I'm a complete newb to brewing, and I'm still getting my equipment all set up.

I added a valve to my brew pot. I thought the other newbs might like pictures as much as I do, so....





















I also posted to YouTube, if you're interested.

Click Here To See The YouTube! post.

Thanks!

Wow, nice work. Great video too!

Looks good. Did you get the valve assembly from a homebrew store?
Also what part of WV are you in? I am in Huntington and another member, Pudge, is in Morgantown.

Edit- First question answered. Sorry didn't see the link for the video. Very nicely done.

awesome, thanks for posting this. what pot is that? i've been thinking about doing this with mine. I've always kinda regretted not getting a pot with one built in. I'd like to be able to vorlauf when I BiaB and I'd like this to leave trub and break behind after the boil and to avoid using my autosiphon.

Very nice!

wow, well done! how much did your project run you (to compare to a pre-fab pot)?

Very nicely done!

No need to vorlauf when you're doing biab, you won't be getting any grain particles in the wort (which is why you vourlauf with traditional AG).

Total for the pot so far is $39.

I purchased the valve and bulkhead parts from Bargain Fittings. The fittings are stainless, and the o-ring is a high temp, FDA approved one. Includes a hose barb fitting too. Total there was $22.

I purchased the stainless pot from Big Lots for $17. It has a lid with a small hole for a thermometer. It's only 16 quart though. I probably should have ordered at least a 20 quart pot. At the time, I was thinking about keeping everything geared toward small, Mr. Beer sized batches.

I plan on adding a dip tube, so that will be anothr few dollars.

Stainless pre-fab pots are $$$. The DIY saved me some money, plus it was fun to do.

The valve adds some nice bling, right?!

Cool project. How much liquid is left behind? It looked like you placed it fairly high. When you say dip tube I am assuming you are going to use something like Blichmann uses in its pots. Make sure to whirlpool to leave behind any trub, if you start doing full boils with hops and all.

I drilled the hole about 2-1/4" up from the bottom of the pot to allow for the dip tube. For the dip tube, I'm planning on using bent stainless or copper tubing that will extend out to the center of the pot. I'm thinking that I will set it up so that it will reach down to about 1/4" from the bottom of the pot. The tubing fitting will allow me to rotate the tubing to raise it if I need to.

Will the trub still be an issue if both the grains and hops are bagged?

Yup, you'll still get break material (proteins that coagulate in the hot and cold break), and I suggest having the dip tube off to the side, so you can whirlpool and leave the break material in the center of the pot.

Thanks guys for the whirlpool tip.

Maybe I can just elbow my dip tube down and then elbow again right back to the side of the pot.

Go out and look at the Blichmann website at the boilermaker pot. One of the pictures shows the pick-up tube inside the pot. I have that pot and it works well as long as you whirlpool and use hop bags.

Took a look. Thanks.

i do 3 gallon BIAB batches... my recipes typically have 6 lbs of grains and i get a gravity of around 1.050(ish)... i collect 4.25 gallons strike water and when i mash in those 6 lbs of grain, i nearly overflow my 20 qt pot. you can always top off, but i think16 qts might be a bit small. good news, it's the perfect size for a HLT for a mash tun... and that step bit can be reused to drill a new hole in a larger pot

Yeah, I should have gotten a larger pot, but at the time I was thinking smaller, Mr. Beer sized batches.

When I purchased the 16 quart pot, I figured that if/when I decide to upgrade that I'd either keep the pot for other uses or reuse the valve in a larger pot. The 16 qt pot was only $17, so it wouldn't hurt too bad.

I'm going to try to make it work for now with some small batches while I'm learning. I may try a hybrid BIAB method and start with 3.25 gal for the mash and then sparge before boiling. My goal would be to end up with a Mr. Beer sized batch of approx. 8 liters or 2.1 gallons.