Pressurized Closed Loop Corny Keg Fermenting

[BeerFst]

Yeast stop working at pressures in excess of 150PSI so you shouldn't worry about that. On the other hand, since you didn't measure gravity you should worry about not having enough fermentables to reach desired carbonation.

I tried to keep the question simple without adding too much info, which i tend to do, and then just confuse everyone that reads it. I though i had read that other yeasts don't love being under pressure, not that they throw off flavors, but that they slow down or stall entirely, and so i was curious if 090 was one of these.

I brewed this beer last Sunday 4/28, pitched at 64, set temp to 65. On Thursday night i bumped temp to 70 (probrewer forums suggestion) and threw on the spund at ~28PSI since ferm had slowed per my first post. I didnt take a reading Thursday, if i had i would have delayed the spund. On Friday, expecting to be able to dry hop, I did take a gravity reading, and it was at 1.020, which is what caused me to throw up the question. Predicted FG is 1.011, using 80% attenuation as suggested by brewers friend. Mash temp was 151, so it seemed reasonable i would hit that, also low caramel malts. its a ~4.5g batch, the grist is

7lbs 2 row
2lbs malted rye
5oz C60
10 oz carapils


This is my first use of 090, but everything i have read suggested it was going to chew through the wort. I wasnt expecting Kviek speed, but I've had Juice chew thru most of a beer in 4-5 days, so i expected similar. Since ferm was slowing on day 4 i had expected to be much closer to predicted terminal than 10 points off. I dropped the spund to ~20 at the time and I let that grav sample hang out at atmosphere over night (5/4) and ferm kicked up again, so it hasnt completely stalled. By the next day it was down to 1.018 or so, I then threw the small sample on a stir plate to attempt a forced ferm test, which resulted in 1.012, so the predicted grav seems reasonable, but without head pressure. Another sample taken monday night was only 1.015, so improving just VERY slowly, circling back to my question if anyone has had issues with the yeast stalling early with head pressure.

I'm not terribly worried even if it stopped at 1.015, just a tad sweeter than expected. more asking for next time i use this yeast (overbuilt starters) if i should let it go without the spund for full or faster attenuation. I'm also not terribly upset if i get 80% of the carb from spund and need to bottle gas to get it to 100%.

 

[stickyfinger]

when i do IPAs in cornys now I put the keg into the beer fridge after spunding and let it rest for at least a few days to a week before transferring to another keg. I had problems doing the gravity, closed-system transfer so now I push it out at about 20psi and use a spund valve on the receiving keg set slightly lower, maybe 15 psi. works well.

 

[LittlejohnBrew]

Do any of you ever transfer to a keg that has recently been finished and not cleaned? I have a pale ale that probably has only a few pints left and thinking about leaving it in the kegerator once done and kept cold under pressure. I have a raspberry wheat ale fermenting now and considering using the pale ale keg as my serving keg.

Seems like the residual trub from the pale ale will be diluted and dropped out after the wheat ale is transfer and left to cold crash for a few days. Also kept cold and under pressure risk of contamination should be minimal. Or maybe this is a bad idea and I shouldn't be such a lazy bum?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Yes, I've done it. Contamination risk is low. I've only done it where the new beer used the same yeast as the previous one though.

 

[cmac62]

Following. Thanks for all the info.

 

[jerrylotto]

A. To make the FV first you need to bend the liquid dip tube to reach the side wall of the keg. This should put you about an inch off the bottom so you'll avoid all the yeast. If in doubt bend a little more and if you're leaving too much beer, then bend it further back. You may have to dial this in a little over a few

Instead of bending the dip tube, what about putting a cup under it? Maybe the plastic inside of a bubbler? That way, liquid would have to enter at the top of the cup, off the bottom and you don't need to mess with your tubing. Add some mesh aournd the top of the cup to filter out dry hops too.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Instead of bending the dip tube, what about putting a cup under it? Maybe the plastic inside of a bubbler? That way, liquid would have to enter at the top of the cup, off the bottom and you don't need to mess with your tubing. Add some mesh aournd the top of the cup to filter out dry hops too.

Something like this will work. What I do is use one of those mesh hop canisters and drill a hole in the top for the dip tube to enter. You'll still likely have to modify your dip tube though. I have to cut a little bit off mine to shorter it, because it doesn't have that valley in the bottom of the keg to sit in with the canister there.

 

[cheesebach]

Has anyone here who'd made the switch from fermenting 5 gallons in buckets or similarly wide vessels to fermenting in 5g corny kegs noticed any impact on the typical attenuation due to the switch? I've recently had a couple of beers (using WY1968, so a very flocculent strain) stall out around 1.030 (about 10 points higher than expected based on the OG of 1.070 and recipe) and was wondering whether the tall/narrow aspect of the keg could be a contributing factor due to the yeast bed having a smaller surface area relative to the volume. I probably should just avoid using this yeast again in the future, but I'm curious about what could be causing it, since the mash pH and efficiency numbers all seemed to be on target.

 

[tieflyer]

ok, i love the idea of doing this!!! But dumb question, i would like to ferment in a keg, then have it moved to my serving keg, but also be able to maybe bottle half of the batch. Yes i know, why bottle if I have it in serving keg?, well i would like to brew a batch with a buddy of mine, and then give him half of the brew in bottles so he can drink it whenever he feels like it instead of having to come over to my place and either grab a growler of it, or whatever.

I have seen the posts to build a beer gun etc, but that's beyond me right now so wasn't sure how to move it out to bottles.

 

[jerrylotto]

Low pressure and a bottling wand does all that you need. Or you can move half to your serving keg and the other half to a bottling bucket.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

ok, i love the idea of doing this!!! But dumb question, i would like to ferment in a keg, then have it moved to my serving keg, but also be able to maybe bottle half of the batch. Yes i know, why bottle if I have it in serving keg?, well i would like to brew a batch with a buddy of mine, and then give him half of the brew in bottles so he can drink it whenever he feels like it instead of having to come over to my place and either grab a growler of it, or whatever.

I have seen the posts to build a beer gun etc, but that's beyond me right now so wasn't sure how to move it out to bottles.

Depends on what type of beer and storage period. If it's a hoppy beer you'll probably need to use a counter pressure filler of some kind to have any reasonable shelf life. Although I think alot of people oxidize their beers and just don't notice, which is fine. If you're kegging half and bottling half you'll be able to tell if there's a difference and your bottling method is effective.