Couple Of Newb Questions

[chasem]

ok so I have been waiting to receive my bar fridge back from my sister and I got it but the 30L brew craft fermenters wont fit so I went a bought a Bunnings fermenter and it only just fits but what I am wondering is what do people do for airlocks? Do you just drill a new hole in the top? Also the smell wicked disgusting what can I do about this?

Second questions is, is it fine to use one of those 15L never fail bottles of water to fill the fermenter up. I guess it would be sterile/pre boiled. Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks heaps.

 

[manticle]

A lot of people here don't use airlocks. You can take off the lid, take out the rubber ring inside and use it as a giant elastic band to keep in place gladwrap. There are other methods too - an airlock isn't a necessary piece of equipment.

I use one but that's just because I enjoy the sound.

 

[RdeVjun]

I had this problem when I wanted to rearrange my in- use cubes & fermenters into just one 300 litre fridge, the airlock was always a major obstacle. Solved simply it by dispensing with the lid and airlock and just going to cling film. I posted a photo of one yonks ago with a young Nottingham going beserk and bulging fiercely, but can't remember in which thread...

Basically, you can fit all sorts of arrangements of fermenters, tall skinny cubes and chiller bottles in a fridge if you have an assortment of shapes & sizes and dispense with the airlock, just be careful of the shelf loading though, use two shelves on adjacent rails to provide extra support. I've even fermented in cubes to give me some extra space in the fridge, worked just fine, surprised I haven't heard more folks doing the same.

Edit: You're doing a lager, aren't you? Just get used to the smell... or shift to the speedy, non-malodorous and delicous ales, you won't regret it! h34r:

 

[chasem]

also i have a Coopers canadian blonde on at the moment with brew enhancer 1 and the FG is at 1016 does this sound right?

 

[RdeVjun]

also i have a Coopers canadian blonde on at the moment with brew enhancer 1 and the FG is at 1016 does this sound right?

Hard to say without all the recipe quantities & history details, but its probably not finished as that's a bit high for FG. Rouse it by either a gentle stir or some rocking, leave it a few days and remeasure, if no change then it probably is as low as it'll get, but I'd go as far as moving it to secondary, repitching a fresh yeast and going through the same process before calling for the doctor. It'd be risky to bottle at that SG, I'd exhaust all other options before doing so.

 

[chasem]

it was coopers candian blond kit 1.7kg 1kg of brew enhancer 1, filled to 23L Yeast pitched at 26-28*C OG 1050

 

[manticle]

1050 to 1016 isn't unbelievable but always best to wait. RDeVjun's advice is sound. Worst you will do by waiting is allow the beer to clean up and develop more mature flavours. Best is to finish fermentation and avoid bottle bombs.

Leave 3 days, measure with hydrometer, leave 2-3 days more, measure with hydrometer. If gravity is the same at all points you can either leave it for maturing purposes (even a few days makes a huge difference) or bottle it. If gravity is different, repeat until it's stable over 2 -3 days.

 

[donburke]

I've even fermented in cubes to give me some extra space in the fridge, worked just fine, surprised I haven't heard more folks doing the same.

I only ferment in cubes, 25 litre cubes for primary batches of around 19 litres, and 20 litres cubes for secondry/lagering vessels

Drill a hole through the lid and fit an airlock, i find them extremely airtight

At first, I was concerned that i would not be able to get inside to clean it, but after a 24 soak in napisan, everything is clean !

I find it very convenient to aerate my wort by just shaking the cube with lid on

 

[RdeVjun]

I only ferment in cubes, 25 litre cubes for primary batches of around 19 litres, and 20 litres cubes for secondry/lagering vessels
Drill a hole through the lid and fit an airlock, i find them extremely airtight

Yep, its no biggie. Don't even need a holesaw, just a twist drill.

At first, I was concerned that i would not be able to get inside to clean it, but after a 24 soak in napisan, everything is clean !

Yep, so was I. Until I realised I could bung a dishwashing- style cleaning cloth in with the detergent or napisan. After a soak, shake it up and get the cloth around the grimy bits, rinse, sanitise - done. Easy as. Good aerobic exercise too...

I find it very convenient to aerate my wort by just shaking the cube with lid on

Now now, just ease up- let's not have any of that crazy lateral thinking around here, thank you very much!!!

 

[smollocks]

Do the cubes have enough headspace to accommodate krausen?

Do either of you just add yeast directly to the cube after no chilling, i.e. with no transfer of nochilled wort?

 

[raven19]

Personally I would be nervous about fermenting in a cube that is nearly full, as krausen could end up flowing out of the airlock/lid.

Not detrimental to the beer, but a messy cleanup ensues...

 

[RdeVjun]

Do the cubes have enough headspace to accommodate krausen?

It depends how completely you fill it. If you need a gap, then don't fill it right up. Sometimes this will need some planning, mine usually end this way purely by accident. Not every cube has to be filled to the brim, I'm not greedy.

Do either of you just add yeast directly to the cube after no chilling, i.e. with no transfer of nochilled wort?

Yes, I have done. I don't do this all the time, but on the handful of occasions I've had a NC wort, I've done it to most. I'm only relatively new to AG though, so fire away if there's some fatal flaw.

IMHO, as long as there's sufficient headspace, temp can be controlled, you can get wort in, beer out again and can clean it up afterwards, there's no real problems fermenting in just about any suitable container (within reason of course). Much as I admire their work, I just don't think yeast are all that fussy about where they do it, real classy ******* in other words...

 

[chasem]

stirred it up on and sunday still at 1016 tonight. i dont think its going to move as it has been moved before and that would of given it a gentle stir aswell. will it be fine at this?

also with ginger beer should i prime less say 1 carb drop per 750ml bottle?

 

[Bribie G]

When you say 'cubes', there are several cubes.

http://www.willow.com.au/carry_cans.html

The so called 20L (the skinny jerrycan one) actually holds 23 L and is perfect for no-chill of a 'standard size' batch, secondary fermentation and crash chilling. On the other hand I wouldn't use it as a primary fermenter if you paid me.

However the 25L fatter looking one probably holds about 28 litres and would make a great primary fermenter. Yeast rings etc can be digested with napisan as noted by previous poster.

The advantage of the 25L is that, being rectangular you could probably slide a couple into a fridge that could not fit two barrel-shaped vessels.