***NEW PRODUCT*** The Yeast Brink from Nor Cal Brewing Solutions

[matt_m]

Thanks! I'm planning to harvest this yeast as well so I'll be dumping into the brink but otherwise sounds like that's a solid process for me to go by.

 

[CodeSection]

Thanks! I'm planning to harvest this yeast as well so I'll be dumping into the brink but otherwise sounds like that's a solid process for me to go by.

Regardless if you have the canning jar yeast brink or the sight glass yeast brink, I think you will find it a lot easier to harvest directly into a regular canning jar, unless you are planning on injecting right away into another fermenter with freshly brewed wort.

 

[matt_m]

I have the canning jar version

 

[CodeSection]

I have the canning jar version

The Yeast Brink is really designed for injecting. The Yeast Harvester is designed and better suited for harvesting. The tube in the yeast brink is the difference and is the issue.

I had a good conversation with Jay before buying his 3" Sight Glass Yeast Brink and he confirmed the above. The reason why I had asked Jay about this was I read a few postings (one from @Jtvann ~ I believe he posted he sold his yeast brink because of not being able to harvest the yeast effectively with it) about the difficulty of using the yeast brink for harvesting yeast.

Good luck and post how it went.

 

[Jtvann]

The Yeast Brink is really designed for injecting. The Yeast Harvester is designed and better suited for harvesting. The tube in the yeast brink is the difference and is the issue.

I had a good conversation with Jay before buying his 3" Sight Glass Yeast Brink and he confirmed the above. The reason why I had asked Jay about this was I read a few postings (one from @Jtvann ~ I believe he posted he sold his yeast brink because of not being able to harvest the yeast effectively with it) about the difficulty of using the yeast brink for harvesting yeast.

Good luck and post how it went.

This is correct. When using the yeast brink to harvest, yeast would settle to the bottom of the down tube, but would not displace the liquid any more. Any wort outside the tube would not work it's way up as yeast fell. The harvester on the other hand, without the down tube, worked perfectly at harvesting yeast.

 

[matt_m]

Well that's kind of a bummer. I'm wondering...I have the quart jar version. No reason I couldn't screw it on to a 1/2 gallon jar. I'm thinking maybe I could dump yeast into a 1/2 gallon jar since the bottom of the tube would be well off the bottom of the jar. Looks like at least a pint capacity. Then I can clean and sanitize the brink and switch back to the quart jar for dry hopping.

 

[matt_m]

OK, got down to close to FG last night and didn't have a ton of time to mess with things so I went ahead and dumped yeast/trub into an open jar through a TC to hose fitting just to offer some restriction. It was just WLP001 so its not like its hard to get or anything. That didn't seem like a terrible way to dump so I may try harvesting yeast that way before buying anything else. It definitely would not work though if the yeast cake gets compacted before doing it.

I added the dry hop to the brink and did a few cycles of soak/push. This morning I see that from the leftover liquid that can't be pushed out of the brink its separated into half creamy yeast half beer. Since this is what was still actively working in the beer, not what was sitting on the bottom during the first dump, I wonder if this is enough to grow into a full starter?

 

[CodeSection]

OK, got down to close to FG last night and didn't have a ton of time to mess with things so I went ahead and dumped yeast/trub into an open jar through a TC to hose fitting just to offer some restriction. It was just WLP001 so its not like its hard to get or anything. That didn't seem like a terrible way to dump so I may try harvesting yeast that way before buying anything else. It definitely would not work though if the yeast cake gets compacted before doing it.

I added the dry hop to the brink and did a few cycles of soak/push. This morning I see that from the leftover liquid that can't be pushed out of the brink its separated into half creamy yeast half beer. Since this is what was still actively working in the beer, not what was sitting on the bottom during the first dump, I wonder if this is enough to grow into a full starter?

Good job! The hose gives much better control.

Yes, it is enough to grow into a full starter. I have read several times where starters were made from the small yeast that settles in bottles. I would imagine the smaller the harvest, the longer it will take.

Do you have a jar that small to pour the remaining yeast into so as there is no headspace left in the jar after pouring?

 

[matt_m]

No, I'd probably grow up a 1.5L starter immediately and split that in pint jars for storage. Then I'd grow each of those in a new starter for a batch of beer. I've had good luck doing that with fresh yeast.

 

[Jaybird]

Hey guys! So glad to see you all using and playing around with the brinks. I have had a HUGE request for a 4" sight glass version. You will not believe the capabilities of what we can add to that 4" cap! Crazy! We will be getting this up on the sight in a few days. the 4" sight is like 45+ ounces! Amazing! I will be doing a 2" and 3" to 4" SG adapter so for those of you that have the 2" and 3" version and want to go to the 4" We will be able to get you there.


Cheers
Jay

 

[CodeSection]

Hey guys! So glad to see you all using and playing around with the brinks. I have had a HUGE request for a 4" sight glass version. You will not believe the capabilities of what we can add to that 4" cap! Crazy! We will be getting this up on the sight in a few days. the 4" sight is like 45+ ounces! Amazing! I will be doing a 2" and 3" to 4" SG adapter so for those of you that have the 2" and 3" version and want to go to the 4" We will be able to get you there.


Cheers
Jay

@Jaybird, as you know, I have been very happy with your Yeast Brink 2" TC x 3" sight glass along with the TC 2" to 1.5" reducer and TC 45 degree elbow. I use them on both the dump valve and racking valve depending if I'm injecting hops, spices or gelatin. Everything works great!

Could you list the potential hop volume that one could put in each sight glass (1.5", 2", 3" and now 4")? I'm sure others would want to know as well.

Thanks.

 

[Broothru]

Hey guys! So glad to see you all using and playing around with the brinks. I have had a HUGE request for a 4" sight glass version. You will not believe the capabilities of what we can add to that 4" cap! Crazy! We will be getting this up on the sight in a few days. the 4" sight is like 45+ ounces! Amazing! I will be doing a 2" and 3" to 4" SG adapter so for those of you that have the 2" and 3" version and want to go to the 4" We will be able to get you there.


Cheers
Jay

Damn, Jay.

Why didn't you tell me a couple's months ago when I got my 3" sight? Just kidding, I really love the brink, even if I do have to do multiple 'injections' for large dry hoppings.

45+ oz. Wow. What a versatile tool. Guys and gals, you NEED one of these!

Brooo Brother

 

[k-daddy]

Hey guys! So glad to see you all using and playing around with the brinks. I have had a HUGE request for a 4" sight glass version. You will not believe the capabilities of what we can add to that 4" cap! Crazy! We will be getting this up on the sight in a few days. the 4" sight is like 45+ ounces! Amazing! I will be doing a 2" and 3" to 4" SG adapter so for those of you that have the 2" and 3" version and want to go to the 4" We will be able to get you there.


Cheers
Jay

I too have one of your Yeast Brinks that I use for dry hopping with my Spike conical... Love it. I have the quart size brink and when I do a large dry hop, I attach a short piece of 1-1/2" ID tubing to the downtube to reach the bottom of a 1/2 gallon jar. I do have one question though. How would you suggest I purge the air space between the top of the brinks exit tube, the 1-1/2" to 2" converter and the bottom of my 2" butterfly dump valve on the conical? Till now, I've been injecting co2 with the 2" TC clamp loose enough to allow for the o2 to escape before tightening and proceeding with the dry hop but I'm concerned that the space I describe above is holding o2 even after the purge as the o2 is lighter than the co2. If I open the dump valve and fill up the brink until beer flows out of the gas post, would the physics be such that the entire space from the butterfly valve down would flood completely, leaving no air/co2 space remaining or would that space remain "unflooded"?

 

[Jaybird]

@Jaybird, as you know, I have been very happy with your Yeast Brink 2" TC x 3" sight glass along with the TC 2" to 1.5" reducer and TC 45 degree elbow. I use them on both the dump valve and racking valve depending if I'm injecting hops, spices or gelatin. Everything works great!

Could you list the potential hop volume that one could put in each sight glass (1.5", 2", 3" and now 4")? I'm sure others would want to know as well.

Thanks.

You got it.
2" about 1-2 oz of pellet
3" about 4-6 oz of pellet
4" about 12-15 (maybe more) of pellet

The 4" sight glass is 48 OZ of volume. Its AWESOME!

Cheers
Jay

 

[Broothru]

I too have one of your Yeast Brinks that I use for dry hopping with my Spike conical... Love it. I have the quart size brink and when I do a large dry hop, I attach a short piece of 1-1/2" ID tubing to the downtube to reach the bottom of a 1/2 gallon jar. I do have one question though. How would you suggest I purge the air space between the top of the brinks exit tube, the 1-1/2" to 2" converter and the bottom of my 2" butterfly dump valve on the conical? Till now, I've been injecting co2 with the 2" TC clamp loose enough to allow for the o2 to escape before tightening and proceeding with the dry hop but I'm concerned that the space I describe above is holding o2 even after the purge as the o2 is lighter than the co2. If I open the dump valve and fill up the brink until beer flows out of the gas post, would the physics be such that the entire space from the butterfly valve down would flood completely, leaving no air/co2 space remaining or would that space remain "unflooded"?

If you flood the entire volume of the brink with beer from your fermenter, it should be evacuated of air (gas discharge post connected, of course). There would be some beer-air contact while the liquid is displacing the air, but it would only be for the few seconds while the brink gets flooded.

You could also put your hops in the brink, connect the TC to your dump port, then purge with CO2 under pressure just before you flood the brink. That might be even more thorough. I usually fill the hops into the brink, do a few quick sprays of an aqueous NaMeta solution into the downcomer, attach the brink and then flood it. My hope is that the sulfite mist is sufficient to absorb any O2 in the brink before I flood it.

There's not much O2 in the brink in any of the above scenarios, but it doesn't take much O2 to impact your beer in a negative way. One idea I've been thinking about is pitching some active speise (maybe 5-10 ml) into the brink with the hops, then attach and flood it. Let the active yeast scavenge O2 for 15 minutes or so before injecting it into the fermenter.

I think this type of yeast oxygen scavenging might have some promise, but I'm sure I haven't thought through all the factors. There may be some biobiotransformation issues with some certain hops and/or yeast strains.

LoDO gurus....your thoughts?

Brooo Brother

 

[Jaybird]

we

If you flood the entire volume of the brink with beer from your fermenter, it should be evacuated of air (gas discharge post connected, of course). There would be some beer-air contact while the liquid is displacing the air, but it would only be for the few seconds while the brink gets flooded.

You could also put your hops in the brink, connect the TC to your dump port, then purge with CO2 under pressure just before you flood the brink. That might be even more thorough. I usually fill the hops into the brink, do a few quick sprays of an aqueous NaMeta solution into the downcomer, attach the brink and then flood it. My hope is that the sulfite mist is sufficient to absorb any O2 in the brink before I flood it.

There's not much O2 in the brink in any of the above scenarios, but it doesn't take much O2 to impact your beer in a negative way. One idea I've been thinking about is pitching some active speise (maybe 5-10 ml) into the brink with the hops, then attach and flood it. Let the active yeast scavenge O2 for 15 minutes or so before injecting it into the fermenter.

I think this type of yeast oxygen scavenging might have some promise, but I'm sure I haven't thought through all the factors. There may be some biobiotransformation issues with some certain hops and/or yeast strains.

LoDO gurus....your thoughts?

Brooo Brother

we do sell a lot of these for guys that do want to purge the system before adding beer to the hops.

https://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Tri-Clover-2-Inch-Corny-Ball-Lock-Gas-Out.html

it gets installed in the bottom in place of the blank cap. We build the 1.5" 2" 3" and 4" TC

Cheers
Jay

 

[Broothru]

we

we do sell a lot of these for guys that do want to purge the system before adding beer to the hops.

https://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Tri-Clover-2-Inch-Corny-Ball-Lock-Gas-Out.html

it gets installed in the bottom in place of the blank cap. We build the 1.5" 2" 3" and 4" TC

Cheers
Jay

Perfect. I've seen the TC/ball lock fitting many times but for some reason never thought about installing it on the bottom of the sight glass brink and use it to flush the hops. Duh... oxygenation problem pretty much eliminated. Thanks, Jay!

Brooo Brother

 

[Jaybird]

Perfect. I've seen the TC/ball lock fitting many times but for some reason never thought about installing it on the bottom of the sight glass brink and use it to flush the hops. Duh... oxygenation problem pretty much eliminated. Thanks, Jay!

Brooo Brother

Absolutely! You bet Broo Brother!

Cheers
Jay

 

[Jayf19]

I have a 1/2 BBL Unitank; what size would be recommended between the 2", 3" and 4" ?

 

[Jaybird]

I have a 1/2 BBL Unitank; what size would be recommended between the 2", 3" and 4" ?

Probably the 3 or the 4 Just depends on what you plan to do with it exactly. If your going to dry hop and you do IPA's go big!

Cheers
Jay

 

[kingmatt]

we

we do sell a lot of these for guys that do want to purge the system before adding beer to the hops.

https://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Tri-Clover-2-Inch-Corny-Ball-Lock-Gas-Out.html

it gets installed in the bottom in place of the blank cap. We build the 1.5" 2" 3" and 4" TC

Cheers
Jay

When you are using the brink or yeast collector, do you need to have an open vent at the top of the conical? If so, aren't you pulling in oxygen as you dump the yeast/beer into the sight glass/mason jar?

I am thinking you could connect a gas manifold and hook up a C02 tank but I am not sure how you would determine what pressure to set it at to displace the liquid with CO2 (it looks like it dumps pretty quickly with the brink)...

 

[Broothru]

When you are using the brink or yeast collector, do you need to have an open vent at the top of the conical? If so, aren't you pulling in oxygen as you dump the yeast/beer into the sight glass/mason jar?

I am thinking you could connect a gas manifold and hook up a C02 tank but I am not sure how you would determine what pressure to set it at to displace the liquid with CO2 (it looks like it dumps pretty quickly with the brink)...

I'll jump in.

I have and use both the brink and the yeast harvester. With CO2 hooked up to either device you DO put CO2 into the fermenter, but not air if you purge adequately, regardless whether you are pressurized on unpressurized. When unpressurized, as long as you have an airlock in place the excess gas will vent without letting O2 in. When pressurized with a spunding valve in place the excess gas will vent when the tank pressure exceeds the value of the spund's set point.

In either case the CO2 input pressure only needs to exceed tank pressure by 1~2 psi to get a quick 'up siphoning' of yeast or dry hops with the brink. When dumping trub or harvesting yeast the pressure differential needs to be reversed, or just let gravity do the work. But when dumping or harvesting you'll need to vent using a gray QD fitting with gas line emptying into a blow off jar to allow the brink or harvester to displace the gas inside. The way to avoid suck back is to create 1~2 psi pressure inside the fermenter and then open the conical's lower dump valve. No air, no suck back.

Brooo Brother

 

[Jaybird]

@kingmatt

There is a view right around 2 min 40 sec of what you can expect to see in the kettle when using the exhaust port to vent the oxygen.

CHeers
Jay

 

[kingmatt]

@kingmatt

There is a view right around 2 min 40 sec of what you can expect to see in the kettle when using the exhaust port to vent the oxygen.

CHeers
Jay

Thanks, but I am assuming the lid was off the fermenter when you were filming that? My concern isn't air getting in through the dump port, as your device does a good job at venting that, it is pulling air in through the top of the fermenter when the yeast/trub drops into the jar. Sounds like connecting a CO2 tank at 2-3 psi while harvesting will do the trick though

 

[Jaybird]

Thanks, but I am assuming the lid was off the fermenter when you were filming that? My concern isn't air getting in through the dump port, as your device does a good job at venting that, it is pulling air in through the top of the fermenter when the yeast/trub drops into the jar. Sounds like connecting a CO2 tank at 2-3 psi while harvesting will do the trick though

Gotcha. Sorry I totally misunderstood. Yes absolutely adding a little pressure with a Co2 tank will work. What I do is use my Co2 harvesting kit and let it do it for me.

Cheers
Jay

 

[matt_m]

I got through my first use of the yeast brink OK. Doing a hazy IPA, I definitely tried to do too much hops at one time ended up with a bit of a mess but got through that.

I really disliked not having my sight glass. I guess I use more than I thought to see what's going on in my conical My setup pre-yeast brink was the sight glass, 90, and a valve. I'm thinking about setting up to use the brink like I've shown here. Is the extra 90 between the brink and the valve going to give me trouble?

 

[CodeSection]

I got through my first use of the yeast brink OK. Doing a hazy IPA, I definitely tried to do too much hops at one time ended up with a bit of a mess but got through that.

I really disliked not having my sight glass. I guess I use more than I thought to see what's going on in my conical My setup pre-yeast brink was the sight glass, 90, and a valve. I'm thinking about setting up to use the brink like I've shown here. Is the extra 90 between the brink and the valve going to give me trouble?View attachment 669058

No, that is how I have it setup. I like your straight sight glass setup. If you are worried about oxygen in the 90 degree elbow, you can loosen the TC at the outside of the valve and purge the yeast brink and 90 degree elbow with CO2 before opening the valve to allow beer to flow into the yeast brink and mix with the hops.

 

[Broothru]

I got through my first use of the yeast brink OK. Doing a hazy IPA, I definitely tried to do too much hops at one time ended up with a bit of a mess but got through that.

I really disliked not having my sight glass. I guess I use more than I thought to see what's going on in my conical My setup pre-yeast brink was the sight glass, 90, and a valve. I'm thinking about setting up to use the brink like I've shown here. Is the extra 90 between the brink and the valve going to give me trouble?

View attachment 669058

I wouldn't think it would. What's the inside diameter of the 90 degree pipes? Some are larger bore than others, and smaller might have some restriction. Gravity as well as any pressure you have in the tank should take care of it however.

I know what you mean about the sight glass. I've got a mini (~2") one that allows me to mount "dump port, sight glass, butterfly valve, yeast brink" in a single vertical drop with no bends. The biggest restriction is the I.D. of the mini sight glass which can create flow problems with trub dumping or yeast harvesting if I allow it to get too compacted. Cycling the butterfly valve or applying a couple psi of gas to the fermenter seems to get it flowing eventually. Just be patient and be ready to immediately close the valve when flow starts, because it can quickly fill the brink and also blow a hole through the trub or yeast inside the bottom of the conical's cone. If it does that you'll be 'dumping' beer while leaving leftover trub or unharvested yeast in the conical. Just crack the valve open enough that is slowly flows once you get it moving.

Brooo Brother

 

[matt_m]

I wouldn't think it would. What's the inside diameter of the 90 degree pipes? Some are larger bore than others, and smaller might have some restriction. Gravity as well as any pressure you have in the tank should take care of it however.

The sight glass, 90's, and valve all have approximately the same ID so that shouldn't be too much an issue. If I wait too long to do a dump, especially in a hoppy beer, and everything gets packed down in there I have seen flow issues like you mention with just the sight glass/90/valve.

 

[TheMadKing]

Okay - disregard that previous post.

For others that may have thought the same thing - here is the solution:

Attach the dry hop filled yeast brink to the conical but do not fully tighten the triclamp. Apply purge gas a few times and allow the purge to exit around the TC gasket. After purging a few times tighten triclamp and voila - O2 free dryhops

I know this is an old post on an old thread but searching hasn't readily revealed an answer

Has anyone actual checked to see if purging with CO2 like this ACTUALLY removes the oxygen? What pressure? How long?

I would appreciate some input from any of the scientifically minded among you - to my mind it would seem that the sudden influx of high pressure gas would make all kinds of crazy eddys that would effectively just make a mixture of air and CO2 unless you did it for a LONG time. I'm thinking of fluids as an analogy

Fill a bowl with milk, then spray water into it and see how long it takes for it to be totally clear with no sign of milk. Maybe this is a bad analogy though.

I want to buy one of these for my new conical for dry hopping, but I'm trying to think of a way to liquid purge it or something, in order to actually be sure the air is displaced.