HLT question

[OHIOSTEVE]

I am in the process of building a 3 tier stand. The issue I have is that the top of my HLT is gonna be way over my head and I do not want to climb a ladder or toss a hose in the top so here is my idea. Plumb a sanke keg with an input port that i can attach a water hose to to fill it up from the bottom. That along with a sight glass, and a thermo well would make it unnecessary to touch it except to clean it. I am also THINKING about just leaving the top on it and just pulling out the stem. That would make it more difficult to clean but i THINK it would heat faster...any comments or ideas?

I am starting to think a couple of pumps would have been easier lol.

 

[Bobby_M]

You definitely should consider flipping the keg over and using the top "neck" as a bottom drain port. Without the bottom drain, you will get mold between batches if you don't sop the leftover water out. I suppose you could boil it out if you had to, but....

 

[culaslucas]

You definitely should consider flipping the keg over and using the top "neck" as a bottom drain port. Without the bottom drain, you will get mold between batches if you don't sop the leftover water out. I suppose you could boil it out if you had to, but....

Wow - that's genius - I wish I thought of that when building my 3 tier rig. How would he go about making that a drain though? What about boiling (assuming he's using a propane burner rig)?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're suggesting...

 

[JuanMoore]

Wow - that's genius - I wish I thought of that when building my 3 tier rig. How would he go about making that a drain though? What about boiling (assuming he's using a propane burner rig)?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're suggesting...

Slickest and easiest way IMO is to use a tri-clamp fitting. IIRC a 2" tri-clamp fits a sankey neck perfectly. I went with a more ghetto approach using assorted plumbing fittings I had laying around. I'm not sure I understand your question about boiling though.

 

[culaslucas]

Was Bobby suggesting he flip the keg over to drain when the brew day is done or was he suggesting that you flip it over permanently and use the bottom as the boiling surface as opposed to the bottom?

If it's the former, I don't really see the benefit over just grabbing it off a ladder. If it's the latter, I don't really understand how one would heat a keggle if there is a drain smack dab in the middle of where the burner would be.

 

[JuanMoore]

Was Bobby suggesting he flip the keg over to drain when the brew day is done or was he suggesting that you flip it over permanently and use the bottom as the boiling surface as opposed to the bottom?

If it's the former, I don't really see the benefit over just grabbing it off a ladder. If it's the latter, I don't really understand how one would heat a keggle if there is a drain smack dab in the middle of where the burner would be.

Flip the keg upside down permanently. The drain doesn't interfere with heating at all. Typical installation has an elbow and length of pipe connected to the drain, to route the valve out from under the keg. There are several builds here (including mine) done this way, and nobody has an issue heating the keg AFAIK.

 

[culaslucas]

Interesting. You'd still need to have some sort of hole in the top to prevent a keg bomb though.

 

[JuanMoore]

Interesting. You'd still need to have some sort of hole in the top to prevent a keg bomb though.

Yes. I cut the bottoms off of my kegs just like most people do with the tops. I sized the holes to fit some 9" stock pot lids I found super cheap. You can also use a standard bulkhead fitting and bottom drain while still keeping the keg upright. The main advantage to bottom draining is zero dead space, which for the HLT means you don't need to worry about a little water getting left behind and growing mildew.

 

[culaslucas]

Wow - I've been off this forum for waaaay too long.

 

[BrewHaas]

What material do you use for the tri clamp fitting that holds up to a flame? Love the idea. Picture?

 

[Bobby_M]

The silicone TC gasket will hold up just fine.

 

[JuanMoore]

Yep, I even ran a test fire on mine using a standard buna-n o-ring while I was waiting for the silicone ones to ship to me, and it worked fine. The liquid inside keeps things moderately cool.

Here's pics of my ghetto bottom drain HLT. I have since added a heat shield for the valve-

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

ok could I rig this up so I could fill it through the ball valve then drain it with the same valve?