What Do You Do With Larger Batches?

[Rob S]

My wife, bless her cotton socks, brought home an 80L pot as a surprise for me. I'd been mentioning for a while that I was thinking of getting a bit pot next time I was in the big smoke but she found one at a chinese supermarket when she went on holidays.

I have a few options I suppose, but I want to get ideas from the collective about how to proceed.

I almost have my 3V herms setup ready so could do a large batch (max 65L) quite easily, lets say for example about 60L

I could then either get a 60L fermenter from the farm supplies store and crank a big one out, or I could fill up 2 x cubes and no chill 40L and ferment a 20L batch.

If I get a 60L fermenter then I'd either have to fill 70 or so bottles at a guess. So I suppose that means kegs, so would I have to buy 3 x 19L kegs, or would it be easier to acquire a 50L keg and do a couple of tallies from the leftover 10L. If so what are the best kegs (Coopers?).

The easiest solution is to do the no-chill option so I can have a stockpile of cubes I suppose and just ferment what I want when I want.

What do you guys do?

 

[glenwal]

I'd stockpile cubes of wort, and ferment 20L(ish) batches. That way you can have some variety to what your drinking (instead of being stuck with 60L of the same beer), and have wort ready to put down to fill a keg/bottles when ever it suits.

 

[bradsbrew]

I brew 60+L each brew. I fill 3 cubes and ferment as required. During winter I am able to throw 2 cubes in the 60L fermenter without having to lug the thing in and out of temp controlled fermeezer. Many times I have used the 3 cubes, added different cube hops then fermented with different yeasts and get three very different beers.
In my experience you may struggle to get 65L out of an 80L pot. I have a 100L pot and push the boil over limits when chasing 66L into cubes, taking into account more trub, hops etc.......

Cheers

 

[kelbygreen]

I put out 42 lts in my 80lt pot and as brad says it up to the handle almost, I doubt you would get another batch in there maybe half a batch as the boil off should be the same as the surface area wont change.

I also cube and ferment when I want so you could have 2-4 different beers in cubes (so 4-8 cubes if doing double) so you can ferment different beers without having all the same beer ready at once. Also as brad says you can cube hop the cubes or just add bittering and do a mini boil when you are going to put it into the fermenter and add late hops then, I do the cube hop but can see the befits of the mini boil as you can quick chill your boil which eliminates the problems you have with late hops in cubes.

 

[crozdog]

fill up 2 x cubes and no chill 40L and ferment a 20L batch.

The easiest solution is to do the no-chill option so I can have a stockpile of cubes I suppose and just ferment what I want when I want.

What do you guys do?

I do exactly that. :beer:

means you can try different brew/yeast combinations by pitching onto the years cake when primary is done - or use a smaller beer to grow yeast numbers for a big beer.

enjoy your new kettle.

 

[Rob S]

Oh ok, that may explain a lot with my current biab setup in a 25L pot where I still manage to get 23L in the fermenter. My boil is more like a simmer. Could explain some flavour issues.

So in an 80L pot with an italian spiral burner I can expect some boil-off?

I think the consensus here so far is to cube. I like the idea of trying different cube hops and different yeasts.

Any ideas on the best ex-pub keg to get?

 

[Sam England]

Evening Rob,
Before you settle on a commercial keg just consider your fridge setup. 65kg in and out of a keezer is a fair effort and even in a fridge you can't fit in that much variety due to their size. You can get 23L schweppes style kegs every now and then if you keep your eyes open if 19L isn't enough. Also commercial kegs aren't as easy to clean inside or inspect. Not trying to talk you out of it, as they definitely have their good points as well, but something to consider.
Cheers,
BB

 

[donburke]

My wife, bless her cotton socks, brought home an 80L pot as a surprise for me.
I'd been mentioning for a while that I was thinking of getting a bit pot next
time I was in the big smoke but she found one at a chinese supermarket when she
went on holidays.

next time tell her that you'd love a red ferrari

I have a few options I suppose, but I want to get ideas from the collective
about how to proceed.

I almost have my 3V herms setup ready so could do a
large batch (max 65L) quite easily, lets say for example about 60L

i dont see any issue with this, i get 85 litres out of my 98 litre pot, starting with 92 litres and top up with 2 or 3 kettles of boiling water depending if its a 60 min or 90 min boil. 85 litres less 5 litres trub gives 80 litres into fermenters with an efficiency of around 75%

I could then either get a 60L fermenter from the farm supplies store and crank a
big one out, or I could fill up 2 x cubes and no chill 40L and ferment a 20L
batch.

or you could chill the whole batch and ferment with 3 different yeasts, and or different dry hop combinations. you can even choose yeast that suits seasonal ambient temps for any brews that you dont have fridge space for and of course you can control the temp of the brew you have fridge space for

i have brewed 80 litres of a 'base beer' and fermented with 4 different yeasts, and dry hopped some, and apart from the colour, you'd never pick them as being the same beer

If I get a 60L fermenter then I'd either have to fill 70 or so bottles at a
guess. So I suppose that means kegs, so would I have to buy 3 x 19L kegs, or
would it be easier to acquire a 50L keg and do a couple of tallies from the
leftover 10L. If so what are the best kegs (Coopers?).

get cornies to leave your options open regarding different yeasts/dry hop etc, plus they are easier to lift !

The easiest solution is to do the no-chill option so I can have a stockpile of
cubes I suppose and just ferment what I want when I want.

yes and dont forget you can use the argon method to change the late hop profiles of your beer

What do you guys do?

half the time i chill, depending on beer i'm after, generally i'll ferment 40 litres in a fridge so i choose any yeast i like, and the other 40 litres i ferment at ambient using a yeast that suits (example my brew cave is currently sitting at a reasonably steady 13 degrees this time of year so my chosen yeast is wy2575 kolsch ii whilst the other 40 litres gets a lager yeast thrown at it and fermented in the fridge at sub 10 degrees)

 

[kelbygreen]

80lt pot with italian spiral I get 11.6% boil off with just little over simmer. thats little over 6lts boil off. You need to get 10% or more boil off for DMS and stuff so I heard

 

[Screwtop]

What do you guys do?

I make 45L double batches, ferment in my ferm fridge in 2 fermenters, and usually ferment using two different yeast strains, been doing this now for nearly 4 years and am still experimenting. Have settled on "the" yeast for a few regular house beers, still experimenting with others. Great to compare results, lately I'm discovering lots about just what environments certain yeast strains prefer. Taste and aroma during fermentation provides me with "feedback" from the yeast. Some are done at 7 days @ 18C with clean flavour and aroma. Others tell me at 7 days that they are not done, maybe they have reached terminal gravity but the yeast needs more time, sometimes more than two weeks on the yeast. One double batch has been fermenting for 8 days now, one yeast strain was done at 6 days, nice clean beer. The other I pitched more yeast as I have learned it can be a bit lazy, it is reeking of 2,3-Pentanedione as the temp was on the cool side for this yeast, keeps the fruity esters down but it takes a few weeks to clean up acetaldehyde and condition properly.

Screwy

 

[punkin]

I am another cube convert. I brew 84l batches. I got 10 twenty litre cubes and no chill now whenever i have 4 spare cubes. I always have a variety of beers to ferment and will have 4 on tap at any time when the system is working properly (and i'm not being a guts).

I really enjoy my brew days and this allows me to not be controlled by fermenter planning, plus i was having infection issues with my 100l fermenter. Also it was more difficult to keep the varieties of beer on tap that i'm used to.


Cut nearly two boring hours off my brew day too B)