Top-working yeast in a jacketed conical?

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OpenFermenter

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I'm hoping my attempts at producing particular real ale clones (because I'm homesick!) will improve with temperature control using an 8 gallon jacketed conical fermenter (once it is available again from brewers hardware) and a glycol chiller . Has anyone any advice for using a top-cropping yeast (I prefer Wyeast 1469) in a conical? In my bucket in a keezer I would remove the "first dirt" from the top with the lid off after a couple of days, then close it, finish fermenting, rack to cask, prime and fine and sit it in the keezer to condition. Has anyone any advicefor making real ale in a jacketed conical with top-cropping yeast? Is a jacketed conical even going to make much difference or should I concentrate on other aspects of the process?
 
temperature control is a great thing to have. It’s probably a bit cheaper to use a submerged triclamp cooling coil.

my conical is kind of a PIA. I couldn’t imagine working inside it while keeping sterile-ish
 
Jacketed has two benefits for you to be concerned with: they are easier to clean, and have more surface area for temperature control. It has one negative: they are expensive.

I have no expertise in removing anything from a fermentor, unless it is done fermenting. Is there any particular reason you want to remove yeast from your Ale?
 
temperature control is a great thing to have. It’s probably a bit cheaper to use a submerged triclamp cooling coil.

my conical is kind of a PIA. I couldn’t imagine working inside it while keeping sterile-ish

That's probably the more sensible solution especially at this scale. And can scoop off the first dirt easily that way (assuming that matters which I still don't really know, having done both but also had other things change in the process and not seen a marked difference so maybe not).
 
Jacketed has two benefits for you to be concerned with: they are easier to clean, and have more surface area for temperature control. It has one negative: they are expensive.

I have no expertise in removing anything from a fermentor, unless it is done fermenting. Is there any particular reason you want to remove yeast from your Ale?

I am still keen to try a jacketed conical even if the cooling coil is the more sensible solution at this scale, they are on backorder now to the end of November now though, but swmbo has given the green light!

I want to remove the "first dirt" that appears after about 24-36 hours with top cropping Wyeast 1469 as I've read where breweries remove it first, but maybe that is just so the subsequent yeast they harvest hasn't been stressed as much. Not sure whether letting it fall in later will have a bad effect.

Apologies for my delay in replying to both posts!
 
An odd combo, in my mind, a conical and a top-cropping yeast. I'd be tempted to invert the conical, I think. I dump the first skim, which is usually a mix of ejected trub and desiccated yeast that form when the yeast head begins to develop slow enough, initially, for the outer layer to dry. However, leaving it alone isn't going to ruin a beer. If you insist on using a conical (I find scaled down versions marketed to home brewers to be more unnecessary than anything else) to ferment wort with a decent top cropper I'd say you have a couple options available. Brew a half batch or, if possible, fit an extender to the conical, to act as a yeast trough. I don't use a conical FV, but I have opted for the latter extension to my FV.

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That's a great looking Yorkshire square setup! I'm tempted to do as you say and put something like that on top of my jacketed conical for the first few days of fermenting (it will arrive next month hopefully, and yes it is totally unnecessary)

How much space do you leave in the barrel or do you fill to the top of the pipe joining them? (Apologies for four month turn around time!)
 
Filled to the top of the pipe, which helps trap healthy yeast in the yeast trough on top. By the time fermentation is done much of the active yeast is off the beer, which is already going bright. I've noticed some conicals have very adaptable looking ports and pipework, so a Yorkshire square fermentation should be easy to set up.
 
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