What are you fermenting in?

[BobbiLynn]

I just recently started using plastic buckets and loving it. Except I can't see what happening so have found myself tranferring to glass secondary. A secondary is so much easier to clean than a primary. So using plastic for a primary and the water hose set to power wash, it's clean. Then to clean the glass, soapy water, shake it, dump it, rinse it, it's clean with no scrubbing. Transferring isn't a big deal with an auto-syphon.

 

[Denny]

Buckets 90% of the time, cornies the rest.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I use glass carboys and a 14 gallon heated/cooled conical.

 

[Djuhnk]

I use glass carboys and a 14 gallon heated/cooled conical.

What do you use to heat and cool your conical?

 

[Billy-Klubb]

What do you use to heat and cool your conical?

http://morebeer.com/view_product/10776/103722/14_Gallon_Conical_Fermenter_-_Heated_and_Cooled it's awesome.

 

[eastoak]

I hate cleaning my better bottles. After I rack my beer, I completely fill it with water and let it soak for days/weeks/month. Then I wash it according to the directions using soap/warm water/wash cloth. Takes me at least 2 hours to clean these stupid things.

use a bottle brush to get the krausen ring off. don't worry about scratching the plastic, the brush can't put much of a scratch in that plastic, certainly not deep enough for bugs to hide from the likes of star san or whatever sanitizer you use.

 

[Djuhnk]

http://morebeer.com/view_product/10776/103722/14_Gallon_Conical_Fermenter_-_Heated_and_Cooled it's awesome.

Holy crap that's expensive. I have 60 gallon fermenters I need to cool. But only cool, i will probably just end up putting an air conditioner in and just keeping the room really cool

 

[okiedog]

I knew that some people secondary in a keg, but how do you do your primary in a keg? How do you keep tabs on how the fermation is going? What about blow out and D-rest?

 

[JuanMoore]

I knew that some people secondary in a keg, but how do you do your primary in a keg? How do you keep tabs on how the fermation is going? What about blow out and D-rest?

Just think of it as a stainless steel carboy. After my first couple batches the novelty of seeing the yeasties swim around was gone, and I never really "kept tabs" on my beer. I just let it ferment out, then took a hydro reading to make sure it had fermented properly, and then bottled or kegged it. Same process with a keg. Depending on what type of keg you use, there are a lot of different options for blow-off tubes and airlocks. You can even use a spunding valve instead and ferment under light pressure like a lot of larger breweries do. I don't think the fermenter makes any difference for doing a d-rest. Just raise the temp of your ferm chamber when appropriate.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Holy crap that's expensive. I have 60 gallon fermenters I need to cool. But only cool, i will probably just end up putting an air conditioner in and just keeping the room really cool

it was worth it IMO. and I could afford it when I was making Wyoming wages. not these days though. hahahaha!!

 

[Photopilot]

it was worth it IMO. and I could afford it when I was making Wyoming wages. not these days though. hahahaha!!

You must have been rough necking? I was not getting rich when I lived in Wyoming.

 

[Djuhnk]

it was worth it IMO. and I could afford it when I was making Wyoming wages. not these days though. hahahaha!!

Well, to each his own. I'm sure it's good quality but it's only 10 gallons worthy. Enough for a home brewers needs I guess

 

[Photopilot]

Well, to each his own. I'm sure it's good quality but it's only 10 gallons worthy. Enough for a home brewers needs I guess

Your 60 gallon fermenter is not for personal consumption?

 

[Djuhnk]

Your 60 gallon fermenter is not for personal consumption?

Right now they are yes, and for public tasting. My brother and I are going through the process of licensing our brewery.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

You must have been rough necking? I was not getting rich when I lived in Wyoming.

close. pipe welding and assistant manager of the shop.

Well, to each his own. I'm sure it's good quality but it's only 10 gallons worthy. Enough for a home brewers needs I guess

that's right. home brewer. I make what I can drink (and then some) since my wife hasn't found a style she likes and people I work with think regular Bud is a dark beer. I hope you & your brother make it in this aggressive and fickle craft. and I mean that honestly, not sarcastically.

 

[Photopilot]

I make what I can drink (and then some) since my wife hasn't found a style she likes and people I work with think regular Bud is a dark beer. .

Try graff for the wife, mine loves it.

Your coworkers, being bud light swillers is not such a bad thing, means more for you. You might be able to convert them with a brown or cream ale, you might also regret their conversion.

Being a pipe fitter figured you could make your own gear, maybe not a conical though.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Try graff for the wife, mine loves it.

Your coworkers, being bud light swillers is not such a bad thing, means more for you. You might be able to convert them with a brown or cream ale, you might also regret their conversion.

Being a pipe fitter figured you could make your own gear, maybe not a conical though.

my wife like the Peach Cider kit from Vinoka. but it's hard to find out here. Pour Brothers in Gillette has it. gotta give them a call. if I had much TIG experience, I could make a conical. and it would be awesome.

 

[Denny]

I knew that some people secondary in a keg, but how do you do your primary in a keg? How do you keep tabs on how the fermation is going? What about blow out and D-rest?

I use 10 gal. cornies so there's no blow off. I do attach a hose to the in port and run it into a jar of sanitizer as an airlock. As to how to keep tabs on it, I don't even think about it for 2 weeks. Then I open it up and take a gravity reading. There's really no need for any more than that. As to d rest, I seldom do one, but when I do I just warm up the keg. A d rest should be done on the yeast anyway.

 

[Djuhnk]

close. pipe welding and assistant manager of the shop.

that's right. home brewer. I make what I can drink (and then some) since my wife hasn't found a style she likes and people I work with think regular Bud is a dark beer. I hope you & your brother make it in this aggressive and fickle craft. and I mean that honestly, not sarcastically.

Yeah I certainly don't need any more than 10 gallons for my personal use, i use 2 better bottles currently, although I can't keep enough stocked cuz my buddies probably drink more than me. I guess I'm just jealous that is definitely an impressive conical.

Thanks, I'm sure we will do alright. Craft beer is really starting to boom in our area, and we make great beer. But your right brewing is such a fickle craft. It's been tough to decide on the recipes we are going to stick with.

 

[Piratwolf]

1x6.5gal, 3x5gal, 2x3gal (1 for Brett & later for sour experiments) glass carboys
2x5gal buckets
2x15gal LME cylinders

Oh, and condition/secondary in corny kegs when a long period is necessary

 

[psymonkey]

I've been fermenting in one 6.5g carboy, 1 6g carboy, and two 5g's for secondaries.

This is an exciting week though, I picked up a couple of 6g better bottles from the recent BOGO offer Northern Brewer Had. I'm interested to finally arrive at my own conclusions on these. One thing I can say for certain, the two boxes arrived and for their size might as well have been empty. They barely weighed as much as the cardboard they shipped in. I swear the 6G better bottle weighs less than the handle I have on my glass 6G.

I love my glass carboys, I love knowing they are spotless but depending on how things go with my post-primary cleaning, I might have to switch to these BB's. If I don't like them, love them really, I'm going to unload them to some lucky local brewer at a great price!

First observation: I usually sanitize my carboy, then flip it upside down in a 2 Gallon stainless spaghetti pot on the floor to dry. I've currently got the better bottle sanitized and flipped upside down in a....Oxo 2-cup measuring cup..ON the counter.
:rockin:

 

[CaptnCully]

Just think of it as a stainless steel carboy. After my first couple batches the novelty of seeing the yeasties swim around was gone, and I never really "kept tabs" on my beer. I just let it ferment out, then took a hydro reading to make sure it had fermented properly, and then bottled or kegged it. Same process with a keg. Depending on what type of keg you use, there are a lot of different options for blow-off tubes and airlocks. You can even use a spunding valve instead and ferment under light pressure like a lot of larger breweries do. I don't think the fermenter makes any difference for doing a d-rest. Just raise the temp of your ferm chamber when appropriate.

Can you blow your yeast out the pick up tube and just go on to use that primary (corny) for a keg?

 

[JuanMoore]

Can you blow your yeast out the pick up tube and just go on to use that primary (corny) for a keg?

Not really. The only yeast that will get sucked up is the little bit really close to the pickup tube. I actually use CO2 pressure to rack the beer to the serving keg through the pickup tube. I push the first couple oz of yeast into a cup to be discarded, and then it flows clear until the last couple oz. When I'm done, I can look into the keg used for fermenting, and the yeast cake is still there except for a little spot near the diptube.

 

[osagedr]

Pretty much exclusively carboys now.

 

[CaptnCully]

Not really. The only yeast that will get sucked up is the little bit really close to the pickup tube. I actually use CO2 pressure to rack the beer to the serving keg through the pickup tube. I push the first couple oz of yeast into a cup to be discarded, and then it flows clear until the last couple oz. When I'm done, I can look into the keg used for fermenting, and the yeast cake is still there except for a little spot near the diptube.

So what happens if i just force carb right on top of this? Do i end up with a little yeast in each glass or does it floc out hard enough that i can draw my beer clear

 

[MalFet]

So what happens if i just force carb right on top of this? Do i end up with a little yeast in each glass or does it floc out hard enough that i can draw my beer clear

If you check out the pressurized fermentation thread, you'll find lots of people doing this. It's pretty darn convenient to ferment in and serve from the same vessel.

 

[pugmug]

I have a 3 gallon glass carboy which is perfect for my 2.5 gallon batches (and my weak arms).

I also have a 5 gallon bucket that I plan to use for larger batches, or for 3 gallon batches which I will then put into my 3 gallon glass carboy for long secondarys.

I think it's pretty versatile for what I want to do at the moment.