Keggle Build

[Jackhole]

Done some searching on this, but I'm more confused than when I started. I'm planning a keggle build as my first step toward all-grain. I've got a guy to do the cutting and welding for me, but I'm confused on whether or not I'll need a false bottom, hop blocker, etc.

I've never had a boil kettle with a ball valve or dip tube before and I'll be brewing with pellet hops for the foreseeable future. What's the story on this, do I need something to keep the hops out of the dip tube when it's draining?

[DIRTYBIRD]

It all depends on how much you freak out about hop trub and break material going into your fermenter. Some people seem to think that stuff going into fermentation makes bad beer. I personally don't care if a bit goes in. It hasn't ruined my beer.
I built a kettle with a ball valve and a pick up tube. The tube is made of copper because I had a lot of it around. I have going at a 90 degree angle so it isn't in the way of my built in immersion chiller. At the end of boils I whirlpool with a spoon and much of the trub settles in the center. I fill my hydrometer test jar from the valve and some trub comes though. Then I hook up my hoes and fill my carboy. I get very little trub as long as I don't disturb the kettle.
The only time I've had trouble with my set up is using whole or fresh hops. They plug up my pick up tube. So I put them in a mesh bag.

[Ozwald]

The best way is to keep your valve as close to the bottom seam as possible & run your pick-up arm about 1/3 of the way between the wall & center. When you flame out give the kettle a good stir with a long metal spoon to create a bit of a whirlpool. The trub will collect towards the center & you can suck decently clear wort away from the pile. Don't worry about getting every last drop.

Personally my converted keg (which I got already converted with a short pipe welded to the outside - no internal threads) didn't have a pickup tube at all. There was only a bit shy of 6 quarts left in the bottom dome. Once it hit that point, I would very carefully & slowly tip it to get the rest while the trub pile stayed in the center. It wasn't ideal but it worked & it was free.

Pickup tube or not, giving it a good stir & letting the trub settle towards the middle is the key.

[forcera]

Below are some pictures of what I have in my keggle. My immersion chiller fits between the two bazooka screens. I also whirlpool and having the pickups on the outside really helps to pull clear wort. I do use whole leaf hops and I don't get hops into the fermentor. Now I don't like hoppy beers so I'm not the best to ask about that, in 5+ years of brewing I have done two IPAs and they were both for friends. I will admit mine is a bit of over kill. I was having some issues when I added the pump and I wanted a permanent fix for them.

One thing to think about is if you are going to get a plate chiller. If you use a plate chiller you do need to take steps to pull clear wort. If you pull wort with a bunch of stuff in it you can clog the chiller.

[AsthmaticBowl]

One thing to think about is if you are going to get a plate chiller. If you use a plate chiller you do need to take steps to pull clear wort. If you pull wort with a bunch of stuff in it you can clog the chiller.

Very True. If you are not using a plate chiller yet, then a simple screen will keep out a decent portion of the hop material. When I made the transition to a plate chiller all I had to do was build a quick hop spider, just bing it, and there is never a problem with hop matter clogging up the plate chiller. My hop spider is no fancy thing either, I just buy 5 gallon paint strainer bags from the local hardware store for each batch.