I’m planning to ferment my next brew - an IPA (this time without dry hopping to keep things simple) in a keg (which I’m already doing now) and a spunding valve. Has anyone done this? I understand that spunding valves work well with lagers because fermentation is slower, but may be more difficult with faster fermenting top cropping yeast. The idea would be to ferment the IPA in a keg with a blow-off into a bucket, and after 2 days or so, depending on the speed of the fermentation, close up the keg and add a spunding valve. It may be tricky to determine when it is the right moment to add the valve? Then the pressure should build up to something like 15 psi, correct?
After fermentation is finished, the carbonated beer would be transferred under CO2 pressure to a serving keg. In order for the flocculated yeast not to block the transfer I will use an OUT tube of which two inches or so have been sawed off.
Should work fine, but you want more like 30psi at room temp.
Two inches off the tube is a lot. Start with about an inch and see how that works for you. You should use a tubing cutter for this, not a saw. Tubing cutter will leave a cleaner cut.
I have tried fermentation in a keg twice with a cut tube and the tube gets clogged. Anyone have any tips on how to prevent this problem? I have even tried pushing co2 down the serving disconnect without success.
"After pressure testing, remove the long OUT tube from one of the Corneliuses. This Cornelius will be your fermenter. Carefully cut about two inches off the bottom of this tube with the hacksaw. To avoid squashing the tube while cutting it, stick the dowel in the end to support it. The other Cornelius will be your serving tank."
I haven’t really bothered with cutting my dip tubes in my fermenting kegs. I just blow off the trub under pressure, then transfer to the serving keg. One caveat is that I haven’t done any brews with dry hops in the fermenting keg, so that may cause an issue with clogs.
That’s why my first experiment will be with an IPA without dry-hopping. One step at a time. “New World IPA” recipe from Gordon Strong. No dry-hopping, no crystal malts, whirlpooling @0
Efficient indeed. I naturally carb kegs when my kegerator is full and have overcarbed more than once, I may have to add the parts for one of these to my wish list.
Bingo. I put a picnic tap on the fermenter and dial up the PSI until beer and gunk flows out. I open the tap in a few short bursts once it gets flowing to blow out most of the crud. Once it looks clear coming out of the picnic tap I drop the pressure down to about 2 PSI and connect it to the serving keg. I put my spunding valve on the serving keg and loosen it until I hear just a faint, steady hiss. This way you’re filling under pressure to keep foaming to a minimum, but you don’t need to constantly pull the valve on the keg to keep the transfer flowing.
Thanks, Eric. I assume you use the spunding valve I the fermenter as well? I’m a bit worried using it with ales. Could be that I need to put it on the fermenter in less than 48 hours, right?
You definitely want to bleed off the CO2 in the early part of fermentation, I think. I leave it as loose as it goes for the first few days of fermentation of a normal gravity beer (longer for big beers), then cinch it down at the tail end of fermentation. I’ve never really shot for full carbonation simply from fermentation, although I’m sure it can be done easily. I’m mainly using it as a pressure-release valve.
Don’t cut your dip tube! Just bend it. I cut a couple and regret it. And, Steve, I used a saw and for a the longest time, I had weird/off tasting beers and I couldn’t figure out what the issue was. Finally realized it was probably the tube where I cut it with the saw; ie, not clean cuts and bacteria hidden in there. Now, I just bend the dip tube so it sits an inch or two off the bottom of the keg.
And I quote: