Keg with plastic ends, for a Mash Tun

[Pilgrim]

Hi Guys,

I bought a stainless steel keg a while back with a plastic top and bottom. A guy that was selling these on TradeMe reckoned that you could remove the ends and I've seen a few weird looking kegs that looked as though they had this done. Has anyone converted one of these into a Mash Tun?  I'm concerned as to whether i can get the ball valve close enough to the bottom.

Any ideas would be valued.  Yeah, I know I should go with a picnic cooler but object to paying $80+ for one here. You see them for US$18 in the states.

Photo attached.

[denimglen]

...I'm concerned as to whether i can get the ball valve close enough to the bottom... Make up a pick-up tube for it mate, as long as the siphon doesn't brake it will drain to the very bottom. Ball valve could then be at the very top if you wanted it to be. Something like this:

But with a manifold/stainlessbraid/whatever on the end in place of the copper scrubbie.

[vdog]

Could you do the same as this but just come straight in through the bottom (vertical)? We've done that with the hot water cylinders, but we use a false bottom - not sure whether we could connect a braid manifold to it.

[Soren]

glen, does that scrubbie work ok for you? I tried that once and after transferring 2 liters in 30 mins I had to stick my arm (clean and sanitised of course..) in the kettle and jank it of, it had clogged up instantly... i did have a little bit of cone hops in there though.

[denimglen]

It did work back then - this is a photo of my old kettle. At the time I was using a hop bag and had no dramas with just break material.

I tried it again with my new set up and had the same problem as you, even with 100% pellets. Luckily I realised it clogged during my whirlpool so I managed to knock it off using my brew spoon. I'm running my pick-up tube filter-less now.

Some people swear by them though. I need to figure out some sort of filter so I can use cones, otherwise they'll clog my pump/pick-up tube.

[Greig McGill]

You can definitely remove the ends. Done this myself. Jam a long flathead screwdriver underneath the plastic and just lever it hard against the metal. It'll pop right off.

[Pilgrim]

Brilliant,

Thanks guys for your suggestions.

[denimglen]

Would you mind posting some pics once you're finished?

I had a few of those kegs but swapped them for the 'traditional' type assuming they were no good. I'd be interested to see what they're like all converted.