What equipment should I get, dazed and confused.

[OakIslandBrewery]

Ya, it'll work just fine and it's what I did for a long time till I could justify spending more. I don't have a dual body regulator yet, but I have two CO2 cylinders. Eventually you'll accumulate more equipment and remember you can always sell what you find you don't need.

 

[Jag75]

Thank you for the comments. I understand the pressures will be the same. So I'll set the primary high enough to pressurize the keg and dial it down at the secondary Micromatic 4 gang regulator where I can lower pressure to each keg individually. I'm thinking this will work?

Yes , you just use one outlet on that regulator to connect to a secondary regulator . That way you have the option of different psi to each keg. Just make sure your main regulator is set a few psi higher then your highest pressurized keg

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Yes , you just use one outlet on that regulator to connect to a secondary regulator . That way you have the option of different psi to each keg. Just make sure your main regulator is set a few psi higher then your highest pressurized keg

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[markjen214]

Planning to brew Hazy IPA something like Justice Juice the local brewery has on tap. This what I most like to drink so what should I buy to do this? Currently in anticipation of brewing I'm building a 4 keg 5 gallons each keezer. I have no other equipment yet. Would like to build a small footprint but have no idea what I'm doing. I've been reading many posts trying to decipher the brewing process and am more lost than when I started if that's possible. I don't want to go too cheap and end up dissatisfied and have to start over. I'd rather spend a little more up front and be happy about it later. Suggestions welcome.

Jerry

Clawhammersupply.com

 

[JerryMc]

One other thing that's been confusing me lately. I've read that you should keep oxygen out of your process. Stuff like "don't splash your wort during transfer". I've also read that you need oxygen to aid in fermentation. Some people even going as far as pumping it straight out of a pressurized bottle into the wort before closing up the fermenter. So if it's needed to feed the yeast why does it ever need to be avoided?

 

[3 Dawg Night]

One other thing that's been confusing me lately. I've read that you should keep oxygen out of your process. Stuff like "don't splash your wort during transfer". I've also read that you need oxygen to aid in fermentation. Some people even going as far as pumping it straight out of a pressurized bottle into the wort before closing up the fermenter. So if it's needed to feed the yeast why does it ever need to be avoided?

You don't need to avoid oxygen until you pitch your yeast.

 

[JerryMc]

OK so if I understand the process now, first pitch yeast into the fermentation, oxygenate, then close the vessel and avoid additional oxygen after that.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

OK so if I understand the process now, first pitch yeast into the fermentation, oxygenate, then close the vessel and avoid additional oxygen after that.

Correct. The yeast need oxygen for reproduction, but after that, you want to avoid introducing additional O2, as it will affect the taste of your beer.

 

[camonick]

OK so if I understand the process now, first pitch yeast into the fermentation, oxygenate, then close the vessel and avoid additional oxygen after that.

And to add more confusion, if you’re using dry yeast, you really don’t need to introduce any additional oxygen beyond what the transfer produces. Do your best to avoid it after fermentation starts.

 

[bwible]

One other thing that's been confusing me lately. I've read that you should keep oxygen out of your process. Stuff like "don't splash your wort during transfer". I've also read that you need oxygen to aid in fermentation. Some people even going as far as pumping it straight out of a pressurized bottle into the wort before closing up the fermenter. So if it's needed to feed the yeast why does it ever need to be avoided?

There are several large threads on here about oxygen. Its funny that it was never a thing when we were brewing 25 years ago. Back then people were homebrewing beer and nobody was writing about the evils of oxygen and devising entire brewing systems around oxygen avoidance. All this obsession over oxygen bad began with the New England IPA haze craze because oxygen is much more detrimental to those beers. Others may strongly disagree, but I would say if you plan to brew NEIPA you should maybe worry some about oxygen. If not, RDWAHAHB as the saying goes. There are plenty of other things to worry about more.

 

[JerryMc]

Ok so I made a 5 gallon fermenter out of a food safe home depot bucket. I have a 5 gallon extract kit from brewers best I want to try. I have read that there has to be space in the fermenter for expansion. So can I split the recipe and do half now and half later or would there be too much headroom? I did a search and didn't find the answer so I'm asking...

I also have the option of a 5 gallon keg with spunding valve.

 

[hotbeer]

More headroom isn't as bad as too little. IMO.

I think many of the pails that come with complete 5 gallon brewing kits are almost six gallon capacity. Or so I've read.

So that would would be an extra gallons worth of headspace or there bout's 20% more than the wort put in it. And 20% more volume for headspace is what I think I've read most recommend.

You can divide up your ingredients and store the rest. Or you could also go buy another bucket.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Ok so I made a 5 gallon fermenter out of a food safe home depot bucket. I have a 5 gallon extract kit from brewers best I want to try. I have read that there has to be space in the fermenter for expansion. So can I split the recipe and do half now and half later or would there be too much headroom? I did a search and didn't find the answer so I'm asking...

I also have the option of a 5 gallon keg with spunding valve.

A five gallon batch fermenter in a five gallon keg probably won't give you enough head space. There's no reason you couldn't do the five gallon kit as a four gallon batch and just have more flavor, alcohol. For you first batch I'd go with the advice from hotbeer and split your five gallon kit into two batches. If you had two pails as fermenters you could split the kit and brew the five gallons between the two then keg the two in to the five gallon keg. Just some ideas to get you started and thinking of what could be done with what you have. A 6 or 6.5 gallon pail is your best option for five gallon kits.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Also I wouldn't advise using a Spunding valve for fermenting. If it has a pressure gauge you could got risk getting fermenting beer up into it and ruining the gauge. I use a blow off tube but those fermentation locks work fine too.

 

[JerryMc]

I did make up another 5 gallon home depot bucket for fermenting but then I got a wild hair somewhere and took a different approach.
So I bought this. Kegmenter Fermentation Keg - 7.6 gal. | MoreBeer
Should be enough headspace to ferment under pressure and if needed I can fit it into my small beer fridge to keep it cool.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I did make up another 5 gallon home depot bucket for fermenting but then I got a wild hair somewhere and took a different approach.
So I bought this. Kegmenter Fermentation Keg - 7.6 gal. | MoreBeer
Should be enough headspace to ferment under pressure and if needed I can fit it into my small beer fridge to keep it cool.

That's a great choice for a fermenter! If I didn't already own a Spike conical I would have gone the same route but in a 13.2 or 15.3 gallon version. Don't worry, those buckets will still be used for other tasks in your brewing adventure. I have a dozen or so buckets with Gamma seal tops to hold grain. Congratulations on a fine purchase that will give you years of use!

 

[RyPA]

I recently brewed my first NEIPA and I am very happy with how it came out. Having brewed many IPAs in the past that were dull and boring, I was considering giving up on homebrew since the beers, specifically IPAs were not enjoyable. Through the help of the forums I identified the most likely brewing process issues and addressed them:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/upcoming-single-hop-neipa-brew-day.697951/
The things I did differently with this batch:

1. No oxygen contact once you seal your fermenter. This is critical and I wish IPA recipe kits emphasized this more, as it's required to make an IPA taste the way that it should. To simplify this process, I fermented in a 6 gallon torpedo keg, and am now serving out of the same keg. I dry hopped using magnets to drop the hops in the beer when ready. The beer tastes and looks awesome, with no oxidation. My first successful IPA.
2. Fermentation temperature control. I don't have a fancy setup yet, so I filled a 5 gallon bucket with water, placed the keg in it, and used a fish tank heater, with built in thermostat, to warm up the water. I placed the bucket in an area that is 65F so cooling was not needed. I used a probe taped to the side of the keg to monitor temperature.
3. Not required but I also fermented under pressure, which allowed me to begin naturally carbonating my beer during fermentation, allowing me to begin drinking at 10 days from brew day.

Since you don't have equipment yet and not sure what your budget is, to keep this cheap I'd do the below:

- Ferment and serve out of the same keg. Doing this, you can avoid having to buy equipment to do a closed transfer. 0 risk of oxygen contact and less overall cleanup.
- Water in a bucket with fish tank heater for fermentation temperature control

 

[JerryMc]

@RyPA
In another post: Fermenting under pressure
"I've decided to purchase another Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 Digital Temperature Controller Thermostat Remote Monitoring Controlling Home Brewing Fermentation Breeding Incubation Greenhouse: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific to use with Amazon.com: iPower GLHTMTLX2 2-Pack Durable Waterproof Seedling Heat Mat 48" x 20" Warm Hydroponic Plant Germination Starting Pad, Black : Everything Else and stick the fermenter inside a small refrigerator I'll take my bottled beer out of and stick it in there. I don't want issues so this should be perfect, at least I hope so."

So I think I have the equipment side covered now except for the dry hopping without opening the keg part. I'll get some magnets and try that next time maybe. I've also been drooling over: The Dry Hopper from Brewers Hardware and it sure is pretty but I can't justify the price. LOL

 

[RyPA]

@JerryMc yup, that will work, looking to put together something similar except I'm going to use a chest freezer, if I can find one that can fit a keg.

How do you currently plan to dry hop?

 

[JerryMc]

1. release the pressure
2. open the keg
3. dump in the hops quickly
4. close
5. pressurize
6. purge
7. pressurize
8. hope for the best
Next time I'll have magnets of some way of doing the above without opening the keg. Things can only improve from here.

 

[RyPA]

You are fermenting in a keg? If so, at least you avoid exposure for not having to do a transfer.

Sounds like a plan, I'd do 5 or 10 CO2 purges for good measure

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

@RyPA
In another post: Fermenting under pressure
"I've decided to purchase another Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 Digital Temperature Controller Thermostat Remote Monitoring Controlling Home Brewing Fermentation Breeding Incubation Greenhouse: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific to use with Amazon.com: iPower GLHTMTLX2 2-Pack Durable Waterproof Seedling Heat Mat 48" x 20" Warm Hydroponic Plant Germination Starting Pad, Black : Everything Else and stick the fermenter inside a small refrigerator I'll take my bottled beer out of and stick it in there. I don't want issues so this should be perfect, at least I hope so."

So I think I have the equipment side covered now except for the dry hopping without opening the keg part. I'll get some magnets and try that next time maybe. I've also been drooling over: The Dry Hopper from Brewers Hardware nad it sure is pretty but I can't justify the price. LOL

There's certainly a lot of cool devices out there but as you say 275 is some serious change. Perhaps you build your own. I bought a sight glass from Amazon, 1.5" TC though but it was around 25 bucks. Not sure what's out there for the top part but I think a TC cap with a 1/2" pipe thread with a tee, PRV and a QD would do the trick. Just some thoughts for a DIY project and save some cash.

 

[RyPA]

If you're using a floating dip tube, which I recommend, maybe once you drop the hops in, connect your CO2 line to the floating dip tube to push o2 out through your airlock from the bottom up. Should work since CO2 is heavier than o2.

 

[JerryMc]

@RyPA and whoever else wishes to chime in...
Today my haze induced thoughts came up with a new plan.
According to Step 10. Dry hopping, of the recipe from brewers best:
10. Add dry hops
If you do not use a secondary fermenter then add the hops to your primary after fermentation has completed and leave for 5-7 days before bottling.

So I plan to put the hops in a 5 gallon keg, charge it with co2, do a closed transfer to the 5 gallon keg, wait a week and drink it.

My only question is at what point should I cold crash it? As soon as fermentation completes dry hop and continue or or wait until the 5 to 7 days elapse after dry hopping then cold crash or does it even matter? Also considering a pressure of 26 PSI where will the pressure be at 40 degrees F.? Will it drop to desired pressure or will I need to adjust co2 level after crashing?
Sorry for all the questions but how the blank else will I ever figure this out? LOL

 

[RyPA]

I personally do not cold crash. My most recent NEIPA I put in my kegerator and began pouring delicious beers the same night. Enjoying one now as I type.

You can probably get away without even doing a transfer.