I am thinking about trying small scale pressure fermentation. I do 25L batches all the time and from that I normally put 10L into two mini kegs and the rest in bottles. I am now thinking I can buy a 10L pressure fermenter for 45€ and use that for the keg portion and ferment the rest out as normal. The knock on from that is that CO2 costs will be consideribley reduced as a pack of ten CO2 capsules cost 15€ but a 2kg cylinder is 89€ and I find I use just about one capsule per keg so by my math the 2kg cylinder is almost 100 € cheaper by CO2 wieght.
So the question is this. Is pressure fermenting really that much better than fermenting at normal atmospheric pressure? And secondly do you start the fermentation off and let it come under pressure straight away? I read an article where the brewer stated he starts the fermentation off as normal then after a couple of days set the spunding valve at the desired pressure. Last brew I used Windsor the fermentation was 95% finished inside 48hrs
and I find I get almost the same results with Verdant and Notty the gravity has dropped by almost 75% inside the first 48hrs. Would be interesting to hear any experiences and advice.
So the question is this. Is pressure fermenting really that much better than fermenting at normal atmospheric pressure? And secondly do you start the fermentation off and let it come under pressure straight away? I read an article where the brewer stated he starts the fermentation off as normal then after a couple of days set the spunding valve at the desired pressure. Last brew I used Windsor the fermentation was 95% finished inside 48hrs
and I find I get almost the same results with Verdant and Notty the gravity has dropped by almost 75% inside the first 48hrs. Would be interesting to hear any experiences and advice.
and as every brewer knows ... you can never have too much brewing equipment 
