First time keg fermentation goof

[jeeppilot]

I’m curious if anyone knows the approximate cubic inch volume of a 5 gal corny? I did my first keg fermentation and didn’t realize my blow off tube on the gas post wasn’t all the way on, so I’m trying to figure out about what pressure I built up to.

Also, say I hit between 30-50 psi, how would the much pressure affect the yeast during primary fermentation?

 

[balrog]

5 gal is 1155 cu inches. The real question I'm sure is how much more than that, and unfortunately different brands of cornies have slightly different space above the 5G mark. I've seen people mention everything from an extra quart to almost an extra gallon. The LODO folks might talk about it most so you could look there.

 

[jeeppilot]

5 gal is 1155 cu inches. The real question I'm sure is how much more than that, and unfortunately different brands of cornies have slightly different space above the 5G mark. I've seen people mention everything from an extra quart to almost an extra gallon. The LODO folks might talk about it most so you could look there.

Okay. 1155 cu inches will get me close enough just for my curiosity. It seems to have built up pretty good because it took a long time slowly letting out the pressure to equalize. Highly doubt I did but just hoping I didn’t over-pressurize the keg.

 

[Smellyglove]

Okay. 1155 cu inches will get me close enough just for my curiosity. It seems to have built up pretty good because it took a long time slowly letting out the pressure to equalize. Highly doubt I did but just hoping I didn’t over-pressurize the keg.

I've had a mishap once when I forgot to connect spunding valve, or whatever I did wrong. I had a kolonnenspundung-setup where I first brewed a Doppel then a Bock the week after. After installing the keg with the Bock into the kolonnenspundung the entire loop remained closed. The pressure when I noticed this was immense. Just to exaggerate a little bit: I bet the pressure could launch both kegs from the surface of the earth, then land on the moon. There was foaming and pressure relief for what seemed like a lifetime. The doppel survived but the bock just died. Dead, flatlined. No fermentation at all after a few points.

 

[jeeppilot]

I've had a mishap once when I forgot to connect spunding valve, or whatever I did wrong. I had a kolonnenspundung-setup where I first brewed a Doppel then a Bock the week after. After installing the keg with the Bock into the kolonnenspundung the entire loop remained closed. The pressure when I noticed this was immense. Just to exaggerate a little bit: I bet the pressure could launch both kegs from the surface of the earth, then land on the moon. There was foaming and pressure relief for what seemed like a lifetime. The doppel survived but the bock just died. Dead, flatlined. No fermentation at all after a few points.

I have something new to research... kolonnenspundung. The good news is I didn’t get high enough to kill the fermentation as it is still bubbling away in my blow off jar. The bad news, if you could call it that, is the foaming ejected probably a qt of beer that is now lost and I’m going to have to take apart my gas post to clean it out. Oh well, all is still good!

 

[BobBailey]

I’m curious if anyone knows the approximate cubic inch volume of a 5 gal corny? I did my first keg fermentation and didn’t realize my blow off tube on the gas post wasn’t all the way on, so I’m trying to figure out about what pressure I built up to.

Also, say I hit between 30-50 psi, how would the much pressure affect the yeast during primary fermentation?

It's not so much the total volume, but the volume in the head space. While the beer will give some relief by way of absorption, the bulk of CO2 will be compressed in the head space.

 

[ThunderKhajiit]

I always take the post off and jam a blowoff tube over the threads. Cleaning is a pain.

 

[SanPancho]

I realize you posted out of curiosity, but do you not have a pressure gauge? Kind of important tool if youre kegging.

And just throwing this out- If you have a few kegs available two kegs at a time during fermentation can be a great setup. You can put a jumper line from your fermenting keg gas to serving keg liquid. Then put your spunding device on the gas of the serving keg.

You basically use the second keg as “blowoff” to capture co2. As long as your spund device will hold even 2-3 psi reliably, it keeps the krauzen down. Then you get a serving keg thats nearly oxygen free and it makes it nearly impossible to get crud into your spund device. If you do keg hop addition it also works great for that too.

Worth looking into if you have the space. The second keg doesn’t need to be temp controlled either.

 

[jeeppilot]

I realize you posted out of curiosity, but do you not have a pressure gauge? Kind of important tool if youre kegging.

And just throwing this out- If you have a few kegs available two kegs at a time during fermentation can be a great setup. You can put a jumper line from your fermenting keg gas to serving keg liquid. Then put your spunding device on the gas of the serving keg.

You basically use the second keg as “blowoff” to capture co2. As long as your spund device will hold even 2-3 psi reliably, it keeps the krauzen down. Then you get a serving keg thats nearly oxygen free and it makes it nearly impossible to get crud into your spund device. If you do keg hop addition it also works great for that too.

Worth looking into if you have the space. The second keg doesn’t need to be temp controlled either.

I do have a spunding valve but I didn’t have it on at the time. Just straight open via blow off tube. When I realized it had fermented for 2-3 days without any pressure relief, I didn’t want to put my spunding valve on to see the pressure because I was sure I’d get foaming in my valve when the pressure came off.

That said, I really like your idea of the second keg with a jumper. Will you typically get anything through the blowoff line into the serving keg? Or once it’s done, can you just hook up gas to the fermenting keg and pressure transfer to the serving keg?

 

[SanPancho]

Ah, got it. Yeah, at that point you gotta do what you gotta do.

Like i was sayin before , if your spund will hold the pressure and not just leak it all out, then like 3psi is typically enough for keeping the krauzen foam way down. But remember, it would have to go up and out of the fermenter into the jumper, then down the liquid tube of the serving keg, then fill that entire keg in order to reach back up to the gas tube and your spund. Against 3psi. Aint gonna happen. You could even go higher, like 10psi if you want to be super safe.

I have pretty serious spund device so thats how i make sure it doesn’t get fouled up.

Another thing thats nice is you can also do low pressure in a plastic carboy. Get yourself a 6.5 gallon and krauzen shouldn’t be an issue at like 2-3 psi. @day_trippr has some pix of the setup- orange carboy cap, racking cane, gas post, etc. I do my typical set up with a jumper to serving keg, for purging oxygen. Same process, with the difference that you can see the ferment and therefore rack super clear beer. Ill post a pic if youd like.

 

[cooper]

Post it SanPancho! I'd like to see it. I have one of the older, plastic, 6.5 gallon screw-top big mouth bubbler and if I can put a gas ball-lock connection on top and connect a spunding valve to it that would help me out a lot. I was thinking of getting this spunding valve for it if I can get the correct connector.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/spundingvalve.htm

 

[SanPancho]

looks like this- but id be a little leery of the carbonator cap version as the barb on the bottom is typically a screw-on and not a solid piece. https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/ptrcarboypremium.htm

you can buy the post and a post thread x barb piece online from various sources.

 

[cooper]

looks like this- but id be a little leery of the carbonator cap version as the barb on the bottom is typically a screw-on and not a solid piece. https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/ptrcarboypremium.htm

you can buy the post and a post thread x barb piece online from various sources.

Thanks! I'll have to do some shopping around. I think brewhardware has the post thread and barb piece but I'll have to take a look.

 

[SanPancho]

defintely do some shopping. the carboinator cab might be fine, but i like to leave mine on for extended periods and thats why id be a bit hesitant personally. not sure how air tight those things are.

 

[bja]

just hoping I didn’t over-pressurize the keg.

Cornys have relief valves to prevent this.

 

[4of7]

kegmenter with gas blow off to starsan bucket..beer troll saying do this for the fisrt 12 hrs then put spundy on psi 20...Stay strong and brew on