What's in Your Fermenter? 2021

[Pale Man]

35 minutes ago, ChristinaS1 said:

I had not thought about that aspect of things, but very true. It also appeals to me because I fermented in a bucket and so had to do an open transfer. It is possible the beer many have picked up a little oxygen during transfer; secondary fermentation in the keg will clean it up. 

Hey Shamus, what size is your keg? How much sugar did you use?

My keg is 19L. I used 70gm of table sugar, which is the amount PB2 recommended. This is less than I would expect based on how much I used back when bulk priming, but I am taking it on faith. 

Cheers,

Christina.

This is interesting. I want to do this with a stout and stash it away for quite a while.

[Shamus O'Sean]

41 minutes ago, ChristinaS1 said:

Hey Shamus, what size is your keg? How much sugar did you use?

My keg is 19L. I used 70gm of table sugar, which is the amount PB2 recommended. This is less than I would expect based on how much I used back when bulk priming, but I am taking it on faith. 

Hey Christina, my kegs are also 19L.  I forgot to note how much sugar I used on the last couple.  However, I would usually use 180g of sugar to prime 30 longnecks.  The two kegs I was priming were only half full (a split batch).  Initially, I thought split the 180g in half.  But folks on here have spoken about using nearly half as much sugar to carbonate kegs.  I was pretty sceptical about that.  Therefore, I think I ended up adding 80g to each half keg.  They were both carbonated nicely to my liking a few weeks later.  The 80g might have worked well in half full kegs with so much air space to pressurise before CO2 would get forced into the beer.  This amount (or around 70g) might work fine in a full 19L keg, with much less air space.  Let us know how you go.

[Hoppy81]

12 hours ago, Pale Man said:

This is interesting. I want to do this with a stout and stash it away for quite a while.

You sit on beer for longer than 1 month, pfft never....

[Pezzza]

On 1/31/2021 at 4:48 AM, ChristinaS1 said:

Tried this only once before. 

Sounds good Christina.

Have done a few times.

Been good except one little keg - with clogging via yeast.

That was the only drawback.

 

[Pale Man]

3 hours ago, Hoppy81 said:

You sit on beer for longer than 1 month, pfft never....

Theres always a first 

[Scottie]

Hey there Brew Dudes

Long time no see.

On Saturday I put down my first brew since July last year. My third BIAB after years of using my trusty 19 litre Coleman Mash Tun.

I've gone for my Buccaneer's Pale Ale again this time using Lusty's favorite yeast.

I missed my numbers with more yield, lower efficiency and higher than target Mash temperature. It could be a mid strength once its finished.

The BRY yeast was up and about within 24 hours which was pleasing. 

Looks like I'll be putting another one down with some temperature and volume refinements, and more grain this weekend.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

[BlackSands]

Morillo Light Amber Ale as mentioned in the Brew Day thread.   Yet another voss-fermented lower ABV/carb stove-top AG brew.  

As a bit of an experiment I'm letting this one ferment uncontrolled.  Voss was pitched at 32º into a 1.036 wort.  I then wrapped the FV in a sleeping bag and left it to do its thing.  26 hours later the temperature is still at 32ºC and it looks like fermentation is all but done...  reading 1.006 at the moment.   I'm now wondering if these uncontrolled, stable-temperature ferments with kveik would be similarly possible in Winter?  

[ozdevil]

1 hour ago, BlackSands said:

Morillo Light Amber Ale as mentioned in the Brew Day thread.   Yet another voss-fermented lower ABV/carb stove-top AG brew.  

As a bit of an experiment I'm letting this one ferment uncontrolled.  Voss was pitched at 32º into a 1.036 wort.  I then wrapped the FV in a sleeping bag and left it to do its thing.  26 hours later the temperature is still at 32ºC and it looks like fermentation is all but done...  reading 1.006 at the moment.   I'm now wondering if these uncontrolled, stable-temperature ferments with kveik would be similarly possible in Winter?  

I would think in winter  to get it to ferment at 32°c   you will need to use a heat pad or band around your fermenter.   as doing it uncontrolled with out no temp control in winter it would be hard to maintain high temps  to get the best out  kveik yeast.

but would be an intersting experiment just the same

[Pezzza]

1 hour ago, BlackSands said:

As a bit of an experiment I'm letting this one ferment uncontrolled.  Voss was pitched at 32º into a 1.036 wort.  I then wrapped the FV in a sleeping bag and left it to do its thing.  26 hours later the temperature is still at 32ºC and it looks like fermentation is all but done...

Thanks for this Sandman - - would be great to be able to only cool to that sort of temp after my boil - get into FV and then just wrap it up...  I like the way you are thinking mate... thanks for the post and I might try a ripper fast brew and see how quickly I can get into keg.  All reports are for fairly clean brew - so ok for a clean pale sparkling ale style brew mate?  And normal ferment no need for pressure fermenting hey?

[Pezzza]

Just now, ozdevil said:

I would think in winter  to get it to ferment at 32°c   you will need to use a heat pad or band around your fermenter. 

Might be best to have some extra warmth if required OzD - but remember that like @BlackSands Sandman noted with the sleeping bag around it was still pretty warm 26 hours later... the ol' yeasties crank out a bit of heat themselves... exothermic process and so on...   had a bit of strife the other day with a brew going up by 4 degrees off its own bat with the froth and bubble going on ; )  Was in Pressure Vessel so all ok but was having trouble keeping temp down with Brew Fridge occupied with a brewing going through CC. 

[ozdevil]

3 minutes ago, Graubart said:

Thanks for this Sandman - - would be great to be able to only cool to that sort of temp after my boil - get into FV and then just wrap it up...  I like the way you are thinking mate... thanks for the post and I might try a ripper fast brew and see how quickly I can get into keg.  All reports are for fairly clean brew - so ok for a clean pale sparkling ale style brew mate?  And normal ferment no need for pressure fermenting hey?

There is probably no need to Pressure ferment  But  what i hear the Krausen builds pretty big with some overflow

pressure fermenting will help reduce and speed the ferment up as well

[Pezzza]

2 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

But  what i hear the Krausen builds pretty big with some overflow

Mmmm now that is of importance yes - thanks mate.   I will keep that in mind. 

Maybe do a small-ish brew like 20L in the Coopers FV with Kräussen Collar on as a "safety first" way of trying things first up?

[ozdevil]

1 minute ago, Graubart said:

Might be best to have some extra warmth if required OzD - but remember that like @BlackSands Sandman noted with the sleeping bag around it was still pretty warm 26 hours later... the ol' yeasties crank out a bit of heat themselves... exothermic process and so on...   had a bit of strife the other day with a brew going up by 4 degrees off its own bat with the froth and bubble going on ; )  Was in Pressure Vessel so all ok but was having trouble keeping temp down with Brew Fridge occupied with a brewing going through CC. 

theres a bit of difference between temps now and winter and mind you depending on what part of the world ya live in as well.

Qld i would agree with you

melbourne Tassie  and S.A  a cold night even with a sleeping bag or  some form of jacket over it  , I dont think  you would hold high temp as suited to Kveik

Ya might  say hold 24-26°c   but for kveik to be best should be 30°c   and above

 

[ozdevil]

Just now, Graubart said:

Mmmm now that is of importance yes - thanks mate.   I will keep that in mind. 

Maybe do a small-ish brew like 20L in the Coopers FV with Kräussen Collar on as a "safety first" way of trying things first up?

i wouldnt be scared to do a 23l   in 30l  fermenter    with a good blow off tube into a bucket of Sanitiser

but if the 2ol in ya coopers fv with Krausen collar  you could be ok

How are these cooper  fermenters like with Krausen collar Like  i basicly use a 27l fermzilla or the 35l Snub nose fermenter
for my fermenting

I have 2 older style fermenters which i don't like much but handy for those brews that i dont dry hop with

 

[BlackSands]

4 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

I would think in winter  to get it to ferment at 32°c   you will need to use a heat pad or band around your fermenter.   as doing it uncontrolled with out no temp control in winter it would be hard to maintain high temps  to get the best out  kveik yeast.

but would be an intersting experiment just the same

I'm thinking the exothermic energy will be enough to hold it at 30-odd degrees, even in winter.  And it only needs to maintain the  temp for a couple of days so I think it's quite possible without the aid of a heat source.   I think the key is just to insulate well (sleeping bag) and the heat given off from the fermentation itself will do the rest.  

 

6 minutes ago, Graubart said:

Thanks for this Sandman - - would be great to be able to only cool to that sort of temp after my boil - get into FV and then just wrap it up...  I like the way you are thinking mate... thanks for the post and I might try a ripper fast brew and see how quickly I can get into keg.  All reports are for fairly clean brew - so ok for a clean pale sparkling ale style brew mate?  And normal ferment no need for pressure fermenting hey?

And actually you don't even need to cool down to 32º, that's just where this one happened to end up after a hop steep and by the time I got round to pouring into the fermenter.   40ºC would actually be OK for kveik so you cool time could be even quicker.   All my voss-fermented brews,  fermented in the range 32 - 35º without pressure have reached FG in a couple of days - and all tasting nice and clean after 2 or 3 weeks bottled.  I can't say I'm really aware of any obvious orange-like esters in any of them that some report either.  And, even if those esters were apparent I don't think they'd actually  be out of place in the beers I like to brew anyway.   So, yeah why not give it a shot in a sparkling ale.  

[Pezzza]

5 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

How are these cooper  fermenters like with Krausen collar 

Yeah good - most of my brews now I don't bother with the Collar - am chasing a Keg-filling brew like 19-20L and the Standard Coopers FV is great. Yep.

And yeah I am also doing Fermy PFV and that seems to be going a bit better now with a few tweaks. 

[BlackSands]

8 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

theres a bit of difference between temps now and winter and mind you depending on what part of the world ya live in as well.

Qld i would agree with you

melbourne Tassie  and S.A  a cold night even with a sleeping bag or  some form of jacket over it  , I dont think  you would hold high temp as suited to Kveik

Ya might  say hold 24-26°c   but for kveik to be best should be 30°c   and above

 

Well, hence the reason for my ponderance!  However, before I owned a fermentation fridge I used to brew in cold NZ Winters using a sleeping bag as insulation.  Using 'normal' ale yeasts the fermentation held the temperature up and stable for a few days.  However as fermentation slowed the temperature then started to drop - often finishing at 16 - 17ºC.  Not ideal but the beers were fine.  However, with kveik I do think there's a good chance it can probably maintain it's higher temp for the mere two days required to reach FG.  I'll let you know in 6 months time!   

[ozdevil]

6 minutes ago, BlackSands said:

I'm thinking the exothermic energy will be enough to hold it at 30-odd degrees, even in winter.  And it only needs to maintain the  temp for a couple of days so I think it's quite possible without the aid of a heat source.   I think the key is just to insulate well (sleeping bag) and the heat given off from the fermentation itself will do the rest.  

 

And actually you don't even need to cool down to 32º, that's just where this one happened to end up after a hop steep and by the time I got round to pouring into the fermenter.   40ºC would actually be OK for kveik so you cool time could be even quicker.   All my voss-fermented brews,  fermented in the range 32 - 35º without pressure have reached FG in a couple of days - and all tasting nice and clean after 2 or 3 weeks bottled.  I can't say I'm really aware of any obvious orange-like esters in any of them that some report either.  And, even if those esters were apparent I don't think they'd actually  be out of place in the beers I like to brew anyway.   So, yeah why not give it a shot in a sparkling ale.  

I am not saying it shouldnt or should..  i think it would be an interesting little test for winter  and i think at worse it may just take a little longer to ferment out if can't hold to the temp
 

[Pezzza]

7 minutes ago, BlackSands said:

And actually you don't even need to cool down to 32º, that's just where this one happened to end up after a hop steep and by the time I got round to pouring into the fermenter.   40ºC would actually be OK for kveik so you cool time could be even quicker.   All my voss-fermented brews,  fermented in the range 32 - 35º without pressure have reached FG in a couple of days - and all tasting nice and clean after 2 or 3 weeks bottled.  I can't say I'm really aware of any obvious orange-like esters in any of them that some report either.  And, even if those esters were apparent I don't think they'd actually  be out of place in the beers I like to brew anyway.   So, yeah why not give it a shot in a sparkling ale.  

Thanks Sandman - appreciate the feedback.  Will hafta give it a run.  The Lallemand Voss Kveik is in the fridge.  And should hopefully be getting some more malted grain end of the week...  so should be possible soon.  And that ol' conditioning question (yeah on other thread) but how long would you leave it sit on yeast cake for any final activity after you hit FG - think your post over on the Condition thread would suggest only a cuppla days?

[ozdevil]

2 minutes ago, BlackSands said:

Well, hence the reason for my ponderance!  However, before I owned a fermentation fridge I used to brew in cold NZ Winters using a sleeping bag as insulation.  Using 'normal' ale yeasts the fermentation held the temperature up and stable for a few days.  However as fermentation slowed the temperature then started to drop - often finishing at 16 - 17ºC.  Not ideal but the beers were fine.  However, with kveik I do think there's a good chance it can probably maintain it's higher temp for the mere two days required to reach FG.  I'll let you know in 6 months time!   

look forward to seeing how it goes in 6 months time...

I think to many of us get to far wrapped up in control temp brewing to experiment... i think your idea is a great one

[John E Miller]

I've got an American stout chugging away at 35°C, reusing the Voss kveik from my previous brew. 

I was going to ferment at 40°C, but couldn't sustain that temp as I don't have a proper fermentation chamber; I just have it in the wardrobe with a heat belt and a down sleeping bag. 

[MitchBastard]

The Pilsner has reached its FG. Been D restin for the final few points and seems to be done. Decent clarity for a beer that hasn’t been CC’d yet. I’m feeling like it would benefit on slight acidification. Flavour and aroma is good but seems to lack the little crisp snap it should have. Will wait till it’s ready to keg before I make the decision To put half a mil of lactic into it to drop the pH a little....

 

[Tone boy]

21 minutes ago, MitchBastard said:

The Pilsner has reached its FG. Been D restin for the final few points and seems to be done. Decent clarity for a beer that hasn’t been CC’d yet. I’m feeling like it would benefit on slight acidification. Flavour and aroma is good but seems to lack the little crisp snap it should have. Will wait till it’s ready to keg before I make the decision To put half a mil of lactic into it to drop the pH a little....

 

Good work MB. Is that an all grain recipe? Color looks good. Gonna try a Pilsner soon on my next brew. Just researching some partial mash recipes at the moment. Do you think I should consider some acidulated malt in the mash? 
Hope it turns out well for you. 
Cheers

[Classic Brewing Co]

Well sneaking one in here as a lowly extract brewer,  this is the first time I have experienced brewing with an airlock, I put down a Pale Ale today in the new 30l Country Brewer kit I bought, must say it is rather exciting to hear the noises coming out of the FV. I can only guess fermentation is well underway ( it's actually quite noisy - I hope this is normal )

It is still sitting at about 25 without temp control so given this is a cool house I reckon it will get to a lower temp. So here's hoping & Cheers.

Phil

 

 

 

 

[jamiek86]

@MitchBastard has a nice colour and head in the hydrometer tube looks like a goodin