Fermenting under a little pressure?

[marjen]

So I got a couple new attachments for my Speidel fermenter. One of which is a CO2 post will pressure release valve that fits in the top in place of a blow off tube. So I am wondering could I ferment with this attachment in place? They say the relief valve is set to 5 psi, and they also say they have internally testing the speidels to 30 psi. Since I mostly brew NE IPAs I have heard that some of the companies do this so that when dry hopping they don't lose as much aroma. Any ideas on if this would be a good/bad idea?

 

[PsychoBiter]

I don't see why not. I would just make sure you have enough headspace that any krausen won't get into the relief valve and plug it up, and possibly resulting over pressuring the Speidel. The pressure will reduce the krausen to a point as well.

I like the idea, when it's time to cold crash/transfer, just connect the CO2 and go. No worries of oxygen getting in there.

 

[marjen]

Thats the good thing about the Speidels, at 7.9 gallons there seems to be ample headspace to prevent issues. Its the main reason I am moving to them from carboys. I have 6 gallon carboys and they overrun the top every time. But with the extra head space and a little pressure, it should keep things under control.

 

[isomerization]

I recently build a spunding valve myself and am looking forward to trying it out this weekend. One thing I've read is to use a corny keg as a "blow off" catcher. You basically just connect the gas out on your spiedel --> liquid out on keg --> attach spunding valve to gas in on keg. This way you don't have to worry about krausen.

My plan for my next NE IPA is to ferment in my conical, dry hop on day 2 (high krausen) and then say 2-3 days later once fermentation is slowing down, rack to a CO2-purged corny with the second dry hop already in there, attach the spunding and (hopefully) fully carb. I think 30 psi is needed at RT.

 

[Mordhaus]

Thats the good thing about the Speidels, at 7.9 gallons there seems to be ample headspace to prevent issues. Its the main reason I am moving to them from carboys. I have 6 gallon carboys and they overrun the top every time. But with the extra head space and a little pressure, it should keep things under control.

I recently build a spunding valve myself and am looking forward to trying it out this weekend. One thing I've read is to use a corny keg as a "blow off" catcher. You basically just connect the gas out on your spiedel --> liquid out on keg --> attach spunding valve to gas in on keg. This way you don't have to worry about krausen.

My plan for my next NE IPA is to ferment in my conical, dry hop on day 2 (high krausen) and then say 2-3 days later once fermentation is slowing down, rack to a CO2-purged corny with the second dry hop already in there, attach the spunding and (hopefully) fully carb. I think 30 psi is needed at RT.

Did either one of you try the spunding valve on your Speidel? I currently ferment in one and already have a diy gas post cap that I use for closed loop transfers. I'm putting together a spunding valve and thought I might try it.

 

[lupulinaddict]

I just bought a speidel and the hardware from jaybird to try the same thing. I brewed a ne IPA on Sunday and it's fermenting now. I don't have an exact volume, but I filled the 7.9ga version to the bottom of the indent that looks like a barrel band. Beer was 1068 and I pitched two London ale 3 packs. Day one I dry hopped and the krausen was high and getting close to the top. Day two it grew a little more and at some point leaked but luckily it just oozed out some foam and closed back up. Nothing like a carboy blowing out. I haven't adjusted the spring tension, nor did I test it before I put the beer in, so I am assuming it's at 5psi. It doesn't take much force to open the valve by hand. It almost seems like it should have some sort of gasket when it closes to be "air" tight. I dry-hopped it again this morning and heard a little pressure releasing when I unscrewed the cap to add the hops, so that made me feel it was working like it was supposed to.

Has anyone cold crashed with this fitting or with a speidel sealed? I found an old post were one guy said his caved in but haven't found much more than that. I thought of using co2 filled keg hooked to the speidel so maybe it can suck the co2 from there, but wondering if anyone else has some experience with its rigidity?

 

[Mordhaus]

Has anyone cold crashed with this fitting or with a speidel sealed? I found an old post were one guy said his caved in but haven't found much more than that. I thought of using co2 filled keg hooked to the speidel so maybe it can suck the co2 from there, but wondering if anyone else has some experience with its rigidity?

I cold crash with my Speidel sealed. This was after many times of doing a graduated crash over the span of a couple of days with the airlock still in place. Now, I use a spare Speidel cap that I drilled out and added a bulkhead with a ball lock gas-in post. I usually (unscientifically) put the cap on at the very tail end of fermentation to build a little positive pressure. Before I crash, I'll make sure the cap and collar nuts are tight, crank it down to 35 degrees and let it go. You'll see a little bit inward caving on the top of the unit around the large collar, but that's all I've ever experienced. No leaks from the valve or oxygenated beer.

I do a closed loop transfer to a keg that has about 3 psi in it. I'll connect the keg gas in post first, then to the Speidel and the suction will immediately pull the co2 in, providing enough pressure to blast any gunk out of the valve once I open it. This goes in to a cup and once it runs clear, I close the valve, attach my line from the valve to liquid out on the keg and open the valve back up to start the flow.

I've also accidentally pressured the Speidel to about 15psi once. It happened very fast and I could actually see it expanding. It held for the five or so seconds it took for me to pull the disconnect and depress the poppet.

 

[lupulinaddict]

I cold crash with my Speidel sealed. This was after many times of doing a graduated crash over the span of a couple of days with the airlock still in place. Now, I use a spare Speidel cap that I drilled out and added a bulkhead with a ball lock gas-in post. I usually (unscientifically) put the cap on at the very tail end of fermentation to build a little positive pressure. Before I crash, I'll make sure the cap and collar nuts are tight, crank it down to 35 degrees and let it go. You'll see a little bit inward caving on the top of the unit around the large collar, but that's all I've ever experienced. No leaks from the valve or oxygenated beer.



I do a closed loop transfer to a keg that has about 3 psi in it. I'll connect the keg gas in post first, then to the Speidel and the suction will immediately pull the co2 in, providing enough pressure to blast any gunk out of the valve once I open it. This goes in to a cup and once it runs clear, I close the valve, attach my line from the valve to liquid out on the keg and open the valve back up to start the flow.



I've also accidentally pressured the Speidel to about 15psi once. It happened very fast and I could actually see it expanding. It held for the five or so seconds it took for me to pull the disconnect and depress the poppet.

Cool. Thanks for the info. I'll stick to the plan and leave the valve fitting on there and try to crash it in a couple days.

 

[mrodrigues9]

So I got a couple new attachments for my Speidel fermenter. One of which is a CO2 post will pressure release valve that fits in the top in place of a blow off tube. So I am wondering could I ferment with this attachment in place? They say the relief valve is set to 5 psi, and they also say they have internally testing the speidels to 30 psi. Since I mostly brew NE IPAs I have heard that some of the companies do this so that when dry hopping they don't lose as much aroma. Any ideas on if this would be a good/bad idea?

Marjen how did this work out for you? did you ferment under 5 psi right from the get go or did you let primary finish with the airlock and then attach the pressure kit and just dry hop under pressure?

 

[marjen]

Marjen how did this work out for you? did you ferment under 5 psi right from the get go or did you let primary finish with the airlock and then attach the pressure kit and just dry hop under pressure?

I did try it twice and did not seem to have any luck. The relief valve just seemed to let all the pressure right out, so I never really so any pressure build up. I moved on from the speidel as it didn't fit my needs for other reasons so have not been back to revisit it.

 

[mrodrigues9]

I did try it twice and did not seem to have any luck. The relief valve just seemed to let all the pressure right out, so I never really so any pressure build up. I moved on from the speidel as it didn't fit my needs for other reasons so have not been back to revisit it.

I see you posted in the fermentasaurus page as well so assuming you moved to that I just picked one up myself and was going to use it on a NEIPA just curious if I should ferment under pressure right from the start or only after I dry hop with addition 1? would fermenting under a slight pressure to start kill off or dull my yeast esters? I assume I could keep pressure low maybe 5 PSI and then ramp it up once fermentation is over