Closed-system pressurized fermentation technique!

[jonofthedead]

So checked my hydro again on my APA tonight and it appears to still be at 1.02. Since my last post I capped the fermenter and my pressure is up to about 17psi and holding.

I find it odd that my gravity reading hasn't changed at all in the day and now my pressure is holding but I am not at my final gravity (1.015)

How long should I wait on getting to my estimated (Brewers friend) FG until I chalk it up to "bad efficiency in my partial mash process" and the last .005 won't ferment?

Also should I push the psi up to get to my carb before or after cold crash?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[1MadScientist]

So checked my hydro again on my APA tonight and it appears to still be at 1.02. Since my last post I capped the fermenter and my pressure is up to about 17psi and holding.

I find it odd that my gravity reading hasn't changed at all in the day and now my pressure is holding but I am not at my final gravity (1.015)

How long should I wait on getting to my estimated (Brewers friend) FG until I chalk it up to "bad efficiency in my partial mash process" and the last .005 won't ferment?

Also should I push the psi up to get to my carb before or after cold crash?

Thanks again for the help.

From what I can tell you are only at day #4, is that right?

These days, I find myself using a fermentation schedule very similar to lamarguy.

Using this technique, my ales (< 1.070) are on a 14 day schedule but I can see a lager (< 1.060) requiring an additional 1 - 2 weeks of lagering (~45F (45 °F = 7.2 °C)) time before its flavor is "ideal". Notice that I halved the recommended lagering time based on the assumption the pressured fermented beer has a lower overall ester profile.
Realistically, 21 - 28 days for a lager but still much shorter than 2 months.

I find myself fermenting and conditioning ales for 2 - 3 weeks with a generic pressure schedule:
Day 1 - 1 PSI (1 psi = 6.89 KPa)
Day 2 - 2 PSI (2 psi = 13.8 KPa)
Day 3 - 6 PSI (6 psi = 41.4 KPa)
Day 4 - 9 PSI (9 psi = 62.1 KPa)
Day 5+ - 12 PSI (12 psi = 82.7 KPa)
The low pressure (1 - 2 PSI (2 psi = 13.8 KPa)) for the first 48 hours is to allow for normal yeast growth. After that, crank it up.

The one beer that is fixing to come out is a Dead Guy, came in low at a 1.059 OG. This schedule WAS;

Day 1 - 0 psi @ 65F
Day 2 - +28 hours 1 psi
Day 2 - +32 hours 4 psi
Day 6 - 6 psi
Day 9 - start d-rest @ house temperature
turned knob 2 turns, 72F @ 10.5 psi
Day 10 - turned knob 1 turn, 74F @ 12.5 psi
Day 10 - turned knob 1 1/2 more turns
Day 16 - 75F @ 16 psi
Day 16 - crash chill started
dropped to 55F @ 15 psi
dropped to 45F @ 13.5 psi
dropped to 33F @ 7 psi
Day 24 - past due to pressure transfer to serving keg (today 10-01-2015)


In summary, I take about 9 days at a controlled temp, then 7 days at a d-rest temp, then 7 days at 33F temp.


jonofthedead - I recommend some schedule like this for your 1.060 IPA.

MS

 

[1MadScientist]

so just wanted to say a big thank you to mad scientist and wortmonger and everyone else on this thread! ..........

..........

The other difference is my finish cold crash, i think others have gotten away with only doing a few days (i have seen some talking about grain to glass in 14 days so only a day or so of cold crash). What is everyone's experience here?

If i get within 80% completion of primary by day 8 how long should leave the fermenter "capped" before cold crash? Should i wait until around 90% done before cold crash?

And then once i am cold crashing how long before counter pressure transfer to the serving keg? Is 1-2 days enough to allow for clearing or should i go longer?

Once again thanks and will keep everyone posted!

As with all my brews (and the one referenced on page 181 and 187), I make sure I'm at final gravity before starting a crash chill.

As WortMonger states, "the pressure will drop naturally with a temperature drop, so just crash chill and let the pressure settle itself". By 48 hours your finished beer will be at a stable temp and the new lower pressure.

On post #1 here, I have summarized what I feel like are the highlights of THIS THREAD; http://biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=1933&start=0

MS

Cheers !

 

[jonofthedead]

From what I can tell you are only at day #4, is that right?

Yeah I was on day 5 when I wrote this. Sorry looks like I need to RDWHAHB as its day 7 and I hit my FG today. Gonna give it another day or two to be sure.

Quick question, since I didn't follow the last schedule posted (I'm a total newb) I am currently at 22PSI. Do you guys think I should slowly get it down to 15PSI BEFORE crashing to prevent over carbing or should I be ok and lowering the temp should work the pressure out?

 

[1MadScientist]

At what temperature?, even at a room temperature at 22 psi, you should be fine. Just, when you are ready, crash chill it first, then see what psi it settles at.

 

[crane]

Yeah I was on day 5 when I wrote this. Sorry looks like I need to RDWHAHB as its day 7 and I hit my FG today. Gonna give it another day or two to be sure.

Quick question, since I didn't follow the last schedule posted (I'm a total newb) I am currently at 22PSI. Do you guys think I should slowly get it down to 15PSI BEFORE crashing to prevent over carbing or should I be ok and lowering the temp should work the pressure out?

No if you are at 70F then 22psi will be 2.1 volumes of CO2. This is slightly on the low side for normal carb levels.

If you drop it down to 15psi then you will need to bump up the carb level with your CO2 tank.

Either way if I do over-carb during fermentation I wait until a couple of days into cold crashing before I lower the pressure. By the end of the week of cold crashing I will be at the level I want to be.

 

[thekraken]

So the wiki article linked in the original post seems to be gone. I think I've gleaned most of the details from the thread but I just couldn't read all 2,200 posts! So I have a few questions and I apologize of these have already been discussed over and over:

1) Anyone have a link to a working wiki article or the most current methods?

2) When following a schedule, like in post #2201 just above, how do you set those pressures? It was my understanding that you initially overpressure then carefully dial back the relief valve to come *down* to the pressure you want..?

3) If we are going to carb at ferm temps we'd need >=30psi, shouldn't we get a higher capacity relief valve? like the mcmaster 0.5-60psi? Or are we most always going to just be partial carbonation using this process?

4) In the end if we push the finished beer to another serving keg, and possibly carbonating a bit more, are we still saving bottled co2 vs fully force carbing and serving from the same vessel?

 

[crane]

So the wiki article linked in the original post seems to be gone. I think I've gleaned most of the details from the thread but I just couldn't read all 2,200 posts! So I have a few questions and I apologize of these have already been discussed over and over:

1) Anyone have a link to a working wiki article or the most current methods?

2) When following a schedule, like in post #2201 just above, how do you set those pressures? It was my understanding that you initially overpressure then carefully dial back the relief valve to come *down* to the pressure you want..?

3) If we are going to carb at ferm temps we'd need >=30psi, shouldn't we get a higher capacity relief valve? like the mcmaster 0.5-60psi? Or are we most always going to just be partial carbonation using this process?

4) In the end if we push the finished beer to another serving keg, and possibly carbonating a bit more, are we still saving bottled co2 vs fully force carbing and serving from the same vessel?

2) I start with my relief valve all the way off and give it a few turns. After 6-8 hours of pitching yeast I see where it is at and dial it up to get where I want. I use the black plastic PRV from McMaster so it is about a few psi per turn of the dial.

3) yes I don't use the 0-15psi valve that you are referring to, so I am able to dial it all the way up to 30 to fully carb. I think some people with the 0-15psi PRV will disconnect the valve at the end, but that can be a little dangerous is you do this too soon and get way past 30psi.

4) I generally shoot for a little over 30psi so after cold crashing and transferring I'm at my serving pressure. Even if you have to gain a few psi from your tank you will still be saving a most of the CO2 that would be needed to fully force carb from a bottle.

 

[thekraken]

2) I start with my relief valve all the way off and give it a few turns. After 6-8 hours of pitching yeast I see where it is at and dial it up to get where I want. I use the black plastic PRV from McMaster so it is about a few psi per turn of the dial.

Okay, sounds good. Sounds like it takes a little tweaking but nothing to worry about.

3) yes I don't use the 0-15psi valve that you are referring to, so I am able to dial it all the way up to 30 to fully carb. I think some people with the 0-15psi PRV will disconnect the valve at the end, but that can be a little dangerous is you do this too soon and get way past 30psi.

I was actually referring to the 30psi valve. My thought *was* that if our max setting for the gauge was 30psi then how do we know we are really at the correct psi. I see the error in my ways now: the valve maxes out at ... you guessed it ... 30psi. I guess my mistake here stems from my general aversion to using equipment at its limits. I got antsy and already ordered the McMaster 30psi version so I guess that's what I'll be using anyway.

4) I generally shoot for a little over 30psi so after cold crashing and transferring I'm at my serving pressure. Even if you have to gain a few psi from your tank you will still be saving a most of the CO2 that would be needed to fully force carb from a bottle.

To elaborate on what I was asking which is greater:

• gas consumed to push to the serving keg under pressure
• gas consumed to force carbonate

I'm wondering what the actual trade off is here. Has anybody weighed their co2 tanks to actually see how much gas is used to serve a keg, transfer between kegs under pressure, and how much is used to force carb one?

 

[WortMonger]

I took a lot of time making that wiki article, wish they would get it working. I have tried numerous times and it's been down for years now.

 

[thekraken]

I took a lot of time making that wiki article, wish they would get it working. I have tried numerous times and it's been down for years now.

I dug this up, maybe you could use it to restore the wiki:

https://web.archive.org/web/2013052...ex.php/Closed-system_pressurized_fermentation

 

[thekraken]

I tried searching this thread but either it's never been discussed or the search function just isn't working.

How you all dry hop? I can't think of how you would do it without oxygen exposure. Would you just add the dry hops before fermentation is complete so the added oxygen can hopefully be scrubbed out?

 

[clarkpadgett]

I tried searching this thread but either it's never been discussed or the search function just isn't working.

How you all dry hop? I can't think of how you would do it without oxygen exposure. Would you just add the dry hops before fermentation is complete so the added oxygen can hopefully be scrubbed out?

I have one of those sabco fermenters with the 4" triclamp fitting on top. What I do is attach a 4" butterfly valve to the fermenter, A 6" long triclamp spool to the valve, then the cap with a ball lock valve on top of that. When I'm ready to dry hop, I close the butterfly valve, release the pressure above the valve and take the cap off. Hop pellets go in and the cap goes back on. The space above the valve is purged with co2 then pressurized back to the orignal pressure of the fermenter. Open the butterfly valve and the hop pellets fall into the beer and you're done. You should also be able to do this with a Brewhemoth.

 

[crane]

I tried searching this thread but either it's never been discussed or the search function just isn't working.

How you all dry hop? I can't think of how you would do it without oxygen exposure. Would you just add the dry hops before fermentation is complete so the added oxygen can hopefully be scrubbed out?

I bought some of those small Stainless steel screens that fits over the end of a corny liquid dip tube. After fermentation is done I add the hops to a second keg with the screen on it. Close it up and purge out the oxygen with CO2. Then I transfer from fermenting keg to dry hopping keg.

 

[acidrain]

I put the hops (in a stainless hop basket) in my serving keg, purge it with co2, then transfer under pressure to the serving keg.
I usually dry hop warm for 4 days, then chill & serve. Even if the keg lasts for weeks, I've never had an over-hopped, grassy beer. I think once you chill, the dry-hopping is slowed enough that it doesn't matter that the beer sits on the hops.

 

[traviswalken]

I just build a spunding valve to use on my 10 gal corny. I got a little over zealous transferring to the fermenter and have very little head space. I probably have a little over 9 gallons wort. I pitched the yeast (1028 London Ale) about 24 hours ago and it is actively fermenting.

I am worried about ruining my brand new spunding valve with blow off, so I added some fermcap s. I also don't have the valve attached. Instead, I am just using a blowoff.

When do you think it would be safe to attach the spunding valve? Maybe wait until fermentation starts to slow?

Thanks.

 

[Firewalker11]

I just build a spunding valve to use on my 10 gal corny. I got a little over zealous transferring to the fermenter and have very little head space. I probably have a little over 9 gallons wort. I pitched the yeast (1028 London Ale) about 24 hours ago and it is actively fermenting.

I am worried about ruining my brand new spunding valve with blow off, so I added some fermcap s. I also don't have the valve attached. Instead, I am just using a blowoff.

When do you think it would be safe to attach the spunding valve? Maybe wait until fermentation starts to slow?

Thanks.

Nah, I blew krausen out of all three of my spunding valves with no long term harm. Just take the pressure relief valve off, rinse it in hot water and dry it well. Wet pressure gauges and quick disconnects are rinsable as well.

I wait until I get past the rhino farts stage with the blow off tube to attach the spunding valve.

 

[Firewalker11]

I tried searching this thread but either it's never been discussed or the search function just isn't working.

How you all dry hop? I can't think of how you would do it without oxygen exposure. Would you just add the dry hops before fermentation is complete so the added oxygen can hopefully be scrubbed out?

I dry hop in a filter housing while I am filtering the beer under pressure from keg to keg. I dont like a lot of flavor from dry hops so this works well for me.

 

[crane]

I just build a spunding valve to use on my 10 gal corny. I got a little over zealous transferring to the fermenter and have very little head space. I probably have a little over 9 gallons wort. I pitched the yeast (1028 London Ale) about 24 hours ago and it is actively fermenting.

I am worried about ruining my brand new spunding valve with blow off, so I added some fermcap s. I also don't have the valve attached. Instead, I am just using a blowoff.

When do you think it would be safe to attach the spunding valve? Maybe wait until fermentation starts to slow?

Thanks.

What kind of valve are you using? If it's one of the brass ones then you can take it apart and clean in if it gets blow off in it.

If it's the black plastic one from McMaster then I would try to prevent anything from getting in there. I am on my second one of these valves as I forgot to add fermcap once and a bunch of blow off got in there. I tried running water through it to clean it out but I couldn't get it to hold any pressure above 10psi after that.

I would wait until you don't have any more gunk coming out of the blowoff before switching to the spunding valve.

With fermcap I don't have to use a blowoff tube at all. I start with the spunding valve on.

 

[traviswalken]

What kind of valve are you using? If it's one of the brass ones then you can take it apart and clean in if it gets blow off in it.

If it's the black plastic one from McMaster then I would try to prevent anything from getting in there. I am on my second one of these valves as I forgot to add fermcap once and a bunch of blow off got in there. I tried running water through it to clean it out but I couldn't get it to hold any pressure above 10psi after that.

I would wait until you don't have any more gunk coming out of the blowoff before switching to the spunding valve.

With fermcap I don't have to use a blowoff tube at all. I start with the spunding valve on.

Thanks. I reviewed some forum posts and was reminded of a good solution. I connected a sanitized keg between the fermenter and the spunding valve. The emplty keg will pick up blow off gunk. If it gets little or no gunk, I will use the purged keg as a serving keg for this batch.

I didn't buy the McMaster or a brass fitting. It's another option some have used from amazon. I don't know if it can be disassembled.

 

[Firewalker11]

This is what i am using and have built for others.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GDY3CU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[acidrain]

This is what i am using and have built for others.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GDY3CU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

How do you get those apart?

 

[Firewalker11]

No need to take it apart, a soak in starsan or white vinegar will dissolve anything inside it and clean it up. These CAN be taken apart though, there is a Philips screw in the cap, remove it and unscrew the body, you will find a BB and a spring... Yes, they are just that simple.

The PSI markings are a joke, I like to take the tape off before sending them off, after all, there is a 0-60 PSI gauge on the T so an accurate pressure is always available.

 

[macok]

Hi!
When using Corny as primary fermenter after closed system fermentation/carbonation is done
1, most people transfers the beer under pressure into separate clean serving keg?
or
2, simple put the corny into kegerator, and serve from the same keg?
Which is the best method?
Second seems much simpler (pros:no serving keg cleaning, sanitizing, transferring), but what are the cons?
One batch is on tap now with method#2 and so far so good, but what do you think about disadvantages?

 

[macok]

Hi!
When using Corny as primary fermenter after closed system fermentation/carbonation is done
1, most people transfers the beer under pressure into separate clean serving keg?
or
2, simple put the corny into kegerator, and serve from the same keg?
Which is the best method?
Second seems much simpler (pros:no serving keg cleaning, sanitizing, transferring), but what are the cons?
One batch is on tap now with method#2 and so far so good, but what do you think about disadvantages?

 

[Firewalker11]

Hi!
When using Corny as primary fermenter after closed system fermentation/carbonation is done
1, most people transfers the beer under pressure into separate clean serving keg?
or
2, simple put the corny into kegerator, and serve from the same keg?
Which is the best method?
Second seems much simpler (pros:no serving keg cleaning, sanitizing, transferring), but what are the cons?
One batch is on tap now with method#2 and so far so good, but what do you think about disadvantages?

Hmmmm, the primary is the primary, some serve off the primary but with all that trub in the bottom, I want to get it off the yeast cake and get into a serving keg. I also filter so that I dont get any solids off in my pours.

 

[KEG99]

. . . some serve off the primary but with all that trub in the bottom, . . . I also filter so that I don't get any solids off in my pours.

I'm in the middle of filtering from my primary into my serving keg. But my filter gets totally clogged from the trub. I first pumped some of the trub into sludge bucket to get it partly clear, but there is still a lot of trub coming through. Enough to clog a 5 micron filter.

How do you all get the beer off the trub so that it can be filtered without clogging the filter?

 

[Firewalker11]

I'm in the middle of filtering from my primary into my serving keg. But my filter gets totally clogged from the trub. I first pumped some of the trub into sludge bucket to get it partly clear, but there is still a lot of trub coming through. Enough to clog a 5 micron filter.

How do you all get the beer off the trub so that it can be filtered without clogging the filter?

I cheat! I cut off 2" of the draw tube off the fermentation keg and fill it up to within 1" of the "IN" post, put a quick disconnect on and run a hose to a second keg with another quick disconnect to the **"OUT" post to capture any krausen and put a spunding valve on the "IN" post to regulate pressure. The guts of the posts and quick disconnects are removed to allow the krausen to move freely and not clog the small passages in the quick disconnects or posts.

I simply leave the two kegs hooked up and transfer out of the "OUT" post (see the picnic tap?) using the pressure from the catch keg to push the beer through the filter AFTER cold crashing.

This dedicated system allows me to do the whole thing from the moment the wort is cooled to the last pour without ever being exposed to the air.

"How about adjuncts or dry hopping?" Great questions! I simply use a 2L bottle, cleaned and purged, squeezed pretty flat, filled with wort from the keg and the adjunct or hops, leach out all the goodness and push it back through the "OUT" post on the beer keg. using a simple slip on SST filter to screen out any junk in the 2L bottle.

The point is: All the trub drops to the bottom, it never gets to the filter.



**Out post on the catch keg is a short "IN" post tube so that the krausen cannot even be drawn out of the catch keg. This keg only serves this purpose, it is not used to hold beer.

 

[b3b]

I pitched my yeast 24 hours ago and my pressure is only at 4psi. My spunding is set around 7psi and nothing is coming out. Shouldn't I have more pressure than that building up? This is my first attempt at brewing. Any ideas?

Temperature in my fermentation chamber is 65. This is an ale with dry yeast that I rehydrated before pitching. 11.5g safale us-05 in 5 gallon corny. I have a water filter hooked up to the gas out post for an overflow.

Also, what's everyone's procedure for sanitizing the corny?

 

[Firewalker11]

I pitched my yeast 24 hours ago and my pressure is only at 4psi. My spunding is set around 7psi and nothing is coming out. Shouldn't I have more pressure than that building up? This is my first attempt at brewing. Any ideas?

Temperature in my fermentation chamber is 65. This is an ale with dry yeast that I rehydrated before pitching. 11.5g safale us-05 in 5 gallon corny. I have a water filter hooked up to the gas out post for an overflow.

Also, what's everyone's procedure for sanitizing the corny?

My procedure for sanitizing the corny is to use StarSan, shake it up and pour out the liquid, leave the foam.

It can take a while to build up pressure, go have a homebrew, it will build up if there is ample viable yeast. I had one batch (S-05) that took 48 hours to show signs of life, don't know why but it finished 1.004, a little lower than the 1.008 I was hoping for.

 

[swiggingpig]

I originally posted this on a couple of UK forums last year but in hindsight I should have also posted it here, where I got most of my inspiration from. A little late but here is my experiance and technique.

My journey into fermenting under pressure all started after watching the brewing videos and reading the instruction manuals for the WilliamsWarn http://www.williamswarn.com/The-WilliamsWarn. What I particularly liked was that after pitching the yeast the beer never comes into contact with O2 until it lands into your glass to be drunk AND that the beer is carbonated and ready to keg/drink as soon as it’s finished fermenting.

I wanted a WilliamsWarn but the cost was too great, I think the price of the unit itself is OK but the shipping, duty and VAT was a killer.

So in true homebrewers tradition I set about trying to replicate as many of the benefits I like of the WilliamsWarn with equipment I could source in the UK and this thread which I can across whilst Googling for info.

After much deliberation and experimentation this is my current setup and process so I thought I would share this with you. I welcome all of your comments, questions, suggestions and criticisms.

I brew with a 20L Braumeister and have done for a few years now, quite simply the best investment I've ever made for my hobby. I’ve put up a brew day previously so I won’t go through that other than to show my way of avoiding dough balls.

I crush my grains directly into the Braumeister, except wheat which I crush twice, first into a bucket and then into the BM with the rest of the grains. I find that this cuts down on the dust produced and seems to eliminate dough balls.

I use 20L Sankey kegs so I brew to have 21L into the fermenter as I have about 1L dead space in my fermenter. After the boil has completed I run the wort through a counter flow chiller and a wine aerator into a 30L Sankey keg.

In order to prevent yeast from being transferred from the fermentation keg to the serving keg I place this over the end of the spear.

Like so

Once the 30L fermenting keg is filled the spear is inserted and the keg is transferred to my fermentation fridge. I have a small computer fan running to circulate the air which seems to help temperature stability. A keg coupler, with the one way valves removed, attached with a party tap on the beer out so that samples can be taken and the gas in is now a gas out. A line is attached to the gas out and fed through the side of the fermentation fridge.

The 20L serving keg also has a coupler on it with the one way valves removed, the beer out is now a gas in and the gas in is now a gas out. The gas out line from the fermenting keg is connected to the beer side of the serving keg and a pressure relief valve is connected to the gas side of the serving keg. This allows the serving keg to be purged of O2 by the CO2 produced during fermentation.

I use a STC-1000 which has had the firmware updated to STC-1000+ https://github.com/matsstaff/stc1000p , this allows me to set fermentation schedules which is very handy as I work away a reasonable amount.
I generally set the PRV to about 2 or 3 PSI for the start of the fermentation

After a few days I reset the PRV to about 12 PSI

I use the party tap to take samples to check gravity etc.

As you can imagine this method is not suited for dry hopping, to get around this I use the ‘hop tea’ method. I steep the hops, up to 50g, in a stainless steel insulated coffee press at 65C for 20 mins.

I then add this to a 10 inch water filter, the hops going into a container designed for resin refills

This way I can get every last drop of hop tea and as a plus is acts as a bit of a filter.

If I think the final sample is a bit hazy and I want to fine the beer I add the isinglass to the 10 inch water filter with the same insert but not necessarily the hops, depends on the recipe.
Both the fermenting keg and the serving keg are pressurised to about 8 PSI once the fermentation keg has been chilled to 3C for a couple of days I use some of this pressure to purge the water filter if I’m using it and then start a siphon going between the 2 kegs. This image shows its normal operation which is a straight forward transfer without hops or isinglass.

The water filter in this image is always in the transfer circuit, it protects the PRV from overflow and foam.
When I start to transfer I connect the fermentation keg beer connector to the serving keg beer connector, the serving keg gas connector to the water filter trap , this is tee'd off to a valve, another tee to allow extra CO2 to be introduced and then onto the gas connector of the fermentation keg.

I start the siphon by reducing the pressure in the serving keg with the valve closed and the PRV opened, once the beer is flowing I turn up the PRV and open the valve so the CO2 displaced by the beer in the serving keg can go into the fermentation keg to replace the beer. This works well enough for about ¾ of the beer volume and then the siphon stops, I’m not at all sure why, unless it’s because there is a background pressure of 6 to 8 PSI in the circuit ???

To get the balance of the beer from the fermentation keg to the serving keg I close the valve in the gas circuit, apply CO2 at around 6 PSI and the open the PRV to approx 4 to 5 PSI which pushes the remaining beer out of the fermentation keg into the serving keg, any overflow goes into the water filter.

Once the transfer is complete the couplings are removed from both kegs. The top of the spear on the serving keg is cleaned and sprayed with starsan before I either hook it up, already carb’d, to a beer line or a cleaned and starsan’d dust cover is fitted for storage.
When I tip out the last of the liquid in the fermentation keg it shows that this system has a dead space of just over 1.2L

If I allow it to settle is shows that the beer loss is quite acceptable

Once I’ve emptied the dregs from the fermentation keg I then use my CIP spray ball and a garden pump to clean it out.

My keg washer consists of a storage container

A sprayball from AliExpress http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1-SS304-Threaded-Rotary-Spray-Ball-Stainless-Steel/32344674056.html

A 1" to 1/2" reducing bush and 12" PP Threaded Riser in 1/2" bsp from eBay.

A 3000l/h pond pump from eBay

Assembled, ready for use.

I used to use sodium percarbonate but found that it foams too much so I’m now using dishwasher powder.

I've been using this process for over a year now, done 25 brews so far and I've been getting very good results out of it with many different styles of beer such as saison, weissbier, bitter, APA, porter, IPA, brown ale, mild, pilsner and Belgium blond ale. Future brews will include styles such as Belgium Wit, Dry Irish Stout and an American Rye.

Any questions, please ask.

 

[b3b]

Thanks for the info Firewalker11. Yesterday my guage made it up to 7psi and was letting out a decent hiss of co2. This morning pressure had dropped down to 4psi and was barely hissing. From reading over info I expected more pressure. I hope everything is fermenting ok. I expected more pressure from reading everyone's posts.

I also tried to take a sample to test gravity but either my tube is clogged or I don't have enough pressure to pull a sample. What level psi do you need on a corny to get a sample out?

 

[Firewalker11]

If it dropped down to 4 psi, you need to turn out that knob little bit so it doesn't drop any lower than 7. The pressure will never go lower than what that knob is turned to.

 

[StopTakingMyUsername]

Quick question (and apologies if this has already been discussed)

We're using the Stout Tanks conicals, which say they're only rated to 4 PSI.

I really like the idea of fermenting under pressure to help reduce ester/fusel production and get a head start on carbonating.

Is it pointless to build a spunding valve if our vessels can only handle 4 PSI?

 

[Tegra]

Is it pointless to build a spunding valve if our vessels can only handle 4 PSI?

In my opinion this is a deal breaker. You do need to get at least 15 psi and preferably 22 psi to get full benefit. Even when crashing to about freezing you still need 8 psi to carbonate.

However, I have just found that 55 gal plastic drums can handle that pressure. They do bulge on the top and bottom but are rated at 23 pounds (1.5 atm)

I am using one to store co2 (on the memory of Oldfart from another board) and it is a cheap container ($15).

If I ever I need bigger ferments than my present sanke kegs that is the way to go.

Tom

 

[GORILLA]

+1. After fermentation begins the refractometer never agrees with the hydrometer reading. It's close but not reliable. I built an air lock from a water filter housing and cutoff part of a sanke dip tube. Being able to watch the bubbling allows me to gauge where the fermentation is at so I usually only take one sample before cold crashing to make sure I'm at or below the final gravity I'm expecting.

Am I understanding this correctly? And thank you for the post!

 

[crane]

Am I understanding this correctly? And thank you for the post!

Yes that is how it's hooked up.

 

[bierdeblanche]

Is there a benefit in doing this technique for estery ales? Seems counterproductive to me!

Almost seems mandatory for improving lagers.

 

[Jif]

Bear with me, I'm still parsing through this epic thread.

I've been focusing lately on heavily dry-hopped Northeast Style IPAs. My last batch had around 5 ounces of hops per five gallon batch.

I just got ahold of a sanke keg, as I brew ten gallon batches and would like to streamline this process a bit.

When dealing with this volume of dry hops, most of the folks find the most success creating a dry hop vessel like this one:

http://www.bear-flavored.com/2014/09/how-i-dry-hop-my-ipas-with-no-oxygen.html

I'm looking at getting a ten gallon Cornelius, setting up this dry hopping "bright tank" in there, before I transfer clear beer to five gallon kegs.

My thought was that I could primary for 4-5 days in the sanke, pressure transfer to the ten gallon corny, outfitted with the screen system outlined above, and attach a spunding valve and pressure ferment for the remainder of fermentation. I figure there should be enough yeast activity to create pressure and carbonate the beer, and the more fresh I get this beer into serving kegs, the better.

Am I crazy, or am I on to something?

 

[crane]

Bear with me, I'm still parsing through this epic thread.

I've been focusing lately on heavily dry-hopped Northeast Style IPAs. My last batch had around 5 ounces of hops per five gallon batch.

I just got ahold of a sanke keg, as I brew ten gallon batches and would like to streamline this process a bit.

When dealing with this volume of dry hops, most of the folks find the most success creating a dry hop vessel like this one:

http://www.bear-flavored.com/2014/09/how-i-dry-hop-my-ipas-with-no-oxygen.html

I'm looking at getting a ten gallon Cornelius, setting up this dry hopping "bright tank" in there, before I transfer clear beer to five gallon kegs.

My thought was that I could primary for 4-5 days in the sanke, pressure transfer to the ten gallon corny, outfitted with the screen system outlined above, and attach a spunding valve and pressure ferment for the remainder of fermentation. I figure there should be enough yeast activity to create pressure and carbonate the beer, and the more fresh I get this beer into serving kegs, the better.

Am I crazy, or am I on to something?

You are on the same track that I use for dry hopping, however I have been successful with just using the smaller coarser screen that fits directly on the dip tube without cutting the dip tube. I have used up to 3oz of pellet hops per 5 Gallon corny keg but have not had any clogging issues.

I will let it ferment out completely for 7 days as I don't have time during the week with work to transfer sooner. I add the hops to my dry hopping keg and purge it with CO2, then transfer the beer in. No need to try and time it so there is still fermentation activity after you transfer.