Single stage fermentation only

I have a question about just doing a single stage fermentation with my conical fermenter.

I have some instructions that I am looking at to do a test brew session (since i've never brewed before) and it only has two stage fermentation instructions.

Since I have a conical fermenter, I should just need to do a single stage right?
Do I just ferment and leave everything in the fermenter until the final specific gravity should be 1.008? (its a stella artois clone)

Sorry guys, just kind of confused about this whole process.. lol

Yeah, just leave everything in the fermenter until you reach FG. You can dump the trub from the bottom after the krausen falls if you like. I usually don't. If you are doing a stella clone, are you going to be using a lager yeast? If so, do you have a way to maintain ferment temps in the 58-55*F range? If not, you may want to try an ale first. Lagers are a bit difficult. Also, if it is a lager, you'll need to lager (cold-condition it) after ferment is done. This means dropping the temp down to 34-40 degrees for several weeks. You can do this in the fermenter if it is in a fridge or a carboy or keg if you have one.

BTW, what kind of conical fermenter do you have?

You also might want to start with a kit or at least partial mash before jumping into all-grain.

yeah it is a lager.. i will be using white labs czech budejovice lager yeast.

I've started to build a fridge like room in my garage where i can control the temperature to around 50 - 75 degrees (depending on what i am fermenting)

I also have a box freezer that i have an external control for to keep the temp at what i want.
I've thought about doing something more basic but I already have this kit so i thought i'd go ahead and use it. It is a 10 gallon stella artois lager kit.

The conical fermenter i have is a 27 gallon stainless steel one i got from northern brewer.

Would I run into any problems fermenting 10 gallons in a 27 gallon fermenter?

Man, talk about jumping in head first - many of us dream of having anything as nice as a 27-gal stainless conical fermenter, and you go and buy one before you've even brewed for the first time... Feel like buying me some brewing equipment too while you're at it?


Wish I had some answers to your questions, but unfortunately I'm not lucky enough to have had any first-hand experience with a conical

jordanpace said:

...The conical fermenter i have is a 27 gallon stainless steel one i got from northern brewer....

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I'm pretty sure you're not really going to enjoy brewing beer. It’s a lot of work and not real rewarding…or addicting…or fun…or rewarding.

I’m pretty darn sure you ought to just ship me all your equipment right away and avoid the inevitable disappointment.

You could do a 20-gallon batch with that bad-boy.

You can definitely do a single stage fermentation in a conical. The only drawback is that by doing so, you’re tying up that beautiful piece of stainless steel when it should be constantly brewing.

BierMuncher said:

I'm pretty sure you're not really going to enjoy brewing beer. It’s a lot of work and not real rewarding…or addicting…or fun…or rewarding.

I’m pretty darn sure you ought to just ship me all your equipment right away and avoid the inevitable disappointment.

You could do a 20-gallon batch with that bad-boy.

You can definitely do a single stage fermentation in a conical. The only drawback is that by doing so, you’re tying up that beautiful piece of stainless steel when it should be constantly brewing.

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Nah.. you don't want to send it to BM... he's pretty rough on his equipment... send it to me and I'll take good care of it for you

lol
i'll think about that

thanks for the information as well!

I might actually hold off on the Stella for awhile until i get a good grip on how this brewing process works. It does seem a little more complicated doing a lager than an ale.. and as complicated as this process is right now to me, i might just want to do an ale first.. lol

but as far as fermenting a 10 gallon batch in a 27 gallon fermenter, there is no problem?

Shouldn't be, but the less head space the better.

jordanpace said:

I might actually hold off on the Stella for awhile until i get a good grip on how this brewing process works. It does seem a little more complicated doing a lager than an ale.. and as complicated as this process is right now to me, i might just want to do an ale first.. lol

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Start off with a good IPA or APA. Fairly easy and forgiving ale. Another choice maybe a decent wheat or hefe, since they're not really complicated and they yeast tend to dominate.

Seabee John said:

Nah.. you don't want to send it to BM... he's pretty rough on his equipment... send it to me and I'll take good care of it for you

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Huh???

Look at this pristine baby

My only concern with doing 10 gallons in the 27 gallon fermenter will be the amount of beer left between the dump valve and the racking port. A big fermenter has a bigger cone to handle more trub. You brew a smaller batch and you end up with less trub, so more beer is left below the racking port. You may want to measure how much volume is in the space and what kind of loss you can expect. With a lager, you should make a really big starter, so that will eat up some of that space as the yeast settle out.

Of course you could always dump the trub and just run the beer through the dump valve into your bottling bucket or keg. You will probably need to buy a pretty big hose of that though. It would probably still be a little bit cloudy with yeast as well as the yeast will stick to the sides of the cone and not all come out at once.

BierMuncher said:

Huh???

Look at this pristine baby

View attachment 3179

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BM, you are alright my friend! out-f'n-standing!