Valve on bottom of boil kettle?

[jbsayers]

I've been considering adding a valve and false bottom to one of my boil kettles to make it easier to transfer wort to the fermenter and filter out leaf hops when i use them.. Other than having to use a stand with a hole in the center, is there any reason I couldn't put the valve on the bottom of the kettle and eliminate dead space?

Thanks in advance,
JB

 

[CastleHollow]

Two difficulties: 1) most burners direct fire the bottom of the kettle, so your valve would be getting flamed as well; 2) getting any kind of connections to the valve would be a real pain in the butt.

Just attach a diptube to the inside bulkhead. I have virtually zero wort left behind in my keggle, and most of that is break material or hop gunk anyway.

 

[brewmcq]

1) Go electric.

2) Tri-clamps and quick disconnects. Of course, the only time you're going to really remove a connection from the BK is when you're going to clean it.

A lot of people use a bottom valve, especially on a keggle. Leave the factory neck on it and cut the bottom of the keg off, flip it upside down and you have a 2" tri-clamp connector.

It comes down to personal preference... after the colossal failure of my new $25 dip tube, I'm seriously thinking about cutting the bottom off my last keg and going that route.

 

[ClaudiusB]

All my direct fired tanks are bottom drain and fill, look closely.
Between the burners and valves is a heat shield installed and the burners are mounted to the rear.

 

[Frige]

Wholly crap do you work at Nasa? I wouldnt even know how to light the burners on that thing. Cool set up can you brew from outer space? Makes my set up look like a hillbilly croc pot.

 

[jbsayers]

Thanks for all the replies and advice! Impressive looking setup CladiusB! Makes me want to get medieval on my brew rig!

Cheers!
JB

 

[ClaudiusB]

Cool set up can you brew from outer space?

Only internet access required.

A few pics showing what you get from any remote location.

 

[rekoob]

You have got to be kidding!
Wow... Great set up!