Fermzilla -> Pressure Ferment to Keg Questions

[sugarflux]

Hi all
Is anyone using pressure fermentations (in the fermzilla or otherwise) who can offer up some advice? I feel like I'm making it up as I go along and wish there was a step-by-step / idiots guide available!!

My latest Pale Ale seems to have finished fermenting in my Fermzilla - this is my first time using the fermzilla and first time pressure fermenting. It's been in there 8 days, on ~10 PSI. I did a big dry hop on day 3, around high krausen, all new world NZ hop pellets.

It's also my first time with a keg and a CO2 tank instead of bottling.

1. So, first off, do I need to cold crash in the fermzilla to drop any yeast/hop matter out of suspension or can i transfer straight to the keg and cold crash there?
2. Assuming that carbonation has now happened naturally during the ferment, do I need to add further carbonation once in the keg? Or will I simply be applying serving pressure?
3. Conditioning - am I supposed to leave the beer to condition further in the keg? Or should this now be ready to drink. It still tastes a little 'green' to me and very, very hoppy and fresh.
4. There is a lot of hop matter and trub about a third of the way up the Fermzilla - I assume I will deal with this AFTER transferring the beer (and depressuring the tank)?
5. Finally, what PSI should I be going for once in the keg - and leave the gas connected at this point?

Any other help, tips, advice would be appreciated!

Thanks

~S~

 

[foxy]

Hi all
Is anyone using pressure fermentations (in the fermzilla or otherwise) who can offer up some advice? I feel like I'm making it up as I go along and wish there was a step-by-step / idiots guide available!!

My latest Pale Ale seems to have finished fermenting in my Fermzilla - this is my first time using the fermzilla and first time pressure fermenting. It's been in there 8 days, on ~10 PSI. I did a big dry hop on day 3, around high krausen, all new world NZ hop pellets.

It's also my first time with a keg and a CO2 tank instead of bottling.

1. So, first off, do I need to cold crash in the fermzilla to drop any yeast/hop matter out of suspension or can i transfer straight to the keg and cold crash there?
2. Assuming that carbonation has now happened naturally during the ferment, do I need to add further carbonation once in the keg? Or will I simply be applying serving pressure?
3. Conditioning - am I supposed to leave the beer to condition further in the keg? Or should this now be ready to drink. It still tastes a little 'green' to me and very, very hoppy and fresh.
4. There is a lot of hop matter and trub about a third of the way up the Fermzilla - I assume I will deal with this AFTER transferring the beer (and depressuring the tank)?
5. Finally, what PSI should I be going for once in the keg - and leave the gas connected at this point?

Any other help, tips, advice would be appreciated!

Thanks

~S~

1 Yes better to cold crash in the fermenter.
2 You will have to add more gas during transfer
3 You can force carb the keg, if its a hoppy beer best drunk fresh 2 weeks from grain to glass as the saying goes.
4 Yes deal with that after transfer.
5 About 10 PSI it is up to you and your system I have seen folk who use a lot more pressure on here.
This will probably help you better and make sure your keg is cold.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Tra...me&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_2sK5XrrPC8r99QPg9bugDg35

 

[sugarflux]

Thanks foxy.

I'm moving to the fridge today to cold crash for a couple of days before moving to the keg (had some modifications to make to the fridge first).

So with regards points (2 & 3) - should I stick with 10 PSI to apply pressure to the keg once transferred? As I say it has been fermenting at 10 PSI for just over a week so far. When you say to "force carb the keg" is this simply a case of applying 10 PSI to the keg and leaving it in the keezer for a while or do i need to roll it around etc.

Thanks again,

~S~

 

[foxy]

Thanks foxy.

I'm moving to the fridge today to cold crash for a couple of days before moving to the keg (had some modifications to make to the fridge first).

So with regards points (2 & 3) - should I stick with 10 PSI to apply pressure to the keg once transferred? As I say it has been fermenting at 10 PSI for just over a week so far. When you say to "force carb the keg" is this simply a case of applying 10 PSI to the keg and leaving it in the keezer for a while or do i need to roll it around etc.

Thanks again,

~S~

Yes 10 PSI is fine as you could see in the video, rolling it around does speed up the process.
I may sound like a broken record but I always say keep all the break and hop material in the kettle, (saying this because it sounds like you had a fair bit of trub) some cold break is fine, you won't be able to see this with the naked eye at 20 C doesn't matter about the dry hops with the yeast in the fermenter, but keep everything else out.
Just because you have a fermenter where you are able to dump the trub it's still better not to let it in, even if you have to wait 3 or 4 hours after cooling the wort in the kettle.
The other thing is don't apply pressure straight away, like you have a good rolling boil, a good robust ferment gets rid of the unwanted volatile's. Then dry hop.

 

[sugarflux]

Thanks foxy - great info! I am on day 2 of cold crashing so will be aiming to transfer to keg (with the floating ball dip tube) either this evening or tomorrow. I’ll then apply 10psi of pressure and leave for another few days to ‘carb up’!

I had a bad brew day with a stuck sparge, overheating element kept cutting out when trying to reach the boil and then my immersion chiller connection snapped so it was almost midnight when I finally transferred - may be a bit more trub than I would normally have! I think next brew I may try and remove any trub from the collection pot before the dry hop. There’s 250g of dry hop in there as well so that’s contributing both in the sunken remainder and also probably in suspension. Anyways, thanks for all the advice - appreciated!

~S~

 

[foxy]

Thanks foxy - great info! I am on day 2 of cold crashing so will be aiming to transfer to keg (with the floating ball dip tube) either this evening or tomorrow. I’ll then apply 10psi of pressure and leave for another few days to ‘carb up’!

I had a bad brew day with a stuck sparge, overheating element kept cutting out when trying to reach the boil and then my immersion chiller connection snapped so it was almost midnight when I finally transferred - may be a bit more trub than I would normally have! I think next brew I may try and remove any trub from the collection pot before the dry hop. There’s 250g of dry hop in there as well so that’s contributing both in the sunken remainder and also probably in suspension. Anyways, thanks for all the advice - appreciated!

~S~

Mate when it gets that late, cool wort, wrap cling wrap around the lid of your kettle and finish next day. Trub will be well settled by then.
What are you using to brew?