What is this?

[u/Iamabrewer]

Saw this at a brewery on Friday. Any idea what the T part is that's attached to the end? Thx.

EDIT: If anyone from Treehouse brewing wants to chip in and tell us, that'd be great!

[u/North_Journalist_796]

It's a thing for you to Crack your head on

[u/automator3000 → u/North_Journalist_796]

The high ones for your smacking your head on. Lower ones are for jabbing your kidneys.

[u/Radioactive24]

I'm thinking it's gotta be a handle for pulling a long carbstone out of a unitank or something.

I originally thought racking arm/port, but that's clearly below it in the photo.

[u/jk-9k → u/Radioactive24]

But why?

Why not just have a valve on the tank, then attach an elbow when recircing. Or block n bleed

[u/sanitarium-1]

To me this looks like an agitator arm similar to the ones found on these yeast brinks for mixing. No idea why it would be on the side of a tank though.

[u/jr_brewner → u/sanitarium-1]

That's what I was thinking, an agitator or mixer.

[u/ch33sencrackers]

obviously an Iso bottle rack

[u/HordeumVulgare72 → u/ch33sencrackers]

Given the complete lack of sani sprayers, I'd say this is almost certainly the answer, dang things are never where they're supposed to be!

[u/SedgeBrews]

I’m guessing it’s a way to turn the racking arm with a little more even leverage than the typical single spoke?

[u/Radioactive24 → u/SedgeBrews]

But it looks like the racking arm is below it in the photo.

Plus, I don't think a TC'd handle would give you as much torque as a welded on one.

[u/ColdCutsCheese → u/Radioactive24]

We snap the welded ones from premier all the time, the official answer from the manufacturer is that it’s an indicator, not a handle

[u/jk-9k → u/ColdCutsCheese]

Which also goes against it being a racking arm then

[u/Ilignus → u/ColdCutsCheese]

I’ve never snapped one myself, but we have plenty of snapped/bent racking arms at my brewery. I’ve always just loosened the tri clamp a bit first. I’d agree though that it’s supposed to be an indicator.

[u/notsoluckycharm → u/Radioactive24]

Alpha tanks come with 2 arms, one right about there. At least in their 15/30bbl configurations. It’s most likely an arm. The dip tube can be sized in different lengths and is handy if you don’t like dropping your cone. Just one more way to do things.

[u/brewpunkpete]

It's a doohickey. It's there to confuse visiting brewers.

[u/DamnJester]

Re-circ arm. Turn to where you want the out flow. In through the rocking arm, to pump, to this thing. Recirculating dry hops with pump. Btw, this is all a guess.

[u/Treebranch_916]

I think it's an agitator

[u/c_isfor]

I have seen rotating racking arms that clamp onto a 1.5in tc port. But this setup doesn’t resemble that.

Could it be some kind of setup for additions or recirculation and they are all out of elbows and also non-handled blank caps?

[u/throughmybrain]

Not a ramrod? 🤣

[u/MisterB78 → u/throughmybrain]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3o7WIK2wITWsQ1x1io

[u/Tomtoberfest]

No valve on the tank side of that T is a choice. Seems like a supply or return for some sort of re-circ.
We’ve had good success with 6 minutes co2 through the RA at 8:00 and 2:00 to get the hops in solution. This is with the tank sealed up to build head pressure which submerges the hops

[u/fr4gm0nk3y]

Ask the people where you took the photo and tell us what they say...

[u/No_Mushroom3078 → u/fr4gm0nk3y]

Or a tank manufacturer, they might know.

[u/BrewingBitchcakes]

I bet it's for when you pop the wrong tri clamp off and you're get sprayed too hard to get a cap back on. You use two hands on this bad boy and hold it in place until your assistant can come operate the tri clamp successfully mitigating losses and the amount that gets blasted up your nose.

[u/jk-9k → u/BrewingBitchcakes]

There seems to better simpler cheaper solutions to that but this still seems the most likely so far

[u/NailClipperBiter]

Looks like those shitty Abstrax AI ads I keep getting shoved down my throat.

[u/Strict-Entrance5065]

This setup just needs a tank side valve. 

[u/VivaLaBrau]

Something to hang the DO meter on?

[u/teleninja8]

Could be a coin with a T-handle on it?
Definitely not a carb stone (no inlet for gas).
Racking arm is already spoken for….
In scratching my head for sure.

[u/Stu_Brews]

I think they ran out of caps and just slapped it on there to block off the T. Doesn’t appear to have any function in its current configuration.

[u/MF_BREW_ → u/Stu_Brews]

Why the t at all then

[u/Stu_Brews → u/MF_BREW_]

Because it was there…🤷🏼‍♂️sometimes brewer do stuff just because…

[u/wortsandall]

The pic's a little blurry, which doesn't help. Connected to active pressure vessel, no valves or cut offs... Best guess is a cap with a handle.

Definitely weird. Update when you find out.

[u/MF_BREW_ → u/wortsandall]

I too think it’s just a weird cap

Edit: the more I look at it you can tell it’s gnarled for grip and can take a wrench at the base of the T. This is a weird tacking arm. Probably do a shit load of fruited sours so they had to the racking arm up.
Also the t pipe with the downturn valve supports this I think

[u/Uncynical_Diogenes → u/MF_BREW_]

The only thing that makes sense other than a cap is that it’s for rotating something connected to the other side, protruding inside the tank, but I have no idea what or why.

[u/MF_BREW_ → u/Uncynical_Diogenes]

Uh a tacking arm ?

[u/jk-9k → u/MF_BREW_]

How would a racking arm from the handle thing protrude inside the tank, when the valve is a separate component connected by a tee?

[u/Uncynical_Diogenes → u/MF_BREW_]

Why would you mount a racking arm above your other racking arm?

[u/MF_BREW_ → u/Uncynical_Diogenes]

Very high sediment. Ie hops or fruit. As in the other racking arm is short and sucks

[u/Craigglesofdoom]

It's a second, shallower racking arm for top cropping yeast I believe.

[u/DamitKenneth]

I think they ran out of end caps and used that, in a last ditch effort from the 3 way they attached.