Doubling Down: SS Brewtech Conical + FTSS + Glycol Power Pack

[Morrey]

I hear you with the condensation issues while cold crashing. Here in central texas I have the same problem but just deal with it by sopping up with shop towels. On the covers back patio so I don’t care about the water issue as much.

On another note, please share your thoughts and pix once you get the Ss Spunding valve set up. In the thread I started on that piece someone chimed in that our PRV could be set by the end user which makes this Ss part more attractive in theory. But like anything I want to hear from one of us before pulling the trigger. Which version did you purchase?

I'll be glad to post back once the spunding valve comes in. I bought the one with the scaled indicator so I can set easily....but of course I'll test the scale along with the pressure gauge for accuracy. According to USPS tracking, I'll have it tomorrow so I can test it out next weekend with a brew.

I emailed Ss and asked the following question(s) regarding setup:

Me - Would I be able to purchase a 3" to 1.5" TC reducer and use the spunding valve in place of the 18 psi relief valve? Ss - We suggest leaving your 18 psi relief valve in place to protect your tank. You will need a micro Tee and a micro elbow to use the spunding valve on the BO cane.

With that said, I bought the manifold components instead of the reducer.

Me - Will the small amount sanitizer in the cup around the valve blow out at high krausen? Ss - We suggest you adjust the spunding valve with a high pressure setting until krausen has dropped while leaving your BO valve open. After high krausen had dropped, close your BO valve and set the spunding valve to your preference.

I have been experimenting with fermenting under pressure by just closing the BO valve, but then the PRV will blow at 18 psi unless I can get to the BO valve and relieve some of the pressure before that happens. I'm not sure at this point, but I figure I'll set the valve maybe 5 - 7 psi or around that area. I think that 18 psi is too high and may cause some issues with the yeast alto not sure. I'll probably go lower and see how that works out.

 

[czmkid]

Thanks! Especially for posting your questions and answers to Ss. So you too are thinking our prvs are adjustable? If so I might be interested on one as being able to carb naturally to a specific vol of co2 would be awesome!

For the first time ever(these last two batches) I closed the blowoff from the getgo and let the unitanks go to 18psi at 65 deg for 18 days. I used a go to Pliney clone and new to me RK IIpa clone. Both beers are amazing! No Ill effects that I can detect. Did it make the beer any better? Idk but it didn’t f it up. One less thing to worry about re starsans in a cup by the blowoff....

 

[Morrey]

Thanks! Especially for posting your questions and answers to Ss. So you too are thinking our prvs are adjustable? If so I might be interested on one as being able to carb naturally to a specific vol of co2 would be awesome!

For the first time ever(these last two batches) I closed the blowoff from the getgo and let the unitanks go to 18psi at 65 deg for 18 days. I used a go to Pliney clone and new to me RK IIpa clone. Both beers are amazing! No Ill effects that I can detect. Did it make the beer any better? Idk but it didn’t f it up. One less thing to worry about re starsans in a cup by the blowoff....

I don't think the PRV's that come standard with the Uni Tanks are easily adjustable...or could be considered adjustable. Rather, I think they are "fixed" in the pressure they relieve which is 18 psi. If you take it apart and start cutting off coils of the relief spring, I suppose this could be called adjustable, but this is very risky. Rather than tinker with disaster, I opted to go with a fully adjustable spunding valve as pictured:

As Ss says, I'll let the high krausen drop, close the BO valve and let the spunding valve relieve at a pressure I choose for several days.

I really think there is some merit to pressure fermenting and dry hopping. Maybe it helps keep some of the hop aroma in the beer or a variety of other low oxygen benefits just now being discovered.

 

[Morrey]

First report with the Ss Spunding Valve.

Gumball Head Clone with WLP320 yeast, OG 1.054, Temp 64F

Had BO valve open for the first 28 hours as the yeast took off reproducing. OG had gone from 1.054 down to 1.031 in this time so I'm predicting high krausen was peaking and should be starting to fall.

Closed the BO valve at 1.031 and set the Ss Spunding Valve to relieve at .5 BAR or roughly equal to 7.2 psi. Had the cap surrounding the valve filled 3/4 with star san. I watched my tank's pressure gauge slowly climb toward 7 psi and didn't do anything quite yet. It finally got close to 9 psi on the tank gauge and the valve relieved...big time. The force blew almost all of the star san from the cup leaving perhaps 2 tablespoons. I filled the cup again and steady streams of off gas bubbles were coming from the multiple ports around the valve body. Once the initial release of the valve opened, it is now slowly releasing gasses as designed. The tank pressure gauge seems stable at 8 psi so its real close to the setting I intended.

My next step will be to watch for 1.015 and do a dry hop under pressure and while active biotransformation is available. I designed a 3" end cap blank with an L bracket on the underside so I can attach a hop strainer hook with a chain. This blank end cap takes away the tanks PRV, so the Ss Spunding Valve becomes very critical at this stage so I wont exceed burst pressure. I want to dry hop under higher pressure so I'll retain most of the aromas released from the hops. I plan to set the spunding valve around 20 psi so I don't get critically close to the 30 psi burst pressure. 20 psi at 64F should also get me pretty close (2.05 carb vol) to my carb volume goal which can easily be fine tuned in keg after transfer.

Will any or all of this make a difference in the finished beer? Hard to say, but lets hope so! More to come....

 

[bruhaha]

First report with the Ss Spunding Valve.

Gumball Head Clone with WLP320 yeast, OG 1.054, Temp 64F

Had BO valve open for the first 28 hours as the yeast took off reproducing. OG had gone from 1.054 down to 1.031 in this time so I'm predicting high krausen was peaking and should be starting to fall.

Closed the BO valve at 1.031 and set the Ss Spunding Valve to relieve at .5 BAR or roughly equal to 7.2 psi. Had the cap surrounding the valve filled 3/4 with star san. I watched my tank's pressure gauge slowly climb toward 7 psi and didn't do anything quite yet. It finally got close to 9 psi on the tank gauge and the valve relieved...big time. The force blew almost all of the star san from the cup leaving perhaps 2 tablespoons. I filled the cup again and steady streams of off gas bubbles were coming from the multiple ports around the valve body. Once the initial release of the valve opened, it is now slowly releasing gasses as designed. The tank pressure gauge seems stable at 8 psi so its real close to the setting I intended.

My next step will be to watch for 1.015 and do a dry hop under pressure and while active biotransformation is available. I designed a 3" end cap blank with an L bracket on the underside so I can attach a hop strainer hook with a chain. This blank end cap takes away the tanks PRV, so the Ss Spunding Valve becomes very critical at this stage so I wont exceed burst pressure. I want to dry hop under higher pressure so I'll retain most of the aromas released from the hops. I plan to set the spunding valve around 20 psi so I don't get critically close to the 30 psi burst pressure. 20 psi at 64F should also get me pretty close (2.05 carb vol) to my carb volume goal which can easily be fine tuned in keg after transfer.

Will any or all of this make a difference in the finished beer? Hard to say, but lets hope so! More to come....

Please post more. I cant ferment under pressure in my plastic pail, but I sure envy your setup!!

 

[czmkid]

@Morrey

Do you think that the starsans blowoff is just a one time thing because it was its first use and kinda had to break in the seal and or valve? Man I sure would be nervous without that PRV on top....but that’s just about the only way to naturally carb to the vol of co2 you would need fermenting at typical temps. Can’t wait to hear the rest of your update! Thanks so much for posting your experience thus far.

Here is something I did notice with my latest two batches in the tanks fermented @67 deg @18psi. Trying to bleed off pressure to dry hop in the top 3”tc port is a pia. So I opened the blowoff cane to get the pressure to zero on the gauge. Opened the top and had a blowout! Why? Because even after the pressure bleed off the sudden difference in atmosphere caused what I can only compare to what happens when you open a 3ltr coke bottle after your jacka$ friend shook it up.

Lesson learned that even after opening the blowoff cane leave it open for even awhile more...during which time crausen, foam, wort, hops etc will come out until the outside and inside pressure has REALLY Matched up. I will never make that mistake again, what a mess. Thankfully I put about 6gal in to ferment so I don’t think my loss will effect the ability to fill a full keg.

In case you were wondering what I have in the tanks now. Juicy Bits and Hoptomitrist clones. Both will start their cold crash and final CO2 conditioning Monday.


This is new.....https://www.ssbrewtech.com/products/quick-disconnect-ftss-kit

 

[Morrey]

What a mess I bet that was>>>>>LOL Your beers sound interesting - hope for a full report.

Currently I still have the PRV on top of the tank with the Spunding valve (mounted off the BO arm) bubbling away set at 10 psi. So when I dry hop shortly, I'll want to increase pressure in the tank beyond the 18 psi rating of the PRV. My most desired feature of the spunding valve is to protect the tank with pressures between 18 psi and 30 psi burst rating. So if I choose 25 psi, the only way to accomplish this is to remove the PRV and cap off the 3" port, then use the spunding valve. I bought a blank 3" TC end cap and tack welded a small bracket on the underside to hang a hop strainer. Kills two birds with one stone.

When I take off the PRV when there is pressure in the tank, I always bleed off the pressure in the tank fully down to 0 psi. Then I attach a CO2 hose to the BO tube and very gently start pushing a couple of pounds of CO2 pressure into the tank as I take off the PRV. If done correctly, I can feel and see the PRV "flutter" with the slight pressure from the CO2. I do this so the pressure is pushing outward and keeping O2 from entering the tank.

 

[emr25]

Have you considered using a 3” butterfly valve and 3” x 6” TC tube as a “dry hop port”?

You could install it in place of the PRV and still use the 3” blank TC cap to seal off the tube. Pour the hops into the tube, reinstall the cap, then slowly open the 3” butterfly valve to allow the hops to fall into the unitank?

Just seems like you lose a lot of the dry hop under pressure value (aromas, etc.) by relieving the tank pressure to 0 each time you need to make an addition.

Here is an example of how I do it with my conical. I flush the tube with CO2 a few times before opening the butterfly valve to dump the hops into the conical.

 

[Morrey]

I like this^^^^, and thanks for sharing @emr25. Where are you able to find/purchase the 3"x6" TC tube and associated 3" TC BO cane?

 

[emr25]

I like this^^^^, and thanks for sharing @emr25. Where are you able to find/purchase the 3"x6" TC tube and associated 3" TC BO cane?

Parts list below (plus any 3” clamps and gaskets needed). My inspiration was to create a homebrew version of this Mini Dry Hop Cannon.

https://marksdmw.com/products/mini-dry-hop-cannon


3” Butterfly Valve
https://www.glaciertanks.com/sanitary-butterfly-valves-bth-g300-epdm.html

3” x 6” TC Tube
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0716T4DNY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

3” Blowoff Cane
https://www.ssbrewtech.com/products/blow-off-cane-3-tc-for-chronical-series?variant=8922559621

 

[Morrey]

Excellent!

 

[czmkid]

@emr25 That’s really cool. I like the one in your link that you can pump co2 into as well but it’s a big boy lol. Too bad Ss doesn’t work something like that up on a smaller scale.

On another note how’s often are y’all taking apart your sampling valve? One of mine has been sticking so I took it apart for cleaning and put on some food grade oring lube but man it’s still stiff and drips u der pressure....actually it was dripping before I took it apart to clean as well which is what made me look at it in the first place.

PS unitank number three is on it’s way along with two of Ss’ new disconnect glycol lines. Already saving for the fourth and final tank

 

[RevKev]

I guess here's a PSA imo, the dual quick disconnects are great... However. The neoprene with velcrow attached is useless. Just in case anyone is thinking of trying their quick disconnect package. Once cut the velcrow comes unstiched at the end and you can't bring it down to insulate the entire line.. I should've thought through it before purchase.

Hope they part it out.. Bc for the price the QDs are quality for what you pay in comparison to some flow stoppers I've had.

 

[RevKev]

I'll have my thoughts on the 3/8HP after I do my kolsch after this batch of funk and something else easily pitchable is done in October.

Chiller did take under two hours to cool the reservoir from 78.5 to 30.0°

 

[czmkid]

@RevKev

Oh noooooo. I just bought two of the quick disconnects that I was planning on using for my two new tanks. I pieced together my own for my other two unitanks and thought these lookd more polished. What would you different with the cuts? Should I send em back and just go with what I did for my other tanks?

I’m hearing you say the outer sleeve is useless after you cut them is that correct?

 

[RevKev]

@RevKev

Oh noooooo. I just bought two of the quick disconnects that I was planning on using for my two new tanks. I pieced together my own for my other two unitanks and thought these lookd more polished. What would you different with the cuts? Should I send em back and just go with what I did for my other tanks?

I’m hearing you say the outer sleeve is useless after you cut them is that correct?

Well. The cut is okay. No problem besides on the velcrow. You just have to be careful adding or removing it or maybe stitch it together at the end.

But also due to the sizing of the neoprene you leave a bit of uninsulated line near the connectors on the lid, unless you insulate each line individually and have them meet. Personally I like the foam insulation better..

 

[Hazy_E]

For those of you naturally carbing, and therefore keeping yeast in the tank, you're obviously not dumping/collecting yeast before xferring to keg, right? That would defeat the purpose of naturally carbing, wouldn't it? In that case, what's your SOP before xferring? Cold crash, hold for a day or two, then xfer to keg? Are you worried about yeast/trub xferring to keg?

SS Brewtech recommends keeping blowoff open during cold crash or pumping in CO2. If we are naturally carbing, obviously the blowoff is closed, so we're safe cold crashing because of the natural carb in the tank?

Great thread guys, I got a lot of nice info, haven't read through all of it yet though, so I apologize if these Q's have already been broached. I bought the 1/2 bbl uni with glycol chiller and am loving how much control I now have of fermentation. What an awesome piece of machinery!

cheers!

 

[RevKev]

Opinion question: Do you feel 40F is low enough to crash my Uni Tanks a couple of days to settle out the beer before kegging? My brew cave in non-temp controlled, and the humidity now is like breathing water vapor. When I do a 35F crash, I got darn near a flooded floor from condensation. I can deal with it (mops and towels), but if 40F can work, this cuts my condensation considerably. Will 40F be acceptable before kegging?

If it's going to be a hazy beer that should be fine, or if serving and storage temp is greater than 5° that which you cold crash, it'll be okay. Heard that rule of thumb doing some research for lagers. I feel for ales it's not needed to crash all the way to 32°.

For those of you naturally carbing, and therefore keeping yeast in the tank, you're obviously not dumping/collecting yeast before xferring to keg, right? That would defeat the purpose of naturally carbing, wouldn't it? In that case, what's your SOP before xferring? Cold crash, hold for a day or two, then xfer to keg? Are you worried about yeast/trub xferring to keg?

SS Brewtech recommends keeping blowoff open during cold crash or pumping in CO2. If we are naturally carbing, obviously the blowoff is closed, so we're safe cold crashing because of the natural carb in the tank?

Great thread guys, I got a lot of nice info, haven't read through all of it yet though, so I apologize if these Q's have already been broached. I bought the 1/2 bbl uni with glycol chiller and am loving how much control I now have of fermentation. What an awesome piece of machinery!

cheers!

I have yet to naturally carb but would assume that putting in some counterpressure into the carb stone would be an effective way to balance out the cold crash. I don't think I would ever crash with no out or influx. I think I read of people doing an initial trub dump? I may be wrong

 

[czmkid]

I cold crash down to 36 with no co2 tank attached to the carb stone with pressure created by the fermentation with no issues. 17-18 psi showing on the tanks gauge. Just keep an eye on it and if it dips or goes down then hook up the co2. Which I usually have to do to get to the vol of co2 I want anyway.

The quick disconnects and neoprene sleeve that Ss put out are a waste of time imo. I bought two and will be sending the unopened box back for a store credit. I can’t see how the neoprene will provide the same amount of insulation that the foam pipe insulators do that I have running my other two tanks. Already had one barb snap on the disconnect when I barely moved the line. Looks like I’m going back to the us plastics individual disconnects and foam insulation for my third and soon to be added fourth tank. Don’t waste your money or time with them imo.

 

[RevKev]

I cold crash down to 36 with no co2 tank attached to the carb stone with pressure created by the fermentation with no issues. 17-18 psi showing on the tanks gauge. Just keep an eye on it and if it dips or goes down then hook up the co2. Which I usually have to do to get to the vol of co2 I want anyway.

The quick disconnects and neoprene sleeve that Ss put out are a waste of time imo. I bought two and will be sending the unopened box back for a store credit. I can’t see how the neoprene will provide the same amount of insulation that the foam pipe insulators do that I have running my other two tanks. Already had one barb snap on the disconnect when I barely moved the line. Looks like I’m going back to the us plastics individual disconnects and foam insulation for my third and soon to be added fourth tank. Don’t waste your money or time with them imo.

That's good to know about the cold crash, I just got the glycol so was spit balling it. And oh no... Sorry to hear about the barb. I like that they are connected but now I'm scared and I'll be extra careful.

Agreed that the neoprene is worthless.

 

[ktzimmer]

Just found this thread a few days ago and just finished up reading through the entire thing. Lots of good information on it, but that felt like work to get all the way to the end. lol.... Anyone with the 3/8 HP SS glycol chiller have any follow-up information? Thoughts or pros/cons? I was initially looking at the 1/2 HP Penguin gylcol unit; but this unit is attractive as it has 5x the glycol reservoir. Probably totally overkill, but I like that. I prefer to avoid handcuffing myself as I never really know just how far into something I will be going.

I just got into the unitank fermenting and am still working out kinks and expanding my working knowledge. I have a Spike CF10 and am using a poor mans glycol (water in keg in my keezer) which is working for fermentation temp control. But I don't see how this could possibly work for cold crashing. Probably won't even be sufficient for lager yeast ferment temps. I am only on my second batch in the unitank and have a Kolsch holding 60f steadily with my current method. I plan on picking up a second unitank. I have no idea what my upper limit will be. I am strictly a hobbiest but I have a tendency to always abide by the "bigger is better" thought process.

 

[RevKev]

Just found this thread a few days ago and just finished up reading through the entire thing. Lots of good information on it, but that felt like work to get all the way to the end. lol.... Anyone with the 3/8 HP SS glycol chiller have any follow-up information? Thoughts or pros/cons? I was initially looking at the 1/2 HP Penguin gylcol unit; but this unit is attractive as it has 5x the glycol reservoir. Probably totally overkill, but I like that. I prefer to avoid handcuffing myself as I never really know just how far into something I will be going.

I just got into the unitank fermenting and am still working out kinks and expanding my working knowledge. I have a Spike CF10 and am using a poor mans glycol (water in keg in my keezer) which is working for fermentation temp control. But I don't see how this could possibly work for cold crashing. Probably won't even be sufficient for lager yeast ferment temps. I am only on my second batch in the unitank and have a Kolsch holding 60f steadily with my current method. I plan on picking up a second unitank. I have no idea what my upper limit will be. I am strictly a hobbiest but I have a tendency to always abide by the "bigger is better" thought process.

Just so happens I started my first cold crash with it yesterday. I have 14g BME with 10.5g cream ale. I had gradually brought it down from 63° to 45° over the course of a day and a half then set it to 33° last night and it's been holding steady this morning. I also have a 7g Uni holding an imperial stout OG of ~1.12 at 63°.

Im happy with it. Does cycle frequently during the crash but I'm not home a lot. Only complaint is that the latches on the lid are absolutely useless haha no positive clamping force whatsoever.

I did the same I don't know if I'll even add another vessel anytime soon but I like the option of having it prechill a water source for my IC and having the option of having it around and I'll never outgrow it.

 

[ajford19]

what are the fittings you used to connect the water tubes through the wall of the freezer?

 

[martianpc]

I'm thinking of selling my 14 gallon SS Unitank and buying a 15 gallon Brewer's Hardware jacketed Conical.

Other than the price increase, is there any reason I shouldn't do it? I don't like the cooling coil on the SS tank at all.

 

[JohnnyBe]

I have the brewers hardware conical. The only issue I have with it over the SS is heating. There really isn’t a good way to heat it in my opinion if you ever need to do so. My thoughts on how I could if ever needed is either try wrapping it with a heat mat or using a separate glycol bath that is heated. I haven’t tried either yet since I haven’t had the need to yet, but figure I will soon enough.

 

[Tartan1]

martianpc I have the 8 Gal jacketed version and the only small issue I have with it is there is really no way to increase the floor to dump valve distance (extension legs) to accommodate a yeast harvester. Not sure what the 15 Gal spec would be though on the distance? These conicals are very heavy when loaded with wort and glycol, and unless you build a raised heavy duty platform with castors to move around your brewhouse, you probably wont be moving it at all.
These are very well built units and all welds on mine were perfect. I had them leak test the jacket and internal part before shipping as I live in Canada and shipping was well lets just say pricey.

 

[JohnnyBe]

martianpc I have the 8 Gal jacketed version and the only small issue I have with it is there is really no way to increase the floor to dump valve distance (extension legs) to accommodate a yeast harvester. These conicals are very heavy when loaded with wort and glycol, and unless you build a raised heavy duty platform with castors to move around your brewhouse, you probably wont be moving it at all.
These are very well built units and all welds on mine were perfect. I had them leak test the jacket and internal part before shipping as I live in Canada and shipping was well lets just say pricey.

I’m thinking about adding heavy duty equipment stand casters to mine since the legs are 1.5”. Each caster under my brew stand is rated for 150 pounds. I’ll let you know if I do and how it works out since that adds 5 inches. Still won’t be enough for a harvester, but will hopefully make moving it around easier than man handling it to clean.

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

What is the pressure rating on those units?

 

[JohnnyBe]

If I recall BH told me they are rated for 30 with a working pressure of 15, but I could be mistaken.

 

[martianpc]

How is everyone with the BH jacketed conical monitoring the temp for their glycol system? A long TC thermowell?

 

[JohnnyBe]

I’m currently using a TC thermowell with an inkbird sensor in it. Eventually I plan to upgrade to a BCS or Pi instead, but I first need to get a few other brewhouse components finished up before I spend the time wiring something up. You can see the inkbird and thermowell in the photo I posted earlier.

 

[Bigs166]

I have the brewers hardware conical. The only issue I have with it over the SS is heating. There really isn’t a good way to heat it in my opinion if you ever need to do so. My thoughts on how I could if ever needed is either try wrapping it with a heat mat or using a separate glycol bath that is heated. I haven’t tried either yet since I haven’t had the need to yet, but figure I will soon enough.

What do you think of that icemaster 100? I’m very close to pulling the trigger. I’ll be using it with a 1/2bbl unitank.

 

[JohnnyBe]

Its good, but it doesn't have its issues. If you look at reviews for it you'll see that several people have had issues with the drain port leaking. I too had that issue, but it was a relatively easy fix. Just not something I felt I should have to do since the manufacturer should fix the known issue. Other than that it has been working well for me and I'm glad I got it.

 

[Bigs166]

Its good, but it doesn't have its issues. If you look at reviews for it you'll see that several people have had issues with the drain port leaking. I too had that issue, but it was a relatively easy fix. Just not something I felt I should have to do since the manufacturer should fix the known issue. Other than that it has been working well for me and I'm glad I got it.

So it will easily cold crash your tank? What size is your tank?

 

[martianpc]

So just an update for those who recommended going with the BH Jacketed conical.

I thought about the 20 gallon but ultimately ended up buying the 15g. I have built a Raspberry Pi that is running Craftbeerpi and will control my DIY Glycol system, the conical pump, a submersible aquarium heater in the glycol bath for heating needs, and a second pump for that dream second conical. I still have to 3d print the pi enclosure case and finish installing my insulated glycol pipes since the chiller is about 8 feet away in an unfinished area so it isn't noisy. I had Brewers Hardware custom make a racking cane that will attach to the leg and has a Tri Clamp on the bottom, much like the SSBrewtech does. I am also making a stainless cart with 8" long tri clamp spools to make the conical taller. It will have casters on the bottom and a very wide base that will support and strengthen the legs so it can be moved full around the brew house.

The conical is shipping tomorrow and should be here next week.

Thanks for the great advice!

 

[drunkmonk59]

Hey, I have been reading this thread for the past year and it has helped me so much in making the purchase of my 14g Unitank and all the needed accessories. Thanks for all the great info that's been posted! I'm sorry if this has been asked further back already. For you folks that have the leg extensions, I've been trying to get each leg totally flush with the floor the last hour. It seems no matter what Combo of the washers they provide me, there is always at least one of the 4 legs that is not totally touching. Has anybody had the same problem, or had this thing try and tip over when filled? Maybe I am overstressing about this?