For sure it is nice that the beer is all carb’ed up when it is finished fermenting. The time to get it done is pretty much the same, but then it is all ready to go. You do get a bit of yeast that ends up needing to be run out of the keg, but that isn’t a big deal.
I also have been thinking about it for my hoppy beers from the perspective that the slight yeast activity will consume the oxygen introduced from the dry hops (in a hop bag) and then the aromas aren’t being blown off since the gasses are being trapped in the beer. I don’t know how much that would matter, but it would seem to me that not blowing off that aroma would be better than having it leave the beer.
Yep, like I posted, I’m pretty encouraged by the results on my hoppy beers. Seems to be a pretty ideal way to purge the keg and the O2 from the hops, without letting the aromas blow off.
I will just add that along with all the other benefits listed here, oxygen, carbonation, etc. I will list one that often gets overlooked, and that is better foam. Here is why(IMO), Glycerol.
Yeast produce glycerol naturally which contributes to body and palatability, but I think when spunded and put under pressure, the yeast produce more, and it contributes to foam positive proteins.
I have the spunding valve, but I need to catch the beer soon enough. With the lagers, they are finishing so well and quickly, that by the time I get back to them they are too far along…so, I will need to anticipate better and be prepared to move them to keg much more quickly. Also, I have to look up priming rates, so I am ready to get the sugar water into the keg when the beer is at the right stage. I don’t see a problem with adding the sugar water through the tubing and then the out post of the keg in advance of the beer transfer, but I am wondering about the water - should it be pre-boiled, as well or will the process take care of that issue?
When I add sugar I boil the sugar and water together to make sure that the sugar is all well dissolved, and I usually use as little water as I think I can get away with. Depending on your apparatus, you might be able to get it boiling and then put it in the keg while it is still near boiling to prevent it from absorbing any oxygen before it goes into the keg. Once it is in the keg it will cool down mighty quick, to say nothing of having the rest of the beer put on it. That is my take on it anyway.
Also, with the spunding valve on it, the amount of sugar you use becomes a bit less important as long as you have a bit more than you need. The pressure relief valve will set the carbonation level if there is too much sugar put into it.
Yeah, it is possible to be over obsessed I’m sure, however I usually aim for the stars and then screw it up and get something that is good enough. It is a rare day that anything just works the way that it should. I like to think that I’m not alone in that (please don’t tell me if I am alone).
No, you’re damn sure not alone. I usually err on the OCD side of things, but still manage to have fun at the same time. Nobody can claim every brew day ever goes completely perfectly. But after enough batches, the ‘screw ups’ tend to be minor enough to leave you with good beer. My success rate went through the roof after I stopped drinking while brewing. Go figure
I have been putting my prime solution in the fermenter prior to the transfer. I wait until I see the ferment restart then rack to the keg. It’s been working great.
Less then an hour to restart. I carefully add the solution through the fermentation airlock bung with a small long stem glass funnel. I use an equal amount of water by weight to the dextrose. The solution is not to thick so it seems to mix well by itself as evidenced by proper carbonation.
This seems pretty legit. I really can’t see a downside here, other than having some sediment in the keg. Also, this method would be sweet from a prepper standpoint, when CO2 in a tank could be hard to come by… But how long would you be able to push beer, if there was no added CO2? At that point, is it basically a cask ale?
Either way, I’m going to pick up a valve and give it a shot.
I do a variant of this if I can’t catch the beer for a full spund. Based on the FFT, I’ll try to time it for when I’m within a point of FG, add priming sugar to bottles and then fill directly from the fermenter. I figure the yeast is still plenty active that way. It’s easiest and best to get a full spund directly out of the fermenter but schedules don’t always line up.
