Equipment upgrade

[Bombers hoppy ending]

So having started this great hobby in February, and having now reached 150lts of drinking greatness, it’s time for a slight upgrade in kit.
Started with a 30lts FV bucket 25lts bottling bucket and a temp controlled fermentation fridge.
To date I don’t believe I have had any issues and all beers have tasted great. However in the back of my mind there is a risk of oxidation during racking, priming and bottling that I would like to reduce.
With this in mind and due to the fact that Brew2bottle have just received their latest batch of gen 3 snub noses, my order was placed.
along with it a mini regulator, soda stream adapter, spunding valve and bottle filling beer gun.
The plan is still to bottle but now have the option to ferment under pressure. Then cold crash and bottle direct from the snub nose having purged the bottles with the bottling gun.
Hopefully this reduces the potential risk of oxidation another step.
Thanks to Brew2bottle for the kit which should arrive tomorrow.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Get some pictures on here when it arrives

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

like this.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Finally have all the sodastream fittings sorted to allow a pressure test and spunding valve set up.
now just need to decide which kit is going to be the 1st to use it. I have 1/2 a doz to choose from.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Rummaged through the choices and settled on one.
Festival strong Suffolk ale ( with a twist)
4kg kit. ABV 6%
The kit comes with 1kg of brewing sugar, however I have some (900g) muntons light spray malt that is looking for a home so will substitute. Not worried if the ABV drops a little, as all the IPA’s I have done of late are all 6% plus. So I would hurt to have a 5-5.5%.
I also have an S04 yeast from the flagship hazy, after substituting it for the verdant. So planning on using that instead of the unbranded ale yeast from the festival kit.
Hopefully it pans out ok. Unless you guys can see any obvious issues.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

first beer in.
Suffolk strong ale with the spray malt substitute and the S04 yeast.
20 hrs after pitching the yeast and it’s sitting nicely @ 20C and 7.5psi. Blowtie working nicely.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

36 hrs after pitching. Sitting at at a constant 7.5psi with a steady hiss.

 

[Mash Monster]

Don’t forget to post how the bottling goes !

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Don’t forget to post how the bottling goes !

Will do.
Been surprised how much kit I’ve needed so far and as you start thinking about the process, finding you need more kit.
last week suddenly thought about sampling. Ended up order a party tap, which hasn’t arrived yet, to make drawing a sample easy. Could use the bottling gun, but seems a lot of cleaning just to draw a couple of samples.
hopefully the majority of the fermentation will have happened by the weekend and the spunding valve will have proved itself, as I’m away for a week and it will be left to its own devices. Currently really happy everything is working fine and trust I don’t have a pressure issue.

 

[Mash Monster]

I’ve just bought a couple of pressure fermenter but mine are All Rounders very similar to the snub nose. I am still experiencing oxidation issues though

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

I’ve just bought a couple of pressure fermenter but mine are All Rounders very similar to the snub nose. I am still experiencing oxidation issues though

Any idea why.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Interesting observation so far.
I set up the blowtie prior to 5 psi when I pitched the yeast.Gave the snub nose a little puff of CO2 then adjusted the blow tie to hold 5psi. 24hrs later and the blowtie is gently hissing at 7.5psi. Made another small adjustment to lower to 7psi. Another 24hrs on and the pressure is now 8.5psi and constantly hissing. Made another small adjustment to lower again.
I expect it’s due to the volume of gas being produced is fairly high at this point and the blow tie isn’t quite quick/ sensitive enough adjust for it. Will see where we are tomorrow.

 

[Mash Monster]

Any idea why.

Nope my last brew was an All Together NEIPA which started off fine I left it in the All Rounder under pressure and used it at a uni tank. Started off fine but after 3 weeks it’s started to go a darker shade of brown at the top with an orange cloudy layer underneath (perhaps this happens in a keg too but as you are pulling the beer from the bottom you don’t notice it ) It still tastes Ok but doesn’t look like a NEIPA . If I swirl it around a bit the colour and mouth feel does improve slightly maybe I’m expecting too much

 

[stubrewworx]

Will follow this thread as I'm thinking of changing to similar set up, but corny keg nit snub nose. This is due to doing 15-16l batches and general space.

Yes please report how bottling goes.

Regarding spunding. When you set the dial to 5psi, this should 'keep' 5psi in the vessel (and ultimately the beer) and release the excess?

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Regarding spunding. When you set the dial to 5psi, this should 'keep' 5psi in the vessel (and ultimately the beer) and release the excess?

Yep that’s what I was expecting. However I wonder if we’re asking a little too much of a fairly cheap piece of kit. Perhaps a little hysteresis.
I don’t think it’s a major issue I was here and just checked it every 24hrs and very slightly adjusted it. It was a minimal amount.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

3 days after pitching yeast.
Looks like thinks are starting to slow down.
Good yeast flocculation and the Krausen seems to be setting down.
Very interesting to watch what’s going on.
Going to leave it for my normal time frame to finish off. Dry hopping will be Saturday week. With bottling 4-5 days after that.
Part tap is due tomorrow, so I will be able to take a sample in 10days time to see where the gravity is.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

So in the interest of a little testing.
Morning of day 4 and krausen has almost disappeared. So to see how active things still are, I dropped the pressure to 5psi using the pressure relief valve. Leaving the Blowtie where it was set for 7.5 psi.
will be interesting to see if the pressure increases during the day. Seems a good way to determine when the fermentation has finished.

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

Regarding spunding. When you set the dial to 5psi, this should 'keep' 5psi in the vessel (and ultimately the beer) and release the excess?

I'm on my first pressure ferment and have struggled to keep the spunding valve at 5psi. There's also a slightly 'odd' after taste. I suspect this is down to me though.

 

[The Baron]

Nope my last brew was an All Together NEIPA which started off fine I left it in the All Rounder under pressure and used it at a uni tank. Started off fine but after 3 weeks it’s started to go a darker shade of brown at the top with an orange cloudy layer underneath (perhaps this happens in a keg too but as you are pulling the beer from the bottom you don’t notice it ) It still tastes Ok but doesn’t look like a NEIPA . If I swirl it around a bit the colour and mouth feel does improve slightly maybe I’m expecting too much

Hi Mash Monster the brown colour certainly points to oxidation and NEIPA's are notoriously bad for it. Have you tried a ordinary style with your system to see if that is ok if not it may be that you have to scrutinise your method from start to finish and then maybe you will get that lightbulb moment and you can say it is that.
Its very frustrating and how many times I have been doing something (maybe not brewing) and sworn blind I am doing this then you discover it and do the Dohh!! moment

 

[Mash Monster]

Yep have tried several brews now and I get a better beer if I ferment in a bucket I’ll give it a couple more tries before I ditch them both. My intention was to switch to cornies but I can’t see the point If I can’t master the All Rounders