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Kegging routine

 
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rickysa




Joined: 13 Mar 2013
Posts: 136
Location: Southern Pines NC


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 12:35 pm    Post subject: Kegging routine Reply with quote


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Boy, if Palmer ever comes out with a new edition, I sure hope he includes a chapter on kegging Smile

It seems to me that one of the aspects of this hobby (addiction) that makes it challenging/interesting/frustrating is that each step of the process possesses nuances that can make or break a good brew (more likely though lead to a great brew vs. a good brew...but I'm kinda OCD)

Being new to this, it causes a bit of trepidation as I haven't done it enough that everything comes as second nature (ie. oh crap, I forgot to measure the pH, or take a SG reading, or clean out the HERMS coil before I use it to blast hot water into the mash tun when cleaning), so I'm creating a kind of check-list as I muddle along....yep, OCD.

Which brings me (finally) to my predicament. I have a batch of Pliny the Elder parked in my conical having just added the dry hops and waiting for the two week period until the next step....it's enough of an investment (time/$) that I really don't want to screw it up. BUUUTTTT, I also have a couple of kegs of the "Step by Step Blonde" that have just come off of two weeks of carbing and a week or so of "conditioning" that I just tapped....and it's a real stinker. The first batch of this recipe (and my first batch, actually) came out really nice...clear and tasty. This next batch, well, not so much: first couple of pints sludgy...the next few cloudy and tastes like the first weissbier I ever tasted (before I new what weissbiers were supposed to taste like).

I don't know if it can be "saved", but it led me to rethink my using the conical as both a primary and a secondary (as they advertise). I have read here that many are using carbouys as secondaries, that causes me to question the best way to manage these directions:

Quote:
Add dry hops once fermentation is nearing completion (ie: below 1.015). Dry hop for 7-10 days total.
Rack to brite tank (secondary), crash chill to near freezing (if possible), add 1 tsp of unflavoured gelatine dissolved in a cup of hot distilled water per 5 gallons of beer, and let clear for 2-3 days.


I can't chill the carbouys, and I can't tell how "clear" the beer is in the conical (or if I pull the sediment from the bottom valve finding a good stopping point before kegging).

I'm sure I'm getting some eye-rolling and "dude, just brew and enjoy"...but it's that old OCD thing
Very Happy
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I use 8 gallon plastic buckets as primaries and do all fermentation in there. If I'm dry hopping I add it to the primary near the end of the fermentation.

Once fermentation is 100% done plus a number of extra days (especially if dry hopping), I rack into 5 gallon glass carboys to clear the beer by adding gelatine (at room temp). Chilling will help the process but I don't bother as I no simple way to do this.

After 2-4 days the beer is brilliantly clear so I keg.

I think most people today do a single vessel fermentation like this. When you say "many are using carbouys as secondaries", using a "secondary" means secondary fermentation: You take the beer/wort off the yeast sludge and move it to secondary to continue fermentation. That used to have to be done years ago when yeast was a lot worse and threw all sorts of nasty stuff at the start of fermentation. You wanted to pull it off that junk after 3-4 days or so (after krausen fell) and let it ferment with the clean yeast still in suspension in the new vessel. That's no longer the case today unless you're using a dry yeast pack from under the lid of an extract kit from the 1980's you forgot you had. Wink

You mentioned that your beer is 'sludgy'. That's just been that hasn't cleared enough. Give it time, or use gelatine or other clarifiers to speed things up. That doesn't have anything to do with secondary fermentation. Don't keg until it's clear. If you do keg before it's clear, the sludge will eventually settle on the bottom of the keg. Even when using gelatine, it's normal for the first pint or two to have some sludge in it. Even brilliantly clear beer will have some sediment in it unless you use a fine filter (I don't). When my kegs are empty and I open one, there's a layer of silt at the bottom.

You mentioned that your beer tasted like a weizen. So clove/banana/bubblegum? Or just generally fruity? You may have fermented at too high a temperature. It may also be an infection. There are lots of things that can cause off-flavours. See: http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Look at what you did differently between the two batches and go from there. I would not start using the conical as a primary fermenter and then rack into carboys during active fermentation to do a secondary fermentation. Not only is that more work, more risk of infecting something, risk of stalling the fermentation, etc. There's basically zero upside to doing this.

My 2 cents.

Kal

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rickysa




Joined: 13 Mar 2013
Posts: 136
Location: Southern Pines NC


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for all the info, Kal...

I was misusing terms in my earlier post, as I was pulling info from this thread: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24548

I guess I should have substituted "brite tank" for "secondary"...the idea being to pull the fermented beer out of the conical into a carboy to allow for clarification (via gelatine or the like) vs. using the conical as the "brite tank" itself.

Maybe pull the trub and then add the gelatine right to the conical and then keg after a couple of days...seems to be the simplest?
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foomench




Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 704
Location: Longmont, CO

Drinking: Pinot barrel aged quad

Working on: Flanders oude bruin in barrel, Flanders red fermenting to refill the barrel


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rickysa wrote:
Maybe pull the trub and then add the gelatine right to the conical and then keg after a couple of days...seems to be the simplest?

Sounds reasonable. Does your conical have a racking arm? Use that for kegging/transfer if you can. If you don't have it, consider siphoning over draining out of the bottom.

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rickysa




Joined: 13 Mar 2013
Posts: 136
Location: Southern Pines NC


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

foo, yessir it does...(Blichman) although I still forget how the arm is oriented to the handle at times
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rickysa wrote:
Maybe pull the trub and then add the gelatine right to the conical and then keg after a couple of days...seems to be the simplest?

Yes - by all means do that. One of the biggest advantages of a conical is that you don't have to rack to a separate vessel to get the beer off the yeast. You simply drop it out the bottom. If you rack to something else, you're missing one of the major advantages of having a conical in the first place.

Kal

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