Priming after pressure fermentation.

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Quick question.
Just going to start my first beer probably an IPA in the snub nose. Going to do the first one at around 10psi.
The plan is to cold crash it and then bottle straight from the FV using a bottle filling beer gun. This allows me to purge the bottles too.
So bearing in mind the beer will be under a little pressure and cold( 4deg), will this effect the amount of priming sugar. Currently use 1 carb drop/500mls.
Will this still be ok.

 

[Marko85]

Or force carb in the snub before transferring to bottles?

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Or force carb in the snub before transferring to bottles?

Hi mark. I wasn’t sure how much of the CO2 would remain between bottling and capping. Also didn’t want the pressure too high In the snub nose for transfer, to keep the foaming down. I was only going to have enough pressure to get it to move. My question came about due to the fact that brewers friend takes into account the fermentation temp when calculating the required priming sugar amounts due to dissolved CO2. With this in mind I wondered how fermenting under pressure and the cold crashing would effect things, and would 1 carb drop still be safe to use.

 

[RGeats]

Is the beer gun you are using counter pressure? If so you can bottle at whatever pressure you want. Towards the end of fermentation up the pressure using your spunding valve. Then cold crash. Check pressure in your snubnose. I would guess you want something like 12psi at the low temp. Then you can fill your bottles using counter pressure and won't get foaming.

 

[Marko85]

Yes good points you raise. Today I put 5gal batch of cider into crash has been @10psi/25c for 7 days the sample was very well carbinated much to my suprise given the temp and duration. I'm very much new to pressure fermenting but already finding carbination levels post fermentation unpredictable. For example did a stout few weeks back it sat @10psi/20c for circa 10days and it needed further carbination of 4 days @12psi/5c. Interested to know how you approach your situation and the outcome. Thanks.

 

[Marko85]

Is the beer gun you are using counter pressure? If so you can bottle at whatever pressure you want. Towards the end of fermentation up the pressure using your spunding valve. Then cold crash. Check pressure in your snubnose. I would guess you want something like 12psi at the low temp. Then you can fill your bottles using counter pressure and won't get foaming.

I brought a counter pressure filler currently on amazon (£30) just as a punt to try out and must say after completely striping down and re-building it works wonderfully! Bottled some cider from keg at serving pressure (12) hoping it has held onto the C02. Bottles in fridge will try in a few days!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Use this calculator to work out how many vols you have before you start
https://drhansbrewery.com/beercarbonationcalculator/
then use this calculator to work out how much sugar you need to add to each bottle.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
Should get you bang on target.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Hi guys. All good info as always.
bottling gun isn’t a counter pressure. It’s the keg land version. Allows you to co2 purge the bottles.
the initial idea is only to reduce the chances of oxidation to as minimal as possible.
the last couple of beers I’ve done I have gone from batch priming to using carb drops to remove a step that could cause oxidation.
next progression was how to eliminate oxygen when dry hopping in a bucket.Trying to find a way of purging head space after opening lid to add hop bag and also adding a little co2 when cold crashing to negate the loss of pressure through temp drop.
This led me to the closed system. It’s been a bit of a mission to get the parts required at the lowest price point, and a couple of mistakes made. Although the guys at Malt Miller were awesome and helped me out of a regulator/ sodastream cylinder issue. bit of a mine field with fittings.
so I’m now in a position to do closed fermentation, purge headspace after dry hopping, maintain a slight positive pressure when reducing temp and purge bottles prior to filling.
I may keep the pressure very low initially, perhaps around 2psi, just so it’s slightly positive. Then see how that goes.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Use this calculator to work out how many vols you have before you start
https://drhansbrewery.com/beercarbonationcalculator/
then use this calculator to work out how much sugar you need to add to each bottle.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
Should get you bang on target.

Thanks foe these.
Not sure if I fully understand them.
I was just trying to see if this scenario is ok.
1. Fermentation @ 19C @ 2-4psi
2. Cold crash to 4C remain @ 2-4psi
3. Bottle as above with 1 carb drop / 500ml.
firstly is this inside a safe margin regarding bottle bombs. secondly over carbonated for an ale.

Ive just bottled an IPA @ 4C but at atmospheric pressure from a bucket, with 1 carb drop. Carbonation seems good.

If this is an issue, is there any problems with raising the temp after cold crashing to lower the dissolved CO2 prior to bottling. Cold crash idea is only to help clear due to bottling straight from the fermenter.
Although over carbed ale is not idea I can live with that as an experiment. Can’t risk a batch of bombs though.

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

In the interest of keeping people updated.
I bottled the Suffolk strong after 1st chilling to 4deg for 3 days. Once it reached temp I reduced the pressure to practically zero. Then I raised the temp to 15deg in prep for bottling. As I did this I reduced the pressure to around zero with the intention of reducing the dissolved CO2 to a min.

After a day at 15 deg I raised the pressure to 1.5psi and bottled with 1 carb drop/ 500ml bottle. Pressure was only increased to give a nice slow foam free transfer. All went surprisingly smoothly.

2 weeks in the bottle and I tried my 1st pint. The beer is very nice. Reminds me a little of old peculiar. However the carb level was very slightly too high. Would be great for an IPA though, just a fraction too much for an ale. Still very drinkable and by the time you’ve drank the first couple of mouthfuls the carbonation has settled down.

So plan for the next ale will be to bottle 10 pints with no carb drop and the rest as before and cap with different colours. Then see if ales are better with just the dissolved CO2.

Hope this helps others that are breaking into the bottling after pressure fermentation game.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Thanks @Bombers hoppy ending
I took the lazy option and have a counter pressure bottle filler, but most of my beer goes to barrel or keg.Not such a long life on the beer bottled my way though.
What are you trying to achieve pressure fermenting if you get rid of most of the pressure after ferment and then bottle condition? Is it the cold crash to get the beer clearer and no suck back before bottling?

 

[Bombers hoppy ending]

Trying to eliminate/ reduce oxidation. Ferment in a sealed vessel and bottle straight from the fermenter with a CO2 purge, dry hop and re-purge head space.
The other aspects, potential to ferment at slightly higher temps without ester product and the ability to cold crash with a positive CO2 blanket, are nice to haves.
I don’t keg because I don’t have the space indoors to store it and I don’t want to be going out to the garage every time I want a drink. 1/2doz bottles in the kitchen is a much easier option, plus I quite like the nostalgia of opening and pouring pints from bottles.