DYI bottom draining kettles

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Dland

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
3,004
Reaction score
2,366
Noticed the recent sponsor thread featuring bottom draining kettles, and it looks to be a very nice product.

A low cost and less pretty way to get similar utility can also be achieved. My Mash Tun & HLT are made this way. I uses threaded pipe out the side, for ease of handling. Others have used tri-clamp fitting out the bottom. Both start with inverted half keg.

Edit; I realized after posting that pictures are of first iteration. Dip tube gauge had to be put on a separate through hull to work, and electrical element was upgraded. More openings can be fairly easily added for a HERMS set up.
IMG_1238.JPG
IMG_1239.JPG
IMG_1260-001.JPG
IMG_1261.JPG
IMG_1242.JPG
 
Last edited:
Why not chop the end off the usual Sankey spear and remove the valve then you could attach a sankey coupler and screw on an elbow with tube for the outflow/ inflow.
 
How did you close off the bottom opening?

A 1.5 inch tri-clamp end cap fits opening with very little gap. Then one can braze or weld it into place.

The one pictured above is braised, which is pretty simple to do and only need a turbo torch or MAP in a propane torch, if one does not have mixed gas rig.
 
Last edited:
Why not chop the end off the usual Sankey spear and remove the valve then you could attach a sankey coupler and screw on an elbow with tube for the outflow/ inflow.
That should work too, but this is simple and easy to clean. Made my first one of these over 30 years ago, did not even know about Sankey couplers back then, or tri-clamp fittings for that matter. Gas welded a cut out of scrap stainless for the bottom of that one. Not pretty, but still using it.
 
Isn't the whole point of a bottom draining kettle to be able to "flush" everything out the bottom?
Use a 2" tri-clamp to cap off the end. That way it's removable.
423474-039-68018.jpg
 
Looks good, does a 2 inch tri-clamp fit right on Sanke opening? Always good to keep open minded and improve.
 
That's true but you'd have to allow for that to clear whatever you have your "kettle" on.

In my case, I didn't want to hack into my SS table that my kettle sits on. That's why I have it plumbed to go threw the skirt on the keg. I can rest it on a table without any ill effects.
 
Noticed the recent sponsor thread featuring bottom draining kettles, and it looks to be a very nice product.

A low cost and less pretty way to get similar utility can also be achieved. My Mash Tun & HLT are made this way. I uses threaded pipe out the side, for ease of handling. Others have used tri-clamp fitting out the bottom. Both start with inverted half keg.

Edit; I realized after posting that pictures are of first iteration. Dip tube gauge had to be put on a separate through hull to work, and electrical element was upgraded. More openings can be fairly easily added for a HERMS set up.
View attachment 792849View attachment 792850View attachment 792851View attachment 792852View attachment 792853
Dumb question, but is there a reason you didn't run the drain pipe through the handle?
 
A TC coupler to an elbow to a lateral pipe run would interfere with many burner types.
Definitely wouldn't work with the Blichmann Floor Burners I use on my single tier rig. Same would be true with Hellfires...

Cheers!
 
A TC coupler to an elbow to a lateral pipe run would interfere with many burner types.
Definitely wouldn't work with the Blichmann Floor Burners I use on my single tier rig. Same would be true with Hellfires...

Cheers!
But at the same time I wouldn't put any kind of bottom drain on a burner other than maybe the HLT. You'd immediately scorch any wort in a small tube on the flame.
 
I figured this was a (presumably unheated) MLT, or a HLT, per the OP.
I always wondered about the burning wort thing when used on a BK...

Cheers!
 
I figured this was a (presumably unheated) MLT, or a HLT, per the OP.
I always wondered about the burning wort thing when used on a BK...

Cheers!

I do agree that bottom drain set up would not work for BK with gas, but would be OK with electric element set in side of vessel. I did about 50 batches with this rig as gas before I went electric, so I get it.

The reason my BK is not bottom drain is not due to heat, it's for hot break trub cone separation method I'm using right now.

I probably could figure out how to use a bottom drain BK and separate hot break, but current system works pretty well, and inertia is a force with me, so OK for now.
 
Last edited:
I do agree that bottom drain set up would not work for BK with gas, but would be OK with electric element set in side of vessel. I did about 50 batches with this rig as gas before I went electric, so I get it.

The reason my BK is not bottom drain is not due to heat, it's for hot break trub cone separation method I'm using right now.

I probably could figure out how to use a bottom drain BK and separate hot break, but current system works pretty well, and inertia is a force with me, so OK for now.
Oh of course it would work with electric. I specifically put bottom drains on the very edge of a kettle's bottom to avoid the trub cone.
 
I have a bottom drain inverted keg for my bk and pull from the bottom. The cop cone forms is own kinda filter like grain does in the Mt. Cave drain is a non issue
 
Back
Top