when to spund to carb beer

[fluketamer]

hi

at what attenuation should i attach a spunding valve in order to carbonate the beer.

i am brewing a kolsch and i figure the last third leg of fermentaiton i woulld place the valve on but is there a rule.

 

[jdauria]

I usually do it when 4-6 points from final gravity. Key is to do a fast ferment test with a small sample of the beer and some of the yeast so you have an idea what your final gravity will be.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Since you're using a valve, you have a long runway to hit. You could install the valve with the proper pressure setting well above what your expected FG will be (say 10 points). The difficult circumstance, when it needs to be seriously evaluated by fast ferment, is when you're bunging up the keg without a spunding valve. This is when the "4-6 points left" rule is usually employed. The potential to over/under carb when hard-bunging the keg is much greater due to not having the valve to dial in the target pressure.

 

[passedpawn]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why not attach the spunding valve at the beginning of fermentation?

Also, note that you really should set the valve to a higher pressure than what you want for serving.

I.e., let's assume you want to serve at 35F and 10psi. You're fermenting your Kolsch at 60F. Set the spunding valve to 24psi. Then, when it's all done fermenting and you chill down to 35F, the pressure will drop nicely down to 10psi. Use a carbonation chart to determine this.

 

[AlexKay]

I often put the spunding valve on earlier than I need to, say at 50-60% apparent attenuation. I figure that’s plenty of time for fermentation character to be set, and that way I don’t risk undercarbonating. Too early and I’d worry about suppressing esters. (Yes, even for lagers or neutral ales. I know how the yeast behaves at 1 atm, and don’t want to play with pressure fermentation. I just want fizzy beer.)

 

[fluketamer]

I often put the spunding valve on earlier than I need to, say at 50-60% apparent attenuation. I figure that’s plenty of time for fermentation character to be set, and that way I don’t risk undercarbonating. Too early and I’d worry about suppressing esters. (Yes, even for lagers or neutral ales. I know how the yeast behaves at 1 atm, and don’t want to play with pressure fermentation. I just want fizzy beer.)

the last time i fermetned under pressure i used 34/70 at 12 psi and 70 degrees. it was the cleanest tasting beer i have made in a while clenaer than 34/70 at 60 without pressure. i am afraid to supress any esters in this kolsch because its such a low ester yeast to begin with that i was afraid it could lose its kolsch character. i descided to go no pressure at 60. .

its such a slow fermenter that i am reluctant now to add pressure and suppress the yeast and slow it down further. i could pressure and heat it up at this point which sounds like a really good idea as ia m typing this. i just want to save some gas at the end to carb it up for serving.

its 30 percent attentuated now i think i am going to attach the valve and set it high like passed pawn suggests.

 

[cactusgarrett]

why not attach the spunding valve at the beginning of fermentation?

Depending on my fill volume of the FV, I often fear the krausen will seep into the spunding value, so I use a blowoff tube. In my case (using a torepedo keg), the blowoff goes on the gas-in post, so i get one or the other.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

I tried this once, so no expert. I did a 7.5 gallon batch in a 10 gallon corny, which I wanted to keg into a 5 gallon and 2.5 gallon. I used the fermentation gas to purge the two kegs; no problems there. I put a spunding valve on near the end of fermentation, (I don’t recall the sg)The only difficulties I had was doing the pressurized transfer of carbonated beer into the kegs.
There was not room in the cooler for the 10 gallon keg, so everything had to be done at ambient temperature. I couldn’t lift the 10 gallon keg, so it was strictly a pressurized transfer. Since the receiving keg has to be at lower pressure to get flow, I also got a little foaming. I continually had to add pressure /relieve pressure to move the beer, so, I questioned what I was actually saving. I’m sure folks here have perfected a method to deal with the issues I had, but I just decided that it was so much easier just do a gravity transfer to my kegs after full fermentation, and add priming sugar to the keg through the gas post and let it carb naturally. By the way, I use the spunding valve to monitor the carbonation progress by tightening the relief all the way down so it functions as a simple pressure gauge. I use a floating dip tube and have no sediment issues.

 

[IDMaynard]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why not attach the spunding valve at the beginning of fermentation?

Also, note that you really should set the valve to a higher pressure than what you want for serving.

I.e., let's assume you want to serve at 35F and 10psi. You're fermenting your Kolsch at 60F. Set the spunding valve to 24psi. Then, when it's all done fermenting and you chill down to 25F, the pressure will drop nicely down to 10psi. Use a carbonation chart to determine this.

View attachment 851865

If you are fermenting an ale you will eliminate some of the flavors you want by running pressurized fermentation from the start. Lager's heck yeah slap that puppy on there at the start and run at 68F.

 

[passedpawn]

If you are fermenting an ale you will eliminate some of the flavors you want by running pressurized fermentation from the start. Lager's heck yeah slap that puppy on there at the start and run at 68F.

Yep. I just tried the beer. I've made this one loads of times. It's a barley/wheat/oats ale with corriander and orange peel.

I can't believe how clean and crisp it is. Quite a different beer from previous. I'm really not sure how I feel about it yet, but I can see how this ester suppression could be good in certain styles. Italian pilsner (which I make with rice), dry stout, maybe some others. I can also see how it might really interfere with some styles. Whole new world!

Here is my fermentor, during closed transfer. Hard to see, but on the bench just left of the fermentor is a 74g CO2 cartridge attached to a mini regulator (obscured by the spunding valve assy in front of it). Very handy when you just need a squirt of gas to get things flowing.