Kettle Upgrade

I've upgraded my boil kettle with a sight gauge and spigot. I went with weld-less fittings for both of these because the pot I have is aluminum and the fittings are all stainless steel. I've been told that welding stainless to aluminum in possible, but is expensive. So we go with the weld-less fittings. For those of you who enjoy watching how-to videos I have posted a Kettle Spigot Install on my YouTube channel.

The sight-gauge kit I picked up from my local home brew supply store for $26.


The Spigot I used is the Bayou Classic 800-775 Stainless Steel Brew Spigot from Amazon and a bazooka kettle screen. It was $34.47 for both. I figured since I have a Bayou Classic boil kettle it made sense to use their spigot, and it didn't hurt that it was one of the less expensive spigot kits available. Also it didn't come with any extra pieces. I wanted a Female Quick Disconnect at the end of the spigot so I didn't need the barb most of the spigots came with.

I decided to put the spigot next to the sight gauge. Keep all the controls in the same area and such. Using a step bit for my drill to make the hole. This was much easier to use then I anticipated.

The bulk that came with the spigot included 2 high temperature teflon washers and two nuts with a washer grove on one side. The double threaded fitting is put through the hole with the washer/nut combination on each side. Make sure to tighten these all the way. The washer is what creates the water tight seal here so it has to be partially compressed against the side of the kettle, or it won't seal properly. You can see the washer nested inside the groove of the nut below.




With the bulkhead in place, I put 7 wraps of teflon tape around the threads to ensure a water tight seal with the spigot. Then attache the spigot. I used a wrench on the inside to hold the bulkhead in place while tightening the spigot.



The female quick disconnect (QD) is added the same way the spigot was added to the bulkhead. 7 wraps of teflon around the threads of the QD fitting, then thread it into the spigots threaded port. Tighten with two wrenches, one on the spigot, the other on the QD.

Now I won't have to rely on a siphon to rack the wort to the fermentor, I can use gravity from the port, or I can use the pump. Either way it will be a lot faster through a half inch port then through a quarter inch tube.

Until I get the sight gauge marked off it 1/2 gallon increments I can still use my notched stir paddle to determine volume. Seems like a waste of 14 gallons of water to just pour it in, then dump it. Perhaps I'll do the marking a couple days before brew day and save the water to use on brew day. I like that idea.

Sláinte!