Speidel 60L Test: Dry hopping

[Bowtiebrewery]

OK. So I purchased a Speidel 60L as an in-between step to see if I can justify spending the $$ on a Conical for a few reasons stated below:

1. Ease of use
2. Sanitary fittings
3. Ease of cleaning
4. Pressure transfers
5. Dry hopping.

So i figured I would put my Speidel through a hellish test to satisfy #1,4, and 5.

I dry hopped an 11 gallon batch of Pale ale with 2 oz of lose leaf hops, and 2 oz of leaf hops in a muslin bag (sanitized of course) but not sunk with marbles or SS washers.

So tonight I'll check and see how and when the spigot on the bottom will plug up. I will have a racking cane sanitized and ready to go in the likely event that I get plugged up.

Also I am going to pressure transfer at 2psi while doing this through a 5 micron beer filter.

So really, lets see how it works.

Early predictions?

Mine: I think I'll get through about 6 gallons with no issues and then I'll start getting clogged.

Yourrs????????

 

[Jwin]

As a 60l owner I recommend :
Ferment with the spiedel tilted, with the spigot up. I jut put a small 2x4 under it.
Cold crash, or the hops will clog. I've never clogged the spigot or hose, but many keg QDs.
The spigot is great for samples. I spray star San in it when done and cover with a faucet plug.
If you hear a strange sound from the speidel when pressure transfering, it's probably the gasket around the lid leaking. I often have to smack or hold down the lid at some point.

I'm unsure about the use of a filter in line. I would push to the keg, then filter into another keg. I just don't know if the system can take that pressure. 2 psi is as high as I go. 3 really starts to swell the lid. And idk if 2 psi will push the beer through the filter.
Good luck

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Thanks for the recommendations. I actually used the 60L as my secondary fermenter. So are you saying to tilt the fermenter up and away from the spigot during fermentation? I am currently cold crashing right now... I'm not sure if all of them will fall to the bottom.

I've heard about the top not getting a complete seal... I'll see what i can do about that.


Lets see what happens regarding the 2psi of pressure.

 

[Jwin]

I don't secondary, so I tilt mine just to keep the trub away from the spigot. In secondary I doubt that it will matter.

What do you primary in?

The seal is hit and miss. I'm going to use a rubber mallet on my next batch to see if that helps.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Well actually this was just a test for me... I would have conducted my primary fermentation in it, but it did not come in on time, so I split the batches into two glass carboys and fermented that way.

 

[Jwin]

How are you pushing the beer?
I added a ball lock post to the solid cap with a npt nipple, rubber gasket, washer and a compression fitting nut.

Then use a barbed swivel nut on high tenp hose on the spigot

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[Bowtiebrewery]

That was my exact thought on how to do it actually. Well on the gas inlet...

The outlet I'm going to first try using some thin-wall tubing and see what happens (It might burst)
If not I have high-temp silicone that will go to SS QD's at the filter.

 

[Jwin]

Thin stuff should be fine, I just felt better about slipping this stuff on the spigot.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Update: Sorry no pictures... honestly I think if i was going to do it again I would make some changes:

So the pressure transfer worked perfectly. No problems there at all. So for me that pretty much seals the deal regarding whether or not I'm going to buy a Conical or not. The Speidel worked fantastic, and even with all the dry hops ing there, I didnt have any stop ups at all.

Now I remember why i don't filter anymore... Jesus! So many things i forgot to do that made it hell on wheels.

I decided not to transfer directly through the filter and into the keg, but did it the traditional way.

Also i purged all my kegs with CO2 and would have transfered through the diptube, however i could not fit it onto the keg post inlet, because the tubing was too big.

Either way, I'm confident i did not inadvertently oxidize the beer. Smells good looks good. Crossed fingers, everything turns out great!