Polypins.. Anyone use them?

[TidalPete]

I use the collapsible water containers from BCF. $12 each. I CC the beer in secondary, then transfer to the bag. The beer then matures for a week before serving. I dont prime the bag either. I tend to store the full bags at 10C in the fridge. When its serving time, put the bag into one of those 50-can cooler bags, and connect to the hand pump. Works a treat, and there are no vinyl/plastic flavours in the beer either.

Yo Cosmic Bertie.
Do you have the dimensions for one of those BCF collapsible water containers when filled to the max???

 

[Coach_R]

Those firkins/pins look ok, but you'd have to tap them to allow air (or a gas) in when you draw the beer out. This is fine if you're going to be drinking it reasonably quickly, but could be an issue if its left over a longer period.

The few days they keep once opened is not an issue i plan on sharing these brews with mates and knocking them off in one hit.

Those pins and firkins are great. I've got two pins with my brewery name on them. I got them before I left the UK. They come from http://www.cypherco.com/acatalog/Beverage_Containers.html A lot of breweries over there have started to use them as they are cheaper than stainless ones and are also lighter to courier places. I think mine only cost about £28 each, compared to a stainless one at about £120??

If you did get them, you then need to get shives, keystones, a tap, make yourself a few spiles and if you didn't want to drink the beer in three days, then you will need a cask breather which will allow you to keep the beer for about five weeks.

Yeah realize that you need all the gear to go with them, thats not an issue i'm use to opening/emptying/luggin around firkins from working at a brewery.

3 Beer lasts much longer in cubes as you don’t need to tap and vent them to serve. The first few pints can be served under pressure the rest will last about 8-9 days if you loosen the cap to pour and re-seal it each time.

Yeah, but i've been venting these cubes for the past few days (probably haven't needed to, just being safe because it's my first go) I like the fact that with a firkin its just fill, leave and then when ready (within a few months atleast) open it and once it's settled go for it.

Cheers for all the feedback fellas!

 

[CosmicBertie]

Yo Cosmic Bertie.
Do you have the dimensions for one of those BCF collapsible water containers when filled to the max???

Sorry for the delay, I didnt see the post.

From the BCF.com.au website: 40cm x 35cm x 40cm (when filled)

Probably a bit more, due to bulging, but not that much.

 

[S.E]

The few days they keep once opened is not an issue i plan on sharing these brews with mates and knocking them off in one hit.




Yeah realize that you need all the gear to go with them, thats not an issue i'm use to opening/emptying/luggin around firkins from working at a brewery.







Yeah, but i've been venting these cubes for the past few days (probably haven't needed to, just being safe because it's my first go) I like the fact that with a firkin its just fill, leave and then when ready (within a few months atleast) open it and once it's settled go for it.

Cheers for all the feedback fellas!

I don’t think you understood my last post so to clarify, I do not use collapsible polypins.I use cubes like the ones you can buy in Bunnings that are commonly used as no chill cubes.

Though they don’t collapse like polypins you can serve the first few pints under pressure so unlike a firkin you don’t need to vent them to start serving and as no air is drawn in at first you can sample a few glasses whenever you want, then leave it weeks or months to vent and serve the rest.

I have found if you just loosen and retighten the cap quickly when you gravity serve the beer will not spoil for at least a week after it has been vented, I regularly get 8 days after venting.

Plastic pins and firkins are a good cheap alternative for a commercial brewery but the humble cube will do the same job for a home brewer. Pins and firkins are good for transporting from brewery to pub as they are stronger and don’t have the taps fitted till later, but they offer no practical advantage in fact a few disadvantages over cubes and polypins for home brewing.

As you intend knocking them of in one hit with your mates definitely give cubes a go, and you can just prime and leave them same as a firkin. Cubes will hold about the same pressure as a plastic firkin before the keystone blows out anyway.

Cheers

 

[Bribie G]

I just posted details of this little beauty in the Gear and Equipment sub forum under "Solid Brass Pump"
I saw quite a few of them in action in pubs in Cornwall in the 1970s to serve real ale in little old hobbit pubs where traditional beer engines couldn't be mounted.

Tidal Pete: there's a BCF in Taree, we can check the collapsible water containers out when you are on your trip.

 

[S.E]

I just posted details of this little beauty in the Gear and Equipment sub forum under "Solid Brass Pump"
I saw quite a few of them in action in pubs in Cornwall in the 1970s to serve real ale in little old hobbit pubs where traditional beer engines couldn't be mounted.

Tidal Pete: there's a BCF in Taree, we can check the collapsible water containers out when you are on your trip.

I bought this years ago at a car boot sale for 4 or 5 pounds.



As it doesn’t have a sparkler I could never see the point of pumping directly from the cask rather than just use a tap and gravity serve.

But having just read your post in gear and equipment the penny has dropped, of course it is so obvious.






It was used to pump beer from the cellar or pub floor in to
a pint glass so the cask doesn’t need to be high enough to gravity serve.

I may have just found a use for my pins and firkin after all.

 

[Bribie G]

Firkin perfect arrangement B)

 

[Coach_R]

I don’t think you understood my last post so to clarify, I do not use collapsible polypins.I use cubes like the ones you can buy in Bunnings that are commonly used as no chill cubes.

Though they don’t collapse like polypins you can serve the first few pints under pressure so unlike a firkin you don’t need to vent them to start serving and as no air is drawn in at first you can sample a few glasses whenever you want, then leave it weeks or months to vent and serve the rest.

Ah, my bad.. I reckon i'm gonna brew an identical batch and try the way you do it and see which way works best for me.


So just got home from work so i have decided to get stuck into a few now before the weekend! here is a picture of my 1st pint..


Im pretty happy with how it went, heading off to get another pint as i end this post!

Cheers

:kooi:

 

[mje1980]

Sean, does this mean next RAF we'll see one in action ?? hehe

 

[S.E]

Ah, my bad.. I reckon i'm gonna brew an identical batch and try the way you do it and see which way works best for me.

That’s a good idea, you will probably find collapsible containers better if you want to save your liver and empty them over a longer period.


If you are going to empty them relatively quickly I think cubes are easier to handle, clean, fill, transport and store. Beer will also clear and mature faster under pressure in cubes.

 

[S.E]

Sean, does this mean next RAF we'll see one in action ?? hehe

We will have to give it a go next RAF now we know what it is for. It did make an appearance at RAF #1, but I just left it on the bar as a conversation piece. If I had ever tried putting it in a cask I may have realised its purpose.

 

[Coach_R]

So i'm gonna give the cube idea a go in a few weeks. (flat out at the moment).

S.E just curios where you bought your race cask ventilator? I've found loads online from the UK but before i go ahead and get one from O/S wanted to see if they can be found in Australia.

Also if anyone has any good links for a refurbed clamp on hand pump that'd be great too!

Cheers

 

[markjd]

Interested in giving this a try over the cool Melbourne Winter. Yesterday, I moved 10L of 10 minute IPA into a 10L Bunnings plastic container and primed with 1.5g/L sugar. As the plastic container doesn't collapse like the polypins, I'm going to have my work cut out getting through 10L of 6% in a week before oxidation causes problems :beerbang:

Anyone managed to source one of the 10L polypins locally? Looking at the super cheap and bcf links earlier in the thread, neither are working.

 

[Diesel80]

Interested in giving this a try over the cool Melbourne Winter. Yesterday, I moved 10L of 10 minute IPA into a 10L Bunnings plastic container and primed with 1.5g/L sugar. As the plastic container doesn't collapse like the polypins, I'm going to have my work cut out getting through 10L of 6% in a week before oxidation causes problems :beerbang:

Anyone managed to source one of the 10L polypins locally? Looking at the super cheap and bcf links earlier in the thread, neither are working.

quick spot of google foo, http://www.quicksales.com.au/ad/5-litre-collapsible-water-container/4834612

some 5L ones there and they are in Vic.

Cheers,
D80

 

[Bribie G]

I bought a collapsible 20L one from BCF for about $12 and a plastic "galley pump" for around $30 that should work ok. However the problem is that whilst I got a metre and a half of PVC tube that fits the galley pump perfectly , it's far too big for the tap on the collapsible. Tried crimping it but it just sucks air.

Working on that one.

 

[S.E]

So i'm gonna give the cube idea a go in a few weeks. (flat out at the moment).

S.E just curios where you bought your race cask ventilator? I've found loads online from the UK but before i go ahead and get one from O/S wanted to see if they can be found in Australia.

Also if anyone has any good links for a refurbed clamp on hand pump that'd be great too!

Cheers

Sorry just saw this. I bought two race ventilators from http://www.a1barstuff.co.uk last time I was in the UK. I don’t really use them much though just loosen the cap and tighten it again as soon as I have poured.

 

[markjd]

Spotted a 10L version on ebay. Being made in China, hopefully I won't die from melamine toxicity after the first pint.

 

[CosmicBertie]

I bought a collapsible 20L one from BCF for about $12 and a plastic "galley pump" for around $30 that should work ok. However the problem is that whilst I got a metre and a half of PVC tube that fits the galley pump perfectly , it's far too big for the tap on the collapsible. Tried crimping it but it just sucks air.

Working on that one.

Check out Bunnings....they have some diameter reducers (um, im not sure of the actual name of them)....check out this link http://www.bunnings.com.au/search-products.aspx?search=reducer&searchType=any&searchSubType=products&filter=categoryname--Irrigation&page=1
They're not the ones that I got (the ones I got were white plastic 10mm to 8mm reduction).

I use them to connect my filter to the water carrier.

 

[Bribie G]

Thanks, plumbing type items aren't BCFs strong suit. Will take the devices into Bunnings.

Quite off topic but in the TV mini series of Terry Pratchett's Discworld adaptation, when the "tourist" arrives in Ankh Morpork and wanders into a pub they clearly show one of those metal galley pumps in use with the landlord pumping into a tankard. Quite made my day :lol:

 

[CosmicBertie]

Thanks, plumbing type items aren't BCFs strong suit. Will take the devices into Bunnings.

Quite off topic but in the TV mini series of Terry Pratchett's Discworld adaptation, when the "tourist" arrives in Ankh Morpork and wanders into a pub they clearly show one of those metal galley pumps in use with the landlord pumping into a tankard. Quite made my day :lol:

You know that thats just TV right?

Anyway, I'll try and remember to take a photo of the reducing/connector thing when I get home...