Naturally carbonated Fermzilla at room temp.

[Jfmed]

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a Fermzilla and I'm in the process of getting CO2 equipment (pressure kit, gas, lines, connectors, spunding valve, counterpressure bottle filler). The thing is, I don't have a fridge to cool down my Fermzilla and I'm concerned if I will be able to naturally carbonate the beer under pressure fermentation at room temp. Or should I add a measured amount of sugar water to the fermenter, purge the oxygen and then proceed to bottle my beer with the bottle filler?

Im new to the whole force carbonating and kegging world so I really don't know what to expect.


Thanks!

 

[VikeMan]

At room temp (say 68F), to settle at (say) 2.5 volumes of CO2, you'd be pressurizing to ~28 PSI. I think Fermzillas are rated a bit above that, but I'd double check. Of course, if you do this, you'll need to do a closed, pressure balanced, transfer to a keg. You wouldn't want to try bottling already carbonated beer.

Or should I add a measured amount of sugar water to the fermenter, purge the oxygen and then proceed to bottle my beer with the bottle filler?

I think you'd find it difficult to get the sugar solution evenly dispersed throughout the beer without stirring up trub.

 

[Jfmed]

I cant bottle carbonated beer? What if I cool down my bottles to around 0C before bottling. I can't cool my beer but I can put the bottles in a bath of ice, water and sanitizer to cool it down.

 

[VikeMan]

I cant bottle carbonated beer? What if I cool down my bottles to around 0C before bottling. I can't cool my beer but I can put the bottles in a bath of ice, water and sanitizer to cool it down.

You could try it, but I would predict a foamy mess and/or lots of oxygen exposure. I wouldn't try it without counterpressure filler or a beer gun.

 

[Jfmed]

You could try it, but I would predict a foamy mess and/or lots of oxygen exposure. I wouldn't try it without counterpressure filler or a beer gun.

Oh yeah I have a counterpressure filler. It was kind of hidden in the list of items I put in the post. Next Friday I'm brewing a Marzen under pressure with the Fermzilla and should bottle in about two weeks. Ill post an update on the bottling if I remember.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

If the beer is warm and carbonated, even with a counterpressure filler, you'll have foam problems.

 

[Jfmed]

If the beer is warm and carbonated, even with a counterpressure filler, you'll have foam problems.

What if the bottles are at near freezing temperatures? I know I'll have loss due to foaming but if I can bottle pre carbonated it'll make my life much easier. Worst case scenario I'll have to add sugar to the Fermzilla, mix it a bit and bottle it letting the yeast do its magic.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

given the beer is carbonated and you know that you will loose some of the carbonation to the process, how do you plan to calculate the volume of sugar to add to offset the the loss of carbonation?

there isn't enough mass in the bottles to change the temperature of the volume of beer much

it seems you are determined to try it your way, go for it and report the results

 

[Jfmed]

given the beer is carbonated and you know that you will loose some of the carbonation to the process, how do you plan to calculate the volume of sugar to add to offset the the loss of carbonation?

there isn't enough mass in the bottles to change the temperature of the volume of beer much

it seems you are determined to try it your way, go for it and report the results

Im thinking of just putting in sugar an bottling without pre carbonating the beer. That way I avoid foaming. I might be in luck because I found some old fridges and gotta check if they work. If they do, then I know what im doing.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[LloydGM]

(Old thread, but I just bought a FermZilla All Rounder and the same thoughts are swirling around, too...)

Wouldn't it work to do a keg-to-keg xfer into a mini keg(s)? I think a 5L mini keg is about the size of a gallon of milk, and that'd fit in a frig' easily, then you could use the counter pressure filler to go from a chilled mini keg to bottles. Lot of work, though, doing it in stages, 1 mini keg at a time. Or you could attach a tap & mini CO2 bottle to the and serve directly from it. (Not elegant, but I prefer drinking my beer instead of staring at it, lol.)

I'd also thought about CO2 calculations, but the thought of calculating CO2 volumes from an steadily-emptying fermenter makes me break out in a calculus rash.