tom_hampton
Grandmaster Brewer
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2011
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I'm a huge fan of having a sample port of some kind on primary fermenters. You can learn so much from risk free monitoring of fermentation. You can check SG/Plato, pH, temperature, taste, aroma as it progresses each and every day. Its amazing how quickly taste and aroma change from the yeast. 24 hours in on my latest Belgian and there is already maybe 50% of the flavor and aroma from the yeast in the beer. Another 24 hours and it was probably 90+%.
It really validates what gets taught in texts and podcasts by the experts: temp control during the first 48-72 hours is critical (for Ales). Almost of all of the yeast character comes in that timeframe. After that, it almost doesn't matter what you do.
When I used a thief to take my samples, I was always nervous of introducing an infection by sampling. So, I wouldn't take a sample until day 7 or so. By then everything was done and over with. All I was doing was ensuring that was really true.
I use plastic bucket with bottling spigots. Admittedly, they have there cons, notably: scratches and risk of contamination, and O2 permeability. I manage the scratch risk by buying new buckets periodically (much cheaper from industrial supply houses), and never putting anything metal or abrasive in them. I wash with either liquid (PBW)alone, or a synthetic fiber cloth if its crusty. I disassemble the spigots and sanitize them thoroughly.
O2 permeability I manage by keeping the time in the bucket to a minimum (generally under 2 weeks...and some beers can be done and clear in 7 days: High flocculatant yeasts, and robust fermenters). The sample port actually helps me do this, I can tell the day that fermentation is done.
I sample every day, and I know exactly when it hits terminal gravity. I can taste the beer, and if there's no diactyl detected (never is), then I can shut down the temp control and let it clarify. Since the racking port is at the bottom, I know when the beer is clear. As soon as it comes out clear, into the keg it goes.
I have room for more than 6 fermenters in my temp controlled room. I frequently have 4 going at once. I can go into the room with 4 50ml vials, and pull samples off each fermenter. Then I can take them all back to my measuring equipment and measure whatever I want to (Plato, pH, etc). Then I can taste each sample, and compare notes with the wife in the comfort of the living room. No worries about dripping from a thief, or spilling my hydro jar.
Admittedly, you CAN do the same thing with a thief. That's the way I did it for years. But, there is always that risk when you poke something down into the beer, plus taking the lid off the bucket to do it (more risk). As a result, (as I said above) I would wait until I was pretty sure it was done before I took a sample. My goal was to only take two samples from each beer which both showed that the SG was stable, and no diacetyl was present.
The second benefit is that it really helps in minimizing risk of infections. My system and process is now almost entirely closed.
With the racking port, my beer never touches anything except the bucket, the racking tube, and the keg after flame out....and its full surface area is never exposed directly to open atmosphere. I fill the fermenter through the racking port, too. This allows me to put 1 gallon of sanitizer (star san) into the fermenter, snap on the lid, and cover the bung the air lock hole. Then I shake the fermenter to distribute the sanitizer several times throughout brewday. Finally, empty most of the sanitizer and I place my airstone through the airlock hole and run the pump to flush the fermenter with sanitary air. Once that's done (30 minutes), I remove the air stone and empty the remaining cup or so of sanitizer, then rebung the fermenter. Finally, I fill through the spigot, and aerate through the airlock hole.
Since the kettle is capped at flameout, the cold wort is NEVER directly exposed to atmosphere and contamination once the flame is off.
Finally, I rack directly from the fermenter through the spigot, and into the liquid post on my sanitized, CO2 purged kegs. I'm thinking about getting a sterile filter to plug into the airlock hole so that the bucket fills with sanitary air as the bucket drains into the keg.
Anyway, just wanted to share my experiences over the last year, and what I think the benefits are of a racking port of some kind on your fermenter of choice.
It really validates what gets taught in texts and podcasts by the experts: temp control during the first 48-72 hours is critical (for Ales). Almost of all of the yeast character comes in that timeframe. After that, it almost doesn't matter what you do.
When I used a thief to take my samples, I was always nervous of introducing an infection by sampling. So, I wouldn't take a sample until day 7 or so. By then everything was done and over with. All I was doing was ensuring that was really true.
I use plastic bucket with bottling spigots. Admittedly, they have there cons, notably: scratches and risk of contamination, and O2 permeability. I manage the scratch risk by buying new buckets periodically (much cheaper from industrial supply houses), and never putting anything metal or abrasive in them. I wash with either liquid (PBW)alone, or a synthetic fiber cloth if its crusty. I disassemble the spigots and sanitize them thoroughly.
O2 permeability I manage by keeping the time in the bucket to a minimum (generally under 2 weeks...and some beers can be done and clear in 7 days: High flocculatant yeasts, and robust fermenters). The sample port actually helps me do this, I can tell the day that fermentation is done.
I sample every day, and I know exactly when it hits terminal gravity. I can taste the beer, and if there's no diactyl detected (never is), then I can shut down the temp control and let it clarify. Since the racking port is at the bottom, I know when the beer is clear. As soon as it comes out clear, into the keg it goes.
I have room for more than 6 fermenters in my temp controlled room. I frequently have 4 going at once. I can go into the room with 4 50ml vials, and pull samples off each fermenter. Then I can take them all back to my measuring equipment and measure whatever I want to (Plato, pH, etc). Then I can taste each sample, and compare notes with the wife in the comfort of the living room. No worries about dripping from a thief, or spilling my hydro jar.
Admittedly, you CAN do the same thing with a thief. That's the way I did it for years. But, there is always that risk when you poke something down into the beer, plus taking the lid off the bucket to do it (more risk). As a result, (as I said above) I would wait until I was pretty sure it was done before I took a sample. My goal was to only take two samples from each beer which both showed that the SG was stable, and no diacetyl was present.
The second benefit is that it really helps in minimizing risk of infections. My system and process is now almost entirely closed.
With the racking port, my beer never touches anything except the bucket, the racking tube, and the keg after flame out....and its full surface area is never exposed directly to open atmosphere. I fill the fermenter through the racking port, too. This allows me to put 1 gallon of sanitizer (star san) into the fermenter, snap on the lid, and cover the bung the air lock hole. Then I shake the fermenter to distribute the sanitizer several times throughout brewday. Finally, empty most of the sanitizer and I place my airstone through the airlock hole and run the pump to flush the fermenter with sanitary air. Once that's done (30 minutes), I remove the air stone and empty the remaining cup or so of sanitizer, then rebung the fermenter. Finally, I fill through the spigot, and aerate through the airlock hole.
Since the kettle is capped at flameout, the cold wort is NEVER directly exposed to atmosphere and contamination once the flame is off.
Finally, I rack directly from the fermenter through the spigot, and into the liquid post on my sanitized, CO2 purged kegs. I'm thinking about getting a sterile filter to plug into the airlock hole so that the bucket fills with sanitary air as the bucket drains into the keg.
Anyway, just wanted to share my experiences over the last year, and what I think the benefits are of a racking port of some kind on your fermenter of choice.
