Newbie Questions

[trenta]

Hi All
I was lucky enough to get a kegerator for Xmas and am keen to start 'trying' to brew my own beer. I'm getting my hands on a fermzilla with a pressure kit and I've got a Cooper's Pale Ale kit which was cheap in case I bugger it up. I tried home brewing when I was 18 (many years ago) with no success.
Anyhow the process looks much easier in terms of sanitising and cleaning. My question is when pressure fermenting do I use an airlock or a spunding valve at the start? I'm tried to do some research but opinions vary
1. Use an airlock and swap it over to the spunding valve after 48 hours
2. Use the spunding valve at the start and run it into a blow off ( not sure what that means)
What to people suggest????
Thanks in advance

 

[JDW81]

Hey Trenta,

If you're brewing for the first time in many years I'd keep things as simple as possible and take out any unnecessary steps which may just complicate things.

Things to get right in your first brew in a while are:
1: Rigorous sanitisation (probably the first and most important step I reckon).
2: Good yeast pitch amount (I'd use 2 packets of dry yeast - I'm a US05 fan, but there are lots of other good ale yeasts around). Probably best to ditch the yeast from the can, it's probably knackered.
3: Fermentation temperature control (a temp controlled fridge is ideal to keep it around 18C)

IMHO, adding extra steps increase your likelihood of buggering something up. I reckon just use the air lock, and forget about the spunding valve for the first few brews.

Once you've got the hang of the basics again, then start to experiment with pressure fermenting etc.

JD

 

[trenta]

Hey Trenta,

If you're brewing for the first time in many years I'd keep things as simple as possible and take out any unnecessary steps which may just complicate things.

Things to get right in your first brew in a while are:
1: Rigorous sanitisation (probably the first and most important step I reckon).
2: Good yeast pitch amount (I'd use 2 packets of dry yeast - I'm a US05 fan, but there are lots of other good ale yeasts around). Probably best to ditch the yeast from the can, it's probably knackered.
3: Fermentation temperature control (a temp controlled fridge is ideal to keep it around 18C)

IMHO, adding extra steps increase your likelihood of buggering something up. I reckon just use the air lock, and forget about the spunding valve for the first few brews.

Once you've got the hang of the basics again, then start to experiment with pressure fermenting etc.

JD

Thanks for your reply. I guess I was keen on pressure fermenting so I could close transfer to a keg.
When sanitising how much star San and water do I use?
Thanks again
Trenta

 

[JDW81]

No worries mate.

With respect to starsan, just use it as per the instructions on the bottle.

There are some merits to closed transfer, but if you've never filled and gassed a keg before, I reckon doing it under pressure is a recipe for turning it all to foam.

I kegged for years, and never did a closed transfer and never had any issues with oxygen exposure. If you minimise splashing, purge you keg with CO2 and put under pressure ASAP you'll be fine.

Things like good sanitisation, yeast health and temperature control are going to make a much bigger difference to your end product than pressure fermenting and a closed transfer.

JD