Now that we finally have a batch fermenting, I wanted to show what you can expect from the fermentation process. Nothing too exciting, so just grab a homebrew and enjoy the fermentation pics.
You can see the krausen line in the fermenter. It looks to span from the 10 to 10.5 gallon marks.
I took these pictures three days apart just so you could see that were were no huge differences in how it looked from outside the fermenter.
It looks relatively the same in all three pictures.
The trub line has collected just over half a gallon
Here’s a closer picture.
I installed the dump extender. I made this from three part I ordered from RuralKing.com:
Banjo 1″ Female Coupler Female Thread Adapter 100D – $7.99
Banjo 1″ Male Adapter Female Thread Coupling 100A – $3.99
Banjo Poly Nipple Pipe 1″ x 6″ NIP100-6 – $2.99
This allows me to place a bucket under the dump.
I had a small parts tray laying around that I haven’t used in years.
This ft nicely under the bottom 45 degree elbow and will collect any liquid left in the piping once we disconnect.
Trub…it’s what’s for dinner. Mmmm, soupy!
Once finished, close the valve and wait until the liquid stops flowing.
Once the extender is removed, the liquid trapped in the extender spills into the parts tray, running into the bucket.
We bottled the beer that was in the fermenter yesterday. It had been cold crashed and held at 34 degrees for three days. I am SO glad that I decided to go with the 1″ fittings for the bottom drain. The sludge was so thick that it came out very slowly…Regretfully, my camera hand was busy holding beer, so there are no pictures.
Once the trub was out and the beer started flowing, I attached the additional camlock with the 1/2″ QD for the hose and we pumped it into our bottling bucket. This worked without catastrophe and we got 9.75 Gallons of beer out of it.
Cleaning the fermenter was not a big deal. I have a hose connected to my utility sink, just inside the door to the house. The only thing I have ever used this hose for is to fill the HLT and run cold water through the IC. Of course, it is also long enough to reach the fermenter for just such a cleaning need.
OxyClean water, a sponge, and a hose to rinse made quick work of this chore. I was very happy with the results of using this fermenter.