Using a spunding valve

[WBC]

In my quest to find a suitable relief valve for my kegs I ran across a post that recommended this relief valve.

WWW.grainger.com

item: 4TK26

The valve can be set between 0 and 100 PSI and for Lagers at 53F you would want to set for 15LBS. Your beer would be already carbonated when you tapped it. This would work if you were to carbonate using corn sugar or malt sugar or even krausining.

 

[Bobby_M]

Looks about right to me. You're gonna tee it off and add a pressure gauge right? You're using a sanke keg?

 

[WBC]

Looks about right to me. You're gonna tee it off and add a pressure gauge right? You're using a sanke keg?

That's right and you could make a manifold and do several kegs at a time. You could do this with any keg, Sanke or Cornilius. I will be using both.

 

[wilypig]

I was just thinking of setting this up for my next batch for conditioning. Good timing as I was having trouble finding the right pressure relief vavle for the spunging set up.

 

[WortMonger]

Hey guys, just thought I'd give a link in the thread for spunding from the Wiki.

Click Here for spunding!

 

[muse435]

I know this is an old thread but how did this work for you guys? Did you just add corn sugar like in bottling, set the pressure, and wait? One other question, I want to bottle half and keg half, could i just mix the corn sugar in with the whole batch, bottle as many as I want then syphon the rest into my keg? (I know that would be too much corn sugar for the keg but i think it will bleed of any extra CO2 and leave me with a bit more sediment at the bottom but i'm willing to deal with that)

 

[gr8shandini]

Actually, you can just keep the beer under pressure for the entire fermentation. No priming required. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm planning on it. Wortmonger's the guy on the forefront of this and has all the info you need and more in this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/closed-system-pressurized-fermentation-technique-44344/

As for bottling, unless you want to claim that you have a "bottle conditioned" beer, there's no reason not to bottle straight from the keg. I use this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

All I had to buy was a picnic tap for a couple of bucks. Like me, you've probably got the rest lying around somewhere.

 

[muse435]

I have read both of those threads, I made myself a BMBF. based on timing i want to give some away before it will be ready in the keg (friends coming to town, they can let it age on their own :rockin. The other problem with that is i'm making a pumpkin ale with so much trub that i don't want to clog my keg. But thanks of the advise, i plan on using both of those on my next brew.

 

[WortMonger]

I know this is an old thread but how did this work for you guys? Did you just add corn sugar like in bottling, set the pressure, and wait? One other question, I want to bottle half and keg half, could i just mix the corn sugar in with the whole batch, bottle as many as I want then syphon the rest into my keg? (I know that would be too much corn sugar for the keg but i think it will bleed of any extra CO2 and leave me with a bit more sediment at the bottom but i'm willing to deal with that)

What you are asking will work perfectly fine. If you can't work the ferment to carbonate prior to finish (ie you aren't pressure fermenting in a keg), priming like you are asking is the only way. Unless... you transfer before the end of primary to a spunded vessel. I like to get my carbonation at the end of primary, so there is no time lost for carbonation via forced or naturally.

 

[muse435]

What you are asking will work perfectly fine. If you can't work the ferment to carbonate prior to finish (ie you aren't pressure fermenting in a keg), priming like you are asking is the only way. Unless... you transfer before the end of primary to a spunded vessel. I like to get my carbonation at the end of primary, so there is no time lost for carbonation via forced or naturally.

Thanx for the response WM.

 

[WortMonger]

No problem man. I'm curious if this was a normal ferment or if you are using the pressurized set-up. If you aren't, you should give it a shot sometime and see what it has to offer. I just did a mild, and next Sunday it will be transfered, filtered, and served. This will only be three weeks old! Carbonation has time to meld and not have that bite by that time. Let me know if you will. Always curious here.

 

[devilishprune]

So, is the valve mentioned here one that allows you to set a certain pressure and leave it there? That's something that I'm interested in, but not so much one that I have to monitor to get it at the right pressure (say 15 PSI).

 

[WortMonger]

Set it and forget it, just like the Ronco Turkey Cooker, lol. I over-set mine a little and then when everything has completely quit I put it right where I want the CO2 volumes to end up at whatever temperature the beer is at.

 

[devilishprune]

This is a threadjack, but I'm curious about fermenting under pressure. Could I still get the benefits if I were to ferment for say...5 days in a bucket and then transfer to the keg with the spunding valve?

Or would it be advisable to primary in a keg with some kind of filter over the out tube to prevent it from getting clogged?

 

[WortMonger]

Lots to read about on my thread if you are up for it. Yes you could do what you asked, but why not do it all in the keg? I haven't had a single keg clog, and I have had a bit of a mess before. For the most part though, the pressure keeps the krausen level lower than it would be without the pressure. Click the link in my signature and most any question you are wondering about has already been asked and answered. If not, ask in the thread and it will be answered. Welcome to pressure fermenting, you're gonna love it.