Brewtech SS fermenting vessels discussion thread

[barls]

they are also used on gunnery parts to remove caked on carbon.

 

[Dan Pratt]

I'm going for the blow off tube on this current batch. The 1st batch was 20lts and the krausen reached the lid center that is lower but didn't get to the airlock. This batch is just a half liter more than the first one, from memory reading this thread the hose size for the lid hole will fit a 1/2 silicon hose right?

 

[Camo6]

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

I've just voided my warranty haven't I? :lol:

 

[Spiesy]

I've just voided my warranty haven't I? :lol:

Lol

 

[blekk]

Obvious but make sure you scrub with the grain.

 

[GNU]

Bit off topic

What is your take on the temp control lid that has just been released for these by brew tech with immersion coil, water pump, temp probe and neoprene jacket?

Doesn't seem that great to me as you need to change the water temp in the res from chilled to heated manually. Seems it would just be easier to setup and run a brewing fridge.

http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/ftss/products/ftss-temperature-control-for-chronical-7-gallon

 

[Brendandrage]

I've been looking at this
http://www.brewjacket.com/product/immersion-beer-cooling-unit/

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

Does anyone use caustic to clean these guys? My caustic approach is generally to fill the vessel with hot (not too hot) water and then pour in a (irresponsibly not well measured) pour of caustic, emptying and rinsing the next day.

I did that with the BB this week, but found a decent amount of caustic had dropped right to the bottom of the cone and had only absorbed enough moisture to cake solid at the bottom. There was enough dissolved caustic to do the job, but the caked caustic wouldn't budge with pressure hose or hot water. In the end I had to very carefully pour tiny amounts of boiling water into the BB to get the caustic moving - looked kinda cool but wasn't not something I'd like to make a habit of.

Has anyone had this caking or ideas to avoid it? I'd rather not have to pre-liquify the caustic.

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

Also, has anyone had issues with mould above the liquid line in these fermenters? I have used my BB twice and each time have seen what looks like mould - first time under the lid and second time at the krausen line and under the lid.





I can't really think of anything about these vessels that make them more susceptible to mould. Both of these batches were opened for dry hopping/sugar additions, but I've done that before without getting mould. Both have been cleaned and santised both times, of course.

 

[Fat Bastard]

I think you're going over the top with caustic... I only ever use my home brew PBW (25kg Sodium Perc/5kg Sodium Met) and Starsan on mine and it comes up sparkling each time, even at work (Big Pharma) they only use a Sodium Met based cleaner and 70% Ethanol to sanitise. No caustic, ever. Can't say I've noticed mould on mine, but the Krausen ring seems darker for whatever reason. Looking at the bottom pic, the spacing of those dark stains looks a bit regular. Do they line up with the spot welds on the clamps perchacnce?

Anyway, I'm still struggling with pressure transfers on mine. I can get enough pressure to get the transfer happening, but well below the 5 PSI rating, although it's hard to tell using a standard regulator pressure gauge. I've bent the clamps to buggery to get more force onto the seal, but it still leaks over about 2.5PSI on the gauge.

I think I need to get a properly scaled gauge into the system to see if it's actually in the range the reg gauge is indicating first though.

 

[mckenry]

Anyway, I'm still struggling with pressure transfers on mine. I can get enough pressure to get the transfer happening, but well below the 5 PSI rating, although it's hard to tell using a standard regulator pressure gauge. I've bent the clamps to buggery to get more force onto the seal, but it still leaks over about 2.5PSI on the gauge.

I think I need to get a properly scaled gauge into the system to see if it's actually in the range the reg gauge is indicating first though.

Hey Fat *******,
I had the same problem early on too. It seems to have 'magically' fixed itself now. Maybe the silicone gasket has softened somewhat and seals better? Read on for my theory.
But, yesterday I pressure transferred at 5psi with no leaks, through a filter and into the keg.
What I really think is helping is that I leave my receiving kegs vented the whole time so there is no back pressure on the chronical. I could ramp up the pressure and leave the kegs closed, burping them once in a while, when I was fermenting in a 50L commercial keg. The commercial keg could obviously take a lot more pressure. So with the silicone gaskets and weak little clamps, I think it pays to have no back pressure from your receiving kegs whatsoever.
See how that goes.

 

[Spiesy]

Also, has anyone had issues with mould above the liquid line in these fermenters? I have used my BB twice and each time have seen what looks like mould - first time under the lid and second time at the krausen line and under the lid.

MouldLid.jpg

MouldKrausen.jpg

I can't really think of anything about these vessels that make them more susceptible to mould. Both of these batches were opened for dry hopping/sugar additions, but I've done that before without getting mould. Both have been cleaned and santised both times, of course.

I've never had mould, no.

With a sealed fermenting vessel, there should be no way mould can grow - as long as everything is clean. That's a bit of a worry, mate. Is your sugar sterilised? When are you are adding hops - how and when are you adding them (i.e. in a hop sock, hop tea, loose)?

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

@FatBastard, there was Brett in the ferment so I felt more comfortable with caustic. Not my usual routine.

I didn't think about the clamps. Interesting - too late to check.


@speisy, dextrose in boiled solution and loose hops. Both techniques I've used many times. The dry hop (maybe) mould was only in the inside of the lid where condensation drops had formed. The second time it was inside the lid and krausen ring, I had use a blow off tube.

 

[bullsneck]

This is a question to those using a blow off tube in their conicals...

My usual practice is to fill my half barrel conical at whatever temp I can reach with the immersion chiller (usually 18°c on cooler days, higher when it's hotter) then do the rest of the cooling in the fridge. Bonus is that by the time the wort is at the required pitching temperature, the trub that made its way into the fermenter has settled to the bottom and I can draw it off.
Anyway, I fit my blowoff tube whilst chilling in the fridge (I don't want nasty fridge spores in my beer, particularly when only fermenting 20L in the 64L conical). As the wort cools in the conical, it sucks in sanitiser from the blow off reservoir. I lost a lot of sanitiser this time. Unfortunately, it ends up in the beer.
So my question is... How can I avoid this? Anyone got any tips?

The only thing I can think of is using a sanitary air filter on the end of the blow off, then swap to sanitiser bucket once the wort Is at the right temperature for fermenting.

Something like this...


Thoughts?

edit - spelling

 

[mckenry]

This is a question to those using a blow off tube in their conicals...

My usual practice is to fill my half barrel conical at whatever temp I can reach with the immersion chiller (usually 18°c on cooler days, higher when it's hotter) then do the rest of the cooling in the fridge. Bonus is that by the time the wort is at the required pitching temperature, the trub that made its way into the fermenter has settled to the bottom and I can draw it off.
Anyway, I fit my blowoff tube whilst chilling in the fridge (I don't want nasty fridge spores in my beer, particularly when only fermenting 20L in the 64L conical). As the wort cools in the conical, it sucks in sanitiser from the blow off reservoir. I lost a lot of sanitiser this time. Unfortunately, it ends up in the beer.
So my question is... How can I avoid this? Anyone got any tips?

The only thing I can think of is using a sanitary air filter on the end of the blow off, then swap to sanitiser bucket once the wort Is at the right temperature for fermenting.

Something like this...

image.jpg

Thoughts?

edit - spelling

Exactly what I use when I have to wait for the wort to chill to pitching temp. They have an in/out printed on them, but apparently it doesnt matter which way it goes. I was worried about caving in my conical if the pressure inside was decreasing too much and I'd created a vacuum by putting it on backwards, so did some reading. The suggested practice is 'it doesnt matter, air will flow either direction, just keep it the same each time' This is so the 'bad' air is always on the outside. If you turn it around, the filtered air, from last time, will be on the inside and carried into the wort when air is sucked in. For the record, I have mine facing 'IN' towards the wort, 'OUT' on the outside just to keep it easy to remember. You can use them as an airlock if you like, in the same configuration, but be wary of blowoff. I dont use it as an airlock, just a filter at the end of the blowoff tube when cooling, then pull it out and put the tube into the blowoff bottle.

 

[Dan Pratt]

^ ^ I just put a senior airlock that is sanitized with just enough sanitizer that the top part just touches the sanitizer, it bubbles up and creates a foam protective layer inside the airlock and only a few mls of sanitzer goes into the FV. Then when I pitch the yeast I remove the airlock & bung and replace with the silicon hose into the 1litre container.

also, If your worried about nasties in your fridge, then I hate to say it but......clean the fridge!

 

[bullsneck]

Thanks for that, @mckenry. I guess you put it back on when it is time to crash chill, too. I'll have to go pick one up next time I'm at the LHBS.

also, If your worried about nasties in your fridge, then I hate to say it but......clean the fridge!

The fridge is clean, but spores are everywhere. I am only worried as at that stage (the cooling of the wort in the conical) I have not yet pitched yeast, so it's a microbes playground until a hundred billion yeastie boys are swimming in the wort.

 

[mckenry]

Thanks for that, @mckenry. I guess you put it back on when it is time to crash chill, too. I'll have to go pick one up next time I'm at the LHBS.

Yep. But prior to owning one, the blowoff tube was long enough that the water wasnt sucked all the way back in. It only came back about a quarter of the way.

 

[RobW]

This is a question to those using a blow off tube in their conicals...

My usual practice is to fill my half barrel conical at whatever temp I can reach with the immersion chiller (usually 18°c on cooler days, higher when it's hotter) then do the rest of the cooling in the fridge. Bonus is that by the time the wort is at the required pitching temperature, the trub that made its way into the fermenter has settled to the bottom and I can draw it off.
Anyway, I fit my blowoff tube whilst chilling in the fridge (I don't want nasty fridge spores in my beer, particularly when only fermenting 20L in the 64L conical). As the wort cools in the conical, it sucks in sanitiser from the blow off reservoir. I lost a lot of sanitiser this time. Unfortunately, it ends up in the beer.
So my question is... How can I avoid this? Anyone got any tips?

The only thing I can think of is using a sanitary air filter on the end of the blow off, then swap to sanitiser bucket once the wort Is at the right temperature for fermenting.

Something like this...

image.jpg

Thoughts?

edit - spelling

Use a jar of sanitiser with a tube from the fermenter that sits above the liquid and a tube to the outside that is under the sanitiser.
Just a big airlock really. Apologies for the pathetic artwork.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Use a jar of sanitiser with a tube from the fermenter that sits above the liquid and a tube to the outside that is under the sanitiser.
Just a big airlock really. Apologies for the pathetic artwork.

How do you sanitize the initial volume of air though above the sanitizer?