Triclamp sample valve

[Bugaboo]

Does anyone use this valve from brewershardware? http://www.brewershardware.com/1-1.5-Tri-Clover-X-1-2-Sample-Valve.html

I'm on the verge of buying a brewhemoth fermenter and would like to place it at the racking position of the fermenter. I know it would work well for sampling, but using it for transfers would be nice. Will it have a decent enough flow rate for transfers?

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

Yeah I have one on my Brewhemoth... it'll work fine for what you are looking to do. Just be aware that while the website says the barb is 1/2" it is actually closer to 3/8"... I have to really clamp down 1/2" silicone tubing to get a tight seal on it.

 

[Bugaboo]

Thanks for the quick reply. How are you measuring temp?
I have a big enough fridge for the brewhemoth and I'm looking at where to place a themowell or maybe to just attach a RTD sensor to the outside of the fermeter.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I use a long thermowell that goes in from the top, measures the core temp while fermenting.

 

[StMarcos]

Don't need a thermowell on the brewhemoth. Tape the rtd to the outside and tape on some pipe insulation. I have a thermowell on mine, sideport, and the taped rtds are both more accurate and faster in their response.

 

[Bugaboo]

I probably end up taping my sensor on the outside because I'm cheap and already have one. If I have a problem I'll switch up.

How do you guys go about cleaning? CIP ball?

 

[Landshark67]

Combo:

CIP spray ball (PBW) and usually some visual inspection and star san.

So far, the CIP seems to do a great job but I'm always interested in seeing the inside of the brewhemuth.

 

[Bugaboo]

What size CIP ball do you use? wondering because it seems a lot of people have trouble getting them to spin

 

[StMarcos]

The plastic one from mcmaster

 

[Landshark67]

Standard stainless spray ball. Mine was purchased from St. pats. I've found that the key to an effective spray ball is the flow rate. I use a 30 gal per minute pump that pulls fluid from a 20 gal Rubbermaid tub.

If you have a weaker pump you could go with a plastic spray ball. The thing is, you need good pressure to do more than just spin the ball. I can spin the spray ball off of my garden hose but it's not strong enough to really flush enough fluid volume.

When using PBW the spray ball will self lubricate...it helps a bit. I had to blast some air into the spray ball when it first arrived to clear out some grit. Afterwards I used a little food grade lubricant on the contact points. Since then, no issues.

Brew on!

 

[Bugaboo]

Just ordered my brewhemoth. Also ordered all the TC parts. Didn't go with the sample valve. Have a butterfly on both bottom valves. 1/2" 90 degree barb fitting for CIP. 1.5" TC to male beer thread for tranfers. Might connect a cobra tap to the beer thread for sampling or just lightly open a butterfly through the barb fitting and into hydro cylinder. Not accustom to butterfly valves yet, but I've heard they can be gently opened for sampling. Also I went with the spunding setup for the top.

Not ordering CIP ball yet. Gonna clean by soaking and by hand until I get a feel for what I want for CIP. I'm gonna also try recirculating with my 1/6 hp pump through a 1/2" line with a loc line head on the end. It'll be kind of a cleaning wand to get into tight space, mainly for the top inside of the brewhemoth.

This 20 day lead time is killing me. Can't wait to get this thing out of the box!

 

[Bugaboo]

Here's my cleaning wand I just built. It's hooked to my house hot water right now, but I've used it with my 1/6th hp sump pump and you have to hold on tight to keep it from slipping out of your hand because of pressure. Hope it works to hit the krausen line on my brehemoth. It's just a piece of pvc with locline with a narrow spray nozzle on end. I had the locline and the hose barb, so it cost me $2 dollars to make. Probably end up making different lengths for different cleaning situations.

Prefer not to fill the brewhemoth for soaking and prefer not to buy a cip ball and stronger pump until I absolutely need to, so I'll be spraying pbw solution everywhere and letting soak for 30 min then coming back with pbw at high pressure to see if cake is loosened or not. Scrubbing if need be. Keep ya posted on effectiveness.

 

[cscade]

With the Brewer's Hardware sample valve, can you pressure transfer to a keg? Before I buy the fittings needed to connect to a pressurized keg, I was curious if anyone has done so.

The main thing I am concerned about is if the sample valve o-rings that seal the stem can deal with ~30psi of pressure or if the valve will leak around the stem once open.

 

[Landshark67]

In my experience a transfer at 30 psi or anything close will result in a lot of foam.....key is to equalize with the receiving keg. Getting everything stabil and foam free my be a PITA @ 30psi. IMO - Pressurizing the receiving keg to 30 psi is way overkill.

The o-ring on the sample port will survive. Mine has, but since the first pressure (spunding project gone crazy) transfer I tend to bleed off the pressure from the brewhemuth into the receiving keg. I found 7psi was fine and easier to equalize.

You will need to clamp the hose on tight to make sure it does not slip off the port opening. It's easier if you have a helper to watch the clamp/hose.

If your brew is sitting at 30psi now, I suggest using the head pressure CO2 to pressurize a few cornies. Then transfer at a lower psi, chill and drink.

Brew on!

With the Brewer's Hardware sample valve, can you pressure transfer to a keg? Before I buy the fittings needed to connect to a pressurized keg, I was curious if anyone has done so.

The main thing I am concerned about is if the sample valve o-rings that seal the stem can deal with ~30psi of pressure or if the valve will leak around the stem once open.

 

[cscade]

Good points.

It's sitting at 7psi right now, but that will probably end up closer to 10 on this particular beer once it's done. In the future as I perfect my spunding, that could easily end up in the 30psi range. Sounds to me like the best solution may be a double ended gas line along with a 3/8-to-liquid line.

1. Connect the gas line from spunding valve to gas-in on keg, allow to equalize.
2. Remove gas line.
3. Connect liquid line from sample valve to liquid out post of keg, open sample valve.
4. Incrementally bleed off pressure from the keg with the release as needed to fill the keg.

Missing anything? It would be nice to have a gauge on the keg with a needle valve to bleed it rather than using the release ... money pit!

 

[Bugaboo]

Yeah. I have a spunding valve that i haven't been using for fermentation since I moved away from using cornys to sankes, but I use it all the time to slowly releasing pressure during transfers on the receiving kegs.

 

[Landshark67]

I use a ss 4way fitting similar to what's sold by brewhemuth. Top has pressure gauge, left has gas ball lock adapter, right has barb for initial co2 release. After about 6 days of fermentation I cap off the barb side with a pressure valve and let the psi build.

On a Belgian Dubble the beer achieved 29psi in 6 days. The pressure relief valve controlled the excess. Venting is easy with the ball lock. If BH made a sample port that was externally threaded it would be nice. Especially since most home brewers are looking for ease of transfer. I prefer this method over using the "beer out" ball lock as it's prone to clog.

Brew on

 

[Bugaboo]

Mine has the exact relief valve as the brewhemoth version, a gauge, and the other two had gas qd connected by tubes with flare fittings. I'd use the same spunding valve to ferment a split 10 gal batch in two cornys.

Good call on using the head pressure to fill cornies Landshark. I'm definitely gonna try that out.

 

[cscade]

So how are you getting the beer into the keg if you're not using the liquid out ball lock? I didn't consider clogging.

 

[Bugaboo]

I would have clogging problems when I fermented in cornies(mostly in the diptube or poppet valve), but I'd imagine that after all the trub and yeast cake is taken out of the dump valve this wouldn't happen; otherwise, I'm not seeing the point in the conical. You could pull like half a pint off the fermenter before starting to transfer to make sure everything is clear.

 

[Landshark67]

So how are you getting the beer into the keg if you're not using the liquid out ball lock? I didn't consider clogging.

I have the sample port connected to the racking tube within the fermenter. I'm clamping a hose to the sample port exit tube and attaching it the the beer out post...with the poppet removed on a corney.

If I'm transfering to a sankey I do the same but the transfer hose is attached to the beer in port (with check valve removed).

Both options work best for me if the psi is kept at a minimum. The kegs are purged with CO2 first and then I adjust the pressure to balance between the exiting beer from the fermenter and the receiving keg.

Note: the brewhemuth cone angle is such that the racking cane needs to be modified a little to get the maximum amount of beer. I used a tube bender to make a slight modification so now I lose only a little beer.

There are a lot of posts on the Brewhemuth tread with photos of the sample port/racking cane combo.

Brew on

 

[cscade]

I'm feeling like clogging is pretty much impossible, that's why I was asking. I dump trub and yeast out the bottom, so I should have nothing but beer at sample valve level.

My current plan is to use a 1' length of 3/8" reinforced silicone tubing from the sample barb to a 1/4" MFL connector, then use regular serving line to the liquid out post on the keg. I can create the double-ended gas line for filling kegs from head pressure as well.

 

[cscade]

Cheers! Thanks.

I have the sample port connected to the racking tube within the fermenter. I'm clamping a hose to the sample port exit tube and attaching it the the beer out post...with the poppet removed on a corney.

If I'm transfering to a sankey I do the same but the transfer hose is attached to the beer in port (with check valve removed).

Both options work best for me if the psi is kept at a minimum. The kegs are purged with CO2 first and then I adjust the pressure to balance between the exiting beer from the fermenter and the receiving keg.

Note: the brewhemuth cone angle is such that the racking cane needs to be modified a little to get the maximum amount of beer. I used a tube bender to make a slight modification so now I lose only a little beer.