Flotit

[DevilsCups]

That is interesting. I hope it's correct. I'm Googling, and I see some sites saying you can soften silicone with heat. I also see sites saying silicone gets harder with heat.

I use bags for dry-hopping.

I guess I can heat some tubing and see what happens.

I think you'll be a-okay. I boil my silicone on occasion to sanitize. It doesn't seem to change pliability. However, not all silicone is created equal so a bit of YMMV applies.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Nothing has happened during several fermentations.

 

[balrog]

pumping hop crud OUT of **anything** is hard

FTFY

shudder to think of how many batches had a ball partially filled with a mix of beer from prior batches

Ok. Just. Yuck.

I have made the DIY here
I have used the Clear Draught system
I have used the Amazon Fermzilla FLT DIP TUBE
I have used the Williams Brewing Top Draw

I have to say that the Top Draw and DIY are the ones I like best.

But that's me.

And I don't like Lima Beans.

Draw your own conclusions.

 

[stealthfixr]

Count me as another very happy Flotit 2.0 user. Bought 5 or 6 of them and never had a problem. Beer is definitely clearer out of one, but it's also really great for keeping out keg-hopped gunk out of the posts. I also have a random assortment of kegs and keeping which liquid tube goes with which keg is a hassle and a half--this eliminates that.

 

[Yesfan]

Yeast got stuck to one of my Flotits, so I took it apart yesterday and looked it over. I had never done that before.

I no longer think this is a fantastic invention. It works, but so does a ball float with a nut for weight.

The long stainless liquid tube doesn't seem any better than the 4" tubes some ball floats and kegs come with. You cut a bevel in the end of your tube to make the silicone tube slide onto it more easily, and you have a setup which is pretty easy to deal with.

The literature says all connections are made outside the keg. Am I missing something? When the pipe and the float are connected, there is no way to run them through the liquid post. You have to put your hand inside the keg to attach the pipe to the flexible tube, or you have to grab the lower end of the tube and attach it to the float.

Yep. I'm able to make the connections on the outside. I connect one end to the dip tube, slip the tubing through the top of the post. The tubing is smaller diameter than the tubing that comes with the other brands. Then I reach in to fish the tubing end out the top of the keg and connect it to the filter. Then lower it to the bottom of the keg. The others, like the Torpedo Bouy, I have to connect the tubing to the dip tube from inside of the keg, basically relying on touch/feel since it's hard to see what I'm doing.

You can get a wire tool to pull the tube out to connect the float, but you're still going into the keg, and you can make a tool out of a coat hanger in 30 seconds. And why would you want to reach into your beer with ANYTHING if it isn't necessary? Help me out.

The wire tool is stainless. Coat hangers are not.

Personally, I connect my floats, install my liquid pipes, and attach my flexible tubing to the pipes. Then I sanitize everything before filling the keg. Is this wrong somehow? It's what I do for any type of float.

The filters don't do much for me. I never draw beer full of particles. The junk goes to the bottom. Doesn't it do that for everyone? And a floating tube is supposed to draw from the top, where beer is clearest, anyway. Seems to me the filter's big plus is that it weights the end of the pickup, which a nut can do.

I guess there must be something I am failing to notice.

I do the same with my floating dip tubes, but the Flotit gives me the freedom to install the tubing to the dip tube outside of the keg. All of mine draw from the top. The beer might not be crystal clear, but it's still clearer drawing from the top vs from the bottom with a stainless dip tube.

 

[Yesfan]

Yeah, for sure. He used to ship the FLOTit with an all-in-one gas dip tube / o-ring. It looked like this. Mine came with the alternate updated 1/2" metal dip-tube (it was an option on Amazon. With or without.). The main use is for a touch more headspace when keg fermenting.

I have those. I'd like them if mine didn't leak. I never could get it to seal, so had to go back to the original gas dip tube to hold pressure. They are pretty much flush to the inside of the keg. I'd imagine you could just cut a regular gas dip tube down for the same effect.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

So when they claim you can connect everything from outside, they don't count the part where you have to reach into the keg to get the tube. I could not understand what they were talking about.

I'm not afraid to let a carbon steel coathanger get wet for a few seconds, and I have all sorts of stainless tongs.

 

[mac_1103]

Why is anybody filling the keg before hooking up the dip tube?

 

[conlun]

Personally I plan on using mine in a fermentation keg with big dry-hop charges, so I assume the filters will be crucial for me.

Also, the tubing is silicone. It shouldn't soften with heat.

I have floatit on all my kegs (fermentation and serving), I have no issue dry hopping with loose pellets with up to 500gr, it has never clogged on me.

 

[DevilsCups]

I have floatit on all my kegs (fermentation and serving), I have no issue dry hopping with loose pellets with up to 500gr, it has never clogged on me.

500g you absolute dawg

 

[Ramjet]

I have 2 flot-it dip tubes and have had no problems.

 

[DevilsCups]

Why is anybody filling the keg before hooking up the dip tube?

I don’t think anyone is.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Which makes you wonder what the advantage is.

 

[wdavis2003]

I use the Flotit 2.0 in my FV. No longer need to worry about dry hopping in mesh bags. Just toss 'em in and transfer is easy. Before, with the standard dip tube and mesh filter, it kept getting clogged.

I'd recommend it to anybody

 

[DevilsCups]

Which makes you wonder what the advantage is.

I’m puny, but I’d bet a bunch of homebrewers out there have issues with fitting their arm in a keg. Between that and the mechanics of this thing getting every drop of beer out of a keg, it seems good enough as a premium option for people willing to spend a few more bucks.

Idk man, more options are always better than few. Thankfully there’s plenty to choose from.

 

[mac_1103]

I don’t think anyone is.

I don't either, but read the thread. People were talking as though they were. Hence my (rhetorical) question.

 

[mac_1103]

Which makes you wonder what the advantage is.

The skinny tubing that fits through the post hole is definitely an advantage, but reaching in to grab that tubing and pull it out to connect the float is pretty simple without any tool. I guess maybe if you'd already sanitized everything you might not want to stick a hand in there, but that's easy enough to solve.

 

[odie]

I think the Flotit is too over engineered, with parts not easily replaced and total cost too expensive for a floating dip tube. I started out using the CaskWidge floats, which I still prefer. The simple ball floats work fine too, but I think I have one or two that misbehave sometimes.

I agree. most brewing contraptions seem to be a solution in search of a problem.

I use a very basic floating dip tube. just the round SS float and a SS nut to weight the tube down. No filters, no strainers.

Everything in the keg packs down to the bottom whether you ferment and/or hop in the keg or not.

 

[DevilsCups]

I don't either, but read the thread. People were talking as though they were. Hence my (rhetorical) question.

I think the topic was really about being able to install the tubing and dip-tube before the FLOTit, then being able to connect the unit to the tubing outside of the keg.

 

[mac_1103]

I think the topic was really about being able to install the tubing and dip-tube before the FLOTit, then being able to connect the unit to the tubing outside of the keg.

Well, yeah, but it drifted into why that was such a big deal, and someone went to "why would you want to reach into your beer?" (to pull the tubing out), presumably based on the assumption that making all connections outside the keg had something to do with avoiding that.

 

[DevilsCups]

Well, yeah, but it drifted into why that was such a big deal, and someone went to "why would you want to reach into your beer?" (to pull the tubing out), presumably based on the assumption that making all connections outside the keg had something to do with avoiding that.

Oh yeah. That’s just silly lol.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

The ad copy says, "No-hand-in-keg design - all connections are made outside." It certainly sounds like the issue is getting your hand in beer, because otherwise, there IS no issue. It's not exactly difficult to put silicone tubing on a gas tube a couple of inches inside a keg. Nobody has hands too big to get into a hole that size. Another part says, "No arm in keg." Why would you have to put your arm in a keg to attach or remove beer tubing? It's right by the top.

I don't see any copy about the HOOKit tool. If it's for grabbing tubing just inside a dry keg, it makes no sense at all. It's like selling a tool to get your car keys out of your pocket.

I agree. most brewing contraptions seem to be a solution in search of a problem.

No argument here. If I had known how easy BIAB was, I would never have bought a Braumeister.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I just saw the Brulosophy guy on Youtube, complaining about how hard it was to put plastic tubing on a liquid pipe. He said something about using hot water. Totally unnecessary. Just cut the liquid pipe on the bias. It will slide right into tubing. Cutting the tubing will also work.

 

[mac_1103]

It's not exactly difficult to put silicone tubing on a gas tube a couple of inches inside a keg.

You have obviously never seen my hands. There should be a picture of them that comes up when you google "ham fisted."

 

[odie]

You have obviously never seen my hands. There should be a picture of them that comes up when you google "ham fisted."

I am glad you are not my proctologist...

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Kind of a Les Grossman thing happening.

 

[Callacave]

Ferment and serve in a keg. From Czech lagers to IPAs. Flotit has been great. Never clogged. Happy that Trog has put the time and effort in these.

 

[Unicorn_Platypus]

I use the flotit in my fermzilla where I do all of my dry hopping. It really does leave no beer behind!

For my receiving keg, I use the Clear Beer Draught system without a screen. I agree it would be a bad idea to have a screen on the receiving keg if dry hopping in the primary / fermenter.

The Clear Beer Draught system also offers a screen, but is way to bulky for the fermzilla. The flotit has a much smaller footprint and is the best floating diptube for a fermzilla

 

[JohnDBrewer]

How is everyone cleaning the tube on these things?

 

[DevilsCups]

How is everyone cleaning the tube one these things?

While mine will have its maiden voyage this weekend, I plan on cleaning it like I clean all of my other silicone tubing and other parts when needed. PBW / Oxy soak and hot rinse.

 

[Zippy123]

I have recently started kegging and doing closed transfers from FV to keg. After reading many reviews and watching many videos I settled on the process and equipment detailed in this HBT post including the FlotIT. So far I have flawlessly transferred 3 batches with this process (FlotIT on the FV side and a SS pickup tube on the keg side). Clear beer moved to keg, yeast and trub and gnat wings remained in FV. I crashed each keg for 2-3 days then force carbed with 10 PSI CO2 for a few weeks. The first half pint from each keg was yeasty and thus poured off, and since then just clear and satisfying beer. Remember, the kegs have the SS pickup tube and only the FV had the FlotIT at transfer.

My upcoming experiment is to prime a keg with sugar instead of CO2. I figure this will give the beer another few weeks to condition and improve flavor at ferm temp. But since I expect a fair amount of sludge at the bottome of the keg due to priming with sugar, I will put a FlotIT in the keg instead of the SS pickup tube. Given my observation of the FlotIT's behavior at the bottom of the FV during closed transfer, I expect it to perform well in a sugar-primed keg.

I was amused by some of the "...it's over-engineered..." comments. You only know when something is over-engineered if it works flawlessly, as designed for the purpose, every time. There are 3 things I want over-engineered: Diapers, brakes, and floating dip tubes.

But alas, my only experience with floating dip tubes is the FlotIT. At this point I have no reason to try a different one.

 

[Unicorn_Platypus]

How is everyone cleaning the tube one these things?

Its kind of wasteful, but I bought a bunch of the tubing in bulk on Amazon and I just replace mine after each use.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0852J5JQJ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
$12 gets you 9 tubes

Silicone can be boiled so you could go that route for ultimate sterilization.

Rinsing it throughly with unscented dishsoap and hot water would work too. I'd personally avoid using caustic chemicals like PBW on it, but probably fine if others haven't reported issues

 

[DevilsCups]

There are 3 things I want over-engineered: Diapers, brakes, and floating dip tubes.

 

[Broken Crow]

How is everyone cleaning the tube one these things?

I've got 2 different ways; First was the long (5' or so) brush, but second works well for me: I often use a racking pump, so I just throw some hot PBW in my Fermonster with the post on the lid and suck it through the line and dump it back in through the gas post in a loop for about 10 minutes or so....gets it looking like new.

 

[Broken Crow]

Oh..This would be a good place to ask; Does the Flotit actually fit inside a sanke without having to cut out the inner rim that the valve rests on?

 

[McMullan]

Some people need to believe they’re getting something for the extra cost, I guess. I can buy 5 CaskWidge floats, the original, perfectly designed, floating beer dip tube. A no brainier, I’d say.

Why complicate life with fiddly little bits easy to lose but not so easy to replace?

The over engineered flotit, for comparison:

 

[McMullan]

How is everyone cleaning the tube one these things?

PBW soak then rinsed before going in the pressure cooker, with other stuff I can’t be bothered to disassemble, including sankey tapping heads on the other end of the floating dip tubes, to sterilise where sanitizer doesn’t reach.

 

[Unicorn_Platypus]

Some people need to believe they’re getting something for the extra cost, I guess. I can buy 5 CaskWidge floats, the original, perfectly designed, floating beer dip tube. A no brainier, I’d say.View attachment 841081
Why complicate life with fiddly little bits easy to lose but not so easy to replace?

The over engineered flotit, for comparison:
View attachment 841088
View attachment 841089

The DIY design you have will start pulling yeast and trub a half gallon earlier than the flotit design. Also, the flotit with the screen allows me to dry hop in the FV without pulling floties.

 

[McMullan]

The DIY design you have will start pulling yeast and trub a half gallon earlier than the flotit design. Also, the flotit with the screen allows me to dry hop in the FV without pulling floties.

Neither’s DIY, unlike the flotit. The red one, which has an integral fine hop filter, is a CaskWidge float, originally designed over 20 years ago for English ale casks. Both empty a sankey or corny keg, without pulling any trub, down to <50ml. It’s just a case of cutting the tube to the correct length for the keg being used. Easily determined with water.

 

[conlun]

I have used both the CaskWidge and the floatit2.0 in fermenters, the caskwidge (the exact red one on the image) does work to some extent, it always clogged on heavy dryhopped beers (loose pellets), whereas the floatit doesn't.

I regularly dry-hop with 200-400gr of pellets without issues with the floatit without any clogging, with the caskwidge I had to unclog it regularly with c02 during transfer.