ferment / condition / serve in one vessel?

[Kyle]

It's been a while since I've used the spunding valve and I can't really remember: does it work to serve from the fermentation corny as long as I sacrifice the first few pints, or will it be murky yeast-bombs all the way through unless I transfer to another vessel to serve?

[JohnQ]

You have to do a slow transfer to the serving keg.

Alternatively,you can get a single 22 gallon ss conical that is capable of doing pressure ferment/yeast dump/brite tank duty...

http://brewhemoth.com/

(Had to get that in before Fakr!)

 :twisted:

JQ

[fakr]

lol!  Good one Senior.

Kyle, here's what I do when I spund, and it turns out great:

1.  let fermentation finish up, and allow the keg to pressurize up to whatever you finish up at. ex.20psi.
2. attach a party tap and transfer trub and yeast cake to a container to either keep or throw.
3. repeat step 2 every couple of hours, in small amounts, to clean up the bottom of the keg as good as possible.
4. Grab an empty keg and add gelatin or whatever other clearing agent you use.
5. purge fresh keg with CO2, attach transfer hose to both and slowly transfer the beer.
6. shake newly filled keg, then cold crash for 24-48 hours.
7.  tap, pour, and throw out first glass.
8.  clear beer for the rest of the keg.

it's a bit of work but wow is it ever good!



Now, with the brewhemoths, I'll use the same techniques, on I'll dump the trub and yeast from the dump valve.  I'll also cold crash in the first fermenter, then transfer into the second fermenter which I've already put gelatin in....wait a day, and bang (no pun on your BANG post Senior), 4 clean kegs of beer.

[fakr]

One more thing to add...

If you kept a party tap attached to the keg during fermentation, and poured out 1/2 cup of trub each day (after lets say day 3), you'd have much cleaner beer at the end.

I found when I fermented, conditioned and served from the same vessel, I would get trub chunks in my beer, especially if I had to move the keg in any way after tapping it.

[Kyle]

Yep did all that, minus the clearing agent (although there were 2 whirlfloc tabs in the boil). My wife is vegan, and I've found non animal-derived clearing agents like Polyclar are more trouble than they are worth. At some point I suppose I'll look in to filtration again. Beer is good though, and fully carbed, if a little less than crystal clear.