Force Transfer from carboys

[anthonybalmert]

Hey guys, I'm on a mission to move to all force transfers. The current setup I'm working on is a corny primary with blowoff, force transfer to corny secondary, then force transfer to another corny for conditioning, then counterpressure for filling bottles or more force transfers if I need a roadie 3 gallon keg.....

Seems like I'm sure gonna miss looking at my beautiful beer through glass! I'd bet using a counterpressure bottle filler to fill the the carboys could be done easily, but how about getting it back into a corny?

Seems like if i could manage to get a stopper to hold 5lbs of pressure it would be a done deal. Any thoughts on how to secure a seal on the carboy?

 

[Pangea]

I ferment in a carboy and force transfer from the carboy to a keg.

You can use a carboy cap, the kind with the 2 outets. I put a racking cane in the center one and put my gas line on the long skinny one. I use 2 psi CO2 to slowly push the beer up the racking cane and into the liquid side of a corny keg. Easy. 2 psi isnt enough to break the seal of the carboy cap. Here's a link to what I'm talking about.


http://www.northernbrewer.com/pics/fullsize/carboy-caps.jpg

 

[pjj2ba]

I ferment in a carboy and force transfer from the carboy to a keg.

You can use a carboy cap, the kind with the 2 outets. I put a racking cane in the center one and put my gas line on the long skinny one. I use 2 psi CO2 to slowly push the beer up the racking cane and into the liquid side of a corny keg. Easy. 2 psi isnt enough to break the seal of the carboy cap. Here's a link to what I'm talking about.

+1 This is what I do. You can always use a large hose clamp to hold the cap on, but then be extra careful with the pressures! In my secpond outlet on the cap I put a barbed quick disconnect for easy hook up for my C02 tank.

 

[anthonybalmert]

Thanks Pangea, So crimp a barbed swivel nut on there to hook the Co2 up, I see. So the carboy cap will hold more pressure than a stopper? Perhaps a hose clamp of some sort would promote a better seal with the carboy cap? I like it but 2 psi seems like it would make for a slow transfer, am I wrong here? Do you wish for something more robust or is this just right in your opinion?

 

[anthonybalmert]

Wow just did a little testing and a stopper holds more than enough pressure

 

[Pangea]

Thanks Pangea, So crimp a barbed swivel nut on there to hook the Co2 up, I see. So the carboy cap will hold more pressure than a stopper? Perhaps a hose clamp of some sort would promote a better seal with the carboy cap? I like it but 2 psi seems like it would make for a slow transfer, am I wrong here? Do you wish for something more robust or is this just right in your opinion?

2 psi is a slow transfer, it takes about 5 minutes to transfer the entire 5+ gallons. I dont mind it because I know the yeast cake is going to stay put. I just drink a reeb while waiting.

I dont use a hose clamp or anything to hold the carboy cap on. It works fine as-is if the pressure isn't too high. I'm sure there is a better way, but the method I use is easy and cheap using supplies I already have on hand (and most people will have).

Also, I've found that better bottles (6 gallon) have a tighter fit with carboy caps than the glass 6.5 gallon carboys. The mouth of a better bottle is wider. It can hold more pressure without leaking.