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As we brew more and more beers, we are trying to perfect our brewing process. One area we decided to change within our process is fermenting. Since upgrading to 10 gallon batches for our beers, we needed a vessel large enough to ferment all 10 gallons at one time. Our previous vessels, the SS Brew Tech Brew Buckets, held 7 gallons and are perfect to ferment 5 gallon batches but lacked the ability for us to ferment larger batches at one time. We looked at several options—one the SS Brew Tech Chronical Fermenters and converting Sanke kegs to fermenters. Due to cost, we ultimately decided to try utilizing converted Sanke kegs for the process. The new equipment:
How it works: After cooling wort, we transfer the wort to a sanitized Sanke keg. The keg is then wrapped with the Cool Zone temp jacket (the extender helps the wrap fit). The entire keg is covered with the keg jacket to help keep the keg at a constant temperature. A sump pump is attached to the wrap and placed in an ice water bath. The cooling and heating wraps are plugged in to the temp controller. The temp sensor is placed into the thermowell and transmits the temperature of the liquid inside the keg. Yeast is pitched and the temp controller helps us keep the temperature consistent for optimal fermentation. The pump cycles on/off to move ice cold water around the outside of the keg until the temperature stays within 3 degrees of our set temperature. When fermentation is complete, we can dry hop beers by opening up the tri clamp and dropping in hops. The transferring of beer into kegs can now be accomplished in a closed system with the beer being transferred via C02. This closed system eliminates any possible contamination from oxygen during the transfer. Our Review so Far: We love this system! We can accurately control the temperature of our fermenting wort to help ensure the yeast fully attenuates and utilizes all of the sugar in our wort. We can now use our previous freezer/fermentation vessel as keg and bottle storage. The major benefit is that each individual keg can be set to a different temperature. We have minimized the need for an additional cost of ice by refreezing gallon water bottles and using those to keep the water cool. The biggest benefit is the ability to transfer beer to kegs within a closed system. The added 6 inch ferrule opening allows us to fully clean the inside to prevent any particles from dry hopping to be left behind. In two weeks, we will tap our first beers used during this closed system. Our final review will come after we sample the finest product.  Fermentation wrap on Sanke keg  6 inch ferrule, 6 inch tri clamp, and 6 inch to 2 inch reducer.  2 inch opening (prior to adding 6 inch ferrule), temp control, thermowell with temperature sensor, and blow off tube.
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A lot of brewing has been happening at Two Jacks. We currently have Stop That Train (California Common) dry hopping along with Proprietor's Porter which is slowly being imparted with the delicious tastes of bourbon, oak, and coffee. Judge Hopner IPA was brewed this holiday weekend along with Pippy Hopstocking, which is the first of our beers to use our new Sanke keg fermenting system (more on this in a future post). Next weekend, we plan on tapping the Steam Beer and Porter along with brewing Alice UP!
The new brewing cart works amazing and definitely makes brew day so much easier. As with anything new, there is tweaking that needs to happen during the first brew and a lot of creative thinking to connect the proper hoses and fittings. Unfortunately, one of our stout taps has decided it loves Stretchy Pants so much that it needed to continuously pour beer and never stop. A new stout tap should be arriving tomorrow and hopefully, with the help of Google, we will fix the broken stout tap and use it as a backup. Our Mega Pot with compression fittings was irritating us during brewing due to leaking. We had fittings welded in permanently and we like the pot much better. However, if you decide to brew, I'd recommend the Brew Built pots...we like them much better and have been very happy with them thus far. Today, we decided to go back to using our plate chiller rather than the immersion chiller to speed up the cooling rate of the wort. We also used our Sanke fermenter for the first time along with the Cool Zone cooling jacket system to regulate the temperature during the fermentation. So far, we like the results of the Cool Zone; we'll see how we like the setup after we have had to add in ice for a few weeks to cool things. Up next equipment: we are planning on cutting a hole in the top of one of our Sanke kegs to fit a 6 inch ferrule and see if the expanded opening helps us with cleaning and sanitation. Up next beers: Hoppenheimer DIPA, Mouth Mittens (a new recipe we created for an Imperial Red Ale), and the one we are most excited to Brew....Tijuana Facelift Mexican Lager. |
AuthorTwo Jacks Brewers Archives
May 2024
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