How To Purge Fermeter With Co2 If A Bottler?

[Golani51]

I want to purge fermenters with CO2 but I don't keg beer.
How would I go about it in a cost- efficient manner? Can I just buy a hand-held cannister of CO2and spritz in the CO2 before filling?

Where can I get the cannisters from?

 

[Phoney]

Why do you want to purge your fermenter with c02?

You want oxygen in your fermenter before you fill it with wort...

 

[barls]

for secondarys in assuming.

 

[Golani51]

for secondarys in assuming.

Yes. For Secondary. or in a bottling bucket.
I have never done so previously, but have been toying with the idea for a while. I am starting to get into Belgians and other high ABV beers and don't want to risk anything. Too expensive, to time consuming, and much too much tasty (potentially) beer to go to waste.

Does anyone else do this? If so, shere can I get such a canister? I would only want a small one, as I would not require too much.

 

[barls]

http://finewhip.cart.net.au/store/co2/beer-chargers/

 

[shadders]

Yes. For Secondary. or in a bottling bucket.
I have never done so previously, but have been toying with the idea for a while. I am starting to get into Belgians and other high ABV beers and don't want to risk anything. Too expensive, to time consuming, and much too much tasty (potentially) beer to go to waste.

Does anyone else do this? If so, shere can I get such a canister? I would only want a small one, as I would not require too much.

Not really necessary. Siphoning the beer to secondary will agitate it enough to drop some CO2 out of solution which will then settle in a layer on top of the beer. Any oxidation you do end up getting will probably not be significant compared to what happens in the bottle. Not necessarily a bad thing either... Bottle conditioning produces unique effects precisely because the secondary ferment happens in the presence of the oxygen in the head space.

 

[LethalCorpse]

It's pretty easy, really. You put some beer in it.

 

[felten]

No point, you aren't going to remove all the oxygen with it.

 

[Golani51]

It's pretty easy, really. You put some beer in it.

Thanks guys. Ultimately I should leave it alone.

Got it.

R

 

[Punkal]

A cheap way i guess would be to put a blow off tube into the secondary fermenter during primary i don't know how well it will work but there will be more than 30l of co2 released...

 

[felten]

Which reminds me, If you have a few better bottles and related fittings you can do closed transfers and trap co2 from the ferment, I think they detail it on their website. It's bloody expensive though.

 

[Golani51]

Which reminds me, If you have a few better bottles and related fittings you can do closed transfers and trap co2 from the ferment, I think they detail it on their website. It's bloody expensive though.

I always thought it would be cheaper and simpler. If any of you come across a small, cheap canister I would be interested. Simple and straightforward I hope.

 

[shadders]

I always thought it would be cheaper and simpler. If any of you come across a small, cheap canister I would be interested. Simple and straightforward I hope.

If you're really determined you could try one of those old style soda water machines with the wire mesh around the glass bottle (or a whipped cream maker). Just pop a bulb into an empty bottle then slowly squirt some into your fermenter. I'm sure you'd get a few fermenters worth out of a bulb.

Alternately a 60c bottle of soda water from coles... Open inside the fermenter, pour it in... leave it with the lid on and maybe an airlock to warm up for a while to drive off some of the CO2 from the water then drain as much of the water as you can out of the tap then let it rest for a few mins to let the CO2 settle to a layers . I'd guess they are carbed to about 3 volumes so a 1 litre bottle should give you a decent layer of CO2. assuming you get 2 volumes out of solution that would give you a couple of inches thick layer which should be enough to protect the beer from the initial splashing of the siphon which is really all you need considering the extra CO2 that will come out of the beer.

 

[brendanos]

I wouldn't side with the nay-sayers just yet.

I purge my secondary/bottling bucket with CO2 before transfers & think it has great value in reducing staling. Those that disagree probably don't mind stale beer as much as I do. Also once the transfer is going I apply CO2 at a slow rate (enough to keep positive pressure) to the primary (in lieau of an airlock) to replace the beer that is going out (and to prevent dirty air from being sucked in). I have considered a sterile filter to ensure my CO2 is clean but this may be a little OTT.

I have a mini (3.5kg) bottle of CO2 w/ reg & just remove the gas disconnect (hose fits nicely in airlock hole) - but if you didn't want to fork out for the bottle/reg/etc then you could do a similar job with the above mentioned mini-CO2 charger systems.

 

[Golani51]

I wouldn't side with the nay-sayers just yet.

I purge my secondary/bottling bucket with CO2 before transfers & think it has great value in reducing staling. Those that disagree probably don't mind stale beer as much as I do. Also once the transfer is going I apply CO2 at a slow rate (enough to keep positive pressure) to the primary (in lieau of an airlock) to replace the beer that is going out (and to prevent dirty air from being sucked in). I have considered a sterile filter to ensure my CO2 is clean but this may be a little OTT.

I have a mini (3.5kg) bottle of CO2 w/ reg & just remove the gas disconnect (hose fits nicely in airlock hole) - but if you didn't want to fork out for the bottle/reg/etc then you could do a similar job with the above mentioned mini-CO2 charger systems.

how much for your system approx?
do you have a pic?

 

[mh971]

I wouldn't side with the nay-sayers just yet.

I purge my secondary/bottling bucket with CO2 before transfers & think it has great value in reducing staling. Those that disagree probably don't mind stale beer as much as I do. Also once the transfer is going I apply CO2 at a slow rate (enough to keep positive pressure) to the primary (in lieau of an airlock) to replace the beer that is going out (and to prevent dirty air from being sucked in). I have considered a sterile filter to ensure my CO2 is clean but this may be a little OTT.

I have a mini (3.5kg) bottle of CO2 w/ reg & just remove the gas disconnect (hose fits nicely in airlock hole) - but if you didn't want to fork out for the bottle/reg/etc then you could do a similar job with the above mentioned mini-CO2 charger systems.

+1, except I use an old fire extinguisher without dip tube for my C02. I just blast it into secondary or bottling vessel prior to transfer.

I purge with CO 2 because I often let beers do 7-10 days in Primary in 10-14 in secondary and am not confident the amount of residual CO2 will protect my beer from oxidisation during the two transfers.

 

[Golani51]

+1, except I use an old fire extinguisher without dip tube for my C02. I just blast it into secondary or bottling vessel prior to transfer.

I purge with CO 2 because I often let beers do 7-10 days in Primary in 10-14 in secondary and am not confident the amount of residual CO2 will protect my beer from oxidisation during the two transfers.

How do you do this exactly? Just a regular CO2 extinguisher?How to modify it? (happy to discuss over phone if easier)

 

[Superoo]

I would have a think about using the blow off tube from your primary into a container, say a 20l cube.
Then just upend it over your fermenter a few minutes before you secondary / bottle.

Not sure how much Co2 you get from a primary fermemtation, but you could easily set up a couple of these in series.

Initial cost is low,
Ongoing cost = $0

 

[Hammo7]

I have one of the old sccool soda stream systems which I was planning to use to charge a "garden sprayer" party keg as well as purging a secondary.
I guess you could pick one of thos up at a garage sale, or E-bay for a few bucks. I think a new one is around $60 on special.

 

[Amber Fluid]

Check this thread there are some tips on purging using Co2 there as well.