Best Small Pressurizable Fermenter?

[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

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[Robert65]

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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.