Purging brew system hoses with CO2?

[BobTheFourth]

This was a (possibly) crazy idea that occurred to me the other day, as I was mourning the loss yet again of the 20 oz or so of wort that fits inside my plate chiller and associated pump and tubing. Thats not an insubstantial amount when targeting a 4.75 gallon batch size.

Typically what I do now is recirculate my hot wort through a Chillhog 4000 chiller until the whole batch is cool, then run it off through the chiller into a corny keg for fermentation. My thinking is that I could add a gas port at the outlet from the boil kettle so that I could purge all the wort left in the hoses, pump and chiller into the fermenter.

I'd do this by adding a T fitting after the ball valve for the kettle drain port, with the side opening connected to a standard corny keg gas post. Then at the end I can just pressurize a gas line with low pressure (5 psi or less) and hook up a ball-lock QD, and watch all the wort come flowing out. Another option would be to purge using an air compressor, but I don't have one of those, and I do have an extra gas bottle and regulator.

Crazy? Anyone tried something like this before? Is there a better way to extract those last ounces?

 

[day_trippr]

I just flush enough leftover sparge water to chase the path from kettle valve through pump and plate chiller to fermenter...

Cheers!

 

[BobTheFourth]

That's not a bad idea - I usually have a gallon or two left, but it wouldn't have been heated high enough to ensure complete sanitation. I suppose I could mix in some star-san to be sure. I'd probably just disconnect the hose and move it over to the HLT to avoid disturbing the gunk left in the boil kettle though.

 

[Golddiggie]

I add the amount left in the plate chiller to the loss amount and make sure it's offset in the recipe. I also use gravity, and such, to drain the hoses of as much wonderful wort as possible. Since I'm aiming to get 6 gallons out of fermenter (finished beer) I aim to get 6.75-7 gallons in. I usually end the boil with 1-2 quarts more, to offset equipment loss. IMO, you'd be better off doing the same. Since you already know about how much you leave behind, simply add that amount as equipment loss and end the boil with more. Of course, that assumes you have a kettle large enough to handle the increase in pre-boil volume.

 

[day_trippr]

That's not a bad idea - I usually have a gallon or two left, but it wouldn't have been heated high enough to ensure complete sanitation.[...]

You don't need to actually boil something to achieve pasteurization. So-called High Temperature Short Time pasteurization exposes product to 160°F temperature for a mere 15 to 30 seconds and has a kill ratio of 99.999% of pathogens in milk.

Here we're talking about straight water that's been heated to a higher temperature for at least an order of magnitude more time...

Cheers!