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What's in Your Fermenter 2022?


Shamus O'Sean

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Things going great with the AG Double Batch Kolsch, changing colour nicely.

‘I will leave ferment, go back on shift, raise temp up to 20c then CC for 5 days before my return as I have the wifi temp controller. 
Very happy with the new 60L All Rounder, I can pressure ferment but being away rather just leave things take their course, no hurry for this as I have a fair catalogue of beers in front of this. 
‘The 60L fermenter works well for me being a fifo worker. 

F113F860-B236-4393-8F73-F29B635156BF.jpeg

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2 hours ago, Red devil 44 said:

Things going great with the AG Double Batch Kolsch, changing colour nicely.

‘I will leave ferment, go back on shift, raise temp up to 20c then CC for 5 days before my return as I have the wifi temp controller. 
Very happy with the new 60L All Rounder, I can pressure ferment but being away rather just leave things take their course, no hurry for this as I have a fair catalogue of beers in front of this. 
‘The 60L fermenter works well for me being a fifo worker. 

F113F860-B236-4393-8F73-F29B635156BF.jpeg

Awesome, mate.  I would love to have one of those 60 litre fermenters and a fridge only for fermenting it in.  Oh, and a brewing system big enough to fill it with.

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Question for our very knowledgeable brains trust. My Coopers XPA A/G was pitched 2 days ago with Voss Kviek and has been fermenting for 2 days between 35° - 38°, yeah not long I know but this yeast is just so fast. According to the reports from the Rapt Pill it appears to be at final gravity. People say that you need to allow the yeast to clean up after FG has been reached, not sure about that. So my question is do you think that I should start to cold crash it now (it has sort of been at a stable gravity for 12 hours) or wait longer? The brew has flocced out nicely, and sorry for the crappy photo of the FV.

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35 minutes ago, kmar92 said:

Question for our very knowledgeable brains trust. My Coopers XPA A/G was pitched 2 days ago with Voss Kviek and has been fermenting for 2 days between 35° - 38°, yeah not long I know but this yeast is just so fast. According to the reports from the Rapt Pill it appears to be at final gravity. People say that you need to allow the yeast to clean up after FG has been reached, not sure about that. So my question is do you think that I should start to cold crash it now (it has sort of been at a stable gravity for 12 hours) or wait longer? The brew has flocced out nicely, and sorry for the crappy photo of the FV.

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I am hardly a Voss Kviek expert.  I have not had much luck with it.  The brews I have done with it have tasted fine, but they have all turned out hazy.

Kviek is meant to do most things faster than most yeasts.  Ferment, tick.  Condition, tick.  Clean-up after itself, not sure.

However, it looks like you have been at, or very close to, final gravity for twice as long at the fermentation time.  If it were me, I would start cold crashing tomorrow morning.  Even if you dropped the temperature to 25°C in the morning, it would still keep working.  Then drop it to 15°C tomorrow night.  Then perhaps a straight drop to 1°C.

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5 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I am hardly a Voss Kviek expert.  I have not had much luck with it.  The brews I have done with it have tasted fine, but they have all turned out hazy.

Kviek is meant to do most things faster than most yeasts.  Ferment, tick.  Condition, tick.  Clean-up after itself, not sure.

However, it looks like you have been at, or very close to, final gravity for twice as long at the fermentation time.  If it were me, I would start cold crashing tomorrow morning.  Even if you dropped the temperature to 25°C in the morning, it would still keep working.  Then drop it to 15°C tomorrow night.  Then perhaps a straight drop to 1°C.

Thank you @Shamus O'Sean. Appreciate your thoughts. As you may be able to see the brew is very clear so far so I am hoping that haziness is not a problem. Your thoughts have echoed what I was thinking and I will start the crash in the morning.

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12 hours ago, kmar92 said:

Thank you @Shamus O'Sean. Appreciate your thoughts. As you may be able to see the brew is very clear so far so I am hoping that haziness is not a problem. Your thoughts have echoed what I was thinking and I will start the crash in the morning.

Me too Lads - I reckon I would drop it a bit progressively and encourage the yeast to do some clean up - if there is anything to clean up... as @Shamus O'Sean SOS says... but too I am not an expert in Kveik...  just more thinking about working with yeasts in general - seems all three of us have similar thoughts on this but maybe more of a run down 😆 rather than a crash maybe @kmar92

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My father gave me his spare bottle tree. The bottles are all sanitised and draining, and will be filled with WW Lager in about an hour. This bench is the main work space in the laundry/brewery; with a laundry tub at right angles from the bench and a very ancient twin tub which serves as extra bench space next to that.

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1 minute ago, jennyss said:

My father gave me his spare bottle tree. The bottles are all sanitised and draining, and will be filled with WW Lager in about an hour. This bench is the main work space in the laundry/brewery; with a laundry tub at right angles from the bench and a very ancient twin tub which serves as extra bench space next to that.

 

Improvising the available space is a good thing & of course if you are able to brew & work in the same room it is a bonus.

Looks like it's working for you.

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2 hours ago, jennyss said:

My father gave me his spare bottle tree. The bottles are all sanitised and draining, and will be filled with WW Lager in about an hour. This bench is the main work space in the laundry/brewery; with a laundry tub at right angles from the bench and a very ancient twin tub which serves as extra bench space next to that.

Bottle tree.jpg

Make do with what you have available, it's all part of the process and we are all at different levels!

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On 6/19/2022 at 9:55 PM, Cee said:

@Tone boy and @Itinerant Peasant I'll definitely post some feedback - thanks for the arm-twist!

I got the Dubya today, so I'm ready to go

I was wondering about hopping it (all I have is Centennial and Simcoe) or just the recipe as is with the yeast of course

Ah "The C Word" - Consistency! I reckon I can beep the temp pretty stable in there. And 6 weeks in the bottle is very do-able 🙂

Day 13

Removed vat from "cooling tub" (chilled water) it was on average of 15 degrees for 12 says

The tap on this vat was under the waterline of my cooling tub so to take a sample for SG I has to lift it out

 

Should I wait for temp to reach normal testing degrees and take sample then leave the vat in ambient temps over the next 2 sample days? (So, not cool it back down to chilled and let it rewarm for hydrometer testing every day)

I have never seen so little activity in a ferment as this one - I am wondering if it even took off at all so hydrometer testing is essential hey

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25 minutes ago, Cee said:

I have never seen so little activity in a ferment as this one - I am wondering if it even took off at all so hydrometer testing is essential hey

Yes - if no activity - best test - and a hydro reading between 12 - 17 deg difference is negligible

A quick word about the temperature:  Modern hydrometers are typically calibrated to read at 20C and a higher or lower temperature liquid affects the accuracy. In practical terms a few degrees either way is not that noticeable, but larger jumps of 5-10 degrees should be taken into account. A warmer temperature of 32C (typical of warm wort) would give a difference of plus 1.003. Our reading of 1.040 would actually be 1.043.  This is because warm dissolved sugar isn’t as dense, and this affects the reading. Cooler temperatures give the opposite effect- at 10C you would minus 1.002 from 1.040 giving you 1.038. A calibration chart or online calculator is useful to make adjustments when necessary.

 

Just test it  👍

25 minutes ago, Cee said:

Should I wait for temp to reach normal testing degrees

Edited by Itinerant Peasant
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2 hours ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Yes - if no activity - best test - and a hydro reading between 12 - 17 deg difference is negligible

A quick word about the temperature:  Modern hydrometers are typically calibrated to read at 20C and a higher or lower temperature liquid affects the accuracy. In practical terms a few degrees either way is not that noticeable, but larger jumps of 5-10 degrees should be taken into account. A warmer temperature of 32C (typical of warm wort) would give a difference of plus 1.003. Our reading of 1.040 would actually be 1.043.  This is because warm dissolved sugar isn’t as dense, and this affects the reading. Cooler temperatures give the opposite effect- at 10C you would minus 1.002 from 1.040 giving you 1.038. A calibration chart or online calculator is useful to make adjustments when necessary.

 

Just test it  👍

With my slightly dodgy eyes it appears to float at 1013

I would not have guessed that...

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9 hours ago, Cee said:

With my slightly dodgy eyes it appears to float at 1013

I would not have guessed that...

That sounds excellent.  Let it warm up to around 18°C for a few days.  Check your SG is stable.  Then you have a few choices depending on how traditional you want to go and what you can achieve.

  • Bottle/keg
  • Cold crash, then bottle/keg
  • Slowly drop the temperature by a degree or two a day until zero.  Then cold crash for 4-5 days. Then bottle/keg
  • Slowly drop the temperature by a degree or two a day until zero.  Then cold crash for a day.  Then add finings.  Then cold crash for 4-5 days. Then bottle/keg
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1 hour ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

The wonders of technology, trying my Keg Land Syphon for the first time, works well but I am still wondering if it was worth 35 bucks !!🤔

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well i probably would have   used it  , i would have like to have splashed it in   to give some aeration before pitching yeast

and i dont think your syphon is going to give that aeration  


however though i spose it keeps from making a mess lol

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4 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

well i probably would have   used it  , i would have like to have splashed it in   to give some aeration before pitching yeast

and i dont think your syphon is going to give that aeration  


however though i spose it keeps from making a mess lol

You can lift the bottom of the hose up & create a bit of a splash if you want or alternatively I spose' you could stir the wort before pitching.

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Emu Export Clone diamond lager yeast starting to get into top gear. I think my inkbird had a dodgy connection as the fridge wasn’t on and it had risen to 14.5 degrees fixed now though!

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On 6/25/2022 at 11:37 AM, Cee said:

@Classic Brewing Co Yes I have spare taps, mate.

 When I first posted about the taps in that "Leaky Taps" thread it was Feb 2021. Since then I have definitely known the need to have spare taps and have purchased them dutifully. I have a bunch of taps but if they're all the same quality... well y'know 🙂

In that same thread, users identified that maybe perhaps possibly using hot water may weaken the taps - none of us are engineers lol. 

Long story short,  Proper Tap Care has been a conscious feature of my brewing process since then.

2 things I am worried about with brewing - breaking glass bottles, and bursting taps mid-brew haha. I don't use glass, but not using taps is going to kill the fun... It is certainly not fun for those I co-habit with. 

 

I can whole-heartedly agree with what you posted about Tap Care. It seems so trivial - until one goes...

 

So for fairness to Coopers - these posts insinuate Coopers have not replied - well now they have replied.

I just wanted that to be reflected here and also in the Leaky Tap thread.

 

This tap issue is ongoing so any User-feedback with this is welcome. My point is not to Complain - my point is to Brew!

 

My reply was thus:

 

Hi XXXXX

Thank you for your reply. I understand you have been away and busy, so no worries about reply time - life happens 🙂

I tried to email - I was advised from the forums to direct a response through you and Coopers Team as well, and yes  the email you are replying to is the one I sent last week.

 

Thanks for the offer to replace the tap.

As my email said, I already purchased a stockpile of taps due to this problem already existing previously.  My posts in the forums reflect this. Another $4 tap is not what my $45-ish brew is currently missing as it swishes across the kitchen floor.

I already had to purchase spare taps after to my earlier episodes with this problem.

My problem does seem to be with the taps.

My confidence to use the product is of course affected. As I said in y email, I am unsure as to what I want in response but I reckon I'd like to know how to avoid my money, time, beer, fun,  etc etc etc from ending up on the floor.

I have been very, very clear in all my posts about this. I seek a way to prevent the mishaps. So I can brew beer..

Please keep the replacement tap, and instead of sending it to me, please advise me as to how I can maximise my ability to not lose my, "already bought" taps mid-brew.

 

Sincere Regards

Coopers Customer

Cee

 

 

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On 7/6/2022 at 1:10 PM, ozdevil said:

well i probably would have   used it  , i would have like to have splashed it in   to give some aeration before pitching yeast

and i dont think your syphon is going to give that aeration  


however though i spose it keeps from making a mess lol

Could be good for those that bulk prime in a second container so the yeast cake isn’t disturbed? I just bulk prime in the original fv trying to minimise stirring up the sediment.  Sometimes successful, sometimes not!

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