Get advice on making beer from raw ingredients (malt, hops, water and yeast)
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Jocky
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2738
- Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:50 pm
- Location: Epsom, Surrey, UK
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by Jocky » Thu Jan 24, 2013 9:22 pm
hotmog wrote:Jocky wrote:Does the position of the taps on your stock pots not cause them to pick up a lot of trub?
No. Before I connect the line to to the cornie, I open the tap into a glass underneath to collect the first runnings that contain the yeast sediment immediately under the pipe opening, which I discard (it's only a small cupful). By careful positioning of the tap hole, and using a 15mm copper elbow facing downwards on the inside so that there is only a 2mm gap between the opening and the bottom, there is virtually no wastage whatsoever. The yeast sediment immediately underneath the elbow opening is obviously drawn up, but that really is a minimal amount and nothing around it is disturbed. There is no need to tip the FV up to drain to the last drop - it does that automatically. There is only a very thin surface covering of liquid left above the yeast.
Obviously, for this to work you need to exploit the syphon effect fully. I connect the FV ball-valve taps to the cornie outlet posts via JG 1/2" BSP - 3/8" connectors, and there is around a 9" - 12" drop to the cornie positioned beneath.
Awesome info. Definitely a future step for me. Thanks!
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.
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darkonnis
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by darkonnis » Fri Jan 25, 2013 1:27 pm
looks like a sound idea to me. Gonna have to give that a go. be easy enough to for go the taps and just syphon too!
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Invalid Stout
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by Invalid Stout » Sat Jan 26, 2013 3:28 am
dreadskin69 wrote:apparently those big blue barrels people use as water butts are food grade. they come in all sorts of sizes, all the way up to 225 ltrs, and are cheap enough and air tight. anyone use them?
The only reason I wouldn't use them as fermenters is that the opaque blue plastic lets very little light inside, so it's difficult to see whether you've got them clean.
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darkonnis
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by darkonnis » Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:26 pm
My thoughts on it are:
Consider how much brewing you do. How much is it worth to you? Would you be upset if it was infected ?(bearing in mind you'll only know 3 batches down the line, ask me how i know)
Weigh these up and if you want a fermenter which you never have to think about, go stainless and be done with it. If not pay your money get plastic and know that it has a limited shelf life.
a 30L pan won't break the bank
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akka lakka
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by akka lakka » Sun Jan 27, 2013 4:49 pm
Hi darkonnis
33litre s/s pot the way from marmite land,should see me out,I am fed up with plastic f/vs.Hows your brewing going,i am just sampling mine now so sorry about my grammer .
Cheers joe
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darkonnis
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by darkonnis » Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:17 pm
akka lakka wrote:Hi darkonnis
33litre s/s pot the way from marmite land,should see me out,I am fed up with plastic f/vs.Hows your brewing going,i am just sampling mine now so sorry about my grammer .
Cheers joe
Good lad!
Brewing going good, though I haven't fired up the big rig in a while I've mainly been playing my mini boiler for some random BIAB sessions. I figure that I'd rather throw 5L of crap away than 50 but so far it's worked out really well.
I'm guessing your brewings going well if it makes you type like that?
Cooky
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SamT
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by SamT » Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:10 pm
Hmmm, tempted now - 33L polypropelyne bucket from bigger jugs delivered is about £15, whereas the french ebay lot are charging £27 for an SS pot (can't work out the postage to the UK though - it's about £8 in France and Belgium though)
Just chucked a youngs bucket after two infections - don't trust it anymore - so I'm considering replacing it with either of the above
I've got a qmax and could pop a hole to take a tank connector/3 piece ball valve in and I've got a few hose connectors ... how easy is it to clean your 'pick-up' pipe assembly? with plastic drum taps I wash them with Oxi-whizz and then soak them in Starsan for a bit - should imagine your assembly is a bit more involved to take to pieces than that ...
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techtone
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by techtone » Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:17 pm
akka lakka wrote:Hi all
What is the best quality f/v,the f/v i am using is starting to get rough and pitted after only about 10 brews,admitted i got it cheap from wilco's,i am worried after last f/v caused infection no matter how well it was cleaned.
Cheers joe
Not trying to be "clever" but I think most of us get many many more than 10 uses from a plastic fv. I still use my first, after several years. I assume it is still a youngs from Wilcos? I'm careful not to scratch the sides with the spoon when stirring but other than that they should be fine.
That said, shiny new equipment is always good.
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akka lakka
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by akka lakka » Mon Jan 28, 2013 5:51 pm
Well its academic now as s/s pot due in a few days,I may not treat my f/v gently enough as put nearly boiling wort into it whilst i girate my wort chiller in it.which could scratch the sides,but the side of plastic f/v have a crunchy film on which seems to me as if it is being affected by the yeast.By the way i brew every week so my f/v gets some hammer.
