Brewtech SS fermenting vessels discussion thread

[Bribie G]

One of the tiny o rings on my racking arm disintegrated, are there kits available for the Brew Bucket? Feel a bit silly fronting up to Pirtek or somewhere.... :blink:


ed: also on the dried yeast question, I've always found that properly rehydrated dried yeast always kicks off far quicker than liquid so-called "pitchable" yeasts if they are pitched directly out of the smack pack or vial, which is why I always start my liquids for a couple of days before brewing then pitch on the third day.

I'd guess liquid yeasts such as Wyeast and Whitelabs are probably direct-pitchable when they are fresh but many if not most of us are using liquids that are a month or two old or even older. I generally order three or four at a time as part of a larger order to minimise freight so my current Wyeast and Whitelabs library are average four months old. Always fire up - eventually.

 

[mckenry]

Can I ask why it's necessary to fill the vessel with CO2 before fermentation has begun? Surely any oxygen will be absorbed by the yeast in the growth phase.

Definitely not necessary. I never did it with plastic carboys. Air sitting on my wort prior to fermentation has always slightly bothered me. I do it and I know its overkill, but its so easy to do with the chronical and I have piece of mind that no airborne nasties are in there, competing with my yeast. I'm not so sure about your last statement though. The yeast chews through the o2 in solution. The headspace oxygen, no. In a fermentation situation, with an airlock, the air should be expelled. In a bottling situation, with the build up of pressure in an enclosed space, yes (assuming it was bottled with the correct headspace etc).

Given that there were plenty of breweries using open fermenters and the fact that the wort should be oxygenated, I am curious as well on why you would purge the air with CO2?

The CO2 created by the fermentation would displace the air pretty quickly.

I have tried to create oversized batches via open fermentation in a fridge. Works really well as per my avatar and when the fermentation begins to subside I put the lid on my conical and shield it from air at the latter part of the fermentation.

Interesting article relating to open air fermentation.
http://hbd.org/brewery/library/OpenFerm.html

Yep, I love the open to air ferments in breweries. I cant do that as I cant gaurantee I'll be home when I need to, to protect the ferment towards the end.
Homebrewers tend to put too much faith in the 'all powerful blanket of co2 protection'.
I do have a specialist gas testing background, and while chemically speaking the mass of co2 is greater than oxygen - If they couldnt mix, there would be co2 all over the earth surface and 7 billion dead people.

 

[Bribie G]

Yup in the early stages there's a good blanket (see this frame from the 1930s German Brewery you tube) where the brewer is lowering a candle towards the surface of the brew, candle goes out. At the later stages the beer is pumped into sealed lagering vessels.

 

[TidalPete]

Another upload for sav.

So happy with my fermenter I ended up transferring into keg without filtering the 40lts. After cleaning I had under 1 lt left.
So easy too clean with a valve on the bottom, and I think it wasn't holding pressure because after cleaning the silicone seal just fell out so see how next brew will go.
Over all very happy with my purchase.

 

[Dan Pratt]

I put the new SS brewbucket into use today withe my EOY Ale - 5.7% & 55ibu

Had to use the old jockey straps for holding the KK temp probe on and then realized the senior airlock was sucking starsan solution back into the FV while it cooled from 28c to 17c in the fridge. Its been years since I used an airlock and so I tipped out the starsan out and just left it to cool before I pitch.

One question - can these be hole punched to fit a thermowell for inserting the 100mm temp probes?

 

[Bribie G]

Pete (previous post to yours) may be able to advise, he's drilled his lid if I'm not mistaken. Being SS and thus an excellent conductor as opposed to plastic, I just tape my probe to the side and cover with a pad of bubble wrap.

 

[CrookedFingers]

I did it Pratty.

I think I went with a 12mm hole, used a step drill. Nice and slow and kept the fluids to it so it didn't heat up.
Thermowell from CheekyPeak.
Fits the temp probe beautifully.

 

[Dan Pratt]

I did it Pratty.

I think I went with a 12mm hole, used a step drill. Nice and slow and kept the fluids to it so it didn't heat up.
Thermowell from CheekyPeak.
Fits the temp probe beautifully.

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1420074107.561278.jpg

Thanks CF. I had seen yours and thought that was a good way to get the probe inside.

I think I might try the lid option first and use a beer belly SS tube and see how that goes, replacing a lid v's the FV is less risk.

 

[CrookedFingers]

Yeah the lid option is a good one.
Had I seen it before I drilled into mine I think I would have dome it too !

 

[Bribie G]

lid option #2, also thanks to Tidal Pete, is to get a cornie dip tube and cut it to size, then hammer the end shut and either weld it perfectly closed or use some sort of silicone sealer (forget which). Reportedly makes excellent thermowell, as well as having that cute little o ring at the lip end. I have a couple of dip tubes I got for another purpose and will have a stab at it - a local engineering mob I found in Taree will do a drill and weld for me for twenty bucks or so. Sticking on the bubble wrap etc does get a bit annoying after a while.

 

[Dan Pratt]

Today I done my first brewbucket transfer to keg.....with the wrong size hose. I got 1m of 10mm hose and it felt slightly loose and sure enough I had wort leaking and wort bubbling into the keg...fark!

Can someone tell me what size hose we use to transfer from the ss tap barb?

 

[Bribie G]

10 mm inside diameter?

I took my barb into the LHBS and bought some soft vinyl tubing that looks like 8mm ID.

 

[Camo6]

I bought 10mm silicone hose from craftbrewer and it fits over the stepped section of the tap spout with a twist and a push. Doesn't leak or draw air and won't come off easily.

 

[Dan Pratt]

10 mm inside diameter?

I took my barb into the LHBS and bought some soft vinyl tubing that looks like 8mm ID.

yep it was 10mm ID hose and it was loose. ended up using 1/2 inch hose that attached to the bit just above the barb.

I will grab some 8mm and try that out, thanks Bribie.

Another thing i noticed was the krausen ring was quite black and the stainless finish after cleaning had a darker mark around it where the krausen was, ive tried to clean it without using anything abrasive but it wont come off. The lid also where the center drops had krausen and that too had black and now darkened area's....?



that doesn't appear normal. Its soaking now in sodium percarb and water solution, i think I go overboard and use like 1g per liter. I done the passivisation as per the SS bretech website incase your wondering.

 

[jlm]

Use something abrasive, that's part of the beauty of stainless. Get a green scotchbrite onto it and scrub all yer gunk off.

 

[Camo6]

Pratty1, I've found my krausen rings seem to be a bit condensed and 'blackened' as compared to the old plastic fermentors. Hasn't hurt the taste or attenuation any and doesn't occur with every yeast. I get that discolouration on mine and find it cleans well with a green scrubby and/or a bit of barkeeper's friend.

 

[Dan Pratt]

Thanks lads, after a 24hr soak with 60c water and sodium perc solution they have cleared up and it's back to its normal finish.

I will keep that in mind for using a green scrubb clothe to clean that away, just wasn't sure about the scratching after so many years of using the plastic and avoiding that.

 

[Spiesy]

Pratty1, I've found my krausen rings seem to be a bit condensed and 'blackened' as compared to the old plastic fermentors. Hasn't hurt the taste or attenuation any and doesn't occur with every yeast. I get that discolouration on mine and find it cleans well with a green scrubby and/or a bit of barkeeper's friend.

I've never had to use anything harsher than soft cloth for cleaning, certainly no scourers.

 

[CrookedFingers]

Same.
Hose on with Jet setting on nozzle, blast the krausen ring.
Soft cloth wipe.
Sometimes takes a good time to clean up, but have not wanted to crack out a scourer.

 

[jlm]

Nothing wrong with using a green scotchbrite on ss. Have seen them used in dairy applications and used them first hand in commercial brewing.