. MK1 works great for me as it keeps the filter nice and close to the surface of the beer, so more beer transferred.

I have modified the MK3 version and bend the stainless around the filter. Not the beginning part where the silicon is stuck into cause it won't stick there.. But wrapping it around the whole filter seems to do the trick. It is however a bit lower below the water level this way.

picture?

 

[Bassman2003]

Brilliant! That should solve my foaming problem too.
If one end of the tee is in the well and the other is above liquid level, does it still push the liquid out? Maybe an elbow would work even better. Experimentation time...

This is tough to know. If the Tee is in the well, most if not all of the beer is gone anyway. It pushes the sanitizer out but it gets foamy due to the CO2 being drawn from the high side of the Tee. But is still comes out. If you used an elbow, the trick would be to get the thing to always point downward or it won't fall in the well. With the Tee you have two shots at it falling into the well!

 

[balrog]

Yeah, one side tee above liquid, one below, pressurize keg, you'll get gas not liquid because it's easier to push the gas and the system will always favor the least effort. Like pre-limited-slip-differential cars.

 

[beervoid]

Does anyone experience off flavors after using the same tubing for a while?
I started noticing something off and the flavor got worse in consequent batches. My tubes are pretty stained and smell like hops..

 

[balrog]

Does anyone experience off flavors after using the same tubing for a while?
I started noticing something off and the flavor got worse in consequent batches. My tubes are pretty stained and smell like hops..

Can you put more adjectives into "off"? Grassy? Kumkwat? Resinous? Roadkill? Dank?

I am using the same ferm-keg-w-dip-tube for the same hoppy pale ale. The tube is really getting quite the hop patina. I run homemade pbw via MK2 keg washer after use, including through the dip tube, and I'm not getting anything "off".

 

[beervoid]

Can you put more adjectives into "off"? Grassy? Kumkwat? Resinous? Roadkill? Dank?

I am using the same ferm-keg-w-dip-tube for the same hoppy pale ale. The tube is really getting quite the hop patina. I run homemade pbw via MK2 keg washer after use, including through the dip tube, and I'm not getting anything "off".

Hard to say, its a green sharp lingering bitterness. Smells piney medicinal.
I boiled some of the lines in water and let it cool and it smelled tasted exactly like the off flavor but a bit less strong.

I put the tubes out in a room and the smell was so strong I could smell it in the room.
I also clean with pbw, I would say it is at least 12 batches in and same problem on 4 different kegs.

 

[balrog]

Ok. Pretty good debugging. Time to change the lines I'd say.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

For a long time, I had a back of the tongue off flavor that I couldn't track down-turns out it was my cheap PVC tubing that I was using on the brew rig. PVC tubing is not recommended for hot water/wort transfers

 

[beervoid]

Ok. Pretty good debugging. Time to change the lines I'd say.

Yeah changed all lines and got 4 brewa ready for testing next week. I really hope this fixes the situation. It's something that slowly creeped up in my beers.
Going to take float thing out and switch to scott janish his solution of diptube filters.
Stainless for the win!

 

[balrog]

I tried the Janish-recommended SS diptube filter, but as a siphon filter during xfr and it was awful because the clogging with that "hi" flow rate. The flow rate out was faster than what could seep through. The situation would be different when used in serving, so I hope it works for you.

 

[beervoid]

I tried the Janish-recommended SS diptube filter, but as a siphon filter during xfr and it was awful because the clogging with that "hi" flow rate. The flow rate out was faster than what could seep through. The situation would be different when used in serving, so I hope it works for you.

I think a good cold crash and making sure u cut the right amount of the diptube should solve that issue. Will be testing it out soon

 

[SanPancho]

resurrecting this thread- to find out if anyone has ideas on what to use for a filter to go over the end of the cheap fermzilla-type round floating ball i originally posted here?

tried the filters for the end of your racking cane, but too big, too hard to cut and get down to size. maybe a bit of stainless steel scrubby shoved up the tube? wondering if that'd clog even worse though.....

 

[brewman !]

I'm still looking for a source of inexpensive floats for this idea.

 

[Albionwood]

resurrecting this thread- to find out if anyone has ideas on what to use for a filter to go over the end of the cheap fermzilla-type round floating ball i originally posted here?

tried the filters for the end of your racking cane, but too big, too hard to cut and get down to size. maybe a bit of stainless steel scrubby shoved up the tube? wondering if that'd clog even worse though.....

In general - the smaller the filter, the faster and worse it will clog. The tiny cross-sectional area inside the tube will clog rapidly. Also, higher pressure differentials will cause faster and tighter clogging; this is why a scrubby will work on a siphon but not so well in a keg. (And both are why a single tiny piece of hop leaf will plug a poppet!)

Filtration is always difficult and unreliable - what works great a few times will fail spectacularly just when you needed it most - so other means of separation are always preferable. Filters only really work when they aren't asked to do much.

 

[SanPancho]

the clear beer draft system offers a filter on their rig, and folks in this thread have used it successfully. hence my ask. sometimes even a 72 hour crash down to 34 doesnt get rid of everything. there's always a few floating pieces of leaf that stick around.

 

[twd000]

In general - the smaller the filter, the faster and worse it will clog. The tiny cross-sectional area inside the tube will clog rapidly. Also, higher pressure differentials will cause faster and tighter clogging; this is why a scrubby will work on a siphon but not so well in a keg. (And both are why a single tiny piece of hop leaf will plug a poppet!)

Filtration is always difficult and unreliable - what works great a few times will fail spectacularly just when you needed it most - so other means of separation are always preferable. Filters only really work when they aren't asked to do much.

true about the limitations of filtering, but it's much more preferable to have a clog at the end of your dip tube, which can be blown out with CO2, than a clog inside the poppet that requires you to depressurize the keg and expose it to oxygen in order to clear the clog.

 

[SanPancho]

one more resurrection- i use the orange carboy cap rig that i copied from @day_trippr and want to make a change. i want to go from the main /center sleeve of the orange cap to a floating dip tube from kegland/morebeer.

right now i've got a 3/8 od racking tube in there, but i want it to be the floating dip tube. the only thing i could think of is to cut the racking cane way up high close to the cap, use a 3/8 push fitting to a 1/4 barb so i can slide the tube on. but i'm thinking thats gonna need at least two fittings- push x 1/4female and then 1/4 male x 1/4 barb. anybody have a simpler solution?

im pretty sure there's no way the tube will go over the racking arm without ripping....