Pressure Fermenting - Very Much a Nube

[Nob]

G'Day All,

Well, this is my first post to this forum, so please excuse if I am out of line etc.

Up until now, I have been brewing in a standard Fermenter, in and out of fridges, so it's been pretty well hit and miss.
A work colleague has pointed me towards Pressure Fermenting.
I got over the generic brewing methods and gave it away and decided to go the Craft Beer route.
I bought myself 2 x 19L Kegs and a Series 4 Kegarator and get the craft beer companies to fill the kegs for me.

Now, I want to get back into it and do my own thing.

So, I have gone out and bought a Snub Nose Fermentor, Spunding Valve and Disconnect.

I like my larger so bought the All Inn Kissaki Japanese Larger & S-23 to try.

OK, now this is where I am unsure of what the process is from here. The following is what I think should happen, but don't hesitate to correct me.

1: Once the wort, yeast and water has been placed into the fermentor, I would set the Spunding valve to blow off at 10 PSI (at this stage no Gas has been introduced).
2: Let sit at ambient temperature (QLD: 25C) for 2 days, to let it start the fermenting process.
3: After the two days stated above, place fermenter into fridge at 18C for 7 days (I think this is where I introduce my gas from the CO2 bottle).
4: After the 7 days mentioned above, bring the temp down to 10C and let it Larger for a further week.
5: Tap the fermentor and drink contents.

OK, how far am I off the mark???

Pete

 

[wide eyed and legless]

You shouldn't have to introduce any gas, especially at 18 C, even 10 C the yeast will still be working, maybe slower but still going.

 

[kadmium]

Hey mate.

Welcome, and its good to see another pressure fermenter!

So, couple of things. Make sure you pitch enough yeast. Using s23 dry, you will want 3 packets. This ensures a good pitch rate. Don't underpitch lager yeast.

I would recommend adding your yeast to wort at around 16c. Ferment it around 16c for a week, then raise temps to 20c for 2 days for a diacetyl rest. This allows the yeast to clean up the butter flavour from the beer. Once it's rested, cold crash to cold as you can go, and keg. Let sit for 3 weeks layering in the fridge. Enjoy.

Some people start gas on, some don't. I aerate my wort (you can just shake the bejesus out of it) and then gas it to 10PSI from the bottle.

The put spunding valve on, set to 10 and let it be.

No need to gas it if you don't want, as the yeast will produce plenty of co2 to pressurise it.

 

[clickeral]

Hey Pete, you wont need to introduce CO2 from your bottle at any stage during the ferment as the yeast create it for you

I just did a lager at 21C set at 21psi with M84 yeast, it was fermented out in 3days, left mine in the snubby at that temp for a full week before I cold crashed it and then added Gelatin after 2days

It carbed up from the CO2 from the ferment, still alittle green but its tasty, will be kegging it today and leaving it in the keg at 4C for a few weeks

The Willamsswarn process for pressure fermenting a lager is as per below

1. Set spunding valve at 21psi
2. Ferment at 15C for 3 days
3. D rest at 18C for 3 days
4. Cold crash
5. Fermentor psi is now at 12-15psi as the beer has carbed

And then you can keg and lager as long as you like

 

[Nob]

Gents,

Fantastic responses. Feel a little more confident in getting started. Much appreciated.

Cheers

Pete

 

[AMcgreg]

Some good notes as I doing an asahi type clone next. But I can only work on ambient as I don’t have a fermenting fridge, does that make a difference?
I will add a bit more yeast than I planned. And i was going to limit to 15psi. But will try the higher pressure.
Cheers

 

[kadmium]

Some good notes as I doing an asahi type clone next. But I can only work on ambient as I don’t have a fermenting fridge, does that make a difference?
I will add a bit more yeast than I planned. And i was going to limit to 15psi. But will try the higher pressure.
Cheers

15 PSI is way more than enough. No need to go more.

If you want to brew at room temp (21-23) go with SafLager 34/70 which is known for producing clean beers at warm temps.

 

[AMcgreg]

Kadmium, thanks for that. I am also just starting out and all the different yeasts are a bit confusing! I will give that one a go.
Cheers..

 

[kadmium]

Kadmium, thanks for that. I am also just starting out and all the different yeasts are a bit confusing! I will give that one a go.
Cheers..

Dry yeast are easy, and stress free. I would recommend pitching two packets, dry. Let it go at room temp under 10PSI or less. Will come out very clean.