Advice on using Grainfather Conical Fermenter & Glycol Chiller

[Dilettante Brewing]

Hi - I've had the fermenter for some time but have only recently acquired the glycol chiller. I've been making the Malt Miller's "What Even is a Beer Style?" kit (What even is a beer style? | The Malt Miller), which is a cross between a lager and a NEIPA using Omega Lutra OYL-071 Kweik yeast, 5kg grain (including oats) and 127g dry hop.

I've fermented it out, hit the desired FG, dry hopped (no hop socks) and then cold crashed ready for kegging. For cold crashing I connected the glycol chiller and set the temperature on the conical fermenter to 4 deg C (the lowest it will go). Now I only left it cold crashing for just under 24 hours before kegging, which may not have been long enough with hindsight, but it had been at c.14 deg C for a few days before that for the dry hop. However, when kegging the beer was fairly free of debris but the flow rate was horrifically slow and once the keg was about 12 litres full (out of a 23 litre batch) it gradually ground to a halt. I had a look in the fermenter and the beer seemed to have quite a lot of hop/yeast matter floating in it still, which must have gradually blocked up the valve. Anyway, I decided to reblanket the fermenter headspace with CO2 and continue the cold crash as an experiment to see what happens. It's still going.

Any particular tips on where I might be going wrong? Will cold crashing for longer make a difference? I was hoping to be able to find a way to make dry hopped beers using this set up that doesn't involve putting the hop pellets in socks or some other container that limits their contact with the beer. But it does seem a very tall order. Would be interested to see if anyone is having more success than me in getting all the particulate matter to settle out below the level from which .

One other question regarding the glycol chiller - do people leave the cooling hoses connected to the chiller between uses to keep the glycol in the system? Or is it easy enough to take them off without losing too much glycol, given the hoses are just pushed onto barbs on the back of the chiller?

 

[MikeB.]

I have this with my fermenter, sometimes the hop material blocks the holes in the outlet pipework. I normally let the transfer pipework fill with liquid, then lift it vertical so the fluid level in the pipe is higher than that in the fermenter. The fluid then backflushes into the fermenter clearing the blockage. I then lower the pipework and recommence transfer.

 

[MikeB.]

I have the same setup and don’t use hop socks.

 

[Dorst]

I use the same setup and found that for heavily dryhopped beers (over 120 grams) you need the buy and use the longer inlet.

The pressure transfer kit also does wonders. It comes with an option to transfer the beer from the top as well

 

[MikeB.]

I use the same setup and found that for heavily dryhopped beers (over 120 grams) you need the buy and use the longer inlet.
View attachment 59485
The pressure transfer kit also does wonders. It comes with an option to transfer the beer from the top as well

I never even knew this existed, that’s even easier than back-flushing pipework

 

[Dilettante Brewing]

Thanks - some good tips there and useful to know it’s not just me.

How long do you cold crash for to get the best settling out of material? Also, do you find you get ice forming on the connection between the chiller lines and the fermenter (see attached photo)? There also seems to be a fair bit of condensation running down the back of the chiller from where the lines go back into it.

Finally, what’s the key selling point of the transfer kit? Is it the ability to get beer out of the top or the ability to apply pressure? Or both?

 

[Oddersocks]

I’ve had this happen once or twice and I’ve connected CO2 to the bottom outlet and pushed it through to clear. Added benefit of displacing O2 from the headspace.

 

[Dorst]

Thanks - some good tips there and useful to know it’s not just me.

How long do you cold crash for to get the best settling out of material? Also, do you find you get ice forming on the connection between the chiller lines and the fermenter (see attached photo)? There also seems to be a fair bit of condensation running down the back of the chiller from where the lines go back into it.

Finally, what’s the key selling point of the transfer kit? Is it the ability to get beer out of the top or the ability to apply pressure? Or both?

I tend to cool down to 4C for a day and then transfer, or take 2 days for beers that benefit from more clearing or have more things in it (fruit pulp/hops/other). I don't think cooling beyong 48 hours does much in terms of clarity or taking things out of suspension.

I also have some condensation forming at the connector - I guess this is to be expected with the temperature differences. It never negatively impacted the performance of the fermenter. I wipe it down so it does not freeze. When it froze it had no really bad impact (apart from it being hard to remove frozen :)).

The biggest advantage of the pressure transfer kit is not having to rely on gravity. Before I had to lift the fermenter to a higher point like a or desk/stand before I could keg. No matter how careful I did this I always would shake the fermenter a bit and bring back yeast/protein/hops back into suspension. With the transfer kit I don't have to move the fermenter. Another big advantage is that you do not have to expose the beer to oxygen when transfering. Lastly it allows you to do a closed transfer to a keg.

 

[Dilettante Brewing]

Thanks Dorst and others - all really helpful.

 

[gyurmaember]

-You can get cooler, if you get into the settings, and set it to get colder.
-You won't loose any glycol by disconnecting the hoses, maximum a couple of drops.
-Regarding the ice build up, I would run a dehumidifier if it's constantly as bad as in your photo.
-The pressure transfer kit does both.
I hope it helps and I didn't miss anything.

 

[Dilettante Brewing]

Thanks gyurmaember, all very helpful.