Cornie conversion with cask widge float

[orlando]

Why don't you just put clear beer into the corny in the first place?

Ha. Actually, it was reading that thread last week about pressurized, oxygen-free transfers that made me to decide to stick with natural carbonation.

"Clear" beer is teeming with yeast, no need to worry about natural carbonation needing cloudy beer. My tongue in cheek comment wasn't just a bit of fun. If you get the process right you should end up with clear beer. Attempts to deal with cloudy stuff is ducking the issue, why is it cloudy, fix that and you don't have to worry?

[Rhodesy]

Why don't you just put clear beer into the corny in the first place?

Ha. Actually, it was reading that thread last week about pressurized, oxygen-free transfers that made me to decide to stick with natural carbonation.

"Clear" beer is teeming with yeast, no need to worry about natural carbonation needing cloudy beer. My tongue in cheek comment wasn't just a bit of fun. If you get the process right you should end up with clear beer. Attempts to deal with cloudy stuff is ducking the issue, why is it cloudy, fix that and you don't have to worry?

This method also benefits dry hopping direct in the keg with pellets though so there are other benefits

[Hogarth]

If you get the process right you should end up with clear beer.

That's very easy to write. But since I have no means to cold crash, and since I use a whole variety of yeast each with its different charactersistics, getting the exact amount of yeast in the racked beer -- not too much and not too little -- is not always easy. Sometimes my kegs clear quickly. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes a non-floculant yeast creates a fluffy sediment right beneath the dip tube which continually gets sucked up into the beer. Sometimes I merely want to start drinking them early. That's why I'm experimenting with a floating tube.

[orlando]

If you get the process right you should end up with clear beer.

That's very easy to write. But since I have no means to cold crash, and since I use a whole variety of yeast each with its different charactersistics, getting the exact amount of yeast in the racked beer -- not too much and not too little -- is not always easy. Sometimes my kegs clear quickly. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes a non-floculant yeast creates a fluffy sediment right beneath the dip tube which continually gets sucked up into the beer. Sometimes I merely want to start drinking them early. That's why I'm experimenting with a floating tube.

OK gauntlet picked up.

Cold crashing helps with dealing with chill haze and of course settling out a lot of yeast but you can deal with the haze issue in the kettle using Brewbrite so no need to crash chill. Racking to a secondary and fining with gelatine or even in the fermentor should give you crystal beer going into the cornie. Prime or force carb, result should be good either way. Get the mash pH right by reducing alkalinity to the right level and not forgetting the sparge water. Make sure you have 150-200 ppm of calcium to start with, hard boil to get the break going and fast chill and even Brewbrite wouldn't really be necessary even if you can't crash chill. Easy to write yes, but not that hard to do either.

[Rhodesy]

If you get the process right you should end up with clear beer.

That's very easy to write. But since I have no means to cold crash, and since I use a whole variety of yeast each with its different charactersistics, getting the exact amount of yeast in the racked beer -- not too much and not too little -- is not always easy. Sometimes my kegs clear quickly. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes a non-floculant yeast creates a fluffy sediment right beneath the dip tube which continually gets sucked up into the beer. Sometimes I merely want to start drinking them early. That's why I'm experimenting with a floating tube.

OK gauntlet picked up.

Cold crashing helps with dealing with chill haze and of course settling out a lot of yeast but you can deal with the haze issue in the kettle using Brewbrite so no need to crash chill. Racking to a secondary and fining with gelatine or even in the fermentor should give you crystal beer going into the cornie. Prime or force carb, result should be good either way. Get the mash pH right by reducing alkalinity to the right level and not forgetting the sparge water. Make sure you have 150-200 ppm of calcium to start with, hard boil to get the break going and fast chill and even Brewbrite wouldn't really be necessary even if you can't crash chill. Easy to write yes, but not that hard to do either.

Do you use Brewbrite and any other finings such as Irish Moss/Protofloc? I have been using in conjunction but not sure if overkill

[Matt in Birdham]

Do you use Brewbrite and any other finings such as Irish Moss/Protofloc? I have been using in conjunction but not sure if overkill

Brewbrite is a mixture of carrageenan (Irish moss) and PVVP so no, you don't need to use anything else. You can really smell the seaweed, actually, when you mix up the slurry (I certainly did today when I was brewing, but I used hot wort for slurry out of sheer laziness (no water source in shed), which was probably a mistake). It's really good stuff - slurry it up (otherwise it clumps) and add it fairly late (last 5 mins or so, or some people do it at flame out).

[orlando]

Do you use Brewbrite and any other finings such as Irish Moss/Protofloc? I have been using in conjunction but not sure if overkill

You can but I don't, I only use Protafloc granules (I like the control from granules to tablets), as I do all the other things and can crash chill so don't need Brewbrite, which does the job of kettle finings but because of it's other great trick of removing the chill haze forming particles, has an added bonus.

[f00b4r]

Another vote for Brewbrite, it's fantastic stuff.

[Rhodesy]

Do you use Brewbrite and any other finings such as Irish Moss/Protofloc? I have been using in conjunction but not sure if overkill

Brewbrite is a mixture of carrageenan (Irish moss) and PVVP so no, you don't need to use anything else. You can really smell the seaweed, actually, when you mix up the slurry (I certainly did today when I was brewing, but I used hot wort for slurry out of sheer laziness (no water source in shed), which was probably a mistake). It's really good stuff - slurry it up (otherwise it clumps) and add it fairly late (last 5 mins or so, or some people do it at flame out).

Thanks, I have been impressed since using this but had been using it in conjunction with 1/3 of a Protofloc. I'll give it a go just by itself using the slurry method.

[bigtoe]

Just a quick note, converted 3 cornies and 5 king kegs to the cask widge float system and all work very well, i just use the tube i listed off ebay (thin wall so it bends easy) and have had no issues with the floats not floating at all. Bright beer dispense right from the start to the bottom of the cornie, first pint out clear also.

I also pressure the kegs when filled (just as filled) to get the air out the widge tubes using co2, i gently push 2psi of co2 down the dispense outlet and purge the keg a few times to remove any air thats in there...works very well.Also taken to filling the kegs with co2 down the dispense outlet prior to filling just as added insurance, probably removes the need to push co2 in after the fill but it does not harm things any, with the float at the bottom of the keg the keg fills with co2 from the bottom bushing the air out the top.

Had beer stored since July and its drinking well with no off tastes etc stored in the kegorator.

[Fil]

fwiw this aussie offering a fermentor/keg employs what looks like the ss float from a dc voltage float switch as a simple keg float, with silicone tube shoved through its centre cavity.
http://www.oxebar.com.au/fermentasaurus/

[Hogarth]

fwiw this aussie offering a fermentor/keg employs what looks like the ss float from a dc voltage float switch as a simple keg float, with silicone tube shoved through its centre cavity.
http://www.oxebar.com.au/fermentasaurus/

Quite by chance I have one of those in my spares box (an idle, late-night ebay purchase.) I'll give it a go -- it'd be good to be all-stainless.

[Hogarth]

Just a quick note, converted 3 cornies and 5 king kegs to the cask widge float system and all work very well, i just use the tube i listed off ebay (thin wall so it bends easy) and have had no issues with the floats not floating at all. Bright beer dispense right from the start to the bottom of the cornie, first pint out clear also.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to try and make it work. I've actually heard a theory that drawing from the surface gives you better beer anyway because it'll be ever so slightly oxygenated (since there's always a bit of oxygen in the headspace) and it's just enough to give it that 'pub' taste. Could be complete rollocks, of course.

[Fil]

I think any residual o2 would be vented off fairly soon after kegging, remember co2 will probably be agitated out of the brew as you fill the keg probably in sufficient volume to push all air out as you fill anyway, but that could also be complete rollocks 2

fact is tho the last pint poured out of a corny will be the clearest float employed or not

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

This looks great. I do like bottling still but do have one corny I've used now and again. May look into this and get another keg too.


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