What's in Your Fermenter 2023?

[Shamus O'Sean]

Kicking off this year's thread.  Link to last year's is here.

What's in my fermenters is my Kaiju Krush clone.  I split it into two 20L Fermenter King Juniors. 

Right now I am using the free CO2 from the ferment to purge a keg.  The spunding valves on the fermenters are joined together via tubing and a T-piece.  The outlet of the T has another length of tube with a gas disconnect fitted.  The keg was filled to the brim with sanitiser and sealed up.   The gas disconnect is then connected to the gas post on the keg.  A beer disconnect with a length of tube is connected to the beer out post.  The sanitiser is emptying into a blue cube behind the keg.  I will reuse this sanitiser to repeat the same process multiple times.

[Classic Brewing Co]

4 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Kicking off this year's thread.  Link to last year's is here.

What's in my fermenters is my Kaiju Krush clone.  I split it into two 20L Fermenter King Juniors. 

Right now I am using the free CO2 from the ferment to purge a keg.  The spunding valves on the fermenters are joined together via tubing and a T-piece.  The outlet of the T has another length of tube with a gas disconnect fitted.  The keg was filled to the brim with sanitiser and sealed up.   The gas disconnect is then connected to the gas post on the keg.  A beer disconnect with a length of tube is connected to the beer out post.  The sanitiser is emptying into a blue cube behind the keg.  I will reuse this sanitiser to repeat the same process multiple times.

Ingenious Shamus & thanks for creating the 2023 thread for WIYF.

TTROTDO

[Cheap Charlie]

23 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Kicking off this year's thread.  Link to last year's is here.

What's in my fermenters is my Kaiju Krush clone.  I split it into two 20L Fermenter King Juniors. 

Right now I am using the free CO2 from the ferment to purge a keg.  The spunding valves on the fermenters are joined together via tubing and a T-piece.  The outlet of the T has another length of tube with a gas disconnect fitted.  The keg was filled to the brim with sanitiser and sealed up.   The gas disconnect is then connected to the gas post on the keg.  A beer disconnect with a length of tube is connected to the beer out post.  The sanitiser is emptying into a blue cube behind the keg.  I will reuse this sanitiser to repeat the same process multiple times.

What a cool and interesting way to do that! I like it!

So I guess the pressure builds up relatively high to push the sanitiser out, then drops down as the ferment progresses and the keg gets emptier? Roughly what pressure does this create in the fermenter? I wonder if you could daisy chain the kegs? Nah, probably not enough pressure.

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Cheap Charlie

[Shamus O'Sean]

12 minutes ago, Cheap Charlie said:

What a cool and interesting way to do that! I like it!

So I guess the pressure builds up relatively high to push the sanitiser out, then drops down as the ferment progresses and the keg gets emptier? Roughly what pressure does this create in the fermenter?

 

Hey Cheap Charlie

The pressure does not build up much at all.  It only has to be enough to slowly push the sanitiser up the beer post's dip tube.  I actually have the spunding valves set to about 1psi because I am not really pressure fermenting.  The needle on the gauges did not move, so it needed less than 1psi to push out the sanitiser.

[Cheap Charlie]

3 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hey Cheap Charlie

The pressure does not build up much at all.  It only has to be enough to slowly push the sanitiser up the beer post's dip tube.  I actually have the spunding valves set to about 1psi because I am not really pressure fermenting.  The needle on the gauges did not move, so it needed less than 1psi to push out the sanitiser.

cool, sounds logical, interesting concept though.

[Red devil 44]

1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Kicking off this year's thread.  Link to last year's is here.

What's in my fermenters is my Kaiju Krush clone.  I split it into two 20L Fermenter King Juniors. 

Right now I am using the free CO2 from the ferment to purge a keg.  The spunding valves on the fermenters are joined together via tubing and a T-piece.  The outlet of the T has another length of tube with a gas disconnect fitted.  The keg was filled to the brim with sanitiser and sealed up.   The gas disconnect is then connected to the gas post on the keg.  A beer disconnect with a length of tube is connected to the beer out post.  The sanitiser is emptying into a blue cube behind the keg.  I will reuse this sanitiser to repeat the same process multiple times.

Good set up there @Shamus O'Sean, do you serve from the fermenters or rack to a keg mate ?

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 minute ago, Red devil 44 said:

Good set up there @Shamus O'Sean, do you serve from the fermenters or rack to a keg mate ?

Hi RD44, I rack to kegs and bottle any left over.  You can serve from these fermenters.  However, I worry about having yeast sitting in the bottom of them for the serving duration.  Supposedly it is not an issue these days because of the quality of yeast we use.  I just choose not to.

[Red devil 44]

22 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hi RD44, I rack to kegs and bottle any left over.  You can serve from these fermenters.  However, I worry about having yeast sitting in the bottom of them for the serving duration.  Supposedly it is not an issue these days because of the quality of yeast we use.  I just choose not to

 cheers mate, I might serve from my chubby and see what it’s like, if I have problems I’ll rack to a keg. 

[kmar92]

Coopers XPA clone all grain brew. 5.6kg Coopers Premium Pale Malt, 500g Carapils and 200g pale crystal. 15g Magnum@60, 25g Simcoe@10 and 15g Lemondrop@10. Fermented with Voss Kviek @ 35° and done in 3 days. Dry hopped with 30g each of Lemondrop and Simcoe. 7 days from start of ferment to keg. Should be about 5.3% ABV. Kegged earlier today.

[kmar92]

5 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Kicking off this year's thread.  Link to last year's is here.

What's in my fermenters is my Kaiju Krush clone.  I split it into two 20L Fermenter King Juniors. 

Right now I am using the free CO2 from the ferment to purge a keg.  The spunding valves on the fermenters are joined together via tubing and a T-piece.  The outlet of the T has another length of tube with a gas disconnect fitted.  The keg was filled to the brim with sanitiser and sealed up.   The gas disconnect is then connected to the gas post on the keg.  A beer disconnect with a length of tube is connected to the beer out post.  The sanitiser is emptying into a blue cube behind the keg.  I will reuse this sanitiser to repeat the same process multiple times.

New Series X Shamus, or just an old box?

[iBooz2]

5 hours ago, Cheap Charlie said:

 I wonder if you could daisy chain the kegs?

Yes you sure can, I have done 3 kegs at once.  Made use of the excess pressure from the 58 L Kegmenter during a LL batch.  Quite often I do two kegs at once but now that I have 13 kegs can just link them up and do all the MT spares all at once.

[iBooz2]

4 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hi RD44, I rack to kegs and bottle any left over.  You can serve from these fermenters.  However, I worry about having yeast sitting in the bottom of them for the serving duration.  Supposedly it is not an issue these days because of the quality of yeast we use.  I just choose not to.

Plus you are better to keep your FV's working on the next brews to pay their rent and keep supply up.

[Shamus O'Sean]

2 hours ago, kmar92 said:

New Series X Shamus, or just an old box?

I wish Kmar.  It is just an old box.  I used half of the box to make my grain mill hopper extender.  I kept the box in case I needed to make another.  I could probably recycle it now, but I am a compulsive hoarder.

[Shamus O'Sean]

2 hours ago, kmar92 said:

New Series X Shamus, or just an old box?

I wish Kmar.  It is just an old box.  I used half of the box to make my grain mill hopper extender.  I kept the box in case I needed to make another.  I could probably recycle it now, but I am a compulsive hoarder.

[MitchBastard]

Howdy all. Happy new year to ye.

 

kicked off New Year’s Day with a batch of my German Pilsner.  Changed the hop schedule up this time. Normally I’d go saaz and tettenang but we’re all German Halle mit. Probably my fav noble hop if I’m being candid here lol. 
 

bit of a shift grain wise too. You’d think being a Pilsner you’d want to use pils malt right? Not here, 100% Barrett burston border pale. 
 

1.044 down to 1.008 should put it at 4.9 abv and about 45ibus.

 

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

13 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

Yes you sure can, I have done 3 kegs at once.  Made use of the excess pressure from the 58 L Kegmenter during a LL batch.  Quite often I do two kegs at once but now that I have 13 kegs can just link them up and do all the MT spares all at once.

Can you explain that @iBooz2.  I can see how you have one keg full of sanitiser purging to a second keg, but not how to have a third connected up simultaneously.

[iBooz2]

6 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Can you explain that @iBooz2.  I can see how you have one keg full of sanitiser purging to a second keg, but not how to have a third connected up simultaneously.

It’s pretty easy Shamus, you need just one beer to beer line and one beer to gas line and an auto stop device from KL.  I sit the three kegs in a rectangular plastic tub to catch any drips / runoff and foam losses as sometimes the second keg fills up and catches me out before I notice and close the PRV.

Notes: Keg-C gas port is vented to the air via a keg full stop device from KL. The extra L of sanitiser in Keg-B is to make up for foam losses through the PRV and lines etc.

Three kegs, Keg-A is full of sanitiser, Keg-B has 1 L of sanitiser and the rest is air.  Keg-C is just air.

Connect the beer out line of Keg-A to the gas in line of Keg-B and connect the beer out line of Keg-B to the beer in line of Keg-C.

Pull the PRV on Keg-B and lock in the open position.  Keg-B gets very foamy.

Connect the blow off tube from your pressure FV to the gas in line of Keg-A.

The CO2 pressure from the FV pushes the sanitiser up the dip tube of Keg-A and into Keg-B via the gas in post, air is expelled from Keg-B because of its PRV is open.

When Keg-B is full of sanitiser and it starts dribbling / running out the PRV and the line from Keg-A is clear (empty - just foam) then close the PRV on Keg-B.

Now the incoming pressure is passed on from the FV via Keg-A to force the sanitiser up the dip tube and out of Keg-B and on into Keg-C.  When Keg-C is full the stop device fills up and stops any further flow.

I hope I have explained that clearly enough – sorry if I have not.  Might have to do a diagram.

[Shamus O'Sean]

3 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

It’s pretty easy Shamus, you need just one beer to beer line and one beer to gas line and an auto stop device from KL.  I sit the three kegs in a rectangular plastic tub to catch any drips / runoff and foam losses as sometimes the second keg fills up and catches me out before I notice and close the PRV.

Notes: Keg-C gas port is vented to the air via a keg full stop device from KL. The extra L of sanitiser in Keg-B is to make up for foam losses through the PRV and lines etc.

Three kegs, Keg-A is full of sanitiser, Keg-B has 1 L of sanitiser and the rest is air.  Keg-C is just air.

Connect the beer out line of Keg-A to the gas in line of Keg-B and connect the beer out line of Keg-B to the beer in line of Keg-C.

Pull the PRV on Keg-B and lock in the open position.  Keg-B gets very foamy.

Connect the blow off tube from your pressure FV to the gas in line of Keg-A.

The CO2 pressure from the FV pushes the sanitiser up the dip tube of Keg-A and into Keg-B via the gas in post, air is expelled from Keg-B because of its PRV is open.

When Keg-B is full of sanitiser and it starts dribbling / running out the PRV and the line from Keg-A is clear (empty - just foam) then close the PRV on Keg-B.

Now the incoming pressure is passed on from the FV via Keg-A to force the sanitiser up the dip tube and out of Keg-B and on into Keg-C.  When Keg-C is full the stop device fills up and stops any further flow.

I hope I have explained that clearly enough – sorry if I have not.  Might have to do a diagram.

In the words of Siegfried: "Amasing"

[Otto Von Blotto]

The pilsner I pitched last year is still in the fermenter 

[DavidM]

Voyage Amber Ale (Almost)

Time for an Amber, it's been a month.

Coopers Pale Ale can

1.2k of Light Dry Malt

100g Roasted Barley, 100g Light Crystal Malt (Steeped the grains for 30 Minutes)

30g Amarillo Hops (Pulled out the wrong packet, should have been Cascade)

Tin Yeast and in the brew fridge at 20 deg.

30g Dry hop with Galaxy, later in the week

Easy!

 

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

BLACK ROCK MINERS STOUT

I bought a couple of these for half-price recently just the inside BB date.  I used US-04 & 1tsp Yeast Nutrient & the SG is 1.041. All tucked away in the sneaky room behind the door in the laundry hallway, this will sit at ambient for 2 weeks & I will keg it, obviously I will get a few Longnecks as well for aging 

I am hoping to try out the Stout Tap for this one.

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Classic Brewing Co

[Classic Brewing Co]

23 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

BLACK ROCK MINERS STOUT

I bought a couple of these for half-price recently just the inside BB date.  I used US-04 & 1tsp Yeast Nutrient & the SG is 1.041. All tucked away in the sneaky room behind the door in the laundry hallway, this will sit at ambient for 2 weeks & I will keg it, obviously I will get a few Longnecks as well for aging 

I am hoping to try out the Stout Tap for this one.

 

I think it will be closer to 5% ABV with the use of the Stout blend mix.

If I like it, I will try to make an AG version or match it with Coopers recipes.

IBU: 30
SRM: 50
Malt: 72.2% Lager, 13% Caramalt, 12% Crystal and 2.8% Roasted malts
Hops, bittering: Green Bullet, Pacific Gem
ABV: 4.5% (approx. using 1kg Black Rock Liquid Brewing Sugar)

[Red devil 44]

Quick Stone & Wood Clone K&K going down to build stocks up.

Re-harvested US-05 from an XPA batch I kegged yesterday. 

[Hoppy81]

4 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I think it will be closer to 5% ABV with the use of the Stout blend mix.

If I like it, I will try to make an AG version or match it with Coopers recipes.

IBU: 30
SRM: 50
Malt: 72.2% Lager, 13% Caramalt, 12% Crystal and 2.8% Roasted malts
Hops, bittering: Green Bullet, Pacific Gem
ABV: 4.5% (approx. using 1kg Black Rock Liquid Brewing Sugar)

I done one of these a few years ago, turned out pretty good but with a starting graivity of 1.041 and expected finishing of 1.012 - 1.018 it will be in the 3% territory, i had a similar issue if i remember correctly.

Edited January 5, 2023 by Hoppy81

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 minute ago, Hoppy81 said:

I done one of these a few years ago, turned out pretty good but with a starting graivity of 1.041 and expected finishing of 1.012 - 1.018 it will be in the 3% territory, i had a similar issue if i remember correctly.

Really? I was going to add extra malt but it's probably too late now, it was done at 10.30am this morning, I also have a box of Dextrose that I don't use but that may have kicked it up a bit.

I will have to see what happens.

Cheers.