Carboys Needed

Duncan · September 28, 2011, 09:10:51 AM

Does anyone have an over-stock of carboys? ...or is that an emotional impossibility? Seriously I've over produced and have stuff coming out of primary that needs a home, pronto; I'm looking to buy 2 if anyone has them, cheers,

Kyle · September 28, 2011, 09:14:10 AM

you do have 8 kegs, why not keg something to free up carboy space, or even ferment in a keg?

Duncan · September 28, 2011, 09:22:52 AM

I've been working on the assumption that I'd do primary in a carboy, rack to a second and then to a keg for a bit of aging before swilling. If I ferment in a keg won't I get a ton of skunge in the bottom and will the yeast be happy working under pressure? And do you have to blow off pressure?
Actually what I need the carboys for is wine, so the need will continue, but have you been fermenting in kegs, and hows the beer for clarity?

Kyle · September 28, 2011, 09:39:30 AM

1)I've been working on the assumption that I'd do primary in a carboy, rack to a second and then to a keg for a bit of aging before swilling. 2)If I ferment in a keg won't I get a ton of skunge in the bottom and 3)will the yeast be happy working under pressure? 4)And do you have to blow off pressure?
Actually what I need the carboys for is wine, so the need will continue, but have you been fermenting in kegs, and 5)hows the beer for clarity?

1. I do a primary for 2 weeks to a month depending on the recipe (stronger beers getting more time, smaller beers getting less within that range), and then I keg. There is no need to secondary: I dry hop and even add fruit in primary, after active fermentation.

2. It does, but this can be remedied but this is remedied by disposing of the first pint or so of gunky stuff that comes when you are ready to transfer under about 2psi CO2 presure from the primary keg to the serving keg. Basically, if you partially unscrew the top of the liquid disconnect in set it in a sanitized bowl, and plug the other end of the liquid to liquid cable onto the liquid out of the keg, you can vent out the gooey stuff, and then when the beer appears reasonably clear, re cap the open disconnect, and put on your serving keg, with the release valve open to fill it.

3. the optimal pressure for beer yeast is about 7psi, and if you us this method, you can actually go grain to glass in a few days, it's called Spunding, but you need additional equipment to do it.

4. you need the spunding valve to avoid a beer explosion if you want to ferment under pressure, but you can also just use a bit of hose attached to the gas-post recepticle on the keg (with post and dip tube removed) to attach an airlock. My current brown ale was done in that way.

5. the clarity is slightly less than with the other methods, nothing seroius. If you want, you can chop off the botom 3/4 inch of the dip tube on the fermentation keg to remedy this issue.

DandyMason · September 28, 2011, 09:41:54 AM

I actually need to track down some carboys too at some point, let me know if you find a deal

Richard · September 28, 2011, 09:48:05 AM

This won't make me popular, but the <$30 bucks each i paid for mine at NG seemed very reasonable.

Failing that, "better bottles" work. Shawn knows better about that, though - I suspect being plastic they'd be cheaper.

Duncan · September 28, 2011, 10:07:06 AM

Thanks Kyle (I can see that the Thesis is just ripping along this morning!) So if I get you correctly, I'm going to rack my primary down into a keg after visible fermentation has stopped (or are you looking for a final SG?) after some time (?) I transfer to a second (serving keg) dumping the first outflow. The time in the first keg requires an airlock vent and fruit or hops (pellets?) can be added as required at this phase. This it?
Second subject: I pitched my last batch of pale ale with SafAle s-04 while it was in the 70F range and the fermentation took off like a jaccussi! The yeast clumps were racing up and down the carboy walls like a Lava lamp on steroids; I've never seen any thing like it...the CO2 was coming out so fast it was almost a constant sound......any predictions? .....could this be the competition IPA??

Richard · September 28, 2011, 10:12:07 AM

S-04 is a well known over-achiever, especially at temperatures above about 65F... That'll be fruity, for sure; like an extra special bitter or an english IPA. You need to give 04 at least a week after visible fermentation stops to clean up after itself before racking off the yeast.

Jmac00 · September 28, 2011, 11:18:20 AM

some better bottles
http://fredericton.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and- ... Z316373440

i'd keep an eye on kijiji though for others...i've found the best way to get some is to look for deals of ppl selling large lots of equipment that are getting out of the hobby....keep what you want and sell off the stuff you don't need/want.

fakr · September 28, 2011, 02:06:06 PM

Duncan, if you really need a couple of carboys, and they are out of stock in the stores in Fredericton, I can pick you up a couple here in Moncton and bring them to the meeting saturday if that's not too late. Like Richard said, they are around $25 each.

Let me know.

Jmac00 · September 28, 2011, 02:50:54 PM

are you looking to increase your carboy numbers anyways? or you just need a couple more for the time being cause you have alot on the go? i could loan you some if its just temporary......i'd rather not sell mine though.

Duncan · September 28, 2011, 03:43:44 PM

Quote from: "fakr"Duncan, if you really need a couple of carboys, and they are out of stock in the stores in Fredericton, I can pick you up a couple here in Moncton and bring them to the meeting saturday if that's not too late. Like Richard said, they are around $25 each.

Let me know.

That's really good of you but I managed to get The Grape's last one today and Kyle has me all fired up on in keg fermenting...so I'm cool for the time being, but thanks very much, and I look forward to meeting you on Sat. Cheers,

Duncan · September 28, 2011, 03:46:02 PM

Quote from: "Jmac00"are you looking to increase your carboy numbers anyways? or you just need a couple more for the time being cause you have alot on the go? i could loan you some if its just temporary......i'd rather not sell mine though.

Thanks but I got one today and it's for wine, Beaujolais nouveau, so I'm ok, but I appreciate your offer, see you Sat. Cheers,

Richard · September 28, 2011, 03:50:14 PM

Duncan: slightly OT but since this thread is pretty much over anyways I'll go ahead...

Do you do many wine-kits, and if so is there a particular Pinot Noir "box" that you'd recommend?

pliny · September 28, 2011, 03:56:19 PM

There are other beer and wine shops in town that carry carboys.
Winekitz (2 locations)
I think scoop and save has some
Blue Ridge has some