KK - 'Fermentasaurus' conical PET fermenter

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Yeah I wasn't keen to get involved with pressure and gas etc. It's just another thing for me to f*ck up. I do enough of that without having to worry about something else!!
Everyone seems to love the pressure kits though.
 
Are peeps concerned when reattaching the yeast dump container on the bottom and that no matter how well you purge/fill it with CO2 gas there is always still a residual bit of air between the neck of the yeast dump container and the butterfly valve that will bubble through the beer? I've got a sight glass on my Chronical now and have the same issue. Wondering if anyone has thought of an ingenious idea/solution to remove that bit of air before opening the container up to the fermenter?
 
DJ_L3ThAL said:
Are peeps concerned when reattaching the yeast dump container on the bottom and that no matter how well you purge/fill it with CO2 gas there is always still a residual bit of air between the neck of the yeast dump container and the butterfly valve that will bubble through the beer? I've got a sight glass on my Chronical now and have the same issue. Wondering if anyone has thought of an ingenious idea/solution to remove that bit of air before opening the container up to the fermenter?
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To avoid introducing oxygen during the trub dump / yeast gathering, I'm thinking of: pre-filling the dump bottle with wort from the 'saurus or, boiling a small amount of Hops, filling the bottle to the brim and re-attaching it. In a way this will be "Dry hopping" (wet hopping) with Hop Tea. Both methods avoid oxygen. I could be 100% wrong but willing to try this.
 
I re-attach the yeast collection bulb before or during fermentation and open the butterfly valve.

this way the oxygen has no effect on the beer and the yeast starts to fill up in said container.
 
There's one more litte trick I've read -
Dan Pratt said:
I re-attach the yeast collection bulb before or during fermentation and open the butterfly valve.

this way the oxygen has no effect on the beer and the yeast starts to fill up in said container.
Click to expand...

Yep - always keep the butterfly valve open when the bottle is attached, and squeeze the bottle a little occasionally to move the trub up/down through the throat - that way it doesn't get stuck. My brew is now into its second day and the bottle is half filled with trub already.
 
Just a quick follow up - the Trub collect bottle works quite well, the trick is to squeeze it now and then to unsettle the trub on the bottom and "invite" it down into the collect bottle. So far about 0.8L trub collected (first & second bottle pic shown, third "batch" is still on the 'saurus).
Now there's a very little amount of settlement left after dry hopping yesterday. Looking to bottle in the next few days :)

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I tend to leave the bottle on and open during the whole ferment and dont bother removing the trub at all. Using the pressure kit your taking good beer from the top anyway
I was even thinking about cutting the stand and rewelding shorter to eliminate the height needed to use the trub botttle all together. It will then fit better in my fermenting fridge.
 
Hey Yuz, did you dry hop using the bottle? If so how much did you get in there?
 
snails07 said:
Hey Yuz, did you dry hop using the bottle? If so how much did you get in there?
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Hey Snails, well, wasn't a "dry hop" as such. I've heated up some water, dropped 25g of hop pallets into the spare collect bottle, filled with hot water, waited to cool down and attached to the 'saurus. The happy hoppies went swimming up and then settled (today). I guess I'm technically diluting the brew but it's 0.5L bottle - isn't much in the 23L batch. I'm guessing introducing 0.5L of oxygen is worse? I could be very wrong but we'll see :)
 
Beersuit said:
I tend to leave the bottle on and open during the whole ferment and dont bother removing the trub at all. Using the pressure kit your taking good beer from the top anyway
I was even thinking about cutting the stand and rewelding shorter to eliminate the height needed to use the trub botttle all together. It will then fit better in my fermenting fridge.
Click to expand...
Yep makes sense but considering this is my first brew in the 'saurus I had to experiment a little :) And, the logic behind it I guess is eliminating dead yeast cells and "chewed up" matter for the remainder of fermentation and it gives you a chance to smell / sample and take SG readings (without a CO2 setup in place, which is still in progress for me).
 
Yeah i think I'm going to do that as well. I'm wanting to do 100gm though. Do you think that would work?
 
snails07 said:
Yeah i think I'm going to do that as well. I'm wanting to do 100gm though. Do you think that would work?
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Has to be less than that apparently... otherwise the throat / valve might clog up and the hops will be stuck in the bottle. Gash Slugg has done a good video review on youtube on this. Also Keg King's instructions as well.
 
Yeah i thought that was only for dry hops. I was thinking with the water in there it might allow more easier flow
 
my last batch of IPA under 11psi pressure using 007 dry English ale yeast has turned out a bit weird.

just waiting for full carbonation but the yeast was third use under pressure and it may of produced a off flavour in the bitterness.

going to dump the yeast and start again with US05 and lower the pressure to less than 5psi.
 
Dan Pratt said:
my last batch of IPA under 11psi pressure using 007 dry English ale yeast has turned out a bit weird.

just waiting for full carbonation but the yeast was third use under pressure and it may of produced a off flavour in the bitterness.

going to dump the yeast and start again with US05 and lower the pressure to less than 5psi.
Click to expand...

Hey Dan, how are you controlling the pressure? A Spunding valve of sorts? This is something on the horizon for me as well but I've read some mixed reviews about the ones on offer and DIY options..
 
Over 5 brews with the Fermentasaurus and love it. A couple points to add:

-using Wyeast London ESB as my house yeast, I find if I let the tub settle in the bottle until fermentation is nearly complete I can get away with dumping the trub in a single bottle cycle. I then reatttach the bottle after 'purging' it with co2 and let the prim yeast drop into the bottle. I only open the butterfly valve slightly, as I find when I is fully open the beer channels through the yeast. I fully dump the second cycle of yeast into a sterilised mason jar and then go for a third cycle. I will finish with close to a letre of prime yeast to repitch.

- Especially with London ESB, I have racked beers into kegs that are brilliant in clarity. This is great if you like taking your kegs on the go as you do not have to worry about any yeast in the keg re-disbursing into the beer.

Overall love it. I am going to purchase the pressure lid soon and start spunding some helles. Keen as.
 
Have to agree, it's a great piece of kit. I would like them to have a larger, squat bottle of say 2L.
I am buying a second one, with pressure kit.
Using my other fermenters has become a bit of a chore.
Would love a 50L SS version
 
Hoppy days hooked me up today and my Belgian blonde is away. Brad's comments and Gash slugg's video last night tipped me over.
 

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