I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with way to perform closed transfers with a Fermonster. I decided to avoid the versions with the spigot as I just don’t trust them and I don’t care that yours work great
I came up with this super simple solution using two silicone grommets with 3/8" holes and a Kent lock barb for the gas in. Didn’t need the o-ring for the test. Worked well. Threading the lid sucks with the cane hanging out.
I’m also considering replacing the lids with solid lids and using a grommet instead of a stopper. The lid is pretty thick, but doesn’t really grip the stopper that well.
So you remove an airlock to put the racking cane in place? Is it still technically a closed transfer then? I suppose you could pull the end of the cane up over the height of the beer/barm
I share your dislike for fermentor spigots, I’ve been trying to find a better solution as well. I’m still not low oxygen though, and more of my ales transfer when fermentation is still active, so it doesn’t bother me.
The only “true” closed transfer method I know of uses sanitary fittings for the output. Basically the right way of doing a spigot. $$$, but someday…
I remove and replace the whole lid. I considered your thought, but then I wouldn’t be able to get the cap on the end of the cane. I guess that wouldn’t be a big deal if I was careful, but I still didn’t like that idea. I did see grommets that came paired with little stoppers. Those would likely work well if somebody wanted to use one lid for both fermentation and racking.
I guess you’re right that it isn’t truly closed to Bryan’s specs, but it is closed in the sense that oxygen isn’t replacing the head space (much) and I am able to push the beer out with gas.
FWIW, I never use that little cap on the end of my stainless racking cane. The way it was made made me question how clean I could get it, plus it’s something I often simply would forget to use. You do have to be careful not to pull dregs without, but that’s a risk even with the cap.
Best thing to do is mark the top with a (real) sharpie. Put it in you fermenter empty, push it all the way to the bottom, then mark of inch/half in/whatever increments from there down. Now you’ll have an idea how close it is to the yeast/trub when you can’t see the end.
(By “real” sharpie, I mean on of the industrial/king style ones. They seem to hold up to several cleaning cycles. You have to touch them up every so often still, but on the whole they put up with brewery cleaners better than the normal ones.)
Yes, those are the ones, though I bought mine off Amazon.
Sad thing is the old king sized sharpies are different than what they’re selling as king size now. We have a few at work, I think they’re oil based. I’ve yet to find anything that will remove them easily, and they last forever. I keep meaning to buy one of the current oil based sharpies to compare with them, but I never get around to it…
A buddy of mine asked why I didn’t put the hole for the cane in the center of the cap. This would make threading the cap onto the fermenter easier. The reason I didn’t is I was worried the small gap between the two holes would crack after a while. I figured with the frequent cleaning as well as the stresses from the cane and the hose barb it would be a matter of time before I was replacing the cap.
The two holes I made are located where the injection molding flashing is removed which made it easy for my forsner bit to get started.