ArnoldTheBat
Active Member
- Joined
- May 23, 2013
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Hi,
Relatively new to brewing, having just done kits and turbo cider. I've currently got a Coopers fermenter. This is a custom design with a krausen collar, a relatively loose fitting plastic lid (without airlock) and a spigot:
http://www.homebrewdownunder.com/index.php?topic=1822.0
(There are some clear images of the fermenter halfway down the thread)
I'm looking to move into extract brewing and I'd like to brew Belgian dubbels and tripels. As such I'm planning on leaving the ale in primary for a reasonable amount of time (say four weeks) and bottling after that. I want the simplest process and set-up possible but obviously don't want to ruin my beer!
As such I was wondering if anybody could help with the following questions:
1. Is it safe to leave the beer in the Coopers fermenter, in primary, for four weeks or more? If so should I keep the krausen collar fitted, or remove it after the initial phase is over? Is there anything that I need to do to secure it from infection after the initial phase (wrap in cling-film perhaps)?
2. Can I rack directly from the fermenter via the spigot? The inlet seems high enough to be above the trub and has not been a problem to date. As an added complication I would like to use the spigot to withdraw samples throughout primary so I assume I'd want to do something to sanitize the spigot before racking.
3. If the above is ok, is it acceptable to rack directly to bottles via a bottling wand attached to the spigot on the fermenter? I appreciate that this would require measuring out the sugar/priming solution into the bottles so may be more hassle than just using a bucket.
Thanks very much!
Relatively new to brewing, having just done kits and turbo cider. I've currently got a Coopers fermenter. This is a custom design with a krausen collar, a relatively loose fitting plastic lid (without airlock) and a spigot:
http://www.homebrewdownunder.com/index.php?topic=1822.0
(There are some clear images of the fermenter halfway down the thread)
I'm looking to move into extract brewing and I'd like to brew Belgian dubbels and tripels. As such I'm planning on leaving the ale in primary for a reasonable amount of time (say four weeks) and bottling after that. I want the simplest process and set-up possible but obviously don't want to ruin my beer!
As such I was wondering if anybody could help with the following questions:
1. Is it safe to leave the beer in the Coopers fermenter, in primary, for four weeks or more? If so should I keep the krausen collar fitted, or remove it after the initial phase is over? Is there anything that I need to do to secure it from infection after the initial phase (wrap in cling-film perhaps)?
2. Can I rack directly from the fermenter via the spigot? The inlet seems high enough to be above the trub and has not been a problem to date. As an added complication I would like to use the spigot to withdraw samples throughout primary so I assume I'd want to do something to sanitize the spigot before racking.
3. If the above is ok, is it acceptable to rack directly to bottles via a bottling wand attached to the spigot on the fermenter? I appreciate that this would require measuring out the sugar/priming solution into the bottles so may be more hassle than just using a bucket.
Thanks very much!