Fermentasaurus

[Otto Von Blotto]

I used to like naturally carbing my beer until I tasted it done via a CO2 cylinder in my first few kegs. The flavour was cleaner, I guess because it didn't have to go through another fermentation, but in that unit it carbonates as it ferments so it's still only one fermentation and probably gonna taste better than bottle carbonated beer.

[King Ruddager]

You don't have to ferment under pressure with it though' date=' you can just do a 'standard' type fermentation.[/quote']

 

Yeah I know

[Titan8]

I have to add another pro for this set up. Beer clarity is amazing. Last three brews i have transfered fv to keg using keg to keg transfer. I usually suffer chill haze until beer is 4 weeks in keg. My beers now are crystal clear 2 weeks in.

[King Ruddager]

So I'm pretty sure I know the answer to the question "... is it possible to bottle beer than has been fermented under pressure such that it does not need to be primed", but I asked them anyway.

[Titan8]

I would say its possible as carb level is not as high as you would normally get from bulk or carb drop priming. My spunding valve was set at around 13 psi as this was my first pressure ferment and didnt want any mishaps while i was away. Anyhow im pretty sure it can be done either from the bottom or off the top. I had 1.5 l left in fv when i finished the keg to keg transfer and didnt have time to figure out the best method to get the remainder into a bottle. Its still there and still under pressure so next time home will give it a go. As for priming, you would still prime, i suspect 1 carb drop per longneck. This however is a new toy ready to be experimented on. Next time i will leave off the spunding and leave built in rv to take care of it and see where carb level are.

[King Ruddager]

So I'm pretty sure I know the answer to the question "... is it possible to bottle beer than has been fermented under pressure such that it does not need to be primed"' date=' but I asked them anyway.[/quote']

 

It turns out I was wrong. The real answer is actually "counter pressure bottle filler"

 

Has anyone got any experience with these? Sounds promising, but also potentially more trouble than it's worth.

 

There's another another answer too - "combined method". Ferment to a pressure that won't bubble too badly when bottling and bulk prime the last little bit as well.

[Otto Von Blotto]

You might find more cats with experience with CPBFs over on AHB. It's something used by keggers to bottle kegged beer for comps or parties or whatever. I've never used one myself though so I have no experience with them.

[fattima]

I've got one of these KegKing bottle thingo, works a treat for filling PET bottles from a keg. Used it this morning to take a sample from the Fermentasaurus, so you could bottle with it. First crack at fermenting under pressure to try and get natural carbing going, all good so far.

[King Ruddager]

Time to escalate my query I think!

 

(not that I can treat myself to a Fermentasaurus any time soon anyway ... thanks Max)

[headmaster]

I too would love to run one of these, mainly for the trub/yeast removal, priming in the one vessel etc. But my two brew fridges are too small for this thing unfortunately.

 

Regarding filling bottles with already carbed beer, I know very little but have heard people complain about doing that. I can imagine it may be tedious and time consuming, and only something you do to small amounts for a brew comp or to take a growler to a party/mates place etc.

 

[Fancy a Cheeky Pint?]

I very nearly purchased one yesterday as one of my standard fermentors is in need of replacement, but thought I would research it a bit first.

Now I will watch this thread with interest to see how things go for others before I take the plunge.

 

Please keep the feedback coming.....

[fattima]

Did my first fermentation under pressure and let wort/beer carb naturally using my home made spunding valve. Took 8 days brew to serving, pretty happy.

 

[Titan8]

Spot on mate. My next brew will be full pressure ferment without spunding. Im figuring that at 18 deg at end of ferment i should have fully carbed beer. All experimental of course.

 

[fattima]

I was using US-05 and brewed at 18 degrees for four days and 15PSI then capped the pressure and let it go. Tastes great, I'm sold on this method.

[Titan8]

Just wondering if your harvesting? My latest havests have all been trub with yeast left in fv.

[Titan8]

Seems the container is not big enough. Clear beer admitedly but ,......

[fattima]

I'm not harvesting from the fermentasaurus, I'm harvesting from starters.

[Titan8]

Hey guys, this is what i was talking about in my previous post. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong but last couple of brews have been like this. Container is 500ml and seems like its no big enough.

[headmaster]

Not surprised to see that it does not fit there. At the end of my brews in the coopers FV, there would be more like 1.25 to 1.5 litres of yeast there. Cant you simply pour out that yeast into another container and then keep tapping yeast out?

 

I really do wish I could run one of these, woudl be so good for dumping trub at the beginning of the brew from the no-chill method, resulting in less clarity issues, plus harvesting yeast, then bulk priming and bottling from it too. So good. Might have to think about finding a bigger fridges.

 

 

[Mikes15]

Mind if I ask you Fermentasaurus owners a few (lot) questions,,,

 

- Can you only dry hop & bulk prime with the bottle if you are pressure brewing?

 

- Read that 50g MAX of hop pellets can be hopped at a time or the Valve / throat block as it swells?

 

- Also read that if you use a lot of dry hops then removing them from conical FV's can be difficult as they can block the throat & require poking through with a long spoon or Rod from above?

 

- Why would you want a sample / racking tap when they supply a hose tail to screw into the base Valve?

 

- If you don't Pressure ferment would there be a problem with simply dropping dry hops / bulk prime in from the top cap?

 

- I have read they can be a pain to clean if the brew foams a lot as you cant get your hand inside to wipe out?

 

- Why use a floating scavenging tube? - if you are removing the Trub / yeast / hops and so will bottle I guess 99% of the beer, why not just use a hose & clamp / second valve on the bottom Valve & not have the contamination risk or cleaning from the tube / float & chain?

 

And in return, might help some of you to know,

 

- It seems to be normal that not all the trub or hops will come out in one collection, multiple collections with 24hrs rest in between are suggested by the maker,

 

- Apparently a 1ltr SODA STREAM bottle has the same thread & pressure rating so can be used if you want a bigger collector bottle.

 

- The 2 (or is it 2.5) year expiry on the FV is simply there to meet Au PV regulations, it is suggested that they will prob last longer pressure brewing, but they may also not,,,,,

 

 

 

 

[fattima]

Mind if I ask you Fermentasaurus owners a few (lot) questions' date=',,

 

- Can you only dry hop & bulk prime with the bottle if you are pressure brewing? No but you would release pressure

 

- Read that 50g MAX of hop pellets can be hopped at a time or the Valve / throat block as it swells?Haven't tried a big dry hop addition

 

- Also read that if you use a lot of dry hops then removing them from conical FV's can be difficult as they can block the throat & require poking through with a long spoon or Rod from above? Again don't know

 

- Why would you want a sample / racking tap when they supply a hose tail to screw into the base Valve?I presume because it take it from above the level of the trub

 

- If you don't Pressure ferment would there be a problem with simply dropping dry hops / bulk prime in from the top cap? Don't reckon so

 

- I have read they can be a pain to clean if the brew foams a lot as you cant get your hand inside to wipe out?I can fit my hand in, cleaning is easy

 

- Why use a floating scavenging tube? - if you are removing the Trub / yeast / hops and so will bottle I guess 99% of the beer, why not just use a hose & clamp / second valve on the bottom Valve & not have the contamination risk or cleaning from the tube / float & chain? It's a great method, I transfer under pressure and can leave any trub behind

 

And in return, might help some of you to know,

 

- It seems to be normal that not all the trub or hops will come out in one collection, multiple collections with 24hrs rest in between are suggested by the maker,

 

- Apparently a 1ltr SODA STREAM bottle has the same thread & pressure rating so can be used if you want a bigger collector bottle.

 

- The 2 (or is it 2.5) year expiry on the FV is simply there to meet Au PV regulations, it is suggested that they will prob last longer pressure brewing, but they may also not,,,,,

 

 

 

[Mikes15]

Thanks for the reply,

 

Still not really understanding the floating take off, the idea of the conical & dump bottle is to allow the removal of the Trub / yeast / hops etc.

 

So if its gone then why have all that extra hose & ball stuff sitting in your brew, surely a pressure transfer adaptor for the base Valve would be a far easier / simpler method? - After all the big claim is that these produce "such clearer beer" because of this dump system, How much beer are you having to leave behind using the float & tube?

 

On from that, are these actually "quicker/faster" than a barrel FV or is that only if you pressure ferment?

Read some posts saying that from Wort to glass can be 5-8days, surely that's not allowing for post FSG resting / conditioning or cold crashing, or is that not required when you use a conical with, or without, pressure?

 

 

[Fancy a Cheeky Pint?]

G'day Everyone,

Not been on in a while due to work but I've not stopped brewing!

 

Well, I got myself a Fermentasaurus but as yet I've not used it. Before I do are there any hints and tips from those that have used it?

 

I treated myself to the pressure kit and I have a spunding valve on order. I've been waiting for valve to arrive before I do my first brew in it and that's expected to arrive next Saturday.

 

Cheers

[Titan8]

Well i have done a couple of pressure ferments and these are my observations:

 

Only pressure ferment if you are kegging or you have a widget that allows you to transfer carbbed beer to bottles. Otherwise you make a huge mess.

 

You may have to reduce you batch size to 20-21l as you dont want to leave 4l after kegging.

Make sure if you are transfering from FV to keg you put some gas on the FV or it will start to collapse.

Initially you have to make sure you have a seal, so after you add your wart to fv connect your gas and crank to 35psi to check for leaks on the lid.

Blow of some of this co2 and connect and set up your spunding valve. I got 2 but dont use as i just let the inbuilt prv do its job.

You might be lucky and have a dispensing fridge big enough to take the FV. Then all if the above except the seal and spunding set up is superfluous haha.

[Beerlust]

Hi Titan8.

Just wondering if your harvesting? My latest havests have all been trub with yeast left in fv.

From reading further posts of yours' date=' I'm not sure if you have solved this problem yet or not? [img']unsure[/img]

If you have, terrific, if you haven't, read on...

 

The bulk of the unfermentable material in your wort will actually drop fairly quickly after filling your fermenter & pitching the yeast. If it were me, I'd wait until noticeable signs of fermentation were apparent (usually somewhere between 24-48 hours), then dump the trub contained in your collection bowl at the base of your fermenter.

 

At this time the bulk of the salvageable yeast will all be in suspension fermenting the wort so will not be in the collection bowl at this point. Then clean out the collection bowl & sanitise with StarSan, reconnect & open to the active wort again. By the end of the ferment you will certainly have more yeast than trub that I would think will easily fit in that container.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Lusty.