60l Fermenter..

[Cocko]

Hello Friends,

I am on my 6th batch and here is a brief report;

I have a 'fridge mate' running a heat belt and it does an awesome job, my last 2 brews have not gone under 18c or over 20c

I have mixed up yeast options, US05 and S04, LDME, tea bagged hops, dry hopped, extra dex etc.. drinking No.2 and all is well.. Thanks to this site!!

So here the question;

I am gonna buy another fermenter but I am going to go the 60L - reason being = I drink more than I can brew on a 30L! And every time I buy a slab of megaswill I am drinking for bottles!! I know; My name is Cocko and I am a alcoholic -" Hello cocko"!!

So answer this:

2 cans?
2 Brew sugars? - 2kg
2 yeasts - 24g?
If I wanted to add malt double it?
Hops, double it?

You get the idea, as always your advice is appreciated!!

Many thanks
Cocko!

:icon_cheers:

 

[boingk]

Easy as - you've got the idea! Of course, you'd only really be brewing to 46L per batch. My brother and I did a dead simple stock filler a few months ago:

2 x Coopers Pale Ale 1.7kg tins,
2 x Coopers 500g LDME,
1 x Coopers 1kg Dextrose.

Used both yeasts, dumped everything in and filled to around 46 litres. Worked a charm and its now ageing, should be a half decent drop and certainly acheive its goal! You're definitely thinking along the right lines by doubling everything for a double-batch and shouldn't go wrong as its dead easy...you just might need a hand moving the fermenter around eh? Bloody awkward heavy thing it is once its filled up...

Cheers - boingk

 

[QldKev]

I thought about the double fermentor idea a while back. But the idea of carrying the sucker into my store room was too much, so I went 2 normal size fermentors. With the 60L setup and the ingredients you mentioned I would try something like:

Summer Pale Ale
3 x Coopers Pale Ale 1.7kg tins,
1 x Coopers 1kg Dextrose (or use the Coopers Brew enhancer 2)

or for Winter Pale Ale(about now)
3 x Coopers Pale Ale 1.7kg tins,
3 x Coopers 500g LDME

With most my kits I boil some water in a large pot and add the kits, bring back to the boil for 5 mins and turn off the heat.
Since I love a lot of hops, for the double you could try add 30g as you add the kits to the pot, and add another 30g as you turn the heat off. (I generally would actually add more hops than this) I also use fresh hop flowers (or frozen if out of season) thrown in the fermentor as I add the yeast.

Remember the more malts added in the brew the more hops addition you will require to balance it.

QldKev

 

[pint of lager]

Another vote for just buying a second 30 litre fermenter and doing more batches. You then have a bottling and racking container too. Most fridges will not take a 60 litre fermenter.

That way you can keep experimenting on your beers. If you stuff up, you have only lost 23 litres, not 46 litres.

Lifting double batches is no fun. The concept of bottling 46 litres is not nice either.

Well done on your temperature control from batch one. So many brewers only discover this site well into their brewing career and only then discover the benefits of a good temperature.

 

[Cocko]

Never thought about the weight - just the beer!! But a very good point.

Hmmmm

Cheers guys!

 

[peas_and_corn]

Another vote for just buying a second 30 litre fermenter and doing more batches. You then have a bottling and racking container too. Most fridges will not take a 60 litre fermenter.

That way you can keep experimenting on your beers. If you stuff up, you have only lost 23 litres, not 46 litres.

Lifting double batches is no fun. The concept of bottling 46 litres is not nice either.

Well done on your temperature control from batch one. So many brewers only discover this site well into their brewing career and only then discover the benefits of a good temperature.

I have a big fermenter to make 44L batches (and am thinking of up sizing to 50L), and I have a chest freezer as a fermentation fridge- no worries with room there! Losing 44L is a pain, but I feel the same no matter what the size is! Weirdly enough, the Orval clone I thought was going weird, I racked it into two smaller fermenters (I only have one double)- one was infected and the other wasn't. Strange...

Lifting the fermenter out of the chest freezer isn't a real issue for me. Since moving to F&V in my job (well, paying for study is expensive...) I haven't really had problems with lifting the 50 or so kilograms (? what's the weight per litre of beer?) that make up the batch. I don't have to bottle the whole thing, as I keg half and bottle the other half- kegged beer for drinking at home, the bottles for taking to parties etc. Thought one main reason I went for the doubles is because I do AG and there isn't a huge difference in time to double the batches (also I wasn't utilising my 100L pot fully )

 

[pokolbinguy]

Lifting the fermenter out of the chest freezer isn't a real issue for me. Since moving to F&V in my job (well, paying for study is expensive...) I haven't really had problems with lifting the 50 or so kilograms

I would be being bloody careful reaching into a chest freezer and lifting 50 kgs there P&C..... might be fine today but if you do it wrong once you are stuffed.

Anyway I'm sure you have been told that before, just be careful.

beers, Pok

 

[peas_and_corn]

Oh, I am! I tend to 'slide' it out of the freezer than lift it straight up, which makes it quite easy.

 

[pint of lager]

Peas, watch the threaded tap, doesn't take much of a bump to dislodge them.

Cocko, it is your brewery, if you really want a double fermenter and have a strong back (and liver) go for it.

Many people love double batches, me included. I upsized the ag brew gear quite a few years ago to double size. Doesn't take much more time to do a double batch on brewday. A mix of 12, 19 and 45 litre kegs plus bottles makes for easy dispensing and not too much bottling.

Seeing as Cocko is only up to brew #6, he may be better off with a second 30 litre fermenter rather than a 60 litre.

And yes, just double everything to upsize the recipe.

 

[Cocko]

Thank you all, as always.

Question; Does it take twice as long to ferment?

Cocko
:unsure:

 

[pint of lager]

No.

 

[HKS]

I use a 60L fermenter to make 46L batches. I don't lift the fermenter at all. I went to Bunnings and bought a heavy duty pot plant coaster. Fits the 60L fermenter no probs. Then I made a ramp and I push the fermenter up the ramp and into the fridge. No lifting required.

I'm also going to tie rope to the pot plant coaster and hookup a pulley to lift the fermenter out of the fridge and high enough to gravity filter it into the keg.

No lifting ever required with this method.

Double batches are the only way to go in my view. B)

 

[quadbox]

I use a 60L fermenter, and generally do 42L batches. Personally, I havent found it too heavy. Carrying it on the level's very easy, carrying it up and down the stairs is a little trickier but still quite easily doable just on your own. I mean, you've got to be careful how you lift it, but it's only ~50kg all told, and at least mine has some very well placed, sturdy and comfortable handles. Which is more than can be said for either of my 30L's

I usually get someone to give me a hand to lift it up onto the bench from which I gravity rack though.

 

[paul]

I always do double batches using a 50l beer keg with the top cut out. This lives in a chest freezer thats mounted up on shopping trolley wheels.

I add the water to the fermenter once its in the freezer and after its fermented i siphon the beer straight into 19l kegs.

 

[peas_and_corn]

Peas, watch the threaded tap, doesn't take much of a bump to dislodge them.

The tap is beneath the handle, so that's not a problem