Blichmann Boilermaker - Drilling a hole

I use Blichmann Boilermakers as my brewpots. They are expensive, but they are well designed, feature a sight glass, temperature gauge, and a ball valve drain. These features are hard to live without once you get used to them. I believe these are the best pots for homebrewing. I've also made some damn good beer with them as well.

I have 2 boilermakers, one 15 gallon for my brew kettle, and one 10 gallon as the hot liquor tank. I started out with the 10, and recently added the 15 so that I could do the occasional 10 gallon batch.

The only problem I was having was that on the 10 gallon, the brewmometer reading level is at 4 gallons, and on the 15 it is at 6.5 gallons. These levels are perfectly fine for doing a 10 gallon batch. But for a 5 gallon batch, they are both basically useless. For the 10 gallon, the strike water can often be at or less than 4 gallons, so it is not possible to get an accurate reading. For the 15 gallon, the only time the temp will register is at the beginning of the boil.

The only solution is to move the brewmometer. To do so, the first thing I did was order 2 brewmometer hole plugs. That was the easy part. Then it was time to drill the holes. I had a difficult time finding information on the web about doing this. Basically all I read was use a step bit and cutting oil. That is what you need to do but I couldn't find any examples of people doing it on a boilermaker. Since the pots are more than 300 bucks a piece, this is not exactly a simple task mentally.

Well the basic way of doing it is drilling a 3/16th pilot hole, then enlarging it to 1/2 inch with a step bit. You should use a corded drill (not cordless) and cutting oil. If you go slow and keep constant pressure, and as long as the bit doesn't get too hot, it should go fairly smoothly. You could use a cheap 10-20 dollar "titanium coated" bit or a more expensive greenlee bit which will last more than 1 or 2 holes. I took the easy way out and had my handyman uncle do it.

Here are some pics of the final results:




I'm pretty happy with the results. I have the brewmometer at the 4 gallon mark on the 15 gallon boilermaker, and at the 3 gallon mark on the 10. I've used them on one brew so far since and it worked great without any leaks. The pots don't look as good as they did before with the gauges in the stock positions, but they work, and it is more functional for me now.


Here's a video of someone doing it on a converted keg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH8q6XbiFeI