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Layne

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Trying to map out my new brewrig plumbing and thought process.
I presently boil in my 15g blichmann kettle,chill, let settle, then siphon 'from the top down' to get the clearest beer into the fermenters. I ferment in cornys, so I want as much clear beer and as little trub/break as possible to maximise finished beer into serving keg./
So far, this has worked pretty good. nearly 5 gals most of the time.

I am building a brewrig, and will be more automated, and maybe some hard plumbing.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to recirq/qhirlpool/ect, so I don't have to siphon to the fermenter.
I will be boiling in a 20g blichmann kettle, chilling with a CFC, and fermenting in cornys.

Maybe turn the diptube sideways instead of straight down in the kettle to avoid the settled 'stuff'?
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
 
If you're really obsessed with having clear wort going into the fermentor than you need to get a hop stopper or equivalent.

I use a dip tube and frequently end up with a good bit of trub in my wort. I used to be really annoyed about it, but I've let it go.

Any reason you couldn't start fermenting in carboys?
 
I switched from carboys to cornys when I started doing 10g batches.
I can fit 2 cornys in the same small fridges that fits only one carboy.
I can ferment 5gals in a corny, but only if it's clean and clear.
Thinking about going to a little larger fridge, and using a sanke or conical.
 
I'm surprised you can end up with close to 5gal in the serving keg. Between blowoff and yeast trub, I can imagine losing at least a half gallon with every batch, if not more.

Sounds like you're pounding through some beer as well. I've been wanting to upgrade to 10gal but I'm afraid it will just make me an alcoholic in an attempt to drink through all my beer.
 
I put 5 gals in the corny. Up to the top weld line.
I put fermcap to limit blowoff, and have a blowoff tube coming out of the gas out port (hose shoved over the bare threads)
After fermentation, I cold crash, and transfer to serving corny.
I lose maybe a pint or two at the most between trube/yeast/ect, and then another pint when I first tap the serving keg.
Even if I only end up with 4-4.5 gallons x2, it's more than 5 gallons :)
 
yeah it's gonna be very hard to avoid all the trub. This is one reason why I'm not a fan of small fermenters like corny's.

Perhaps 2 better bottles will fit in your fridge. They are a bit narrower then glass carboys. Or ferment in a 15 gallon sanke keg.
 
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