35 replies to this topic

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

According to the other thread, racking into a unpurged keg would cause early oxidation issues. How is that any different than circulating hot wort thru a unpurged HB regardless if its a closed system or not?

when you keg a beer in the non-closed method it's exposed for an extended period of time.when you push wort through an unpurged line only the first wort through gets exposed for a very short amount of time and after that it's entirely closed off.that's not a difference?edit: I don't think it was settled that an unpurged keg was necessarily a problem in the other thread btw

[BlKtRe]

edit: I don't think it was settled that an unpurged keg was necessarily a problem in the other thread btw

Yup, that's why i didn't really want to go into to much depth here. I just mainly wanted to note the similarities.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Yup, that's why i didn't really want to go into to much depth here. I just mainly wanted to note the similarities.

what about the actual topic of this thread though? I wouldn't expect it to be a major problem if done carefully but I personally don't quite understand why chilling in the fermenter would be easier than chilling in the kettle.

[BlKtRe]

what about the actual topic of this thread though? I wouldn't expect it to be a major problem if done carefully but I personally don't quite understand why chilling in the fermenter would be easier than chilling in the kettle.

Lee did this because of cold weather issues were causing some freezing problems since it takes longer to chill in the Kettle. Under normal circumstances, i would agree with you. I personally think it was a good decision given what was going on. But id still would prefer to leave as much hot break material in the Kettle as possible. Notice i didn't say anything about cold break. I think that is also a debatable subject.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Lee did this because of cold weather issues were causing some freezing problems since it takes longer to chill in the Kettle. Under normal circumstances, i would agree with you. I personally think it was a good decision given what was going on. But id still would prefer to leave as much hot break material in the Kettle as possible. Notice i didn't say anything about cold break. I think that is also a debatable subject.

must be a lot colder in KS than here b/c if the water is running through the hose it doesn't seem to freeze (or at least it hasn't yet and it's been pretty cold on a couple of my brewdays).

[siouxbrewer]

I personally don't quite understand why chilling in the fermenter would be easier than chilling in the kettle.

I figured someone would ask. It comes down to my current plumbing scenario. I brew on my patio, ferment in my basement. I don't have a water spigot outside. So I run a line from a T on my washing machine hookup in the basement to my chiller outside on the patio. After chilling, I run a line from the BK to my fermenter in the basement. This involves a good amount of HDPE tubing that needs to be sanitized and I run the risk of ice jams when the weather dips down to zero or below and yes it really was that cold last week with the arctic blast that blew through. If I chill in the fermenter, I can run a single sanitized line from BK to my fermenter, while I have the hookups for the IC contained in the basement where they won't freeze. This seems to chill the wort faster as well and it's easier to reuse the waste water in my washing machine, yes I reuse the water because I am a tight ass

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I figured someone would ask. It comes down to my current plumbing scenario. I brew on my patio, ferment in my basement. I don't have a water spigot outside. So I run a line from a T on my washing machine hookup in the basement to my chiller outside on the patio. After chilling, I run a line from the BK to my fermenter in the basement. This involves a good amount of HDPE tubing that needs to be sanitized and I run the risk of ice jams when the weather dips down to zero or below and yes it really was that cold last week with the arctic blast that blew through. If I chill in the fermenter, I can run a single sanitized line from BK to my fermenter, while I have the hookups for the IC contained in the basement where they won't freeze. This seems to chill the wort faster as well and it's easier to reuse the waste water in my washing machine, yes I reuse the water because I am a tight ass

That's a crazy setup!

[siouxbrewer]

That's a crazy setup!

Tell me about it I'd love to get some plumbing done in the spring for ease of use but I figure at least I'm brewing. Plus my legs are looking pretty toned running up them stairs

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Tell me about it I'd love to get some plumbing done in the spring for ease of use but I figure at least I'm brewing. Plus my legs are looking pretty toned running up them stairs

I brew in my garage and then I ferment in either the basement or a closet on the first floor. I do all of my transferring in the garage though. What's the reasoning behind using the long tube to transfer to your fermenter? why not just make the transfer on the patio?

[siouxbrewer]

I brew in my garage and then I ferment in either the basement or a closet on the first floor. I do all of my transferring in the garage though. What's the reasoning behind using the long tube to transfer to your fermenter? why not just make the transfer on the patio?

Gravity

[djinkc]

I figured someone would ask. It comes down to my current plumbing scenario. I brew on my patio, ferment in my basement. I don't have a water spigot outside. So I run a line from a T on my washing machine hookup in the basement to my chiller outside on the patio. After chilling, I run a line from the BK to my fermenter in the basement. This involves a good amount of HDPE tubing that needs to be sanitized and I run the risk of ice jams when the weather dips down to zero or below and yes it really was that cold last week with the arctic blast that blew through. If I chill in the fermenter, I can run a single sanitized line from BK to my fermenter, while I have the hookups for the IC contained in the basement where they won't freeze. This seems to chill the wort faster as well and it's easier to reuse the waste water in my washing machine, yes I reuse the water because I am a tight ass

That makes sense. It sounds like a trade off of unlikely potential HSA and DMS issues vs. leaving your hot break in the kettle. I wouldn't worry about it.And anyone brewing outside around here last week gets a tip of the hat from me. It was cold!

[BrewerGeorge]

I don't think you'll have any problems. Like others have said, it's basically the same as someone using a CFC chiller.OTOH, that Frankenstein tubing setup seems like it has room for improvement. Forty or fifty bucks for a cheap sump pump to push your chill water through the IM in the kettle from a tub on the back porch seems like it would save tons of trips up and down the stairs. Just a thought...

[siouxbrewer]

I don't think you'll have any problems. Like others have said, it's basically the same as someone using a CFC chiller.OTOH, that Frankenstein tubing setup seems like it has room for improvement. Forty or fifty bucks for a cheap sump pump to push your chill water through the IM in the kettle from a tub on the back porch seems like it would save tons of trips up and down the stairs. Just a thought...

I do this in the summer when ground water temps rise. Sump pump in cooler with ice blocks made from IC waste water. I agree about my Frankenhose setup, would love to clean that up a bit. So far the easiest has been a single line from BK to fermenter in the basement, then chill.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Gravity

are you missing the gravity to chill the wort or the gravity to transfer it to the fermenter?

[siouxbrewer]

Gravity from BK to fermenter. I could transfer on the patio, but I hate lugging 14 gal down the stairs. I run about 15 ft of hose to the basement through a window. My back appreciates it in the morning.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Gravity from BK to fermenter. I could transfer on the patio, but I hate lugging 14 gal down the stairs. I run about 15 ft of hose to the basement through a window. My back appreciates it in the morning.

14 gallons. gotcha. I only lug 5-7