Author: Marshall Schott

When I published the article about my buddy’s contamination issue that ended up being a result of a dirty ball valve, I assumed his experience was relatively rare and a result of his particular setup. I was wrong. In the months since, I’ve heard from many homebrewers, probably over 100, who have experienced similar issues and, after some investigation, discovered nasty gunk caking the insides of their valves.

One of the more common recommendations I noticed in discussions about this issue was to upgrade to 3-piece ball valves since apparently they’re easier to keep clean. This created a healthy debate about the merits of 3-piece valves over the usually less expensive 2-piece versions, as they’re basically constructed the same way and can actually take more time to disassemble. Plus, they get just as nasty.

As tedious as it is, the only seemingly adequate solution to this annoying problem involves regularly disassembling and cleaning the valve by soaking it in boiling water or a powerful cleaner (OxiClean, PBW). At least when using these common types of ball valves.

I recently received an email from Curtis over at Brewer’s Hardware, supplier of all sorts of great brewery gear. He said he read about Wes’ dilemma and mentioned his company was designing a new type of valve that combined the familiarity of the ones we’re all used to with the easy-to-clean aspects of a tri-clover fitting. Interest piqued! Naturally, when he asked if I might be interested in reviewing a working model of this product, I jumped at the opportunity.

Full disclosure: Brewer’s Hardware provided the item in exchange for an honest review. Brülosophy is in no other way affiliated with Brewer’s Hardware and will receive no compensation for purchases made through links in this article.

The Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve arrived a week later and I was stoked to get it out of the box– would it really be all that different?

It had the standard 1/2″ NPT threads I was familiar with on one end, but the other side looked more foreign to me. I took it apart, interested to see what the innards consisted of and how simple it would be to piece back together (I’m terrible at puzzles).

I don’t mean to exaggerate, but it was beyond easy. I even messed around with timing how long it took me to completely dissemble and reassemble the unit– 45 seconds or less without trying to rush. Rad.

I attached the valve to my kettle, which I found easier to do when it was apart, then attached a leftover camlock fitting to the business end. I then filled my kettle with 4 gallons of hot water, something I do any time I replace valves as I’ve a fiery hatred for leaks. In this case, I was very pleased.

Not a single drip and it looked pretty badass to boot. But looks aren’t nearly as important as performance. It was time to put this thing to use! I’ve brewed four 10 gallon batches with this valve and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it functioned almost exactly the same as any other valve I’ve used.

It was during post-brew day clean-up that the awesomeness of this valve really shined. Admittedly, I’ve developed the lazy habit of, err, forgetting to adequately clean my valves, usually only disassembling them every 4 to ?? brews. The quick clean take-apart ball valve made proper cleaning a no-brainer, adding less than a minute to my typical kettle cleaning routine. I can now unashamedly proclaim:

My valve has never been cleaner!

| THE VERDICT |

I’m not much of a gear-head, preferring simplicity and ease over shiny and neat. I’m also cheap and hate cleaning shit up. Ultimately though, high quality and efficient is what I’m after, and the quick clean take-apart ball valve is just that. While the $35 price tag may initially seem a little steep, never having to disassemble a 2- or 3-piece valve again adds immense value. I spent quite a bit of time trying to come up with some negatives about this product, it was tough, all I could think of is the fact it connects to the kettle and camlock/barb fitting via standard NPT threads, which could potentially harbor nastiness. Honestly though, I’ve never observed either of these areas to be dirty when cleaning my old valves, all the grossness resides on the inside.

Will I be replacing the valve on my other kettle? You better believe it!

Support Brülosophy In Style!

All designs are available in various colors and sizes on Amazon!

Follow Brülosophy on:

| Read More |

18 Ideas to Help Simplify Your Brew Day

7 Considerations for Making Better Homebrew

List of completed exBEERiments

How-to: Harvest yeast from starters

How-to: Make a lager in less than a month

| Good Deals |

Brand New 5 gallon ball lock kegs discounted to $75 at Adventures in Homebrewing

ThermoWorks Super-Fast Pocket Thermometer On Sale for $19 – $10 discount

Sale and Clearance Items at MoreBeer.com

If you enjoy this stuff and feel compelled to support Brulosophy.com, please check out the Support Us page for details on how you can very easily do so. Thanks!

Advertisements

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Tumblr

Email



Like this: Like Loading...