Brew Kettle as Fermenter

[bmiller8]

Haven't been able to find too much info on this. I'm thinking about buying a 8 gallon stainless steel pot and a rubber gasket to create a seal between pot and lid with some c clamps. Drill a hole on the top for an airlock and grommet. Figure it's easy to clean and has all other benefits of stainless.

I want to get away from glass carboys, want stainless (no weldless kits) and cant bring myself to buy a conical for the money.

So are there any huge drawbacks i'm missing? Anyone have experience using these?

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

I'll defer to someone that may know the answer, but any chance of a metallic taste leaking into the beer? That's the only think I can think of assiming a good seal and airlock.

 

[porterpounder]

Just like any fermenter, as long as it's easy to keep clean it's going to work. I have a buddy who's grown partial to just cooling after boiling and pitching his yeast into the kettle to ferment without even transferring to a fermenter. Turned out pretty well, but I could never do it. Yours sounds like a good plan.

 

[JohnSand]

I have used both stainless and enamel pots as fermenters. I didn't use an airlock or a gasket, just the lid. I did have some infected brews, largely because I opened them in a musty basement to check. I think WilserBrewer uses a pot with plastic wrap. I used them instead of MrBeer for small batches because they are easier to clean and more durable. I preferred the enamel pot which has no rivets. I liked that I can boil or bake them to sanitize, that two 12qt pots fit in a 52qt cooler for temp control. In spite of all of that, I'm back to using glass or plastic fermenters.
I don't think you need c-clamps, bungy cord should do.

 

[bmiller8]

Thanks all...I would absolutely move from brew kettle to a fermenter but have read that people just pitch into their brew kettle. Crazy

 

[wilserbrewer]

I ferment in my stainless kettle all the time...no fancy schmancy gasket and clamps. Place lid on kettle, seal with a plastic bag over the top of the kettle and wrap w/ tight string to seal. I like to keep the kettle ferment as short as possible, say 10 days so there is always C02 on top of the beer, and slight positive pressure in the kettle. I also don't advocate mucking around with the beer, once you open the fermenter....move the beer along to a keg.

JMO....but I think all these people using airlocks for an active primary fermentation are nuts. The beer is producing loads of CO2, and nasty bugs aren't pryng the kettle open and jumping inside...doesn't happen.

It does help if you are kegging, cause you can transfer out of the kettle primary quickly to a keg, then secondary for a week plus, and then serve out of the keg.

 

[Ski12568]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f258/diy-stainless-steel-fermenters-490055/

 

[processhead]

I ferment in my stainless kettle all the time...no fancy schmancy gasket and clamps. Place lid on kettle, seal with a plastic bag over the top of the kettle and wrap w/ tight string to seal. I like to keep the kettle ferment as short as possible, say 10 days so there is always C02 on top of the beer, and slight positive pressure in the kettle. I also don't advocate mucking around with the beer, once you open the fermenter....move the beer along to a keg.

JMO....but I think all these people using airlocks for an active primary fermentation are nuts. The beer is producing loads of CO2, and nasty bugs aren't pryng the kettle open and jumping inside...doesn't happen.

It does help if you are kegging, cause you can transfer out of the kettle primary quickly to a keg, then secondary for a week plus, and then serve out of the keg.

One minor point of contention on air lock usage.
I agree that during active fermentation, there will be positive pressure in the fermenter and an air lock may be unneeded.

However the point in time where the cooled wort is most vulnerable to infection is just prior and post pitching of the yeast.

During this time before CO2 production kicks in, changes in air pressure and temperature in the kettle and ambient air can result in airborne contaminates being drawn back in an unsealed fermenter.

For that reason alone, I would use a gasketed lid and air lock.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yes I agree with you processhead, there will be a small volume, a pint or so sucked into the kettle as it cools from 170 and I consider it insignificant. An air lock would also pass air as well, and would require a filter of sorts.

I don't brew in a sealed sterile environment, and aerate the wort thoroughly with ambient air prior to pitching, likely several hundred times the volume of air that gets sucked into the kettle. Nothing is sterile, everything is contaminated to some minor degree, but the billions of healthy yeast cells will dominate over the several contaminants.

I guess I just choose to relax, as in practice this method seems to work fine for me...ymmv cheers!