Random Musings..Pressure Cooker = Fermentation Vessel

Just had an 'A HA!' moment..followed by a "WTF are you thinking" moment...

Anyhow..I brewed up a 1 gallon test batch Monday, just to get my feet wet (I did get my feet wet at one point ) before my 5 gallon batch this weekend.

I used my 8qt pressure cooker's 'pot' as my main mashing / boiling vessel since it was a small batch, after words I transferred to a glass gallon bottle / airlock etc.

I just thought to myself, "Self...the pressure cooker has an airtight seal, its opaque and has a small 'hole with a metal tube thingy' exiting the top...I bet you could attach silicone tubing to it, and call it a fermentor".

My WTF moment was caused by the hole being about 1mm in diameter...but man it would be cool to be able to boil, remove from heat, put the lid on immediatly, and have it "sealed" and cooling in an ice bath, and only needing to pitch and put a tube on it once cooled.

Im pretty sure something would go wrong here, but I figured I'd mention it so that others could talk me off this cliff.

Most pressure cookers I've seen are aluminum, which is fine for the beer making process but I'll advised for the fermentation process, IMHO.

With a stainless pot, though, you might be on to something though for small batches. You wouldn't have a perfect seal but good enough for yeast work.

The biggest problem I can see is that the pressure cooker wouldn't let the carbon dioxide escape enough. You WANT the CO2 out during primary ... If it stays in the vessel, you end up screwing fermentation by carbonating the beer ...

masterfool101 said:

The biggest problem I can see is that the pressure cooker wouldn't let the carbon dioxide escape enough. You WANT the CO2 out during primary ... If it stays in the vessel, you end up screwing fermentation by carbonating the beer ...

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Not true, to a point.

Read this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/closed-system-pressurized-fermentation-technique-44344/

Mine is stainless..and when you take the little "weight" off it the hole is pretty easy to blow through (I'm pretty sure it will not create pressure, just looks really small which may actually be a good thing. Besides that the thing is air tight...this may just be worth trying with a "cheap brew"...

Beergazzi said:

Mine is stainless..and when you take the little "weight" off it the hole is pretty easy to blow through (I'm pretty sure it will not create pressure, just looks really small which may actually be a good thing. Besides that the thing is air tight...this may just be worth trying with a "cheap brew"...

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Just make sure you have plenty of headspace or hop particles/ trub may get stuck in the hole and leave you with a mess.

TXCrash said:

Just make sure you have plenty of headspace or hop particles/ trub may get stuck in the hole and leave you with a mess.

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Yea...this is my one concern...if I try this I'll report back

Beergazzi said:

Yea...this is my one concern...if I try this I'll report back

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Your pressure cooker should have a blowoff port (rubber thingy in a 1/4” or so hole in lid) so there shouldn't be a fatal mess, but watch yourself nonetheless.