26L Kegmenter, any good?

[mtb]

Slightly old post but does anyone know if you can install a thermowell in the ibrew 26L kegmenters? Though I like the idea of fermenting under pressure I might not want to sacrifice precise temp control or is this not an issue?

There's much to be said about accuracy of a thermowell vs a temp probe attached to the exterior and insulated.. but that's for a separate thread.
Technically you could install a thermowell, but consider that your fittings would need to withstand a bit of pressure, albeit not too much.

 

[dark_brew]

Going to take the plunge for one of these as well, looking for a ss fermenter and having the addition of pressure sounds like fun! Any troubles with headspace or spurting krausen?

 

[mtb]

~30 batches in and I have only good things to say. 21L batch in a 26L vessel and there are no headspace or krausen issues.

 

[Gloveski]

~30 batches in and I have only good things to say. 21L batch in a 26L vessel and there are no headspace or krausen issues.

Going to get a few of these in the future I reckon I do double brew days most of the time so two side by side in my fermenter fridge would be the go . Did you have to trim the dip tube on these to not pick up the trub yeast etc when transfering to another keg ? Also any issues in reusing the yeast ? I was wondering how hard they would be to modify and add a cone and some valves for a trub / yeast catchment area .

 

[mtb]

I decided not to trim the diptube, it's a good length already. The key is to watch the transfer line when transferring to the serving keg; after transferring all your chilled/clear beer it'll start sending trub. Disconnect the transfer line before it makes its way in.

As for reusing yeast, I've had no issues thus far. If you follow the above method to limit trub transfer, you'll have lots of yeasty trub left behind to wash.

 

[rossbaker]

Hi guys, has anyone tried no chilling in one of these? Manticle and a few others tried this in 19l cornys a while back and it sounded like it worked well enough. A bit of co 2 pressure overnight while it cools and shrinks, pitch yeast the next day. Being able to do this would be a massive plus imo.

 

[Lionman]

Hi guys, has anyone tried no chilling in one of these? Manticle and a few others tried this in 19l cornys a while back and it sounded like it worked well enough. A bit of co 2 pressure overnight while it cools and shrinks, pitch yeast the next day. Being able to do this would be a massive plus imo.

It could work, but cube additions would be difficult. You don't want hop trub in your fermenter if you want to reuse yeast.

You could get around this by just doing whirlpool additions and leaving the hop trub behind in the kettle though.

 

[Jack of all biers]

It could work, but cube additions would be difficult. You don't want hop trub in your fermenter if you want to reuse yeast.

You could use one of these for cube hop additions. Sort of what they are designed for. http://kegking.com.au/stainless-hop-tube.html
Fishing line or similar to the top and the line out the keg lid. Remove it prior to yeast pitch and aeration/oxygenation. Roberts your mother's brother.

 

[mtb]

You could use one of these for cube hop additions. Sort of what they are designed for. http://kegking.com.au/stainless-hop-tube.html
Fishing line or similar to the top and the line out the keg lid. Remove it prior to yeast pitch and aeration/oxygenation. Roberts your mother's brother.

One point to make about that hop tube - their lids aren't secured, they simply push on and stay due to friction. When full of wet hops the tube will stay put and the lid will come off. Prepare to leave it in until you've drained the kegmenter and then you can get your arm in to pull it out.
Maybe a hop sock instead?

 

[Lionman]

It would also limit the amount you can add (albeit to a decent amount) and there is a risk of impact to utilisation.

No 200g cube addition hop bomb IPAs.

Also, any loose hop matter in the fermenter could block the dip tube/poppet valve etc making draining the keg challenging.

Not saying it cant be done, just pointing out its not a really huge plus, its another option that has its own set of compromises.

 

[Jack of all biers]

One point to make about that hop tube - their lids aren't secured, they simply push on and stay due to friction. When full of wet hops the tube will stay put and the lid will come off. Prepare to leave it in until you've drained the kegmenter and then you can get your arm in to pull it out.
Maybe a hop sock instead?

True that and, though I have one, I have never gotten round to using it. Just had a look and see your point. That's disappointing given the KK description on how to use it.

Hop sock? Plastic and heat? I think maybe with good cleaning and sanitation practices one of these around the top would stop it coming off. https://www.bunnings.com.au/kinetic-46-70mm-304-stainless-steel-hose-clamps_p4920196

Easier to sanitise would be to loop fishing line around the body of the hop tube (top and bottom using bowlines), then tie off the two loops to the fishing line coming out the lid. Where there's a will there is a way.

EDIT - I see that the polyester hops socks are rated to 110C. I wouldn't do it, but there you go. Wrong again.

 

[Lionman]

or drill a hole through the lid into the body and put a stainless screw in it?

 

[mtb]

or drill a hole through the lid into the body and put a stainless screw in it?

I'd personally be uncomfortable making holes in anything I then pressurise

 

[Tony121]

Think he meant the hop tube

 

[mtb]

Think he meant the hop tube

that makes sense..

 

[Lionman]

Yeah, i mean to hold the lid on the hop tube thingy.

 

[cliffo]

Needing some help guys.

I'm trying to find a fridge or freezer that can hold two of these bad boys with a spunding valve on the top.
I had decided to buy a new chest freezer and whilst both kegs would fit, once I add the spunding valve the height becomes the problem (at least in the two models I looked at today).
Does anyone have two (or more) of these kegs and able to advise what sort of fridge/freezer they're running?

 

[Grott]

You could run a hose with gas disconnect one end and spunding valve the other. (The valve doesn’t have to connect directly to the keg)

 

[cliffo]

You could run a hose with gas disconnect one end and spunding valve the other. (The valve doesn’t have to connect directly to the keg)

It's an option but I'm trying to avoid that as I've just bought the parts from the US that I need to put together a one "piece" spunding valve. x2 that wasn't a cheap exercise.