Spunding...
#1
Posted 07 January 2018 - 03:29 PM
I need a by-the-numbers process for the spunding. For lagers I currently ferment about 5 days at 50° and then let it free-rise in the basement. For ales I ferment in a swamp cooler for about 5-6 days and then take it out. For spunding I need to get the beer to a keg with some amount of fermentation left (about 5 points I have heard... and a little more is okay). At what temp do we spund? Room temp? Cooler? Does it matter if it's an ale or lager? How long does the spunding process usually take? A few days? A week? The spunding valve is supposed to be set to about 0.8 bar or about 12 psi... but when you send the beer to the keg and seal it, there will be little-to-no pressure in there and the valve wouldn't register 12psi... so what do you do? Wait a day or so until pressure builds up and THEN attach the valve and adjust it? Also, let's say I connect the valve and it registers a higher pressure than 12psi. I would loosen the dial until I get to 12psi and then tighten it back up again, correct? This is the proper way to use it? If pressure builds up that would send the gauge higher, the valve is supposed to naturally vent that off, right? I'm learning to brew all over again. Cheers peeps.
#2
Posted 07 January 2018 - 06:51 PM
Spunding temp should be the same as your fermentation temp. I usually let my kegs sit for about 2 weeks then put them in the fridge.
As far as the valve goes... I'd tighten it all the way and watch the pressure build and loosen it when appropriate to keep the pressure from going too high. Then get ready for some awesome foam.
#3
Posted 07 January 2018 - 07:41 PM
#4
Posted 08 January 2018 - 04:34 AM
I have a hard time bringing myself to clean 2x as many kegs (1 keg for carbonating, 1 keg for serving). I think the only way I'd do spunding would be if my primary vessel could be used.
#5
Posted 08 January 2018 - 05:54 AM
I have a hard time bringing myself to clean 2x as many kegs (1 keg for carbonating, 1 keg for serving). I think the only way I'd do spunding would be if my primary vessel could be used.
That is what I do but I do not get to the full carbonation level. I can only get to 5-6 PSI in primary and then I do the rest once I move to a keg.
#6
Posted 08 January 2018 - 05:55 AM
That is what I do but I do not get to the full carbonation level. I can only get to 5-6 PSI in primary and then I do the rest once I move to a keg.
still not bad
#7
Posted 08 January 2018 - 06:10 AM
still not bad
no, works well in my process. If I could seal my fermenter better I could do more but any helps in my mind.
#8
Posted 12 January 2018 - 10:40 AM
#9
Posted 13 January 2018 - 07:53 AM
Sounds good to me. No harm in hitting it w/ a little CO2 to make sure the lid is sealed and see an initial pressure on the gauge.
#10
Posted 16 January 2018 - 04:34 AM
Sounds good to me. No harm in hitting it w/ a little CO2 to make sure the lid is sealed and see an initial pressure on the gauge.
agreed. I never bought that there was something magical about yeast derived CO2. I think the benefits are probably some other aspects that won't be affected even by some amount of force carbing later on.
#11
Posted 16 January 2018 - 08:20 AM
agreed. I never bought that there was something magical about yeast derived CO2. I think the benefits are probably some other aspects that won't be affected even by some amount of force carbing later on.
Before I was left unable to look at that site (low O2 one) I did read that if you plan to force carbonate you shouldn't even bother with any of the low oxygen methods.
#12
Posted 16 January 2018 - 09:07 AM
I have been getting some interesting information from some of the members over there. These guys have gone down this road and they're sharing their experiences. I have known MANY of these guys from various forums in the past and they're good guys. Also, every single one of these brewers who have gone down this road have said that their low-O2 beers are head & shoulders above their old beers. Whether you reject the idea or maybe dislike the delivery, my only goal here is to learn the steps, try it and see for myself how it might impact my beers. That's it. If anyone there were to be rough around the edges in presenting their ideas or possibly being critical or judgmental of my processes, I'm willing to listen if the result is an improved process that results in better beer. I've also spent very little money on this... the parts for the spunding valve, a piece of foam board from HD for the mash cap ($5 or something), some new tubing, etc. Everything else I already had.
#13
Posted 16 January 2018 - 09:58 AM
I have been getting some interesting information from some of the members over there. These guys have gone down this road and they're sharing their experiences. I have known MANY of these guys from various forums in the past and they're good guys. Also, every single one of these brewers who have gone down this road have said that their low-O2 beers are head & shoulders above their old beers. Whether you reject the idea or maybe dislike the delivery, my only goal here is to learn the steps, try it and see for myself how it might impact my beers. That's it. If anyone there were to be rough around the edges in presenting their ideas or possibly being critical or judgmental of my processes, I'm willing to listen if the result is an improved process that results in better beer. I've also spent very little money on this... the parts for the spunding valve, a piece of foam board from HD for the mash cap ($5 or something), some new tubing, etc. Everything else I already had.
That was my goal as well, the reason I was reading post till it was determined I could no longer do that.
I will try a few of the ideas like yeast de-ox and the trifectamix if I can figure out how much of it I need. Spunding is an area I am up in the air about. I already partially do it when I cap my fermenter, but I do finish with CO2. I do not see myself going back to 60 minute boils though.
#14
Posted 16 January 2018 - 10:25 AM
On the yeast + sugar and also the trifecta mix, there are some posts here from pkrone on that subject. I'll tell you what I'm doing but you may have to work backwards on the levels. On the yeast and sugar, pkrone mentioned 10g of each in 7 gallons of water (I think that's right). I use 5 gallons to mash and 2.5 to sparge so I took 6.6g of each in the mash and 3.3 in the sparge. Let it sit for 2 hours (longer would allow for O2 to creep back in, apparently) and make sure it's warm enough for the yeast to do its thing. He also mentioned that the trifecta mix was 40/40/20 and I somehow arrived at 1.66g for my 5 gallons of water (it's correct but I don't remember the equation). So .66g of SMB in the mash water, .66g of ascorbic acid and .33g of BTB. The jury is still out on what to do with BTB in the sparge or boil. I think I used it in both on the last 2 batches and I might make that call at the last minute when I brew this weekend. The SMB is supposedly your savior if you have excess O2 in your process because it scavenges the O2. But if your process is good and the SMB is not 'used up' by scavenging the O2 it results in 'fart beer' according to pkrone and some others over there. I don't expect my process to be so good that SMB will remain so I'm sticking with this amount until something tells me otherwise.
#15
Posted 17 January 2018 - 05:42 AM
Before I was left unable to look at that site (low O2 one) I did read that if you plan to force carbonate you shouldn't even bother with any of the low oxygen methods.
Why? Makes no sense.
#16
Posted 17 January 2018 - 06:50 AM
A tank of CO2 also contains O2 so you're exposing the beer to more O2 that way. If you spund, that won't happen because the CO2 created by fermentation is 100% pure CO2. Someone mentioned that if you got a "tank of pure CO2" like the CO2 created by fermentation it would cost hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars. I don't know about any of that but many people have mentioned how good the beer tastes when it's spunded so I plan to try it on the next batch.Why? Makes no sense.
#17
Posted 17 January 2018 - 07:05 AM
#18
Posted 17 January 2018 - 07:12 AM
Sounds like when you put the beer on tap it's ruined.
That is where my head went as well.
#19
Posted 17 January 2018 - 07:22 AM
On this topic of spunding, it's been brought to my attention that some of these guy don't spund (their schedules don't allow for it, they don't have the valve, etc) and instead they either just move the beer to a keg and seal it up and assume that their carb level will be okay or else they allow the beer to fully ferment out and drop clear(er) and then they use a priming solution in the keg. I like that there are a couple different methods here... it allows for a bit of flexibility.
Also, understand I'm not here to advocate any of this. It interests me and I would like to try it to see what it does for my beers. I'm not trying to push any of it on anyone here. We all know that the information is there and some of the people on this board are looking at it and the information will eventually be here too (maybe not as much but some).
#20
Posted 17 January 2018 - 09:55 AM
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