Spunding for dummies

[Alex4mula]

Just a heads up on the cheap ($5-$6) pressure gauges. Not only they may not be accurate but also if you drop them or hit them a little hard with something they get damaged. Last time it happened to me I bought this TapRite one but time will tell how much better it is. With all things made in China now it is very difficult to gauge quality just by price when a 66% increase is still $10 :-\

https://www.homebrewing.org/Taprite-0-30-PSI-Gauge-RHT_p_5381.html

 

[pvpeacock]

I can't speak to their longevity, but I will say that the gauges I bought feel pretty solid with metal cases (not plastic).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...c=1&tag=homebrewtalk_skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Alex4mula]

I can't speak to their longevity, but I will say that the gauges I bought feel pretty solid with metal cases (not plastic).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...c=1&tag=homebrewtalk_skimlinks_replacement-20

A plastic one for sure I would skip. Never seen one plastic other than bike ones.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Just a heads up on the cheap ($5-$6) pressure gauges. Not only they may not be accurate but also if you drop them or hit them a little hard with something they get damaged. Last time it happened to me I bought this TapRite one but time will tell how much better it is. With all things made in China now it is very difficult to gauge quality just by price when a 66% increase is still $10 :-\

https://www.homebrewing.org/Taprite-0-30-PSI-Gauge-RHT_p_5381.html

I bought the Menard's set up when the Beverage Factory made me wait 12 weeks and still had no expected ship date so I said eff it. The idea hit while I was at Menards and saw the cheap gauges and regulators. I was sick of waiting. Said what the hell $10. Cheap considering the Beverage Factory wanted at $38+tax and shipping. It was low risk if you ask me.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Just a heads up on the cheap ($5-$6) pressure gauges. Not only they may not be accurate but also if you drop them or hit them a little hard with something they get damaged. Last time it happened to me I bought this TapRite one but time will tell how much better it is. With all things made in China now it is very difficult to gauge quality just by price when a 66% increase is still $10 :-\

https://www.homebrewing.org/Taprite-0-30-PSI-Gauge-RHT_p_5381.html

That's still a pretty good deal. My El Cheapo spund solution was out of necessity. I was really tired of getting no answers for an expected ship date from the online vendor. So it was really easy to just use a regular and retrofit it with a 0-60 psi gauge.

This is also a good low cost solution for somebody who wants to tinker and see the benefits of spunding.

Worth noting, after chilling my kegs, I connect just the serving line and dispense beer until it needs CO2. Then connect the gas.

 

[kmarkstevens]

@Schlenkerla How much of a keg do you dispense before you need to add CO2?

 

[Schlenkerla]

I'm guessing maybe 3-4 beers could be up to 6. I never really counted. I think that's rather close.

I think it depends on how full the keg was. The fuller, slightly more, beers as air space is compressible.

 

[cmac62]

Schlenkerla, that looks like a fairly simple DIY, as I am mechanically challenged. LOL. I'm going to look into this for sure. I want to be able to ferment and serve in the same keg. How much head space is required to ferment in a keg?

 

[cmac62]

Here's a spunding manifold that can be used for multiple kegs. There is a bit of a learning curve when using these. Gotta make sure you have plenty of head space and I've found it's better to wait on spunding until after the active fermentation has slowed down some. View attachment 635967View attachment 635968

This seems like a sweet setup also, as I usually have more than one beer fermenting at the same time. Maybe I can work it out with a splitter and the Schlenkerla's rig?

 

[Schlenkerla]

Schlenkerla, that looks like a fairly simple DIY, as I am mechanically challenged. LOL. I'm going to look into this for sure. I want to be able to ferment and serve in the same keg. How much head space is required to ferment in a keg?

That I can't tell you. I don't ferment in kegs. I think @schematix does. Maybe he'll chime in here with an answer for you.

 

[Schlenkerla]

This seems like a sweet setup also, as I usually have more than one beer fermenting at the same time. Maybe I can work it out with a splitter and the Schlenkerla's rig?

If you do, T off the low pressure side. Keep the high pressure side plugged.

The low pressure side is typically marked with the arrow pointing out of the regulator in the die cast body.

 

[schematix]

That I can't tell you. I don't ferment in kegs. I think @schematix does. Maybe he'll chime in here with an answer for you.

I used to ferment in kegs. Never fermented and served in the same one though.

Max volume depended on the yeast. Something like US-05 is a monster and will blow out with as little as 4.25G. I was able to do very cold fermented lagers to the top weld. That's around 4.75G. It would still blow out a little bit there wasn't significant loss.

It was a pretty good method except cleaning kegs is a huge hassle. I bought a conical to ferment in and its better, but still a hassle to clean.

 

[cmac62]

I used to ferment in kegs. Never fermented and served in the same one though.

Max volume depended on the yeast. Something like US-05 is a monster and will blow out with as little as 4.25G. I was able to do very cold fermented lagers to the top weld. That's around 4.75G. It would still blow out a little bit there wasn't significant loss.

It was a pretty good method except cleaning kegs is a huge hassle. I bought a conical to ferment in and its better, but still a hassle to clean.

Thanks for the response. I know there is a thread on HBT about fermenting and serving in the same keg, but since I got you here, did you ferment under pressure, and did you have the spunding valve on during krausen? Thanks

 

[schematix]

Thanks for the response. I know there is a thread on HBT about fermenting and serving in the same keg, but since I got you here, did you ferment under pressure, and did you have the spunding valve on during krausen? Thanks

I did it a few ways. I wasn’t a fan of pressure fermenting except for it helped the kraussen down. The negatives outweighed the benefit though.

If you do try it just make sure you have a way to prevent blow off from getting into your spund valve.

 

[Tartan1]

I did it a few ways. I wasn’t a fan of pressure fermenting except for it helped the kraussen down. The negatives outweighed the benefit though.

If you do try it just make sure you have a way to prevent blow off from getting into your spund valve.

Just curious, aside from the blow off getting into the spund valve, is it the actual process or the final quality of the beer that contributes to negatives side?

 

[schematix]

Just curious, aside from the blow off getting into the spund valve, is it the actual process or the final quality of the beer that contributes to negatives side?

Easy to solve the blow off getting into the spund valve problem.

Issue I always had was slow ferments and ferments that didn’t finish. Both are issues I never had once I went to my conical. Of course I am one data point and YMMV.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

I used to ferment in kegs. Never fermented and served in the same one though.

Max volume depended on the yeast. Something like US-05 is a monster and will blow out with as little as 4.25G.

I'm curious if you ever used Fermcap-S to help avoid blowouts? I've heard that it works pretty well, but if you got blowoffs at 4.25G even with Fermcap, then that's definitely a limiting factor to fermenting in kegs. I planned on shooting for 4.5G when I ferment, and I typically use US-05.