Spike Force Carb/Closed Transfer

[KookyBrewsky]

About to transfer my bug beer after a year long brew hiatus with all the new QOL materials I've gained.

First thing is first. I don't have a glycol chiller, I use a cooler with ice for temp control in my conical. That means cold crashing for many days is a bit difficult. Am I able to force carb (15psi) in my Spike conical without cold crashing, and what would be the maximum temp you'd force carb at? If I need to cold crash, I will, hopefully it'll be in the keg and kegerator after just a single day anyway.

Cheers

 

[Golddiggie]

The PRV on the manifold (you should have one with the conical) trips at/by 15psi. Which means you might not be able to go that high.

I typically force card in conical at either 36F or 38F. I'm using the Spike carbonating stone item with that. I also found that it's better to give the batch a few days to fully carbonate before moving to keg, or other packages (I can the beer).

Keep in mind, the stone has a 'wetting pressure' of 4psi. Which means you need to add 4psi to whatever you plan to use with the beer. It can also take some hours for the CO2 to get through the stone and into the beer enough to increase the pressure in the conical.

I've done several batches this way so far. The ones that I've let carb for two days haven't been as carbonated as those I let go three or four days. I also give the batch a day after the CO2 stops to settle down. All at carbonating temperature.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

The PRV on the manifold (you should have one with the conical) trips at/by 15psi. Which means you might not be able to go that high.

I typically force card in conical at either 36F or 38F. I'm using the Spike carbonating stone item with that. I also found that it's better to give the batch a few days to fully carbonate before moving to keg, or other packages (I can the beer).

Keep in mind, the stone has a 'wetting pressure' of 4psi. Which means you need to add 4psi to whatever you plan to use with the beer. It can also take some hours for the CO2 to get through the stone and into the beer enough to increase the pressure in the conical.

I've done several batches this way so far. The ones that I've let carb for two days haven't been as carbonated as those I let go three or four days. I also give the batch a day after the CO2 stops to settle down. All at carbonating temperature.

Sorry, I should've specified I wasn't going to carb at 15psi, lol. Just didn't know if those reading knew it capped at 15 psi. I checked out their carb chart and the Spike range being below 15 definitely favors colder temps. I will have to try

I will have to buy some 2 liter bottles and freeze/exchange them. I think it's more cost effective and less wasteful than bags of ice, of which I've only purchased 3-4 bags the entire time I've been brewing. I've mostly used filled 12oz plastic bottles and swapped them, but during active ferment having to swap a couple bottles every few hours really becomes tiresome, and often they're not even refrozen yet. So I'm going to try out 2L soda bottles if I can find any... I don't drink soda. I will dump it if I have to or buy some nasty seltzer water.

I'm going to have to get it down to 35F-40F it looks like, as you said. I wonder how hard that will be with swapping 2L soda bottles. Maybe since there's no melting as with ice, and if I use just enough water to cover the pump inside the cooler, it could last a while.

 

[Golddiggie]

When I was getting ready to order my conical fermenters (I have a pair of the CF10 model currently) I also purchased a glycol chiller to feed the chill coil (also ordered one per conical). Makes maintaining ferment temperature (in the summer) easy as well as allows me to chill to harvest the yeast and then cool further to carbonate. No dealing with ice and such. Plus, ice will only get you so far. To get the batch to 36F, I set it to around 20F (the main temperature for the glycol solution). You need the cooling media lower than your target by more than a few degrees.

I recently changed the tubing from vinyl to silicon going from the chiller to the chill coil ports. I had to use some 1/2" OD stainless tubing to bridge the Spike connections to the new tubing (since 3/8" ID silicone tubing has an OD of 5/8" and the fittings are made to work with 1/2" OD tubing). I'm also using thicker insulation on the lines than what Spike provides. A solid 1/2" wall thickness on mine, compared with the very thin material Spike provides (IIRC, 1/8" wall). With the thicker insulation you really don't get much, if any, condensation on the lines. I was getting a LOT during the warmer months.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

I just can’t afford that. I’d rather DIY a glycol chiller with a $50-$100 used AC unit than save up to drop $1,000 or more on a pro version.

I will test the $4 solution for now with as little water as the pump can manage.