Turning your Fermonster into a complete closed transfer system for cheap!

[wsmith1625]

Quick question about transferring into the purged keg. When the beer is transferring into the keg, should I leave the PRV open? Keep it closed? Or just occasionally release the pressure? Thanks!

I use a gas disconnect with vinyl tubing as a blowoff tube for my Fermonster. When transferring to the keg, I attached the blowoff tube to the gas post on my keg, and put the vinly tube into a jar of StarSan. No need to open the PRV. Works well and prevents overfilling the keg.

 

[Knightshade]

So I transferred my 5th batch last night using my modified Fermonster and absolutely love it. So simple and works great! The other batches, I just removed the float and tube and left the cap assembled for cleaning. I soak in OxyClean and hot water which seemed good enough since it was getting inside the posts and out. This time I wanted to completely disassemble everything, but could not get the posts apart. I put a wrench on the nut inside the cap and another on the post, but it only loosened the nut, not the post. The bottom of the post is round, so no way to grab it with a wrench. I have a vise and vise grips, but don't want to tear the metal up. Any suggestions or just leave it alone?

I've done this w/other posts and it seems to work pretty well? I'll usually run through this cycle a couple times, then take them apart every once in awhile for a more thorough cleaning?

I use a bug sprayer that I've got a carbonation cap on, fill that up with cleaner. I then use a small piece of tubing that has a gas post on one end, and liquid post on the other. Carbonation cap will fit on either, so you're good there. Attach, clean, switch, clean, attach, rinse, switch, rinse.

Usually let them air dry too, so then I'll just attach a ball lock to allow a little more air to flow through end to end.

 

[wsmith1625]

I've done this w/other posts and it seems to work pretty well? I'll usually run through this cycle a couple times, then take them apart every once in awhile for a more thorough cleaning?

I use a bug sprayer that I've got a carbonation cap on, fill t

I've done this w/other posts and it seems to work pretty well? I'll usually run through this cycle a couple times, then take them apart every once in awhile for a more thorough cleaning?

I use a bug sprayer that I've got a carbonation cap on, fill that up with cleaner. I then use a small piece of tubing that has a gas post on one end, and liquid post on the other. Carbonation cap will fit on either, so you're good there. Attach, clean, switch, clean, attach, rinse, switch, rinse.

Usually let them air dry too, so then I'll just attach a ball lock to allow a little more air to flow through end to end.

I can give that a try, I've got the sprayer and carb cap. I really wanted to find a way to take it apart though. Thanks.

 

[Knightshade]

I was able to get mine apart too. Utilize a set of pliers on the round part, crescent wrench on the post. Trick is to find a crappy set of pliers (read, w/thin grippers) that won't grip both the round part and the nut on the post. Would be nicer if they just utilized nuts on both.

 

[wsmith1625]

I was able to get mine apart too. Utilize a set of pliers on the round part, crescent wrench on the post. Trick is to find a crappy set of pliers (read, w/thin grippers) that won't grip both the round part and the nut on the post. Would be nicer if they just utilized nuts on both.

Nuts on both would be ideal. I think I'll leave it be and just use the pump sprayer as you suggested. I don't want to rip up the metal. Thanks!

 

[user 263363]

I just wanna say that I’ve got two different lids that I use on both my 7 gallon and 3 gallon fermonsters. This is a wonderful system for reducing cold side oxygen. Not to mention it doesn’t break the bank! Thanks for the idea @Dgallo!

 

[Knightshade]

Nuts on both would be ideal. I think I'll leave it be and just use the pump sprayer as you suggested. I don't want to rip up the metal. Thanks!

Wanted to follow up on this. I racked 2 batches to keg yesterday and both liquid tubes looked kinda major yuck. Recalling this thread, I decided to give take the posts apart a whirl. Take into account both of these held pressure. Probably more than I had planned at one point.

At any rate, I held the underside nut with my fingers and fit a crescent wrench to the post and they gave way. They don’t “need” to be super tight.

 

[wsmith1625]

Wanted to follow up on this. I racked 2 batches to keg yesterday and both liquid tubes looked kinda major yuck. Recalling this thread, I decided to give take the posts apart a whirl. Take into account both of these held pressure. Probably more than I had planned at one point.

At any rate, I held the underside nut with my fingers and fit a crescent wrench to the post and they gave way. They don’t “need” to be super tight.

I read your post and gave it another shot and I got them off. The gasket on my gas dip tube is really messed up so I'm going to replace it. The dip tube going up the post was not what I expected to find, but it works. Thanks!

 

[Meza]

It held water at 15 but I when dryhoping I’m around 4/5psi and transfer at just around 10psi

you can certainly get the nonported fermonster and it will save you about 5 dollars but then when you’ll have difficulties taking gravity samples and keeping o2 out.

spunding would work too as long as you are experience transferring carbonated beer.

Would it be possible to take hydro samples from the beer-post via the floating dip tube if you didn't have a spigot? Perhaps whack a party tap on it when I dispense a sample?

(BTW thanks for pointing me to the thread)

 

[Dgallo]

Would it be possible to take hydro samples from the beer-post via the floating dip tube if you didn't have a spigot? Perhaps whack a party tap on it when I dispense a sample?

(BTW thanks for pointing me to the thread)

You could certainly do that, you’ll just have to hook it to the gas quick to pull the sample.

 

[Knightshade]

Would it be possible to take hydro samples from the beer-post via the floating dip tube if you didn't have a spigot? Perhaps whack a party tap on it when I dispense a sample?

(BTW thanks for pointing me to the thread)

I did this last weekend before racking. With my FC being at floor level, utilizing the spigot to pull a sample was extremely cumbersome anyways. This hack makes it soooo much easier. Also allowed me to flush the line per se prior to racking. Hope you're not tired of hearing it @Dgallo Big Thanks!

Was wondering if anybody has utilized this setup to 'push' O2 into their wort via the dip tube? I'm starting to consider doing a RIS and this seems to be a requirement/highly recommended step during fermentation.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

You could certainly do that, you’ll just have to hook it to the gas quick to pull the sample.

This is how Ive been doing it actually since my fermonters don't have spigots. If you have some sort of airlock hooked up to the gas post of the lid, I first attach the CO2 tank to the liquid side (switch to black QD first obviously) and blow out the tube that often has a little yeast/debris settled into it. Then I add the CO2 tank to the gas post of the lid and put some nominal pressure in the fermonster and the liquid comes out of the liquid dip tube post quite easily. Has worked like a charm for me.

 

[Amadeo38]

What do y’all do when you have a blowoff situation that sends Krausen and beer into the keg of starsan? I assume there’s residue of beer/foam inside the keg even though all of the liquid is blown into the bucket now. Would you continue as-planned and just transfer into the keg, or open, lose your natural co2, clean, and re-co2 the keg before transfer?

 

[Dgallo]

What do y’all do when you have a blowoff situation that sends Krausen and beer into the keg of starsan? I assume there’s residue of beer/foam inside the keg even though all of the liquid is blown into the bucket now. Would you continue as-planned and just transfer into the keg, or open, lose your natural co2, clean, and re-co2 the keg before transfer?

I personally wouldn’t do anything unless your willing to startsan and re purge the keg. In the future this is a nifty little cap for a mason jar so you’re able to capture the yeast from the blow off prior to going to the keg Ultimate CO2 Harvester Cap with PRV. NorCal Brewing Solutions

 

[Amadeo38]

I personally wouldn’t do anything unless your willing to startsan and re purge the keg. In the future this is a nifty little cap for a mason jar so you’re able to capture the yeast from the blow off prior to going to the keg Ultimate CO2 Harvester Cap with PRV. NorCal Brewing Solutions

That was my inkling too - just rack it but wanted to see if anyone had done this with ill-effects. I’d have used a blowoff first if I anticipated this happening, but I rarely have blowoffs.

 

[Dgallo]

That was my inkling too - just rack it but wanted to see if anyone had done this with ill-effects. I’d have used a blowoff first if I anticipated this happening, but I rarely have blowoffs.

The only yeast that does that too me is LAIII. It’s happened 3 times now. First time I just went ahead and racked. Second time I took off the keg. Cleaned it and full purged again using my bottled co2. I really didn’t notice any difference between the two—Granted not much actually stayed in the keg. Most of it got diluted and pushed out with the starsan.

 

[Amadeo38]

The only yeast that does that too me is LAIII. It’s happened 3 times now. First time I just went ahead and racked. Second time I took off the keg. Cleaned it and full purged again using my bottled co2. I really didn’t notice any difference between the two—Granted not much actually stayed in the keg. Most of it got diluted and pushed out with the starsan.

That’s what I was hoping to hear - thanks a bunch!

 

[postlapsaria]

I fear I'm missing something obvious, but what do you do with this system during fermentation? Do you hook up a blowoff somehow?

 

[Dgallo]

I fear I'm missing something obvious, but what do you do with this system during fermentation? Do you hook up a blowoff somehow?

Exactly. Most of us are hooking from fermenter > starsan filled keg > to a bucket. This way blow off from ferm purges the serving keg with co2, and then sterilizer is now in the bucket and it becomes an airlock.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

The only yeast that does that too me is LAIII. It’s happened 3 times now. First time I just went ahead and racked. Second time I took off the keg. Cleaned it and full purged again using my bottled co2. I really didn’t notice any difference between the two—Granted not much actually stayed in the keg. Most of it got diluted and pushed out with the starsan.

Just curious as I haven't used LAIII or Imperials version (Juice?) yet myself. But for these yeasts that are active like this, do you still use the same lid with ball locks? Ive worried once or twice on a couple of brews with A24 that the ball lock might get clogged. I typically have a tad over 6g in the fermonster once I add the starter. Just curious.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

I fear I'm missing something obvious, but what do you do with this system during fermentation? Do you hook up a blowoff somehow?

I do what @Dgallo does IF I have a keg not in use in the keezer. I have 6 taps and 6 kegs lol. If I don't have a keg ready to be purged through fermentation, I simply hook a short tube from the gas ball lock into a mason jar. Simple as that.

 

[Dgallo]

Just curious as I haven't used LAIII or Imperials version (Juice?) yet myself. But for these yeasts that are active like this, do you still use the same lid with ball locks? Ive worried once or twice on a couple of brews with A24 that the ball lock might get clogged. I typically have a tad over 6g in the fermonster once I add the starter. Just curious.

Funny you say this. This past fermentation I used a different set up during the first 3 days of ferm and the switched to the ball lock cap after it slowed enough where I was confident there would be no issue.

so it’s still the same idea but using a blow off tube and an inverted bung. So I took a hose and put a co2 balllock in it and then I ran the hose through a bung upside down. I then placed the bung inverted into the traditional cap. This way any krausen wouldnt go through the ball lock and possibly clog it and I can still capture co2 during fermentation to purge.

(the o-ring is in pbw at the moment)

 

[Noob_Brewer]

Funny you say this. This past fermentation I used a different set up during the first 3 days of ferm and the switched to the ball lock cap after it slowed enough where I was confident there would be no issue.

so it’s still the same idea but using a blow off tube and an inverted bung. So I took a hose and put a co2 balllock in it and then I ran the hose through a bung upside down. I then placed the bung inverted into the traditional cap. This way any krausen wouldnt go through the ball lock and possibly clog it and I can still capture co2 during fermentation to purge.

View attachment 708321View attachment 708322
(the o-ring is in pbw at the moment)

Yeah I’ve thought about doing this but didn’t think that krausen going into the keg would be a good thing so I just used a blowoff hose with the original lid into a mason jar for first 3ish days before the lid swap. I also need another keg so that I can purge with fermentation more often when the others are in keezer lol.

 

[cmac62]

I did this last weekend before racking. With my FC being at floor level, utilizing the spigot to pull a sample was extremely cumbersome anyways. This hack makes it soooo much easier. Also allowed me to flush the line per se prior to racking. Hope you're not tired of hearing it @Dgallo Big Thanks!

Was wondering if anybody has utilized this setup to 'push' O2 into their wort via the dip tube? I'm starting to consider doing a RIS and this seems to be a requirement/highly recommended step during fermentation.

Knightshade, the only issue I see is we are using a floating DT, so it wont get to the bottom and make bubbles. A diffuser stone used for fish tanks on a on tube to get down the the bottom of the Fermenter is what some folks use. I have never O2'd my wort other than shaking or using a paint mixer on a drill with no ill effects.

 

[Knightshade]

I just came across this pic a little bit ago..had kinda forgotten about it. Figured I'd post it up here as it shows a couple different things being talked about in this thread.

I was transferring from Fermonster to keg and as you can see...there is a second one behind the one presently hooked up. At any rate..I'm sitting there..watching this thing move beer over to the keg..and listening to the gentle hiss of CO2 leaving the automatic stopper thing hooked up to the gas post on the 1st keg. Which got me to thinking...I've got these other two kegs prepped for a purge.....that I can't do do right now because my CO2 is being used by the Fermonster. I wonder if I can kill 2 birds w/1 stone? Daisy chained those suckers and it started pushing away..was kinda happy I was able to not 'waste' as much CO2

 

[troglodytes]

I’ve read an article once that stated that fermentation creates enough co2 to air exchange 5-6 kegs. In the future you could always piggyback 2 kegs to you fermenter. Once the sterilizer goes into the second keg, you can pressurize the first one, turn it upside down for an hour or so and then while upside down pull the prv to remove any remaining liquid in the keg. Then you can open it and toss in your dryhop charge and then reconnect it to the fermenter. This way the remaining fermentation will purge the keg.

when all said and done, you’ll have a purged dryhop keg and a purged serving keg for later

I've been attempting methods of using the fermentation CO2 to purge my kegs and your description is just about what I did this time for the first time. It worked well for sure; however I had a coupe questions about this method.

1) when you pop the keg to quickly add your dry hops don't you negate all of the purging you just did as the oxygen will start mixing within the keg instantly?

2) How do you prevent the loss of aromatics? In my recent batch I added the dry hops on day 2 to the keg to purge using a spunding valve. But throughout the whole fermenting process for 6-7 days those hops were sitting at 65F with all the aromatics blowing out of the spunding valve.

My next time I was going to attempt your method, but instead of adding the dry hops to the hopping keg first, instead soft crash and transfer the un-hopped beer to the hopping keg, then add hops quickly and purge the much smaller headspace with bottled CO2. That way the hops can go from freezer to beer immediately.

 

[Dgallo]

1) I do not dryhop in the keg, I dryhop in the fermenter (I was responding to someone’s question who does dryhop in the keg). So when I am unscrewing the cap I will run the gas (same idea could work for a corny). I will keep it running until I finishes dryhoping and the lid is back on. The idea is that the gas running will push co2 out of the fermenter and prevent air from entering. Yes, there is a chance for o2 still getting in, however it is very small amount, that it has not become a problem. Certainly does not negate what you’ve done.

2) I do not dryhop during fermentation, so I do not run into this issue personally

 

[Noob_Brewer]

So, it finally happened....got a clogged SS ball lock connection at about 26hrs post pitch. Never have I seen this active of a fermentation with A24 (second generation due to overbuilding yeast starter, didn't harvest from previous fermenter). I caught it before it went boom though. Just checked in on the fermentation and noticed no bubbling at all. The fermonster was starting to bulge and it was tight as hell including a little bulge on the lid. So I swapped it out in makeshift fashion. Luckily I had a few spare bungs to use with the original lid with bung hole. Now - for those who have done this, how soon should I attempt to replace the modified lid back to the ball locks? Don't want to wait too long and want to swap it during active fermentation so fermentation can purge the headspace. Thoughts? FWIW, I have a belgian dubbel in the fermenter right now and started fermentation with the original lid but with a true 1" hose (glad I did this because those belgian top cropper yeasts are beasts). But Ive never had this happen with A24. When I took the ball lock lid off, I removed the ball lock from the lid and put a gas QD on it and under the faucet and the clog was quickly removed with just water pressure. SO it wasn't clogged that bad but enough to create a time bomb.

pic of setup now after debombing it. lol

EDIT: just went to check again, and distinctly heard the bung shoot out as the hose wasn't allowing to relieve pressure enough lol. So went with my 1" blowoff setup after sanitizing it. free flowing krausen now lol. Still scratching my head on how active this brew is

 

[Jayjay1976]

IME, brews that include some proportion of candy sugars, dark or light, tend to ferment violently vs. all-malt grain bills.

 

[Noob_Brewer]

thats just it. This one in particular has no candi sugars or even dextrose. Its a NEIPA: 2 row, GP, oats, wheat and thats it. perhaps is second generation yeast? Not sure how much truth there is to that but Ive used second generation before and didn't look like this. My belgian dubbel that finished fermenting a few days ago was a beast (candi syrup and turbinado sugar and WYEAST 3787) so I expected that. But not for this NEIPA.