Speidel 60L blow off

[Octavius]

Well, I'm excited to make my first brew in this. I'm planning on 15 gal so I need a decent sized blow off tube. Will that do the job? Ha!

Criticisms welcome. It's 1 1/2" Sch 40 PVC piping from Home Depot. Inexpensive and fun to work with. The long pipe is connected to a threaded adapter. This partially screws into the Spiedel lid. Obviously, it is cross-threaded but I think it will hold and won't leak.

Incidentally, does anyone know where 15 gal would come up to?

Cheers!

 

[Derp]

View attachment 172037
Incidentally, does anyone know where 15 gal would come up to?

60 liters is 15.85 gallons, so it will be VERY close to the top. I do 10-gallon batches and they usually wind up around the indented line about 2/3 of the way up.

I ferment in a chest freezer, so the only blow-off device that will fit is another Speidel spigot on top with a hose connected to it. I've never even come close to needing it with 10 gallons, so I don't know why I bother.

MoreBeer claims that the handles can handle 66 pounds each (132 pounds when using both) so theoretically they should be able to take the full weight, but I'd be worried about dropping 15 gallons of wort/beer if they failed. I use a diaphragm pump (filling and draining from the bottom spigot) because there's no way I'm lifting a hundred pounds into my chest freezer.

 

[Octavius]

Thanks for the post, Derp.
Yeah, you can't see from the photo, but it's on a piece of 3/4" plywood with 4 HD castors.
I'm slightly worried about that - if the Spiedel falls over in the kitchen I think I'm sleeping in the potting shed for good.
Why do I have to push it to the limit.
I only brew ales so hopefully the fermentation will not get too hot in our kitchen. I'm planning on using a Chugger pump to rack to 3 kegs.
Cheers!

 

[Hello]

That's hardcore.

 

[c3hutson]

Thanks for the post, Derp. Yeah, you can't see from the photo, but it's on a piece of 3/4" plywood with 4 HD castors. I'm slightly worried about that - if the Spiedel falls over in the kitchen I think I'm sleeping in the potting shed for good. Why do I have to push it to the limit. I only brew ales so hopefully the fermentation will not get too hot in our kitchen. I'm planning on using a Chugger pump to rack to 3 kegs. Cheers!

Pretty sure you don't want to use that type of pump on fermented beer.

 

[Octavius]

Hello,
Well, I was expecting a pretty large amount of blow off putting 15 gal in there, basically up to the top. I think people have done 15 gal in this, by the way

c3,
Yeah, that was also in the back of my mind.
Think I'll make a 10 gal batch first, at least.
Aluminum foil over the hole in the lid (like Derp says, no real need for a blow off tube) and then the jumbo air lock after a couple of days - is that how most folks do it?
Cheers!

 

[Derp]

Pretty sure you don't want to use that type of pump on fermented beer.

I agree. Chugger pumps are like March pumps, right? Don't they need to be gravity fed (lower than the output of the fermenting vessel)?

I'd also be concerned that the Mason jar might not be big enough to contain the blowoff and any sanitizer/water that might be used as an airlock during early fermentation.

 

[Renoun]

Isn't the vertical pipe running into the jar a bit short? It looks like you'd have to fill the jar to within an inch or so of the top which wouldn't leave much room to contain blow-off. Perhaps it would work better with some sort of pitcher or some other taller container.

 

[Seven]

Watch out for fruit flies or other flying pests.

 

[Octavius]

C3 and Derp,
Wow, I'm glad you posted. That kinda screws up my plans big time. Why can't you use the Chugger to transfer the fermented wort? Please reply!

Renoun,
Hmm. I just let the blow off tube dangle in jar normally. No sterilizing solution in the jar. Then I collect the blow off - which I bottle. Hey! Waste not, want not. Then I stick on an air lock when fermentation subsides.

Seven,
Yeah, I normally wrap aluminum foil tightly around the blow off tubing and mason jar.

Cheers!

 

[Derp]

C3 and Derp,
Wow, I'm glad you posted. That kinda screws up my plans big time. Why can't you use the Chugger to transfer the fermented wort? Please reply!

As far as I know, the input of Chugger/March pumps needs to be lower than the output of the source vessel; they won't suck air like a diaphragm pump. I assume you'll either need to raise the Speidel spigot above the Chugger or find a way to prime the pump first.

I ferment in a chest freezer, so a diaphragm pump is the only way I can pump fermented beer from the bottom spigot of the Speidel (essentially floor-level), over the top of the freezer and into kegs. There's no reasonable way that I could lift 10 gallons of beer high enough to to prime my March pump by gravity.

 

[Octavius]

Oh, OK, Derp. I can get the pump lower than the Speidel, so I'm good to go. Thanks for the clarification.