cornRIDE
Member
Hello all-
man, did i find the right place to kill some time and learn a few things. thanks for allowing me to lurk the past few days and thanks for the recipes!
now- i'll come right to my debate: I've taken a plasma cutter to the top of an empty full sized keg. i've fabricated a lid that works perfect. I plan on using a stainless (rubberless) valve in the base of the keg for draining/racking (so the rubber doesn't warp upon heating to cooking temp). I will be cooking the wort in the keg with a turkey fryer (beats the electric stove top) and fermenting (single ferment) in a completely intact keg.
does anybody else brew full sized batches of beer using this or a similar method? I see lots of posts regarding 5 gallon kegs and such, but frankly, for the work involved in a 5 gallon batch i'd rather just pony up the dough for ingredients and do a 15.5 batch.
due to the cooking in the modified keg and fermenting in the intact keg i have a few questions:
-as far as racking, i prefer a clearer ipa, what is the best method?
racking out of the primary fermenter into multiple carboys and then rack back into the fermenting keg for the rest of it's life span?
-bulk ingriedents?
hopunion? local shop? expect to still pay retail prices? where's the best vendor for a bulk order? (granted i live in WA and can hit up the yakima farmers market for a brown bag of hopps reaaaaaaaaaal cheap. just have to wait till the harvest)
-expected troubles/concerns, suggestions on what style of beer/ale might preform better cooking at this volume?
would a quick hefe be easier than a nice ipa? just due to the turn around time, the racking requirements? i will avoid any lager like a plague.
i would be happy to post pictures of this endeavor as it goes on, but am just too damn curious to see if you all have experimented with this before. thoughts?
man, did i find the right place to kill some time and learn a few things. thanks for allowing me to lurk the past few days and thanks for the recipes!
now- i'll come right to my debate: I've taken a plasma cutter to the top of an empty full sized keg. i've fabricated a lid that works perfect. I plan on using a stainless (rubberless) valve in the base of the keg for draining/racking (so the rubber doesn't warp upon heating to cooking temp). I will be cooking the wort in the keg with a turkey fryer (beats the electric stove top) and fermenting (single ferment) in a completely intact keg.
does anybody else brew full sized batches of beer using this or a similar method? I see lots of posts regarding 5 gallon kegs and such, but frankly, for the work involved in a 5 gallon batch i'd rather just pony up the dough for ingredients and do a 15.5 batch.
due to the cooking in the modified keg and fermenting in the intact keg i have a few questions:
-as far as racking, i prefer a clearer ipa, what is the best method?
racking out of the primary fermenter into multiple carboys and then rack back into the fermenting keg for the rest of it's life span?
-bulk ingriedents?
hopunion? local shop? expect to still pay retail prices? where's the best vendor for a bulk order? (granted i live in WA and can hit up the yakima farmers market for a brown bag of hopps reaaaaaaaaaal cheap. just have to wait till the harvest)
-expected troubles/concerns, suggestions on what style of beer/ale might preform better cooking at this volume?
would a quick hefe be easier than a nice ipa? just due to the turn around time, the racking requirements? i will avoid any lager like a plague.
i would be happy to post pictures of this endeavor as it goes on, but am just too damn curious to see if you all have experimented with this before. thoughts?