I am considering getting some FLOTit 2.0 floating dip tubes, but I’m wondering if they will limit my ability to quickly force carbonate. My standard process is the “shake it in through the out tube” method, which is about 96% effective for me at getting my beer properly carbonated overnight. Can this be achieved with a floating dip tube, or will I have to carbonate the slow way?
How do people who use floating dip tubes carbonate their beer?
I wonder if the floating dip tubes will make keg priming more appealing since the additional yeast sludge will all stay in the bottom of the keg.
I have floating dip tubes, and don’t do the “shake method” because otherwise they tend to fall off and I have to reattach. So, my usual process is to do a 3 day carbonation – hold at 35 degrees with 24 hours at 35 psi, 24 hours at 25 psi, and then settle to 12 psi to finish out. It’s usually pretty well carbed (for most styles) by the third day.
So setting it to 10-15 PSI and waiting like 10 days? I’m just so used to cold crashing on Thursday, kegging on Friday and drinking on Saturday that adding 10+ days to that process seems hard. It almost seems worth it to prime the keg at that point (with the added benefit of scrubbing O2). I’ve been priming kegs for my hazies and Belgians, but it might be worth it for more styles if the FLOTit really works at pouring clearer beer (and I’m waiting ~2 weeks to carbonate, anyway).
I guess I’ll get one or two to experiment with before I switch all my kegs.
Well, my reasons for wanting them are clearer beer and better dry hop filtration. Even with little screens on my dip tubes, I get posts sometimes clogged with hop matter and it’s a hassle. Clear beer with a reliable hop filter is a pretty appealing proposition at $25/dip tube.
The con of no burst carbonation is a big con, though.
These floating dip tubes with filters are awesome. I bought my first one in 2018 and I liked it so much I bought another in 2020. The prices have gone down, too. But if it stands in the way of a process that’s important to you, that’s something to consider.
I’m willing to wager that the “shake it” part of your procedure is contributing far more than the “through the out post” part of your procedure. Surface area is one of the major factors when it comes to dissolving CO2 in a liquid, and shaking the keg does more for increasing the surface area exposed to CO2 than the small bubbles rising from the bottom of a standard liquid-out post.
Set it and forget it. Your beer will benefit from the extra few days of conditioning. There is a reason so many people are heard to comment that the last few pours of their beer were the best tasting of the batch… it had time to condition by then.
If you’re willing to wait the week or two to carbonate, why not just add some priming sugar to the keg? You’re serving from a floating diptube; so you won’t pick up any dusty-bottom yeast until you’ve emptied the keg anyway.
It’s a bit of a quandary regarding freshness and hop character. What gets you better hoppy beer the beer keg-primed or the one sitting on CO2 cold? One has the benefit of O2 scrubbing during keg-priming, but the other has the benefit of being cold during that time. I can’t confidently say which would result in better beer, and I might have to experiment. As it happens, I have two Anvil Foundries now, so it might be worth it to brew two identical beers?
Anyway, today I went and brewed the same WCIPA in both my Anvil Foundries, then actually blended them in the fermenters to make sure they were ACAP to identical. I am going to ferment them side by side and then force carbonate and fine one my usual way, while the other will get naturally carbonated and served with a FLOTit 2.0. I’m hoping that the keg priming will not show noticeable deterioration and that the FLOTit will pour acceptably clear beer on day one.
Why not just buy a keg lid with a carb stone in it… it has a seperate ball lock fitting you attach CO2 to and quick carb and you can still use the float it as intended.
I have never had any of my floating dip tubes (6 kegs) “fall off” and I shake vigorously both during cleaning and carbonating. Maybe your silicone is a bit stretched …?
When I do remove any of them, i typically cut them off the bottom of the quick connect post, and heat the new (or the little shorter) tube in hot water before reconnecting.
I’ve gone “all in” with the floating dip tubes, including in the pressure fermenter. (there are cheaper ones out there than the FLOTit ones), and they can all be tweaked if needed with stainless washers if weight needs to be adjusted.
100% As another commenter already pointed out, the surface area is what’s important and the “void space” in the keg will be where the CO2 is. The floating tubes, if properly installed will have no problem getting shook …
Well, I ordered a couple FLOTits. I’ve currently got two identical batches of WCIPA fermenting (so identical that I blended the worts in the fermenters to make sure they’re identical!). I’m first going to try one carbed my usual way (shaken 75 times at 40 PSI pushed through a regular dip tube, with finings). The other will get keg-primed for probably 12 days before going in. I should have a decent idea whether I feel like keg-priming is worth it. My next batch (if I don’t like keg priming) will be when I try shake-carbonating through the intake. I already transfer into air-purged kegs (starsan-solution displacement method), but more advanced “closed” methods of transfer always end up clogged with dry hops when I’ve transferred IPAs.
I have never had any of my floating dip tubes (6 kegs) “fall off” and I shake vigorously both during cleaning and carbonating. Maybe your silicone is a bit stretched …?
That’s absolutely what is happening here; it’s visibly wider on the ends of the tubing, by a tiny fraction. I’m just too lazy / cheap to swap them out yet…perhaps this will be my motivation to do it. It ain’t that expensive to replace the silicone tubing!
First off, the FLOTit 2.0 floating dip tubes are great, I routinely use them for dry hopping in the keg and serving at festivals where the kegs can get agitated during transport. Highly recommended.
If you are looking to quickly force carbonate, I would have the CO2 connected to the gas port and turn the keg on its side. A gentle rocking with the gas post submerged will allow for the same contact you were getting previously. I would not attach the gas to the liquid post since you risk popping the FLOTit off the post.
