Beer Forum

OK - I did a dry run yesterday on the new kettle and camp cooker - went up to boil - used the chiller, etc. Figured it would be better to practice with water first.

After draining the kettle (a B3 7+ gallon) through the spigot there is a little over a gallon left in the bottom. I imagine after going through the trouble of whirlpooling you dont want to tip the kettle and try to drain off what is under the spigot. So if I loose a gallon here and if 12-15% evap per hour I will loose about another gallon in the boil.

I've brewed with a friend that dumps the whole kettle into the carboy. The Justin in me wants to make sure that it is normal to leave that last gallon alone and leave it for the beer gods and not try to transfer to the carboy. Makes me want to brew in 10 gallon batches.....

I'm not sure of what type of coupler B3 puts on that pot for the valve, but you should be able to rig some sort of elbow on the inside. By directing the elbow down at an angle, you will be able to siphon up more of the wort below the level of the valve.

Wayne

Here is a picture of one that is easy to make with some simple hardware store pieces http://www.mullerbrau.com/PICT0020.JPG

Thanks Henning. That was exactly what I was talking about but was too lazy to look up a photo.

Wayne

OK - I can rig up something like that - just keep it to the edge out of the whirlpool trub pile. Nice not to have to toss a gallon if not necessary. The B3 kettle just has an opening on the inside - yep and there are some 1/2" threads in there.

bcmaui wrote:Justin in me .....

That's disgusting.

Henning1966 wrote:Here is a picture of one that is easy to make with some simple hardware store pieces http://www.mullerbrau.com/PICT0020.JPG

Yeah, that's the ticket. Don't solder it though, makes it easy to take out if need be. Just flare the tube a little for a friction fit.
About time you brewed your first beer btw.

BrewTat wrote:

Henning1966 wrote:Here is a picture of one that is easy to make with some simple hardware store pieces http://www.mullerbrau.com/PICT0020.JPG

Yeah, that's the ticket. Don't solder it though, makes it easy to take out if need be. Just flare the tube a little for a friction fit.
About time you brewed your first beer btw.

Took long enough, didn't it? I'm doing it backwards by gearing up first, then brewing. Without the BN (or the internet in general) there would have been no one to learn this from being out here in the middle of nowhere. My friend got me interested last year - I tried to start 10 years ago with Charlie P's book but could not find any local supplies that I could afford. I'm also in a little better financial shape than before which makes it a little easier to gear up.

The local brewery is getting new life with the new owner and I now have a source for base malt that I do not have to pay airfrieght for so now is the time to finally do this. My youngest goes off to college next year and I will have the time to devote to mastering this craft.

I'll pickup a 1/2" MPT male x 1/2" compression fitting and rig up a small copper tube as shown. That way I can take it apart for cleaning if neccessary.