18 Gal Keg Boiler

[Tony]

well these arnt the flashest pics but i have my 18 gal boiler up and running.

I an soeting out teething problems with gear before it all gets mounted on the stand that i havne built yet

did a 50 liter batch in it today and all went well, the built in imersion chiller is the best, i love it. It chilled 50 liters to 20 deg in 20 min and the hose from the outlet goes to a sprinkler on the lawn. I also use it to top up my pool so nothing wasted.

cheers

 

[Borret]

well these arnt the flashest pics but i have my 18 gal boiler up and running.

I an soeting out teething problems with gear before it all gets mounted on the stand that i havne built yet

did a 50 liter batch in it today and all went well, the built in imersion chiller is the best, i love it. It chilled 50 liters to 20 deg in 20 min and the hose from the outlet goes to a sprinkler on the lawn. I also use it to top up my pool so nothing wasted.

cheers

[post="73154"][/post]​

Tony,

Nice, That's one big puppy. Has the commodore got a customised droop front skirt with the burner operating that close?

What's the arrangement with the inverted tooheys keg. Does the drain enter through the original fittings?

Cheers

Borret

 

[pint of lager]

Nice work Tony, the old 18 gallon kegs make nice boilers.

Just a comment for anyone looking to do some keg cutting. When cutting the top out, make sure that you don't cut too big a hole. Leave enough room to be able to sit a lid back on. If you make the opening too large, almost the same size as the top of the keg, makes it hard to get a lid to fit on.

 

[Justin]

Yeah the 18 Gallon ones are nice because they have the prethreaded hole in the bottom for your tap too. Just need to fill/cover the hole in the side of them. Nice one.

Thinking about mounting my chiller permanently in my boiler too. How do you go cleaning it? Is it a PITA to clean the hop/break scum off the back of the coils closest to the walls?

Cheers, Justin

 

[pint of lager]

Not all of them have the fitting in the side. Mine came with the fitting on top. Only needed a tap welded in near the base and the correct threaded adapter to screw to the flexible hookup.

 

[Tony]

this is one without the hole in the side. I have one with the hole in the side but it has 1947 stamped into it and the oldman recons that is the first lot of ss kegs made so i didnt cut it up.

I just drilled a hole for the tap with a hole saw and clamped some fiber washers inside washers held by the tap on the outside and a 1/2 inch compression fitting on the inside. I have a 1/2 ss tube that runs to the lowest part of the keg to collect every drop.

OK..... for the imersion chiller i got 2 brass hose fittings form bunnings and cut the threads off them. I silver soldered them onto some 1/2 brass nipples and use the same method to seal as with the tap. The chiller screws into 2 compression fittings on the inside so i can just unscrew them (noticed i put them at the top to make removal easy) lift the coil out and wash it. Easy.

I was going to build a counterflow chiller but had concerns and the imersion chiller works great for me. I filter all the hops and most of the break out of the wort so i am not to worried and the beer is as clear as comercia;l beer these days.

I made the hole in the top the exact same size as the mash ton keg so the glass saucepan lid fits in snug

cheers