Pressure fermenting questions - Doppelbock

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luckybeagle

Making sales and brewing ales.
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I have a Fermzilla with Doppelbock on day 2 of fermentation. It's at 11PSI and room temperature (70F). I began fermentation with the dump valve open to collect trub in the collection cup, which is very full. I don't want to save the yeast from this beer as it's a 1.076 OG and a Lager strain (Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager).

My questions are:
  1. Should I dump the trub now, once fermentation slows, or after it completes?
  2. If I want to bottle condition and bottle this beer for long-term storage and aging, can I still do that after a pressure fermentation? It seems like it will be very saturated with CO2 at that point, and maybe unlikely to properly carb? Or maybe it would overcarb?
  3. Piggyback to question 2: Is it possible to bottle prime after pressure fermentation? If not, would using my keg and counterpressure filler be a better method?
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I have a Fermzilla with Doppelbock on day 2 of fermentation. It's at 11PSI and room temperature (70F). I began fermentation with the dump valve open to collect trub in the collection cup, which is very full. I don't want to save the yeast from this beer as it's a 1.076 OG and a Lager strain (Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager).

My questions are:
  1. Should I dump the trub now, once fermentation slows, or after it completes?
  2. If I want to bottle condition and bottle this beer for long-term storage and aging, can I still do that after a pressure fermentation? It seems like it will be very saturated with CO2 at that point, and maybe unlikely to properly carb? Or maybe it would overcarb?
  3. Piggyback to question 2: Is it possible to bottle prime after pressure fermentation? If not, would using my keg and counterpressure filler be a better method?
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Just came across your post from last year. What did you end up doing, and how did the doppelbock come out? I'm very interested in the whole idea of brewing lagers this way.
 
Just came across your post from last year. What did you end up doing, and how did the doppelbock come out? I'm very interested in the whole idea of brewing lagers this way.

Hi, I pressure fermented the Doppelbock at room temp (but pitched slightly lower than room temp). Overall I was not a fan of the Doppelbock, but I squarely blame that particular yeast as I've yet to turn a beer on that one (believe it was Bavarian Lager yeast) that I've truly enjoyed. This was also before I started brewing with RO water and building a water profile, so that might also be part of it.

I pressure ferment regularly now and find WY1007 German Ale to be a star player for the types of beers I brew. A simple Kolsch grist with 1007 at 15psi and room temperature has consistently produced a beer I love to drink with no noticeable off flavors, fusels, or undesirable esters.

I've not yet tried a super yeast-dependent beer under pressure, such as a Belgian-anything, but for the Dusseldorf Altbier and Pseudo-Kolsch that I currently have on tap, along with a few other styles, I've been very happy.

I would assume that this technique would work just fine for more traditional lagers and definitely would not be afraid to try it. Just make sure your spunding valve is set to 15 or so PSI before you rely on it. Since pressure usually builds to this level within 24 hours of pitching, my theory is that capturing and holding the pressure early on keeps undesirables in check before things can get wonky in there. I also do not use the attached yeast catch and instead use a floating dip tube to rack clear beer after crashing. The all-rounder is the version of this without the dump valve which, if pulling the beer off the yeast is not super important to you, I would opt for that version (it's also like $$80+ cheaper). I used the yeast catch two or three times and concluded it wasn't worth the hassle, potential for leakage, etc. I ended up buying two more fermzillas (an all-rounder and a non pressure-rated one) and will probably rarely use my glass carboys again unless something needs lonnnng bulk conditioning.
 
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