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I built a little spunding station for experimenting with pressurized fermentation. After ordering the BlowTie v2, I realized at some point I may want something that can go higher than 15 psi, and to use a higher quality pressure gauge as I don't know how trustworthy the stock one is. Instead of ordering a second blow tie, I just added on a second pressure gauge to the v2, as well as a blow off container. Fun little project that only cost a few bucks. If krausen does end up reaching the gas in, it now needs to make a few turns and go a longer distance before reaching the pressure gauge and blow tie. Going to keep an eye on it for sure.

In the video below I put a little pressure in my new Torpedo to test it out. Sorry about the background noise, my heating system is loud.

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+1 on blowoff and you should be ok.

I’ve got a 6G torpedo that has a stout fermenting in it right now on day 4. Used a single package of S-04 around 3 in the afternoon and there was an inkling of bubbles forming via the blow off around 11 that night. Like a dummy, I only put in 4 drops of fermcap thinking that would be enough.

Bubbling in earnest the next morning and by that early afternoon the blowoff tube was a mess with muck having made its way to the mason jar of Star San as well. I just let it ride as the flow was fine until late that evening..at which point the star San was more than a little brown. I then switched everything over to purge star San filled kegs and is well.
 
+1 on blowoff and you should be ok.

I’ve got a 6G torpedo that has a stout fermenting in it right now on day 4. Used a single package of S-04 around 3 in the afternoon and there was an inkling of bubbles forming via the blow off around 11 that night. Like a dummy, I only put in 4 drops of fermcap thinking that would be enough.

Bubbling in earnest the next morning and by that early afternoon the blowoff tube was a mess with muck having made its way to the mason jar of Star San as well. I just let it ride as the flow was fine until late that evening..at which point the star San was more than a little brown. I then switched everything over to purge star San filled kegs and is well.
I'm going to have a blow off tube for the first few days. Once things settle down, I am going to attach the spunding valve. I have some FermCap-S, thinking of dropping 6-7 drops.
 
I brewed this batch yesterday, it was fun, and had only a few minor hiccups/frustrations.

Issues/frustrations
Water salts - When I did my water calculations I didn't realize that my pack of brewing salts did not have magnesium chloride, and I realized this after adding gypsum, calcium chloride, and epsom salt. I considered dumping the 8 gallons of partially salted distilled and going with tap + campden, but I instead tried to recalculate my salts without using magnesium chloride, taking what I already added to the water into consideration. I came out a little high in calcium and a bit low in magnesium, but I was able to line up sodium, sulfate, and chloride additions. Take away, get magnesium chloride.

Magnet dry-hopping - The muslin bag I used for dry hopping was a nightmare once added 6 oz of hops. It was very baggy and was hanging way too low, into beer territory. I ended up increasing the amount of cloth used for the knot and this helped. I was able to successfully get the hops staged for the dry hop. The process was annoying and I need to figure out a better way. Take away, find a new type of bag for dry hopping with magnets.

Temperature control - Last night I was trying to figure out how to get the keg down to 68F, as it was sitting in the mid 70's. I ended up getting it down to 68F using a bucket of water and then I put the keg in my closet which sits at 64F. I woke up to no activity in the keg which surprised me, and it was sitting at 64F. I quickly got the keg back up to 68F and was thinking if something was wrong and if I should re-pitch. The odd part was, when I was standing near the keg, I could smell that good hoppy fermentation CO2 but I was getting no bubbles in the blow-off. Out of curiosity, I popped the keg lid to check on it, and to take the temp of the actual liquid (which turned out to match outside keg temp), I saw a nice krausen head on it, which was good to see. I then noticed that the flare fitting on the ball-lock QD was loose, I tightened it up, and I had bubbles in the blow-off sanitizer! This was the result of deciding to put off making my blow-off tube until I was done with brew day, and after securing the tube, I forgot to tighten it down. Take aways, get as much as you can get done beforehand and figure out a temperature control setup for the next batch.

Taking my OG - Not sure how much this will impact the reading, but I took the OG using a refractometer after adding FermCap-S and yeast. Take away, write down step by step instructions so nothing gets missed, at least until I get more experience.

Brew day was depending on this coming in the mail, and it did, and Farmhouse surprised me with an extra packet.
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Start of brew day
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Sped up the boil using 2 kettles, combining them once the small one was boiling.
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The grain juice
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Into the fermenter

















OG, after adding Fermcap-S and yeast. Need to figure out an adjustment factor.
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This morning, getting the keg up to temp.
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After tightening the flare fitting
 
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The process was annoying and I need to figure out a better way. Take away, find a new type of bag for dry hopping with magnets.

Same here. I have done this twice and both times were a bit awkward. I think I might need to go with a smaller bag that I can just tie up (vs one with a drawstring).
 
Same here. I have done this twice and both times were a bit awkward. I think I might need to go with a smaller bag that I can just tie up (vs one with a drawstring).
Yeah, that'll give you a bit more flexibility. I want to find something that has more of a static size. A muslin bag has way too much stretch.
 
Yeah, that'll give you a bit more flexibility. I want to find something that has more of a static size. A muslin bag has way too much stretch.
I use nut milk bags. They are a much stiffer material with zero stretch.
 
Dry hopped, put it under pressure, and took a reading today at 72 hours from pitching.

It was a bit hard to get the magnets passed what I assume was the krausen, right around where the Torpedo logo is. I kept gently nudging away and finally got it down, without losing the magnet connection.
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Keeping temps at 72. I have the black thermometer monitoring the wall of the keg and the gray one in the water. I have a fish tank heater keeping it at temp.
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Fermentation slowed down a lot so I put the spunding setup on set at 12 psi.
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Took a sample today to begin monitoring for change
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