Rack to keg as secondary?

[Tony B]

So, I’m brewing a Belgian single tonight, Wednesday night . I will be fermenting in my Fermzilla all rounder. I am considering letting it go until mid day Sunday and racking it over to a keg so I can brew another batch to run in the Fermzilla. Then using a QD with tubing as a blowoff to let the Belgian finish up.
Is this a bad idea?

 

[day_trippr]

It's a complication, but depending on how quickly the yeast takes off, probably not "bad". Sunday afternoon would be around 3-1/2 days post-pitch, so a slow take-off might put you in the middle of peak krausen which could make racking tricky; a quick take-off could shift that earlier making the racking easier.

Overpitch and hope for the best?

Cheers!

 

[Tony B]

It's a complication, but depending on how quickly the yeast takes off, probably not "bad". Sunday afternoon would be around 3-1/2 days post-pitch, so a slow take-off might put you in the middle of peak krausen which could make racking tricky; a quick take-off could shift that earlier making the racking easier.

Overpitch and hope for the best?

Cheers!

Yeah. I will watch fermentation and hopefully see it dropping off rapidly or may decide to abort. I am pitching a fat starter. Hopefully in about another 30 minutes.

 

[DuncB]

It's Belgian I'd just ferment it in a bucket.

 

[Tony B]

It's Belgian I'd just ferment it in a bucket.

I thought about that but then forgot to grab my old fermenter bucket from storage.
That will be the plan for next time.

 

[Tony B]

When I checked on fermentation this morning it was just kind of getting going. When I got home from work, full Krausen and had already pushed a full keg of starsan into my packaging keg. I swapped the kegs and was excited for the progress. Then realized that my plans for Sunday will certainly be dictated by making sure the women in my life enjoy Mother’s Day and I may not be brewing after all.

 

[Tony B]

Update…
Got home from work to find the krausen had completely fallen. I pitched at about 69F and let it free rise to 74F and held it there.
Still not likely that I’ll brew this weekend with Mother’s Day on Sunday.
Happy weekend to all the Muthas out there.

 

[JJFlash]

I brew almost exclusively Belgian style beers. From the conical fermenter towards the end of fermentation beer gets transferred to kegs under CO2 to finish fermentation. Two kegs with FloTIT's and spundig's. They can sit in the kegs and finish out fermentation to terminal gravity. Then add finings and chill. They can sit in the kegs for weeks clearing and lagering for flavor. Then CO2 transfer to serving kegs. All transfers are with full CO2. Took me years to work this out and works quite well for me.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I like JJ Flashes method but I was going to suggest rather than using the gas QD to vent during fermentation, use a keg lid with the PR removed and a blow off tube in it's place.

 

[mac_1103]

my plans for Sunday will certainly be dictated by making sure the women in my life enjoy Mother’s Day

As I always remind the kids, she's not MY mother. OTOH, we will make her day bright by visiting HER mother. Thankfully at a brewery.

 

[VTMongoose]

I brew almost exclusively Belgian style beers. From the conical fermenter towards the end of fermentation beer gets transferred to kegs under CO2 to finish fermentation. Two kegs with FloTIT's and spundig's. They can sit in the kegs and finish out fermentation to terminal gravity. Then add finings and chill. They can sit in the kegs for weeks clearing and lagering for flavor. Then CO2 transfer to serving kegs. All transfers are with full CO2. Took me years to work this out and works quite well for me.

Interesting process. Why not wait until terminal, then transfer to keg? I guess it saves you from having to transfer to keg under pressure and/or spund in the first place?

 

[JJFlash]

Interesting process. Why not wait until terminal, then transfer to keg? I guess it saves you from having to transfer to keg under pressure and/or spund in the first place?

I have used both methods successfully. Transfer towards the tail end of fermentation adds a bit of insurance that any oxygen remnants introduced during transfer are removed with active fermentation. A technique to minimize beer oxidation.

 

[VTMongoose]

I have used both methods successfully. Transfer towards the tail end of fermentation adds a bit of insurance that any oxygen remnants introduced during transfer are removed with active fermentation. A technique to minimize beer oxidation.

Hey man. I would like to try your process today on a beer I've got finishing up fermentation. It's a Rochefort 8 clone at around 1.026 as of this morning, just bumped up the temp two days ago and it looks like it's about to exit the stationary phase so I'm guessing this is when I want to rack it. Out of curiosity, after the beer reaches terminal, why do you fine the beer and lager it, then transfer it yet again to a serving keg thereafter? I have fermented/served loads of beers directly in the keg I perform primary fermentation in multiple times without detecting any off flavors of autolysis, although I am using primarily kegs with floating dip tubes.

I have like 8 Pills so I'll throw one into the keg I'm transferring into (prior to filling with starsan and purging it with CO2) so I can monitor the remainder of the fermentation. What pressure do you typically spund to? I have never spunded an esterey beer style before.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

The reason to transfer the beer after conditioning is that the yeast has dropped to the bottom of the keg. Since you use a floating dip tube gizmo, you don't pick up that bottom sludge.

 

[VTMongoose]

The reason to transfer the beer after conditioning is that the yeast has dropped to the bottom of the keg. Since you use a floating dip tube gizmo, you don't pick up that bottom sludge.

He said his kegs have FloTIT's which is why I asked. It is a fancy brand of floating dip tube.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

He said his kegs have FloTIT's which is why I asked. It is a fancy brand of floating dip tube.

Yes I did read that from the post, I was just stating why someone would transfer beer to another keg.

I have them on some of my kegs and some not.

 

[JJFlash]

My technique:
Transfer from conical fermenter few points shy of terminal gravity to keg with FloTIT and spundig at 4-5 psi.
Keg sits at fermentation temperature for about one week until terminal gravity.
Inject finings and into cold storage, could sit here for weeks depending upon beer OG, big beers longer than small beers.
Transfer to serving keg (no FloTIT) and C02 carbonation.
Minimizes sludge at bottom of serving keg.