Photopilot

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Okay its actually a Fermentap with an upside down carboy, but if i get it to work it is the same thing as a Conical.

The wort is fermenting now for about 6 hours, and things are starting to settle onto the bottom/top of the carboy. I have agitated it some to settle down into the neck. It is an ale yeast if this matters.

Should I start draining out the settled stuff right away or wait?

Is this stuff dead yeast?

Once it is done, do I just let the beer age longer in the same carboy until ready to keg?

Thanks

mward

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It's not the same thing as a conical. The sides on a conical are slopped a lot more so the yeast will drop out when you crack the valve. A carboy will leave a lot of yeast in there. Wait for the fermentation to finish before you start trying to pull off sediment.

Photopilot

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I have solved this problem of the carboys shape. I give the carboy a little shake and then spin it. This agitation gets the yeast floating and the spin deposits it in the neck. If I can get the sediment to settle in the neck should I try to pull some out?

mward

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Sure why not? Let us know how it turns out too. Several people have posted bad results with the system but I'm not sure they were giving it a spin. Take pictures if you can.

Photopilot

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So what I have been doing is picking up the carboy and agitating it a bit and letting it settle twice a day and pouring off the results.

The first photo is what it looked like after 1 day of fermenting.
The second photo shows the result of the agitating.
The third photo shows what I have racked off from the efforts.

What do you think:
Should I be getting more yeast after 2 days?

A concern I have is the agitation is putting the settled matter back in solution not into the neck, Is this likely?

What risks am I facing by agitating the wort at this point, while fermenting is still occuring?

It all may be a moot point as the cider i started a few weeks before this batch is showing signs of bacteria spoilage in the secondary. I am hoping it is a result of poor sanitation techniques on my part and not the questionable air quality in my kitchen. I won't know for a while if there is a problem with this batch but would like to take this opportunity to evaluate the fermentaps potential use.
Thanks

Attached Images

   

Ryan_PA

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How does CO2 get out of that thing?

Beerthoven

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Yikes That's one large bottle bomb.

__________________

Primary/Secondary:

Kegged: #77 Newcastle Brown, #79 California Common, #80 Old Bushy Tail Special Bitter

Planned: American IPA, Dusseldorf Alt, American Amber

I use secondaries!

jelsas

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I'm not a conical user, but I think you should've waited a bit longer than 2 days to start pulling settled yeast out. Your beer can sit on the yeast for up to a month (or longer) without any ill effects. As mward said, you should've waited until fermentation stopped -- at least a week -- before dumping the yeast. You risk an incomplete or stalled fermentation, or the inability of the yeasts to "clean up" fermentation byproducts.

And, the settled yeast is not dead, just dormant. You can wash this yeast & re-use it in your next batch.

But, it sounds like you might've found a technique to get the fermentap to work for you -- the swirling sounds like it should work the yeast closer to the neck, where it can be dumped.

dblvsn

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I've wondered the same thing about glass carboys and the fermatap. Anyone?

jelsas

Recipes 

racking cane stuck through the valve in the neck, up to the headspace in the top (er.. bottom of the carboy). co2 is forced down the racking cane, through the beer, then out the neck