SS Brewtech BRITE TANKS

[cqout]

I have seen the new SS brewtech brite tanks which will be available soon. Do I need one in my life? what are the benefits to home brewers (if any)?

cheers

chris

[Fil]

http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/b ... -10-gallon

had to google em.. PHOOAARRRR!!!! lots of uses for the small commercial brewer, faster turnover for conditioning brite beer prior to bottling cleanly to start with.

cant find many reasons to justify Home brewer use tho, other than simple WANT!! i say again PHOOAARRRRRR!!!!!

I assume to serve from this you would use the sample valve?? and the $99 or by the time it gets here £150? for the IC and jacket would be must buy too

[gobuchul]

what are the benefits to home brewers

Some answers here https://ssbrewtech.zendesk.com/hc/en-us ... RITE-TANK-

Seems overkill to me but others would say 3 fermentation fridges are unnecessary as well........

[IPA]

and the $99 or by the time it gets here £150?

A bit more than that! Now the pound has plummeted thanks to Brexit. Along with every other import.

[Kev888]

They do look mighty fine. At a home brew scale, I'd guess that much of the functionality could be achieved with a keg or a couple of cornies for a fraction of the price; I don't filter, but otherwise use kegs in a very similar way. But were money not the main decider these would likely be very satisfying to own and use, particularly if one weren't into kegs and/or wanted to bottle bright, carbonated beer.

[sladeywadey]

Kev any chance you could outline your process when using kegs for secondary? I'm interested in doing this without adding any oxygen.

[Matt in Birdham]

They do look mighty fine. At a home brew scale, I'd guess that much of the functionality could be achieved with a keg or a couple of cornies for a fraction of the price; I don't filter, but otherwise use kegs in a very similar way. But were money not the main decider these would likely be very satisfying to own and use, particularly if one weren't into kegs and/or wanted to bottle bright, carbonated beer.

That's pretty much exactly what I think. Very nice indeed, but I would struggle to really find a use - I'd much prefer to get a second Chronical instead

[Secla]

Nice bit if bling, but there's not a huge difference between these and the price of a chronical so there use seems a little limited. Especially if your kegging

[Kev888]

I think their pressure rating is a bit higher, if you want to force carbonate in them. But if not then I agree; at that price a second chronical would be comparable and probably more flexible.

[Kev888]

Kev any chance you could outline your process when using kegs for secondary? I'm interested in doing this without adding any oxygen.

Ha, well my way hasn't necessarily been the best, but FWIW: hitherto, once the primary fermentation is well finished I've simply purged the kegs with CO2 then filled via the product/beer line and purged the head space again before sealing up. It speeds initial maturation processes and any priming if they are left at room temperature for a while, before cooling to cellar temperatures for settling, any force carbonating, and storage or later racking/bottling.

However, to increase throughput of the fermenter, I'm going to start racking to the keg earlier, as a sort of combined secondary fermenter and maturation tank. I'll use an airlock on the gas connection until I'm sure it has finished then seal and mature plus prime/carbonate gently, before racking to a new keg or bag-in-box for dispensing. If I can get a primary fermenter who's seal is up to it, I will inject CO2 to replace the beer drawn off during racking (or ideally even to push it out) rather than let it draw air in.

My purging with CO2 has seemed to be adequate, and was good for several months storage, but on paper isn't perfect so its something I intend to improve upon. The through-draft of CO2 will likely help remove oxygen, but actually it is a separate gas and will mingle and occupy the same space as the CO2 given half a chance. So some people transfer from the fermenter before fermentation is completely over with the hope that the tail end of yeast activity will mop up oxygen from the transfer. Another method is to first fill the keg with water (ideally boiled to disinfect) to displace the oxygen, and then in turn displace the water by injecting CO2. Currently I favour the latter, since I want the primary fermentation largely over and the majority of sediment settled out before transfer, and I'm a little uncertain of the oxygen-gobbling capacity of yeast by the latter stages.

[Fastline]

Hey Kev, you say it speeds up the maturation process, is this compared to bottled beer? how does it speed it up?

I don't really understand the maturation process, I know if I leave my bottled beer longer it gets better but then I'm confused at how some of the craft beer people are saying the reason craft beer is so good is because its fresh.

I've heard the leave it a week in the warm and then a week in the cold thing. but then what keep in the cold?

I don't get it fresh matured beer, whats the skinny here guys

Don't think I'm disagreeing with what your saying I need to understand this maturation a whole lot better and you seem to have a grasp on it.

[Rookie]

Cool item? Yes.
$500 cool? Not so much.

[Kev888]

Hey Kev, you say it speeds up the maturation process, is this compared to bottled beer? how does it speed it up?

I mean compared to cooling it directly after fermentation (which you can do, if force carbonating). The yeast mop up by-products of fermentation and there are some other chemical things going on which can help flavours soften and meld, this happens more quickly at room temperature than when chilled. Though it will likely still happen.

Craft beer is a rather loose term, which doesn't necessarily indicate good quality. But its true to say (IMO) that some beers (e.g. high gravities, lots of bitterness) can benefit from longer maturing than others, RIS is a prime example. But some (such as wheat beer, or milds) may not need much time and in fact can start to lose desirable characteristics quite quickly - for example hop aromas dissipating.

[sladeywadey]

Interesting - thanks for outlining that Kev.

So do you fill your corny via something connected to the 'out' post then?

What I thought of doing was to:

1. ferment for 7 days as normal
2. clean/sanitise corny
3. purge oxygen from keg as best I can using co2 connected to the out post
4. fill corny via a line from my brewbucket tap to the corny's out post (after purging the line with c02)
5. purge corny headspace via connecting co2 to out post again (so at least there is a co2 blanket directly on top of the beer in the corny)
6. leave corny at room temp for a week
7. carbonate/chill in corny fridge as normal.

Does that sound OK/doable?

Any thoughts on dry hopping though?

[Kev888]

Sounds okay to me. The blanket of CO2 won't do much but the purging part may have some effect if the through-draft is fast enough. Though you'd want to be sure it was finished before sealing the keg, or the beer could over-carbonate. I may use an airlock on the gas post for a period of time, treating it as a secondary fermenter before sealing - and/or maybe a pressure gauge.

For dry hopping, either leave slightly longer in the primary FV and do it there, use a hop bag or mesh dry hopper in the corny, or a filter over the corny dip tube. I didn't notice what options these SS tanks have for dry hopping, I guess it may be easier with lids that size.