trub dam

[Cain Harland]

I'm going to make a kettle from a 50L keg and want to put a trub dam on my pick up. I really like the one in the attached pic. Anyone got any ideas for a cheap DIY solution?

[Cain Harland]

[Peter Church]

If it was me, I would try something like 100 mm silicon hose off cut, 100mm of copper split length wise, insert silicon into copper and crimp closed inn the vice then braise the  copper onto the pickup tube. I find copper easier to work with given the tools I have on hand. Roofers vice grips with the 100mm wide flat plate jaws would be useful for shaping up the copper maybe. Let us know what you go with anyway

cheers

[Cain Harland]

Good plan but unfortunately I don't braise.

I wondering if the silicone is necessary. I'm sure it makes a much better seal than you are going to get with plain steel but I would think with steel the gap would either be small enough to let wort but not hops under or just clog with hops and form a seal during whirl pool. Not saying I wouldn't have one if I could just may not bother.

Here is what Ive been thinking. Get a small pot from the op shop (like the one I used to make a hop spider) and cut the bottom off to make a tube then cut it like the red bit in the cross section below.

The bottom edge (pink in diagram) I would just shape by grinding an looking at it in place till it was a good fit with the bottom of the keggle and cut hole for bulk head last. Also might put some big holes above trub level on the tall side acting as a dam because I figure the more wort that can be drained before flow has to go around the dam the less trub it will take with it.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Hi I am wondering if I need a "trub-dam" for doing BIAB? and whether a kettle diverter would be better or still even needed? your thoughts please and sorry to threadjack. cheers.

[Cain Harland]

I don't think it makes a difference BIAB vs 3 vessel the boil is the same either way. You defiantly don't need one but keeping a bit more trub in your pot is always a good thing.