Installing John Guest Bulk Head Fittings

[Hippy]

I've just bought some john guest bulk head fittings with the intention of fitting one to my 60L fermenter lid in order to pressurise it. As my fermenter fridege is a chest freezer it is extremely hard work lifting a 50L batch out for transfer to kegs. By pressurising I will be able to leave the fermenter insitu and push the beer uphill.
Does anyone have any advise on installing a bulk head in this way and suitable running pressure? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Shaun

 

[dkaos]

First thing I would say is make sure you've got a top seal! You might want to put some keg lube on the o-ring? And the second thing is probably just put the bulkhead where the airlock used to be.

Sounds like a top idea short of installing a gantry

 

[pk.sax]

Nobody thinking an auto-siphon will be way simpler?!

 

[dkaos]

Nobody thinking an auto-siphon will be way simpler?!

Guess he's worried about aeration? Not sure what it would be like, have never used one.

 

[Kingbrownbrewing]

I did that once to speed up kegging...
I blew up the fermenter when some hops got stuck at the disconnect.
And i mean blew it up, the lid almost took my brothers head off...
Good luck and check for blockages.

 

[Hippy]

I did that once to speed up kegging...
I blew up the fermenter when some hops got stuck at the disconnect.
And i mean blew it up, the lid almost took my brothers head off...
Good luck and check for blockages.

Thanks for the advise. Maybe I should wear protective gear.

 

[brendo]

Get an auto-siphon, you won't need to use a heap of gas to push the beer, no real potential for mishap and no greater level of oxygenation than normal transfer processes. Also easier than using a standard racking cane as the siphon is created for you.

Brendo

 

[glenwal]

Nobody thinking an auto-siphon will be way simpler?!

Get an auto-siphon, you won't need to use a heap of gas to push the beer, no real potential for mishap and no greater level of oxygenation than normal transfer processes. Also easier than using a standard racking cane as the siphon is created for you.

Except for a siphon to work the keg would need to be lower than the fermenter, and since his fermenter is in a chesty, thats not going to happen (unless he lifts the fermenter - but thats what he wants to avoid).

 

[glenwal]

I blew up the fermenter when some hops got stuck at the disconnect.

Could always add a prv to the fermenter as well.

 

[pk.sax]

Except for a siphon to work the keg would need to be lower than the fermenter, and since his fermenter is in a chesty, thats not going to happen (unless he lifts the fermenter - but thats what he wants to avoid).

By the time he has it drained as much as they will with a siphon it will be light enough to lift.
The level of liquid in fermenter is higher than keg (nil) at start of siphon and that's all that matters.

Pressurised transfer sounds nice, but put together the cost of the gimmick and the extra care required for the equipment, those rubber seals are terrible as it is and then you go about trying to get a good enough seal on them to pressurise... Just putting it together for you, it's a lot of work for little reward.

If you weren't suck shy, I'd say, leave a hose attached to the tap and come racking time, open the tap, suck and start the flow off. Will fill a few kegs easy before you need to lift it out since the diameter of the fermenter is greater than that of the kegs, so it will drop height in fermenter slower than the corresponding fill of the keg.

 

[mwd]

I think you will find that the siphon action stops when the two liquid levels are at equal heights. Probably not take very long with the small diameter of the keg compared to the fermenter.

 

[pk.sax]

Gah... Sorry, I was thinking arse about on that bit.

 

[Feldon]

Sounds like another job for the little brown pump.

 

[Hippy]

I've tried syphoning and it doesn't work as the wall of the chest freezer is too high compared to the keg sitting on the floor.

 

[dmac80]

I had the setup you are proposing for a while, to pressurise the fermenter for filtering. It did the job, i just ended up going back to lifting the fermenter on top of the fridge. I used a step drill to open out the hole where the air lock was, then i fitted some beer line into the bottom of the airlock to use during fermentation. Pulled the airlock tube out when finished and pushed the gas line in to pressurise. I had o rings on either side of the lid to seal the bulkhead fitting.

Best of luck