What's in Your Fermenter 2023?

[Kegory]

27 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I have had many fermenting fridges over the years, in fact the current keg/tap fridge used to be one. 

How many years, on average, do you get out of a fermenting fridge, Phil? I'm assuming they are already second hand.

[Classic Brewing Co]

21 minutes ago, Kegory said:

How many years, on average, do you get out of a fermenting fridge, Phil? I'm assuming they are already second hand.

I would think it all depends on the fridge/brand, i.e. the current keg fridge is an old Westinghouse 411 litre & was passed on to me from the old man years ago & he bought it in 20-11 1990. It is a really solid unit & I used this as a brew fridge for at least 20 years.

The current fermenting fridge is a Fisher&Paykel & that would be 10 years old.

I have a Samsung in the kitchen which I have used a few times for fermenting but that is the food fridge now.

In the Bar I have a couple of Bar fridges, only one in use currently & you can fit a Craft Fermenter in, but the heat belt won't adjust to fit properly.

There is an old saying " you get what you pay for" & I have always looked after my stuff so that would also help.

 

[Triple B Brewing]

3 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I have had many fermenting fridges over the years, in fact the current keg/tap fridge used to be one. 

Roger that ! - so your well versed in the flexibility and accuracy they provide then Phil - Good job

[Pale Man]

15 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

Before I  did my first CC I did a lot of reading and found a solution which I posted on here

Before I done the CC I cracked the fermenter lid off a quarter of a turn and started cold crashing and keeping a really watchful eye on the s lock 

All the while getting down to 2c the s lock levels never changed once

Plenty of ways to skin a cat. I just find it more easy pulling the air lock than fiddling with the lid that is usually too tight.

[Shamus O'Sean]

18 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Just from experience ( If you didnt already know ) I would remove the airlock before Cold Crashing.

When the beer temp drops it tends to suck in, taking all the contents of your airlock with it.

I cover the lid with cling wrap or sanitise some foil and whack it tightly around the grommet.

Thats just whats happened to me in the past anyway.

Your way is nicely straight forward.  And probably more sanitary then the standard Coopers fermenter which does not seal at all (but still seems to keep our brews safe).

However, for those who still want to try to keep stuff out of the brew, couldn't the liquid in the air lock be replaced with new liquid (preferably sanitiser) but only filled so the "U" is full.  Then the air bubbles that get sucked back through the airlock have a chance to pop when they reach the wider "bulb" of the airlock closest to the grommet?  Asking because I have never used an airlock and am curious.  

If the suck back action is so strong, as to suck all the liquid up the airlock, could you also drop the temperature in smaller increments to slow the effect of the temperature drop?

[Pale Man]

17 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Your way is nicely straight forward.  And probably more sanitary then the standard Coopers fermenter which does not seal at all (but still seems to keep our brews safe).

However, for those who still want to try to keep stuff out of the brew, couldn't the liquid in the air lock be replaced with new liquid (preferably sanitiser) but only filled so the "U" is full.  Then the air bubbles that get sucked back through the airlock have a chance to pop when they reach the wider "bulb" of the airlock closest to the grommet?  Asking because I have never used an airlock and am curious.  

If the suck back action is so strong, as to suck all the liquid up the airlock, could you also drop the temperature in smaller increments to slow the effect of the temperature drop?

You could replace the airlock with new liquid when the desired temp is reached I guess. But for me defeats the purpose as that's usually over two or so days.

I did try once to slow down the crash but Was painful and the same thing was happening only slower.

I reckon that blanket of C02 and a fully fermented beer is going to be safe with the airlock removal. I just wouldn't leave it too long.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Pale Man

[Triple B Brewing]

23 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Asking because I have never used an airlock and am curious.  

Hi @Shamus O'Sean, what you described is exactly what I do (only I have never had to “replace” the sanitiser in the airlock). I only ever fill the airlock to the bottom quarter (at most) of the airlock during fermentation. 
At the end of fermentation I simply reduce the temperature on my inkbird to 3 degrees, close the fermenter fridge door and leave it for 2 days and then keg that goodness for about a week or so before enjoying the fruits of my labour

@Pale Man is quite right, if you slow down the cooling process, it just prolongs the pain time. As he says there’s many ways to skin that cat and the blanket of CO2 sitting on top of the fermented wort is really the safety net for the most part (as long as you aren’t too rough with it and you don’t leave it in that state for too long). 

Well that’s been my experience anyway

Happy brewin all

[Classic Brewing Co]

27 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

You could replace the airlock with new liquid when the desired temp is reached I guess. But for me defeats the purpose as that's usually over two or so days.

I did try once to slow down the crash but Was painful and the same thing was happening only slower.

I reckon that blanket of C02 and a fully fermented beer is going to be safe with the airlock removal. I just wouldn't leave it too long.

The last time I did it I sanitised some gladwrap as @Pale Man stated, places a small section of stubby holder over it & covered the lot with duct tape, sealed it completely.

[Tricky Micky]

Finally posting something outside of the what's on the menu thread. First brew since April. Ikea sorta brewing. FWK's

Top shelf is the KL Fresh 3 Cloud Nine Hazy PA FWK @ 20 litre volume - ferment 18 deg C - pitched 2 packs of Lal Verdant IPA yeast at 22 degrees. Dry Hop 100 grams of Eclipse around day 5-6.

Bottom shelf (the darker ale of the two) is the KL True Blue Bitter FWK, volume 21 litres - ferment 18 degrees C -pitched 2 packs of Lal  BRY-97 WCA yeast at 22 degrees.

Hopefully I'll have tap beer for Xmas Day - it's a bit tight but I'm going to have a crack. I've got the Coops Hefe Preacher kits x 2 hopefully coming tomorrow so I'll get one of those cracking when it arrives.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Tricky Micky

[Classic Brewing Co]

44 minutes ago, Tricky Micky said:

Finally posting something outside of the what's on the menu thread. First brew since April. Ikea sorta brewing. FWK's

Top shelf is the KL Fresh 3 Cloud Nine Hazy PA FWK @ 20 litre volume - ferment 18 deg C - pitched 2 packs of Lal Verdant IPA yeast at 22 degrees. Dry Hop 100 grams of Eclipse around day 5-6.

Bottom shelf (the darker ale of the two) is the KL True Blue Bitter FWK, volume 21 litres - ferment 18 degrees C -pitched 2 packs of Lal  BRY-97 WCA yeast at 22 degrees.

Hopefully I'll have tap beer for Xmas Day - it's a bit tight but I'm going to have a crack. I've got the Coops Hefe Preacher kits x 2 hopefully coming tomorrow so I'll get one of those cracking when it arrives.

 

 

Onya Mick sounds like you will have a couple of brews for Xmas, looking good.

[Uhtred Of Beddanburg]

@Tricky Micky why are you pitching 2 packs of hardy ale yeast in 20 litre brews? Just asking I know it's typical for lagers but are these ales high gravity or something?

[Tricky Micky]

3 hours ago, Uhtred Of Beddanburg said:

@Tricky Micky why are you pitching 2 packs of hardy ale yeast in 20 litre brews? Just asking I know it's typical for lagers but are these ales high gravity or something?

No real reason other than the fact that I've had a few brews over the past year or so with off flavours etc....just experimenting with the yeast quantity at the moment...I realise they're ales and not really high ABV. 

[Popo the Reprobate]

5 hours ago, Tricky Micky said:

No real reason other than the fact that I've had a few brews over the past year or so with off flavours etc....just experimenting with the yeast quantity at the moment...I realise they're ales and not really high ABV. 

Most yeast pitching calculators will recommend using more than one packet. I feel like I had more consistent ferments and results when I used higher pitching rates.

[Tricky Micky]

4 hours ago, Popo the Degenerate said:

Most yeast pitching calculators will recommend using more than one packet. I feel like I had more consistent ferments and results when I used higher pitching rates.

Yes, interesting. Even the yeast packaging numbers sometimes tell us we are under pitching (Dry yeast).  Just a little experiment to see if double the quantity helps - I know Al, iboozer, has always maintained that 1 pack of dry yeast in an average brew  - even in an ale is under pitching and could lead to yeast stress.

[Classic Brewing Co]

16 minutes ago, Tricky Micky said:

Yes, interesting. Even the yeast packaging numbers sometimes tell us we are under pitching (Dry yeast).  Just a little experiment to see if double the quantity helps - I know Al, iboozer, has always maintained that 1 pack of dry yeast in an average brew  - even in an ale is under pitching and could lead to yeast stress.

I used to use 2 x pkt of Coopers yeasts quite often when I was making extracts, I use the 11gm pkts of specialty yeasts now in AG.

[Uhtred Of Beddanburg]

16 hours ago, Tricky Micky said:

No real reason other than the fact that I've had a few brews over the past year or so with off flavours etc....just experimenting with the yeast quantity at the moment...I realise they're ales and not really high ABV. 

No worries mate sounds like a plan to change things a bit if not happy.I would recommend collecting the yeast slurry to counter the cost. 

I recall you had some trouble with that? beers that were tipped?

[Tricky Micky]

53 minutes ago, Uhtred Of Beddanburg said:

I recall you had some trouble with that? beers that were tipped?

Yeah had a terrible run mate. I'm not suggesting for one minute any of it was due to under pitching but I'm just trying to see if there's any difference in this process. 

[Back Brewing]

26 minutes ago, Tricky Micky said:

Yeah had a terrible run mate. I'm not suggesting for one minute any of it was due to under pitching but I'm just trying to see if there's any difference in this process. 

I have had a phone chats with a guy from Canada who is from lalleman he said one 11g pkt is usually enough yeast for a brew up to 1.050 after that he suggests 2 pkts

He then advised that their studies showed using 2 pkts in a normal brew you got better attenuation because the yeast is not under stress and finished a lot cleaner

[Tricky Micky]

16 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

He then advised that their studies showed using 2 pkts in a normal brew you got better attenuation because the yeast is not under stress and finished a lot cleaner

Thanks for the feedback BB, I've heard about this as well. Like you say up to 1.050 in an ale brew one pack will suffice, but 2 packs will probably do a better job of it....Anyway, I'll let ya know how the two brews go using the two packs of yeast.

[NBillett09]

The Hoff Hefeweizen

The brew turned out a bit hectic. The malt boil boiled over and caused a bit of mess, I should’ve gone without mesh bag for the hop boil as half of the hops ended up wicked up the bag on the pot sides instead of in the water, and I accidentally added 9.5L of water instead of 8.5 (didn’t see the FV markings properly, maybe time for glasses!) so OG of 1.032 instead of 1.04*.
The lesson here is DONT RUSH your brew day. Rushing leads to silly mistakes. Ah well, we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully still alright and I can just give it another go later.

[Back Brewing]

1 hour ago, NBillett09 said:

The Hoff Hefeweizen

The brew turned out a bit hectic. The malt boil boiled over and caused a bit of mess, I should’ve gone without mesh bag for the hop boil as half of the hops ended up wicked up the bag on the pot sides instead of in the water, and I accidentally added 9.5L of water instead of 8.5 (didn’t see the FV markings properly, maybe time for glasses!) so OG of 1.032 instead of 1.04*.
The lesson here is DONT RUSH your brew day. Rushing leads to silly mistakes. Ah well, we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully still alright and I can just give it another go later.

Mate it will turn out OK a little bit lower on ABV but I bet it still taste's good

[Back Brewing]

12 hours ago, Tricky Micky said:

Thanks for the feedback BB, I've heard about this as well. Like you say up to 1.050 in an ale brew one pack will suffice, but 2 packs will probably do a better job of it....Anyway, I'll let ya know how the two brews go using the two packs of yeast.

I put this up once before @Tricky Micky he split a batch and used one pkt of yeast in one batch then 2 pkts of yeast in the other batch this is the taste test I found it very interesting 

I noticed on Gash's last brew or the one before he is using two packets of yeast

 

[Kegory]

Galactic Pale Ale

A simple kit with 25g Galaxy 2 minute boil + 20 minute steep.

Too late for Chrissy but it should be ready for the Sydney Test.

[Classic Brewing Co]

10 hours ago, NBillett09 said:

The Hoff Hefeweizen

The brew turned out a bit hectic. The malt boil boiled over and caused a bit of mess, I should’ve gone without mesh bag for the hop boil as half of the hops ended up wicked up the bag on the pot sides instead of in the water, and I accidentally added 9.5L of water instead of 8.5 (didn’t see the FV markings properly, maybe time for glasses!) so OG of 1.032 instead of 1.04*.
The lesson here is DONT RUSH your brew day. Rushing leads to silly mistakes. Ah well, we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully still alright and I can just give it another go later.

I have gone back to using hop socks for most of my brews these days, you can get them from most LHBS in Adelaide.

I do it in all of my AG brews as well as using the hop spider can be messy with large hop boils.

Be sure to leave enough room for expansion. I find there is less waste/mess & you still get the same benefit of most hopping methods. You can, if you wish, clean them up & reuse them.

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

Day 10 for the Barrelmakers Pale Ale, down to 1.010 so I will start a CC today & keg by the weekend. 

The Verdant yeast really got to work quickly on this one & is already fairly clear, it has a nice aroma, so I am looking forward to trying this beer.