DIY pressure fermenter info

[Empty bottle]

Hi folks i am just new to the forum and also new to brewing. Ive made lots of the kits from a can but i have never brewed any beer from grains,hops etc. I will be making my first brew this week and i have converted a 40l buffalo urn and bought a couple of the grain kits to try at first. I was thinking about making my own pressure fermentation vessel to speed up the process. I have a 25l plastic container rated at 2.5 bar so would it be as simple as fitting a spunding valve on the lid and set it to the correct pressure ? Also what advantage would this have on the way i have normally used with a simple bubble air valve in a bucket. As i say this is all new to me and any help,advice would be much appreciated. Cheers

 

[Brewelder]

Hi folks i am just new to the forum and also new to brewing. Ive made lots of the kits from a can but i have never brewed any beer from grains,hops etc. I will be making my first brew this week and i have converted a 40l buffalo urn and bought a couple of the grain kits to try at first. I was thinking about making my own pressure fermentation vessel to speed up the process. I have a 25l plastic container rated at 2.5 bar so would it be as simple as fitting a spunding valve on the lid and set it to the correct pressure ? Also what advantage would this have on the way i have normally used with a simple bubble air valve in a bucket. As i say this is all new to me and any help,advice would be much appreciated. Cheers

I did something similar recently although i have no intention of pressure fermenting as my fermenter isn’t pressure rated, i use it more for closed transfer and basically to keep my brews oxygen free.

It was pretty simple to set up and you could easily adapt the same process for a king keg or similar pressure rated vessel.

See the attached photo’s and I’m sure you’ll get the general idea.

The gas inlet is just like on a corny keg, the beer out post has a long dip tube with a filter on the bottom and sits just above the estimated trub line. Tried it over the weekend and it worked a treat so I’m pretty confident my brew is now sitting in the corny all oxygen free. Just waiting for it to condition to see how it’s turned out.

All parts were easy to source and it was pretty straight forward to do and cost around £35 to complete. I did initially put a little over 12 psi in the vessel just to test it would all seal and it worked fine, although i wouldn’t recommend to pressure ferment in this kind of vessel. But, a pressure rated vessel should be fine and take the pressures you’ll be using.

If you need any more specifics just let me know.

 

[Sadfield]

@Brewelder Have you a link to where you sourced the bottom half of the corny posts from? I was looking for some a while ago, but couldn't find them. Thanks

 

[Brewelder]

@Brewelder Have you a link to where you sourced the bottom half of the corny posts from? I was looking for some a while ago, but couldn't find them. Thanks

I haven’t got the link as such as it was from Amazon and you will see from the screenshot i paid £16.99 now the link takes me to a pair that are £29????

 

[Sadfield]

I haven’t got the link as such as it was from Amazon and you will see from the screenshot i paid £16.99 now the link takes me to a pair that are £29????

View attachment 74156

Thanks. Weird, amazon was my first port of call, but I only the top posts.

 

[Empty bottle]

@Brewelder Have you a link to where you sourced the bottom half of the corny posts from? I was looking for some a while ago, but couldn't find them. Thanks

Go onto aliexpress and the complete valves cost around £6 each and if your order is over 9 quid you will get delivery within 16 days. The majority of stuff on amazon,ebay comes from china anyway, its just that the sellers have bought the stuff from China and sell it in the uk. So if you dont mind waiting a couple of weeks for delivery then things are much cheaper.

 

[Empty bottle]

I did something similar recently although i have no intention of pressure fermenting as my fermenter isn’t pressure rated, i use it more for closed transfer and basically to keep my brews oxygen free.

It was pretty simple to set up and you could easily adapt the same process for a king keg or similar pressure rated vessel.

See the attached photo’s and I’m sure you’ll get the general idea.
View attachment 74150View attachment 74151View attachment 74152View attachment 74153View attachment 74154

The gas inlet is just like on a corny keg, the beer out post has a long dip tube with a filter on the bottom and sits just above the estimated trub line. Tried it over the weekend and it worked a treat so I’m pretty confident my brew is now sitting in the corny all oxygen free. Just waiting for it to condition to see how it’s turned out.

All parts were easy to source and it was pretty straight forward to do and cost around £35 to complete. I did initially put a little over 12 psi in the vessel just to test it would all seal and it worked fine, although i wouldn’t recommend to pressure ferment in this kind of vessel. But, a pressure rated vessel should be fine and take the pressures you’ll be using.

If you need any more specifics just let me know.

Thanks for getting back to me much appreciated. Yes thats similar to what i was thinking of doing simply drilling the lid and fitting one valve for atatching the spunding valve on to the lid to keep the pressure regulated. I was reading that fermenting under pressure speeds up the process and also carbonates the beer as well and also has an effect on the flavour. What i will probably try in the future is make a brew and ferment half under pressure and the other half just normal and see what the difference is between both. cheers

 

[Brewelder]

Thanks for getting back to me much appreciated. Yes thats similar to what i was thinking of doing simply drilling the lid and fitting one valve for atatching the spunding valve on to the lid to keep the pressure regulated. I was reading that fermenting under pressure speeds up the process and also carbonates the beer as well and also has an effect on the flavour. What i will probably try in the future is make a brew and ferment half under pressure and the other half just normal and see what the difference is between both. cheers

I’ve never actually done it TBH, although it’s something i might look into. I’m sticking with my current set up until Santa comes and hoping he brings me a Fermizilla Gen 3 which for me would tick all the boxes.

I recieved my recirculation pump yesterday, it needs setting up and once I’ve got that done I’ll be ordering an all grain Summer Ale kit from KegThat, it’s cheap and sounds like something i would like to drink. Check their YouTube channel out.

 

[Brewelder]

Go onto aliexpress and the complete valves cost around £6 each and if your order is over 9 quid you will get delivery within 16 days. The majority of stuff on amazon,ebay comes from china anyway, its just that the sellers have bought the stuff from China and sell it in the uk. So if you dont mind waiting a couple of weeks for delivery then things are much cheaper.

AliExpress are cheap to buy but the postage is extortionate.

 

[Brewelder]

Thanks. Weird, amazon was my first port of call, but I only the top posts.

I think i might have got the last pair at that price mate. They are available, just dearer.

 

[Sadfield]

I think they weren't a product back when I looked. They're on various amazon, ebay and aliexpress sellers now.

Cheers.

 

[Empty bottle]

AliExpress are cheap to buy but the postage is extortionate.

I ordered a pair last week from aliexpress and they were just over 13 quid for both inc post. I thought that was good value as the cheapest i seen on ebay in the uk was 16 quid each.

 

[Brewelder]

I ordered a pair last week from aliexpress and they were just over 13 quid for both inc post. I thought that was good value as the cheapest i seen on ebay in the uk was 16 quid each.

Bargain mate, you got the link?

 

[Empty bottle]

Bargain mate, you got the link?

ive not got a clue how to post links and pics etc mate i am not very tech savy. Just type in cornelious beer keg valves or beer valves etc because there are loads of listings for them and im sure you will find them.

 

[Brewelder]

ive not got a clue how to post links and pics etc mate i am not very tech savy. Just type in cornelious beer keg valves or beer valves etc because there are loads of listings for them and im sure you will find them.

No worries mate, I’ve managed. Spent £23.71 and got 4 disconnects, 2 gas, 2 beer, a 4 way Co2 manifold, a heating belt, 4 duotight fittings and an in-line filter. Not getting my hopes up just yet, but for that price it’s worth a punt.

 

[Empty bottle]

No worries mate, I’ve managed. Spent £23.71 and got 4 disconnects, 2 gas, 2 beer, a 4 way Co2 manifold, a heating belt, 4 duotight fittings and an in-line filter. Not getting my hopes up just yet, but for that price it’s worth a punt.

Cool mate at the end of the day the majority of the stuff on ebay or amazon is the same stuff bought from China anyway. Yes its cheap **** made with low quality metals like the cornelious valves if they were made in the uk from proper 314 stainless steel you would be looking at 30 quid a pop. As we are only using these items now and again then the cheap crap should at least last a year or two fingers crossed.

 

[Brewelder]

Cool mate at the end of the day the majority of the stuff on ebay or amazon is the same stuff bought from China anyway. Yes its cheap **** made with low quality metals like the cornelious valves if they were made in the uk from proper 314 stainless steel you would be looking at 30 quid a pop. As we are only using these items now and again then the cheap crap should at least last a year or two fingers crossed.

Yeah agree 100% mate

 

[gavp1979]

AliExpress are cheap to buy but the postage is extortionate.

For small stuff the postage seems ok but for larger items it is prohibitive

 

[Brewelder]

For small stuff the postage seems ok but for larger items it is prohibitive

100% mate, just ordered a load of small stuff snd the postage is negligible, but for a £40 malt pipe they want £83 for postage, crazy

 

[Sadfield]

Found some in the UK at brewkegtap.co.uk. I bought some other bits, but they would've been £20-21 for the pair including p&p.

The dip tubes don't protrude past the ends, but I've a full length dip tube I'll be fitting to the beer out anyway. Cheers!