Conical Fermenter Question

I recently purchased a 15 gal. Minibrew Conical Fermenter (which I got a sick deal on) and I am about to take it on its maiden voyage but I have a few questions about how to use it.

1. When transferring the wort to the fermenter how does one avoid pouring the spent hops and such into the Fermenter. I have used a funnel with a screen when using a carboy as the primary, but I have yet to find a a funnel/screen combo that is the diameter of the top of my fermenter. I want to start re using the yeast but I do not want the spent hops and or grains mixed in.

2.When it comes time for bottling can I safely add the priming sugar directly to the Fermenter? Do I need to stir the priming sugar in, or, will doing so cause it to be come over oxygenated?

3. I am planning on bottling directly from the Fermenter. I am assuming that I bottle the beer first, and then drain the yeast once bottling is completed?

Any thoughts, insight and Pearls of Wisdom are greatly appreciated

1. perhaps use a bag in your boil so that you don't have to worry about the hops at all. otherwise, you could sanitize another vessel and filter with some sort of screen before you transfer to the conical. really, there are tons of different thoughts on this...i would just go with a bag during your boil.

2. i'd say you could add the sugar directly to the fermenter and give it a nice stir a couple of times while you're bottling. it won't hurt it as long as there is no splashing.

3. i would dump the yeast before bottling there will still be enough yeast in the wort fro bottling to be complete, but you don't want all that crap from the bottom of the fermenter.

generally a conical as used as a primary AND secondary, so after 2 weeks or so you dump the yeast and trub, then let it sit for another 2 weeks to condition. then dump the rest of the yeast and trub and bottle

Use a bottling bucket. You will never get the crap out of the bottom! Some will stick to the sides and get mixed back in if you stir it up...

Don't worry about trub too much it does not change the outcome of the beer. When you transfer to the conical and then let it sit 1/2 hour you should be able to dump the trub that settled and then pitch the yeast. That is what I do. That's one of the advantages of the conical.

I dump everything in let it sit 3-4 hours and then dump the trub I also dump a few days later as this will get the fast floccing yeast out. Then let it sit 2 -3 weeks the last dump will be the yeast I wash the rack the beer to the keg. This method has been working for me.

WBC said:

Don't worry about trub too much it does not change the outcome of the beer. When you transfer to the conical and then let it sit 1/2 hour you should be able to dump the trub that settled and then pitch the yeast. That is what I do. That's one of the advantages of the conical.

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this is a good idea...i hadn't thought of that

So when I dump the trub out of the bottom ball valve of the fermenter I am assuming just a quick twist of the handle so as to not drain out too much beer beer, and then pitch the yeast? I am doing an extract brew, and it says to pitch at 72 degrees. I am thinking that I am going to do it this way:

1.add the remaining 3.5 gallons of water to the fermenter
2.Add the wort directly from the boil to the fermenter
3. wait 1/2 hr and drain trub from the Fermenter
4. Pitch yeast
5. dump yeast from Fermenter once the airlock stops bubbling.
6. Wait a week or so and dump remaining yeast
7. Add priming sugar to Fermenter and bottle
Does this sound like a good process to everyone?

When you're dumping the trub, a few quick twists of the valve handle should do it. REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE AIRLOCK/BLOWOFF BEFORE DOING THIS. You do NOT want to suck sanitizer back into the fermenter. Trust me on this one.

I'd still rack it to a bottling tank. You want to get the beer off any remaining trub/yeast/lees before adding the priming solution. Besides, racking to a "bright tank" permits the racking process itself to mix the priming solution without significant aeration/ agitation; far better than stirring.

Cheers,

Bob

zman said:

I am thinking that I am going to do it this way:

1.add the remaining 3.5 gallons of water to the fermenter
2.Add the wort directly from the boil to the fermenter
3. wait 1/2 hr and drain trub from the Fermenter?

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Or more time if there is a lot of trub.

4. Pitch yeast
5. dump yeast from Fermenter once the airlock stops bubbling.

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You want to measure the gravity. You are looking for the finish gravity, not when it stops bubbling. I would let it stay there 2 weeks to condition too before bottling or kegging.

6. Wait a week or so and dump remaining yeast

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Dump the yeast before racking the beer (This can be used in another batch).

7. Add priming sugar to Fermenter and bottle

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You could if you were able to get most of the yeast out but it is really hard to do as it clings to the 30 degree slope of the interior. Use bottling buckets so you can mix it well and not get too much yeast in the bottles.

What about stretching a cheese cloth over the top of the Fermenter, securing it with a rubber band or string and pouring the Wort in that way. Naturally I will sterilize the cheese cloth first, I do not know if they even make cheese cloths that big but I thought it could be a good Idea to try.

WBC said:

You could if you were able to get most of the yeast out but it is really hard to do as it clings to the 30 degree slope of the interior. Use bottling buckets so you can mix it well and not get too much yeast in the bottles.

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I dont have a conical but have been thinking about it and I have wondered about this. Could you just tap the sides a little to get the yeast to come off the sides? Or would it take a more vigorous action like stirring? Does it even really matter other then the extra sediment in each bottle?

clemson55 said:

I dont have a conical but have been thinking about it and I have wondered about this. Could you just tap the sides a little to get the yeast to come off the sides? Or would it take a more vigorous action like stirring? Does it even really matter other then the extra sediment in each bottle?

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It just seem to really cling to sides.Why would you want to re-suspend the yeast into the beer? And no it really doesn't matter but I like to get the beer as clear as possible. I keg so I just transfer conical to keg so most of the yeast stay's in the conical.

zman said:

1. When transferring the wort to the fermenter how does one avoid pouring the spent hops and such into the Fermenter. I have used a funnel with a screen when using a carboy as the primary, but I have yet to find a a funnel/screen combo that is the diameter of the top of my fermenter. I want to start re using the yeast but I do not want the spent hops and or grains mixed in.

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Why do you need the funnel to be the same diameter of the fermenter? If you are pouring into the fermenter you can still use your same funnel. You aren't pouring a larger column of wort. You could fashion some sort of hanger to hold your funnel or I know they make them with a hook on the side.

springer said:

It just seem to really cling to sides.Why would you want to re-suspend the yeast into the beer? And no it really doesn't matter but I like to get the beer as clear as possible. I keg so I just transfer conical to keg so most of the yeast stay's in the conical.

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I was thinking more like getting it off the higher part of the conical so if you bottle straight out of it the yeast wouldnt be in the way. Sort of like whirlpooling as the yeast settled back out hopefully it would be off the sides and more on the bottom then you wouldnt have to transfer from the conical to a bottling bucket.

I have the same conical.

I use a whole house filter with a 20 micron filter between the kettle and my therminator, through my pump and then IN through the racking port. Crash cool to 32 degrees, dump the trub and let it rise to 42 degrees at which time I aerate using 02 and pitch the yeast (usually 3-4 days after the boil).

In place of the filter you can buy some window screen, roll it into a cylinder and put it in place of the filter in the whole house unit. This is just as good.

BTW - the thermal properties of the 15 gallon minibrew conical are such that if you go directly from the boil into the conical, it won't hurt the plastic BUT the thing insulates so well that it could take 2 days for it to cool down to pitching temperature.

For kegging I rack right into the keg but for bottling I suggest you rack to a bottling bucket and bottle from there. Be sure to watch your wort volume to sugar ratio as the conical doesn't have gradation markings and it's hard to see through. The area below the racking port holds about a gallon so you want to make sure you include this extra in your recipe calculation using the assumption that it won't get used.

sometimes i lightly tap the sides of the cone with a rubber hammer to release any yeast that has stuck itself to the sides. it seems to do the trick without agitating the rest of the brew

Just a quick question...It seems that a lot of people here are very experienced with using conical fermenters. I am still learning how to use mine, and this question has been bothering me: I like to dump the trub after the wort has cooled. I also dump the yeast before I bottle. However, if I dump the yeast before adding the priming sugar, am I still going to have enough yeast to carbonate the beer? I know this may be a dumb question, but I just want to make sure I am doing it right. Thanks for the help

In the overwhelming majority of circumstances, the answer is "yes". You will have sufficient yeast. If you've left the beer chilled in the conical for several months and try to bottle star-bright beer, you may experience problems with bottle conditioning.

Bob

Alright, thanks

Hi, i am new to this. Is the trub all the sediment? Does the yeast settle on the bottom as well? and finally, what is racking the beer mean. Thanks

wetchicken6 said:

Hi, i am new to this. Is the trub all the sediment? Does the yeast settle on the bottom as well? and finally, what is racking the beer mean. Thanks

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trub is the sediment, yeast settles to the bottom, some may suspend depending on the strain. Racking is transferring to another container like a keg or bottles.