Best Small Pressurizable Fermenter?

[yowzers]

Another vote for corny kegs. I just added the floating dip tube to mine and I’m serving my latest ipa from the fermenter. So easy. I also use a blow off on the gas out for the first three or four days and replace with the gas post once the Krausen drops a tad. Spunding valve after that and I was drinking this one in about 10 days.

 

[whovous]

Another vote for corny kegs. I just added the floating dip tube to mine and I’m serving my latest ipa from the fermenter. So easy. I also use a blow off on the gas out for the first three or four days and replace with the gas post once the Krausen drops a tad. Spunding valve after that and I was drinking this one in about 10 days.

I am having a hard time visualizing a blow-off on the gas out. Can someone walk me through this? Please use small words or big pictures.

 

[BeerFst]

I am having a hard time visualizing a blow-off on the gas out. Can someone walk me through this? Please use small words or big pictures.

Not the best photos but I just run a length of tube off a gas qc to a growler of star San

 

[Robert65]

This goes into a jar of Star San. Note: this works for me because it is not actually a "blow off." I know the kräusen level will never reach high enough for material to actually be blown off. So this is really an airlock. If there is any chance kräusen will rise high enough to come out, there is a distinct danger that the poppet will clog and pressure will build uncontrolled. Kn that case another arrangement would be needed.

 

[marc1]

I appreciate the response. For the price it seems like a hard deal to beat if it functions so well. The only downside seems to be moving them around full will be heavy.

For sure it's heavy when full, but any fermenter with 12 gallons of wort in it will be. This is a very durable container. It also rolls because it's circular. Going from the garage on brewday to the fermentation fridge in the basement isn't fun, but it's easier than any other container that i can think of.
I'm setting up for electric in the basement now, so things will be much easier soon.

 

[daveerickson]

For sure it's heavy when full, but any fermenter with 12 gallons of wort in it will be. This is a very durable container. It also rolls because it's circular. Going from the garage on brewday to the fermentation fridge in the basement isn't fun, but it's easier than any other container that i can think of.
I'm setting up for electric in the basement now, so things will be much easier soon.

I'm not sure if you have more than one, but I've ready they are stackable as well due to the lid being recessed. I'm considering a pair of these, and a fridge that fits around two stacked. Seems like an extremely economical way to ferment 2 x 10 gallon batches.

 

[moreb33rplz]

Another vote for corny kegs. I just added the floating dip tube to mine and I’m serving my latest ipa from the fermenter. So easy. I also use a blow off on the gas out for the first three or four days and replace with the gas post once the Krausen drops a tad. Spunding valve after that and I was drinking this one in about 10 days.

Do you dry hop in the same vessel as fermentation and serving? How many gallons do you put in the keg?

 

[yowzers]

Do you dry hop in the same vessel as fermentation and serving? How many gallons do you put in the keg?

Yes I dry hop it using a hop screen ball type thing. I hang a couple ounces in the liquid just a couple inches in using dental floss. It will be out of the liquid after I drink a few pints so it does not give off grassy notes sitting in the liquid for weeks. I usually fill it to 4.5 gallons and use some fermacap. That and the blow off tube for a few days allows me to make almost a full keg.

 

[moreb33rplz]

Yes I dry hop it using a hop screen ball type thing. I hang a couple ounces in the liquid just a couple inches in using dental floss. It will be out of the liquid after I drink a few pints so it does not give off grassy notes sitting in the liquid for weeks. I usually fill it to 4.5 gallons and use some fermacap. That and the blow off tube for a few days allows me to make almost a full keg.

Smart! I'm going to try that

 

[Robert65]

Thought I'd post here my next adaptation on the 10 gallon corny. I have an old carbonation lid I don't use because I spund. I'm putting a liquid post on that and it will now take the Clear Beer floating dip tube. On the regular liquid post will now be a standard spear all the way to the bottom. So the floating system will act as a "racking arm" to draw clear beer, and the spear will serve as a "dump valve" for harvesting slurry. Full functionality of a conical once this is done, rated to 130 psi, still into it for barely $400 even if I had to pay for the spare lid.

I am happy to report that this plan works! Just harvested the first slurry. I just put the CBDS on the barb on the lid without modifying the length of the tube. Because it is coming off the lid instead of a bit lower off the regular out post, it left just over a liter of clear beer and yeast cake behind when it started pulling gas. Sloshed that around, and used a picnic tap to collect it, through the full length spear, in a flask. I'm a happy brewer.

 

[lablover]

Another vote for corny kegs. I just added the floating dip tube to mine and I’m serving my latest ipa from the fermenter. So easy. I also use a blow off on the gas out for the first three or four days and replace with the gas post once the Krausen drops a tad. Spunding valve after that and I was drinking this one in about 10 days.

Where did you get the floating dip tube? The Clear Beer units are pretty pricey and the Williams brewing ones have been sold out for a while.

 

[Gravitysucks]

15 psi is entirely inadequate. If you're going to spund at ale temperatures, or pressure ferment lagers or spund at diacetyl rest, you'll be running at around 30 psi, so you need a fermenter rated well above that. There are small conicals a available with that capability, but they start around $1600. A 10 gallon corny offers all the functionality of conical except for a dump valve. But with a floating dip tube, you can still aseptically transfer slurry after racking the beer instead of before. And in fact, doing any transfers, or even pulling samples, aseptically, is virtually impossible with a homebrew fermenter equipped with ball valves, so if you get such a unit, you'll then want to spend a lot more money upgrading it to sanitary butterfly valves. And then consider the effort required to disassemble, clean and sanitize everything between uses.

A corny really is the best solution for homebrewers. A 5 gallon is adequate for small batch brewers, and a 10 gallon for fermenting up to 7 gallons of wort (rule of thumb is that fermenter headspace should be at least 1/3 batch volume.) There are a lot of very expensive options sold to homebrewers, which are eye catching because they superficially resemble something you'd see in a real brewery, but which are simply not functional.

According to Chris White the research done by White Labs found that pressures over 15PSI tend to kill the yeast cells so a fermenter capable of holding 15PSI should be more than adequate.

 

[Robert65]

According to Chris White the research done by White Labs found that pressures over 15PSI tend to kill the yeast cells so a fermenter capable of holding 15PSI should be more than adequate.

Yes, primary fermentation should be held to 15 psig. But to spund to carbonate requires, at ale temperatures, allowing the pressure to reach nearer 30 psig towards the end of fermentation. You can't produce fully carbonated beer at ale temperatures in a fermenter limited to 15 psig. Even at normal, cold, lager fermentation temperatures, at least 20 psig will be required for spunding.

 

[yowzers]

Where did you get the floating dip tube? The Clear Beer units are pretty pricey and the Williams brewing ones have been sold out for a while.

I got mine here: https://www.ballandkeg.com/balls-up-floating-dip-tube.php

 

[aeviaanah]

This goes into a jar of Star San. Note: this works for me because it is not actually a "blow off." I know the kräusen level will never reach high enough for material to actually be blown off. So this is really an airlock. If there is any chance kräusen will rise high enough to come out, there is a distinct danger that the poppet will clog and pressure will build uncontrolled. Kn that case another arrangement would be needed. View attachment 647101

Edit

 

[Robert65]

Edit

Well, I need to put gas on to draw samples to track fermentation (know when to keg and spund, etc.,) so I do need it. Others may not.

 

[lablover]

I got mine here: https://www.ballandkeg.com/balls-up-floating-dip-tube.php

Thank you, just picked up 3 of them for my kegs. They look pretty solid and I did save some over the Williams Brewing option.