What's in Your Fermenter? 2021

[iBooz2]

All good - understand the science perfectly - yes it sucked back during the cold crash period.  The colder the cold crash the bigger the suction.  Nearly stuffed my pressure gauge at that time.

[Shamus O'Sean]

9 hours ago, kmar92 said:

The only time that I see a drop in pressure with my PFV is during the cold crash, that off course is due to CO2 being absorbed and all the Charles Law and Boyles Law stuff as it cools.

Yes, I did not realise the extent of that suck back until I cold crashed a couple of PET PFV's.  The first time it sucked up about a cup of sanitiser into the fermenter.  The second time, I removed the blow off tube, and the walls of the fermenter buckled inward a bit.  The third time, I removed the blow off tube, pressurised the vessel to 10psi, and then cold crashed.  It pretty much kept its shape.

It goes to show that with the normal Coopers FV, when you cold crash one of those, it must suck in a fair amount of surrounding air into the FV.  Therefore, not the pure bed of CO2 I had thought.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

29 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

 

It goes to show that with the normal Coopers FV, when you cold crash one of those, it must suck in a fair amount of surrounding air into the FV.  Therefore, not the pure bed of CO2 I had thought.

Not a pure bed no but CO2 is heavier than oxygen so you will find that there will still be a sufficient layer there protecting your beer from oxidising.

[Pezzza]

22 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

Been very happy with my 27 L Fermzilla once I worked out what was causing pressure leaks.  Its my number 2 fermenter now.

@Graubart did you sort and replace all those seals out I mentioned ages ago?

Yes mate @iBooz2 Boozer i just don't find it easy to seal and easy to clean and hence easy to use and I would not have bought it knowing what I know now mate... 

Triclover SS Clamps on an SS Ferment vessel are miles away in front. 

[Pezzza]

9 hours ago, Greeny1525229549 said:

Not a pure bed no but CO2 is heavier than oxygen so you will find that there will still be a sufficient layer there protecting your beer from oxidising.

@Shamus O'Sean Shamus agree with Greeny on the above @Greeny1525229549 still a CO2 Blanket... 

[Shamus O'Sean]

14 hours ago, Greeny1525229549 said:

Not a pure bed no but CO2 is heavier than oxygen so you will find that there will still be a sufficient layer there protecting your beer from oxidising.

 

4 hours ago, Graubart said:

@Shamus O'Sean Shamus agree with Greeny on the above @Greeny1525229549 still a CO2 Blanket... 

Thanks guys.  It makes sense.  Also, with the slow rate of cold crashing, the air is only coming in very slowly and so is not stirring up the bed of CO2.

When kegging or bottling, I leave the lid on the FV until about the last 1-2 litres.  I remove it to see when I start to suck up yeast through the tap.  That is about time to stop.

Edited September 8, 2021 by Shamus O'Sean

[Pezzza]

12 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Also, with the slow rate of cold crashing, the air is only coming in very slowly and so is not stirring up the bed of CO2.

And suspect too @Shamus O'Sean Shamus that during cooling, the yeast is probs still producing small amounts of CO2 so there may be little Air i.e. Nitrogen Oxygen mix flooding in - as will be a balance between generation of CO2 in the brew vs PV=nRT volume reducing on cooling...  and a drop in say 10-15 deg may only have little effect on the actual gas volume above the brew anyway.   When I cool my sealed SS FV (turn heat belt off or crank fridge up) there never seems to be a load of bubbling with gas going the other way -- into the brew.  But then again I do also not sit around observing  ; )  And I fill my bubbler with Aldi Vodka just in case to stop any import of organisms into the brew haha! : )   {that shittt'd kill yer }

A fair lot of us will also let the FV sit for at least a week after FG appears to have been reached -- for keg conditioning... that people like Palmer recommend... which ostensibly should allow for diffusion mixing of gases in a Coops FV... but again it must be a minimum or certainly not detrimental as it actually seems to improve the beer... 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by Graubart

[iBooz2]

Forgot to post this up yesterday:

BD+5 13:55 pressure held at 15.0 psi,  SG taken as 1.008 so down from 1.055 in 120 hours which works out to 105% done (predicted FG 1.010) and the temperature has been held at 22 C.  Burps in the bottle of sanitiser from the blow off tube have stopped.

Today's update: 

BD+6 16:00 pressure still holding at 15.0 psi,  SG taken was 1.008 so it's the same as yesterday which means this big batch is done and dusted in 144 hours.  Cold crash starts tomorrow.

Now it will be interesting to see if the big old fridge can get this big volume down to 2 C during the cold crash.  I know it has trouble getting the 23 L in the fermzilla down to 2 C and holding it there.

Edited September 9, 2021 by iBooz2

[Classic Brewing Co]

Anyone had experience with Chinook Hops ?  I was at an LHBS today & scored a few bargains including several packs of them 15g ea.

I have become quite fond of a MV Blonde Dry that I use US-05 with & was thinking it would work. I find it is a great fridge filler, always reliable.

 

[kmar92]

On 9/7/2021 at 11:14 PM, iBooz2 said:

All good - understand the science perfectly - yes it sucked back during the cold crash period.  The colder the cold crash the bigger the suction.  Nearly stuffed my pressure gauge at that time.

I was just thinking on this again @iBooz2 and I can't recall any of my brews losing pressure completely when using the SS kegmenter when cold crashing. I usually run at 15psi for the ferment but even with a cold crash I have never seen the pressure drop to zero, I think that the lowest it has gone would be about 5psi and so I haven't noted any suck back. I have experienced suck back with a fermzilla but in my experience they do not have nearly as good a seal as a kegmenter. FWIW.

[stquinto]

18 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Anyone had experience with Chinook Hops ?  I was at an LHBS today & scored a few bargains including several packs of them 15g ea.

I have become quite fond of a MV Blonde Dry that I use US-05 with & was thinking it would work. I find it is a great fridge filler, always reliable.

 

@Classic Brewing Co Phil mate, I've used them alongside other American hops like Cascade and Simcoe (or Citra). It gives a bit of a pine tree, wood sap/resin flavour, and when paired with the other two it goes quite well. I doubt I would use them by themself mind.

This is quite a useful tool :

https://beermaverick.com/hops/hop-comparison-tool/

It is in the recipe for Anarchy Ale, which was one of my first recipes I followed from the site. And one of my favourites too, but that could be because it was the first. Until then I was just throwing in hops willy-nilly and the results were, well, how should I put it ? Bloody awful (still drunk 'em though). At the same time I was making high-strength Belgian-style ales but they didn't do much for you other than put you on your a*se after a few. Has its upsides as well as its downsides...

I saw the light (or drank the cool aid...) and realised the Coopers recipes are far more balanced and make for a much, much better beer. Probably because they've been tested properly.

Personally I will stick with kits, but with the occasional foray into extraxt brewing for some English style ales (my Holy Grail to make will be a Timothy Taylor's Landlord - a Pom Pale Ale, and a Duvel - Belgian strong golden ale, and also a Theakstones Old Peculier). 

I'm more than happy with the recipes here. My Coopers Commercial yeasts seem to be working out too. Now I'm starting kegging so hopefully will up the ante a bit.I can't be bothered to go full grain - I can imagine the brew day is too long and I would give up after a while. I might try BIAB though.

 

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

6 minutes ago, stquinto said:

@Classic Brewing Co Phil mate, I've used them alongside other American hops like Cascade and Simcoe (or Citra). It gives a bit of a pine tree, wood sap/resin flavour, and when paired with the other two it goes quite well. I doubt I would use them by themself mind.

This is quite a useful tool :

https://beermaverick.com/hops/hop-comparison-tool/

It is in the recipe for Anarchy Ale, which was one of my first recipes I followed from the site. And one of my favourites too, but that could be because it was the first. Until then I was just throwing in hops willy-nilly and the results were, well, how should I put it ? Bloody awful (still drunk 'em though). At the same time I was making high-strength Belgian-style ales but they didn't do much for you other than put you on your a*se after a few. Has its upsides as well as its downsides...

I saw the light (or drank the cool aid...) and realised the Coopers recipes are far more balanced and make for a much, much better beer. Probably because they've been tested properly.

Personally I will stick with kits, but with the occasional foray into extraxt brewing for some English style ales (my Holy Grail to make will be a Timothy Taylor's Landlord - a Pom Pale Ale, and a Duvel - Belgian strong golden ale, and also a Theakstones Old Peculier). 

I'm more than happy with the recipes here. My Coopers Commercial yeasts seem to be working out too. Now I'm starting kegging so hopefully will up the ante a bit.I can't be bothered to go full grain - I can imagine the brew day is too long and I would give up after a while. I might try BIAB though.

 

 

Hi @stquinto Cheers, I was thinking after reading a bit more into it I should combine the Chinook with another, Cascade was mentioned, in stock ATM I have POR & Galaxy but it's easy to get others. I know what you mean with the different flavours that some deliver. I am happy with my extract/partials also so AG is another option although I would go BIAB first.

Coopers Kits are really great, as you say it has been well thought out - for 150 years !!

Maybe some sort of kegging is on the horizon rather than jump into all grain. 

[Stickers]

50 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Maybe some sort of kegging is on the horizon rather than jump into all grain. 

i'm really happy with what i'm getting from kit kilo and partials out of a keg. for my personal tastes it is almost like the missing link of what i was looking for out of my brewing. after a week back on bottles after i ran out i definitely prefer co2 to the carbonation i was getting in bottles

[Classic Brewing Co]

3 minutes ago, Stickers said:

i'm really happy with what i'm getting from kit kilo and partials out of a keg. for my personal tastes it is almost like the missing link of what i was looking for out of my brewing. after a week back on bottles after i ran out i definitely prefer co2 to the carbonation i was getting in bottles

Fair enough @Stickers I understand you cannot compete with CO2 re: carbonation however I still manage good head retention with K&K but ultimately it would be the way to go.

Cheers

Phil

[Pezzza]

1 hour ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

you cannot compete with CO2 re: carbonation however I still manage good head retention with K&K but ultimately it would be the way to go.

yeah don't  agree  -  as an AG Brewer prior to kegging... I reckon that the AG Bottle brews were outstanding... just going to kegs means you only fill like One Big Bottle.... 

but as we note - many ways to the top of the mountain : )

[ChristinaS1]

Just put this on. Same recipe as last time, since it turned out so well, except for different yeast and small change to the FO hops.

 

APA

Sept 9, 2021

 

1.7kg Coopers APA

1.5kg light LME

650g Vienna 17%

300g Superior Ale malt 7.8%

200g Crystal 15L 5.2%

125g Carapils 3.3%

10g Cents x 10 minutes

20g Cents @ FO for 20 minute hop stand 

20g Cascades @ FO for 20 minute hop stand 

15g Citra  DH x 48 hours 

10g Mosaic DH

10g Amarillo DH

10mL Clarity ferm

23L

WLP095 Burlington Ale 

 

Looking forward to reusing this yeast many times. It makes such yummy beer. 

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[BlackSands]

Well, that's gotta be some kind of record!  1.040 -> 1.006 in under 18 hours.  That's voss @35º  for ya! Ripped through my latest golden ale in no time.  I've bittered this one with Southern Cross and dosed with the new trial hops HORT9909  -  apparently offering a mix of nobel characters and new world citrus lime.  We'll see.  

20 Litre AG:

• 2.8kg GF American Ale Malt
• 200g GF Supernova Malt
• 200g GF Sour Grapes
• 15g Southern Cross @ 40min
• 10g Southern Cross @ 15min
• 25g HORT 9909 steep
• 25g HORT 9909 Dry Hop
• 25g Southern Cross Dry Hop
• 5g Gypsum
• Kveik Voss

With such a short fermentations I've taken to adding the dry hops right at the start.  Seems to work well enough.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2021 by BlackSands

[Pezzza]

Back in the great Game... GPSA going absolutely spazzzzzmodick (Gentle Pale Spring Ale) a day later... pitched onto healthy fresh US05 slurry and well oxygenated... off we go 

[Pezzza]

Doing a 'warm' Dubbya Munich Lagery thing...  Wort dumped onto prior Dubbya slurry around 20 degC and it has jumped...  ambient temp 15-16 degC but the brew temp is 24 deg making its own heat... so we'll see how Dubbya goes that warm - allowed to do its own thing with a 1065 festive heavy AG Wort 

[Red devil 44]

2 x Wheat beers in my fermenting fridge@19 degrees.

‘Bavarian Wheat Beer going nuts, 12 hrs after pitch, already changed the air lock !!

‘Raspberry Wheat Beer, this smells amazing, only 2 hrs into pitch.

‘Both have the same M20 Bavarian Wheat Yeast.

See video below for my comments on these babies.

Cheers RD44

[terminal2k]

today I just put a coopers pale with reclaimed coopers pale yeast in my 23L fermenter, and the amber ale that came with my mini coopers starter kit in that one

[MitchBastard]

On 9/13/2021 at 11:44 AM, Graubart said:

Doing a 'warm' Dubbya Munich Lagery thing...  Wort dumped onto prior Dubbya slurry around 20 degC and it has jumped...  ambient temp 15-16 degC but the brew temp is 24 deg making its own heat... so we'll see how Dubbya goes that warm - allowed to do its own thing with a 1065 festive heavy AG Wort 

You’re a bloody wild man m8.

 

 

[iBooz2]

4 minutes ago, MitchBastard said:

You’re a bloody wild man m8.

Agree.  Hope ya got the NSW poisons hotline programmed into your mobile phone speed dial and you can do it with one finger as you go down.    

Narh! only kidding.  Good luck with that experiment @GraubartLove ya "outta the box" work! 

[Pezzza]

14 hours ago, MitchBastard said:

You’re a bloody wild man m8.

Haha me old Master Brew Mate there @MitchBastard Mitchie - well one of the Braumeister I have learned lots from @disgruntled BTDG I think never does temp control - is that right - ambient is it?

But I think that BTDG also uses all sorts of festive yeasties and not our mate plodding old Dubba 34/70 I guess... 

@iBooz2 guess if not good Boozer I can use it as weedkiller? 

[Pezzza]

ALL YOU Coopers Kit Brewers note that there is free shipping on Coopers over $80 orders....  till 19 Sep 2021...  if you have not already seen it ; )