Fermenting in keg Pressure & Safety ?

[Blue-Frog]

I have a small 4L mini keg. I want to ferment in it.
If I ferment in it w/the spear head (?) attached, but nothing else, what's going to happen?

Is there a good easy to source spunding valve you would recommend?

Keg land?

 

[McMullan]

Too small for fermentation, if you ask me. It's important to leave sufficient head space, to prevent yeast foam blocking the PRV and spunding valve. And potentially unsafe, if it's a Chinese mini keg, which most are. including mine. You might be better off just conditioning in the keg fitted with a spunding valve.

 

[Blue-Frog]

Yes it is a Chinese keg, but the size is ok, sorry I mis wrote; I meant condition; I open ferment but want to naturally condition in the keg... Think more soda than beer... I just want to know what happens if I screw up... does the pressure relief pull ring save me or does it not function that way... @ what pressure does it do its thing? Does it function like a spunding valve set at a certain high pressure? If so, what pressure would that be? I have seen something about pressure relief valves that operate at different pressures....

 

[McMullan]

Standard PRVs are rated too high for conditioning. Lower rated versions are available, but not necessarily as reliable as a spunding valve. The cheap Kegland Blowtie valves are fine and difficult to beat, in terms of cost and function. Start at about 15psi, but it really depends on style and temperature, if you want to dial in on your preferences.

 

[Blue-Frog]

I am a little confused about exactly what I need. Kegland YouTube mentions several versions and attachments. What would be a basic buy be? What would be a better, up to date , unit/system & how many pieces?

Do you know of a good setup or ad or description or How-to video - what have you, something to sort out my fuzziness on what to buy?

 

[McMullan]

You can get a complete Blowtie kit for about a tenner from Kegland's global store on AliExpress. I prefer the original version, because the pressure guage is optional therefore removable. If anything goes wrong and it gets blocked it's simply a case of disassembling and cleaning.

 

[Blue-Frog]

Kebland Keland Browtie​

I guess these are just spelling errors?
Which of the 3 gauges is best for conditioning?

I take it your preference for the BlowTie is in opposition to the "Blowtie 2" & not some other variation?

 

[McMullan]

Yes, I'm not a fan of the new version (2) with the crappy little integrated gauge. With the original Blowtie the pressure can be set using a more accurate regulator guage.

 

[odie]

You are not going to blow anything up. All kegs have a PRV. That's what they do...Pressure relief.

A standard corny keg PRV is somewhere around 90psi I think. The kegs are rated well over 100psi.

Even if you have lots of krausen it's not going to plug and seal the PRV. It's gonna get thru that valve when the pressure gets too high.

Now that PSI is way too high for yeast propagation. It won't stop yeast activity but it will stop yeast from multiplying. So you will have a very weak and slow fermentation that might take weeks to finish.

So you should either use a blow off tube (unpressurized fermentation) or use a spunding valve to set a specific psi to ferment at or you could swap for a low PSI PRV (10, 15, 25 are commonly available) and let the PRV run the show.

However, what I've found with using the PRV, they will pop & reset within a 10-15 PSI range so your pressure is going to rise and fall continuously.

I think a good spunding valve will maintain an even PSI.

I use the Blowtie and they are very simple to use. And krausen will not plug a Blowtie either. But it could possibly plug and affect the gauge reading. But even then, it would not affect the PSI set point that was already dialed in before, you would just not be sure of the reading if you were to start adjusting the Blowtie.

Finally, headspace is overrated. I fill a standard 5 gal corny with 5 gal of wort (the keg actually holds 5.5). I never get any krausen blow off...UNLESS IT"S A HEFE...

 

[dwightr8]

I am a little confused about exactly what I need. Kegland YouTube mentions several versions and attachments. What would be a basic buy be? What would be a better, up to date , unit/system & how many pieces?

Do you know of a good setup or ad or description or How-to video - what have you, something to sort out my fuzziness on what to buy?

This is really all you need (plus a few fittings to make connection to your keg):

https://www.morebeer.com/products/blowtie-diaphragm-spunding-valve.html
Or you could go for the whole meal deal:

https://www.morebeer.com/products/blowtie-diaphragm-spunding-valve-1.html

 

[Blue-Frog]

Now I am newly confused... blowtie, blowtie 2, with the small square gauges attached or separate... and one more that uses the bulky round pressure gauges, (is this the same as the plain bowtie, just with a different gauge?

I want the "complete kit" but with a digital meter...
Mc Mullan - with the digital meter, would the blowtie 2 be as good as the plain bowtie?

Hummm... would this be a good plan or not?