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I knew you charged a fee for answers. ;-) Checks in the mail.You didn't ask me, but I've done this a few times
I knew you charged a fee for answers. ;-) Checks in the mail.You didn't ask me, but I've done this a few times
So what brand of floating dip tube do you all recommend?
I scored a bunch of Alibia for like 10 buck a pop...stainless ball float and silicone tubing. totally happy with them.So what brand of floating dip tube do you all recommend?
With the bottom tube I probably got 3 solid yeast harvests off a single keg to pitch into 3 new kegs. Get like 2-3 half pint mason jars and a little short picnic tap and burp the keg into the jars, rotating and letting the foam settle and let the yeast in the keg re-settle towards the dip tube dimple, add some more again and again until they are cloudy and full. Place them in your fridge and tomorrow you should have a few jars with a nice 1/4-1/2 inch yeast cake with beer on top.No worries about having enough viable/healthy yeast doing that? I've been thinking about doing the same but haven't gotten bold enough yet
I have not had any issues yet with the full length dip tube. straight forward yeast harvest. I only have 2 bottom tube fermented kegs going right now. Both are pouring just fine.
BUT you must UNDERSTAND that my wort is pure. I run the entire kettle through a 200 micron bucket strainer so my wort is exceptionally clear and clean with zero trub or hops debris. The yeast harvest is pure yeast cake. There is nothing in the keg that can clog the dip tube or poppet.
Using a floating dip tube you should not have to worry too much about stirring it up if you are moving your keg around at a picnic. But once the keg nears empty, any hops or debris can/will cause clogs. Not an issue if you plan a full breakdown and cleaning. BUT, if you are planning to just pitch fresh wort into the keg and let it rip, well then you need to have clean wort to start with every time.
Not enough trials to definitively answer...
Currently I have a Saison with a bottom tube. But that is a beer that is expected to not be clear.
I also have a caramel brown ale with a bottom tube. But that is a dark copper? color so hard to tell it's clarity. But I don't taste any "siltyness". But it was a couple/few pints in. It certainly is quite acceptable. I don't suspect it's pouring anymore yeast out.
I have finished beers with the floating tube ready to drink...but no open taps right now. I suspect they will be spot on after the first pull purges the floating dip tube.
I have always fermented clean clear trub free wort and it does not ensure a clear beer. The protein level of the grain has a lot of influence in the clarity of the beer and to certain degree how fast you chill the wort after the boil. With enough time most beers clear up but if you use grain that is below 10% protein the process is much faster.
clean clear wort in the fermenter has nothing to do with getting finished clear beer. It's about getting a nice clean yeast cake when fermentation is done so your yeast harvest is clean and does not need to be "washed" to remove trub, hops, or any other particulate that was in the brew kettle.I have always fermented clean clear trub free wort and it does not ensure a clear beer. The protein level of the grain has a lot of influence in the clarity of the beer and to certain degree how fast you chill the wort after the boil. With enough time most beers clear up but if you use grain that is below 10% protein the process is much faster.
I don't think that will be as effective. I seriously doubt those hop spiders, or any SS mesh strainer is as tight at a bucket strainer. Those need to flow at a very high rate and are ready designed to contain hole hops which are quite large.I recently got a steel mesh hop spider, next batch I'm going to try to recirculate through it to see if that can clear up the wort similar to your bucket strainer. Other than the occasional hazy I brew stuff that I want to be clear.
I think there is always some live yeast still in suspense, even after a cold crash. How else can you bottle with a little sugar and get carbonation?On topic of beer clearing and removing the yeast, my observation of my fermentasaurus is that with yeast in the collection bottle at the bottom, even when the ferment is over there still seems to be some activity from the yeast. This is seen as small bubble ring on surface ( fermenter is at 12 celsius ), beer doesn't clear that well. Once I drop that yeast out so there is very little left, ( ie just suspended to settle ) final clearing can occur spontaneously.
I'm sure there is yeast left, but before I get rid of the bulk of yeast that isn't suspended it doesn't clear well spontaneously at the temperature I mentioned. It can / does do after that bulk yeast is removed.I think there is always some live yeast still in suspense, even after a cold crash. How else can you bottle with a little sugar and get carbonation?
I used the Top Draw from Williams for my first and found that it was too light at the tip and I had to weight it down with a SS nut. If you buy one of those, make sure you weight it down right out of the box. All my others are from www.ballandkeg.com and they work great. They seem to have a heavier piece of SS tubing at the floating end so they stay submerged. I've also read that the Torpedo Keg dip tubes also have issues with floating so I'd avoid those as well.So what brand of floating dip tube do you all recommend?
Please post your results for this yeast harvesting technique. It definitely sounds interesting.I'm experimenting with a new idea for harvesting yeast. Once the keg starts to build pressure, I hookup a short jumper line from the liquid (floating dip tube) to a 16-oz PET soda bottle fitted with a carbonation cap. So far so good. I figure I'm top-cropping the most active yeast, without opening the fermentation vessel.
You're spit on @odie , harvested yeast your way many times in the past. Prior to Conicals that was the easiest and best way to collect yeast.You must either use a spunding valve, manually spund the PRV or replace with a lower psi PRV. Otherwise the pressure will continue to increase until the PRV pops around 100' Yeast can tolerate several thousand PSI but they quit replicating well below the stock PRV limit. You do want your yeast to multiply many times over.
Any method you will still want to vent the PRV down to 5-10 at most before you harvest...Even then you will get lots of foam...just let it settle and harvest more until your jar is full of beer. In a day a nice yeast cake will form.
This is how I do itPlease post your results for this yeast harvesting technique. It definitely sounds interesting.
exactly my thoughts...definitely wanna try this ferment and serve thing...
This is how I do it
But I do stand the bottle up in the back of the fridge when doing it, but couldn't get the photo with it in that position.
This is set up to harvest the blowoff that goes up the gas line. But you could use the same setup if you wanted to collect some of the yeast filled top beer by connecting to the liquid line.
That's my concern too. I got so floating dip tubes to try. But then I cannot harvest any yeast So my thoughts are now to just store the newly empty kegs cold until I can dump fresh wort into them and reuse the yeast that way. But it would only be one beer at a time and not multiple yeast harvests from a single keg.its worked decently for me so far. my only issue is the beer taking a while to drop clear but that's my issue rushing beer to the tap.
You can pour the slurry into jars once the keg kicks and keep that in the fridge, takes up way less space this way. It has been in the fridge the whole time it was being served should be no diff.That's my concern too. I got so floating dip tubes to try. But then I cannot harvest any yeast So my thoughts are now to just store the newly empty kegs cold until I can dump fresh wort into them and reuse the yeast that way. But it would only be one beer at a time and not multiple yeast harvests from a single keg.
well the desire is to harvest the yeast without opening the keg...keeps it all sealed and sanitary...The bottom tube makes that easy but the issue of getting clear beer is one of being very gentle with keg handling and such.You can pour the slurry into jars once the keg kicks
Is that float 51 mm wide 61 long with a 15mm hole ?
Website link doesn't give dimensions but does have those figures associated with it.
I'm after a much smaller float that can fit thru the top of some vessels that only have a hole 38mm wide. Wanting to use a synthetic cork but can't find any wine that has these anymore.