Krappy Kettle Conversion

[its02003]

So i bought a kettle from Ocean State JobLot and i was looking at this "false bottom" stuff that all grain brewers use. I was thinking about converting this cheap pot into something similar. What i would like to do is drill out a hole near the bottom of the side of the pot and inserting a valve. I then want to put a piece of piping on the inside of the pot to the middle. On the outside of the valve, i will put a piece of cheese cloth and then insert siphon tubing so that the wort gets strained.

I think this is pretty similar to what most people use at some step during the all grain procedure, i just want to make it boilable, with a cheap pot and some parts from Home Depot.

does that sound like it will work? am i reinventing the wheel, and if i am, are there plans i can follow so as not to have to waste a 12 dollar pot?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Sure, you can add a valve, pickup tube. Not sure I follow this part, though.

On the outside of the valve, i will put a piece of cheese cloth and then insert siphon tubing so that the wort gets strained.

What are you trying to accomplish with this?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

This place has cheap weldless fittings, or you could check out northernbrewer, morebeer, etc. You can also pick up the parts yourself, but it'll only save you a little.

 

[EdWort]

Whatever you do, make sure you cut it out like this one.

In honor of the Biermuncher Keggle Method!

 

[Cheesefood]

Here's another ugly keggle

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Ed, did you make that rediculous thing or find it online somewhere?

 

[its02003]

In the bottom of the brew kettle, crap collects, the cheesecloth is to make sure that no solids make it into the primary, i would prefer that anything solid stay behind in the pot for cleaning and the fermentable wort go into the primary.

 

[Cheesefood]

In the bottom of the brew kettle, crap collects, the cheesecloth is to make sure that no solids make it into the primary, i would prefer that anything solid stay behind in the pot for cleaning and the fermentable wort go into the primary.

And what keeps the cheesecloth from burning?

EDIT: see https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=223796#post223796

 

[its02003]

the reason the cheesecloth is on the outside is because AFTER the boil is done, and BEFORE the siphon hose is hooked up, the cheesecloth will go over the opening. That should mean that the heat is never on when the cheesecloth is part of the mix.

I also plan on putting some sort of boilable primary strainer on the pipe that sits in the kettle, but the cheesecloth is to keep the rest of the crap out of there, but to let the flavor get strained into the primary like tea.

Is this a good idea? I have looked at it from MANY different angles and have yet to be able to figure out where i could go wrong... but before i cut, id like to measure 8 times, since there is a $12 kettle on the line here... thats nothing to mess with!

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I think it will clog very fast - I don't think it's a good idea. Usually you want a lot of surface area for your hop/trub filter. So, if you're using something else to filter, like a hop bag or hopstopper, then the cheese cloth at the outlet is probably redundant.

Here's a pic of the hopstopper, in case you're not familiar.

And a pic of the hop bag contraption I use.

When I pull the bag out, there's a wad of hop crap in there. There's really nothing left to filter out after that.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

FWIW, it's a very simple matter to make your own hopstopper out of a pair of stainless steel splatter screens - just remove the rigid outer rim, sandwich them around your pickup tube, fold the edges over and sew the edges together with some suitable metal wire (preferably stainless if you can find it). Many people (including myself) have had luck finding suitable splatter screens at dollar stores, making it an incredibly cheap project.

Or, you can further cut your costs by using only one screen and folding it in half instead, making a "hop taco":
http://kotmf.com/articles/hoptaco.php